Immortal Darkness: Shadow Across the Land
Page 22
Piercing deep into Leyai’s eyes, he demanded, “Promise me that you’ll never eat the meat inside them.”
A smile of amusement on her face, Leyai gave a quick nod of her head and listened for her friend to continue. However, no such continuation would occur for quite a while; the only thing that Pesstian did was stare into Leyai’s eyes.
Finding herself confused, Leyai placed a puzzled look on her face when she asked, “Is something wrong?”
These three words sending what looked like a shock of fear through the owl’s blood, Pesstian gave a small flinch of his body. A bead of sweat rolled down his face when he continued, “Oh—nothing’s wrong. Nothing!”
It was after uttering these words when another pause of silence squeezed into the owls’ conversation. For fear of being humiliated again, Pesstian explained through a sigh, “When I found this treasure, I felt like I needed to share it with somebody. Since I don’t know any of the other owls on this boat as well as I know you, I decided to give it to you.”
Hearing as these words split her ears, Leyai’s blood gave a sudden freeze, causing her pupils to shrink to an unimaginably tiny circumference. It wasn’t until she sensed the cool feel of the white sphere against her breast’s feathers when she came out of her trance.
The sphere in the clutch of two of Pesstian’s talons, Leyai took a look down—the ball still touching her breast—as a wide smile showed itself upon her face. At that moment did she hold out a talon.
Letting out a small chuckle at the sight of Leyai’s smile, Pesstian gladly released his grip on the white sphere, allowing it to plummet into Leyai’s talon. It was while doing so when a small stake of regret pierced its way through his heart.
Fortunately for Pesstian, his regret met its end when he reassured himself, If I found one of these white balls, it shouldn’t be too hard to find a second one for myself. It was as if he had forgotten all about the trial and error he had recently underwent.
Another gasp escaped from Leyai’s beak, her shoulders rising in glee. Taking her eyes off of the treasure, she stared into Pesstian’s eyes and exclaimed, “Thank you so much! I can’t believe that you were able to get this!”
Leyai allowed the reflection of the white ball to appear upon her eyes before she continued, “I cannot thank you enough, Pesstian!” A speck of sadness entered her mind when she sighed, “I just wish I could repay you for this.”
“Ah—don’t worry about it!” Pesstian insisted, not entirely sure he was telling the truth. “Once I found this thing, I just had to share it with somebody. Just promise me you won’t lose it.”
“Don’t worry; I won’t!” Leyai insured, clenching her talon closed—hoping not to lose the sphere. “Well, anyway—I’ll see you later!” Leyai winked at Pesstian while strolling off toward the ledge of the human’s device.
What a night, Pesstian silently told himself. And to think that it’s not even half over!
--
By the time the owls were supposed to be asleep, the sun’s brilliant rays of light proved too weak to penetrate through the many dark clouds in the sky. Nearly every one of them cuddled together within what Pesstian liked to call the sleeping room.
Darkness covered the day. Added to this was the presence of bustling winds and a shower of freezing rain. With all of the outside chaos, most of the owls found it rather difficult to reach for a blanket.
Feeling as if their fears couldn’t have reached a higher peak, many of the owls began to panic when the sound of cracking split their ears. Even more panicking took place when one of them screeched, “Water! I can feel water coming through!”
The sound of this owl’s voice caused Pesstian to wake up with a rough start. Grunting and moaning, he asked Leyai, “What’s going on?”
At that moment did Leyai’s eyes flick open, her beak spread out in a yawn. “How should I know?” she asked through a gaping beak.
Her eyes fluttering open and close, Leyai released another large yawn and shook the tiredness from her head. Hoping to remove some of the sleep from her eyes, Leyai blinked multiple times—then took a confused look down at her talons.
“Why are my feet wet?” Leyai wondered, taking a look up at Pesstian.
“Wet? I don’t feel wet at—oh.” Feeling as water swept between his toes, he shouted out to the group of panicking owls, “Why’s the floor wet?”—but to no avail. With the combined noise coming from the other owls’ mouths, everybody else considered Pesstian’s voice nonexistent.
As a sea of questions washed over the room, the owls found themselves surprised to hear a cacophonous crack emanating from one of the walls. A heartbeat of silence occurred—only to be replaced by the sound of cold, rushing water.
At that moment did the owls had realize a large hole had seeped its way within the human’s oceanic vessel, thus allowing a stream of water to splash into the owls’ room. Within seconds did it turn from a stream to a blast of freezing-cold water.
Feeling as the salty water splashed up against her chest, Leyai let out a horrified screech. Icy and sharp, the ocean pushed Leyai back—robbing her of her breath. She could feel as she began to drown.
However, just before such a thing could have happened to Pesstian, he made a flying leap out of the way—nearly hitting his head on the ceiling of the room. Once feeling a slightly safe distance away from the water, he made an attempt to escape from the collapsing room.
Noticing how what had once been a mere crack was now a crevice, Pesstian swooped down to the exit. But it was then—his head barely any distance away from freedom—when Pesstian felt a sense of shame enter his mind.
Remorse clouding his thoughts, he took a glance toward Leyai; his only friend for the past few days was drowning! Leyai! he silently cried out, turning over to her aid.
It was while flying over to her when Pesstian missed the cries for help from all the other drowning owls. Out of everything else going on, the only sound he could make out was that of his friend’s desperate pleads for help.
It was while holding out his talon when Pesstian commanded through the outside chaos, “Grab on!”
Much to his irritation, Leyai’s ears were clouded with water—hindering them from hearing Pesstian’s voice. As a result of making this realization, Pesstian reached down into the icy water and searched for Leyai’s talon. All the while did he struggle to keep his upper body dry.
Unbearable numbness grasped Pesstian’s talon by the time he had taken hold of Leyai’s leg. Just before another wave of icy water could have swept over their heads, he yanked on the leg and pulled both his friend and himself out from the ocean.
At that moment did he beat his wings with all his strength—eventually pulling Leyai out in the end. A slightly treacherous—yet short—path lay up ahead of the two owls at this point. Although partially terrified to move up out of the room, Pesstian shook the fear from his head.
Courage penetrated the walls of Pesstian’s mind as he flew his way through the vessel’s flawed walls. Once through, he and Leyai breached up to the top floor of the humans’ device.
A small sense of safety entering their minds, both Pesstian and Leyai blinked water from their eyes. At the same time did Pesstian let out a sneeze.
After rubbing her eyes with her right wing, Leyai took a look up at Pesstian and whispered to herself, “He saved my life!”
Not taking any notice toward Leyai’s words, Pesstian hesitantly used his free talon to point over to a snowy land up ahead. “Hey—look over there!” he exclaimed
Slightly confused at first, Leyai looked in direction in which her friend had been pointing. “Land?” she happily sniffed. “We can finally get off of this thing?”
A slight pause spread into the air as Pesstian took a look at his surroundings. Shortly after taking this inspection, he curtly mumbled, “I think we would’ve had to do that even if we weren’t this close to land.”
In response to Pesstian’s response, Leyai flicked her gaze toward the human’s ruined vessel.
As she had come to realize, many rips and tears had been made into its once-sturdy wood. Even as she and Pesstian spoke, it was slowly falling into the ocean.
“You’re probably right,” she replied with a chuckle.
Chapter X
A Home is Lost
As the days seemed to slip beyond his reach, Pesstian grew more and more eager to see what existed within this foreign place. He wondered what existed within the many piles of snow covering the ground. Could anything have existed in a place untouched by the humans’ many monuments?
Besides new creatures, Pesstian was more eager to find some kind of warmth nearby. As he had come to realize, the new climate surrounding him proved far too harsh and freezing for him to handle. I wonder how the humans are handling this.
In order to survive in the bone-chilling temperatures this land threw at them, the humans took and made use of the deceased bodies of the animals they had brought with them. It was then when Pesstian and Leyai realized they were the only two creatures in captivity who had escaped death the day before.
The animal corpses were used to make food, clothing, and—in some cases—shelter for the humans. Although the owls viewed these acts as barbaric, they both held their tongues.
Moving to this foreign land in such a short period of time twisted Pesstian’s emotions. Almost every day before falling asleep, Pesstian would find himself having an argumentative conversation with himself.
Every one of the conversations he’d held with himself caused serious angina attacks and headaches to attack his body. It was during these silent conversations when he fought tears from escaping his grasp. No matter how much these conversations mentally hurt him, Pesstian felt a nearly unbearable urge to silently continue them with every passing day.
Realizing how he had gone through so much change at such a rapid pace, the young owl was unsure whether or not to feel sad, happy, angry, or all of the above.
--
Literally many days had come to pass since the humans’ vessel crashed and sank into the icy ocean. It was during a bright, chilling morning when Pesstian and Leyai felt both physically and mentally weak. Almost every one of their feathers felt as if they were on the brink of crumbling from lack of heat.
As both owls remain numb beneath the coldness, they sat upon a hard mount of snow near what Pesstian believed would become the humans’ home. Hunger called at every corner of their stomachs, causing fatigue to come much quicker. With these physical weaknesses bringing them down, both owls felt as their hope began to perish.
The only thing the owls could have done to combat the cold was to huddle together for warmth. However, not even that could bring an increase in their hope for survival.
Her beak a feather’s-length away from Pesstian’s chest, Leyai asked her friend through a shiver, “Wh-what are we going to do?”
“How should I know?” growled Pesstian, trying to conserve his breath. So much as a single word could sap strength away from the owls. Feeling as these strength-sucking words slipped from his beak, Pesstian allowed pause of silence to come between him and Leyai.
The silence was broken when Pesstian informed his friend through a whisper, “I’m going.”
“Going where?” Leyai wondered, her eyes closed tight. “Don’t go—please! If I can’t share my warmth with you, I’m going to die; don’t go!”
Wearily picking himself up on his feet, Pesstian released a grunt. Only two hindrances tried to stop him from moving from his spot: his weary legs and Leyai’s talons—the likes of which clutched onto his legs.
Trying to control his anger, Pesstian shook his leg while commanding, “Let go!” It hadn’t taken much shaking for Leyai to release her grip on her friend’s leg.
Unfortunately for Pesstian, he’d shaken his leg too much. Once finally free of Leyai’s grip, he found himself imbalance—so much so that he lost his balance and toppled over into a sheet of snow.
His emotions cooling down slightly, he took a look back at his suffering friend and mumbled, “I’ll be back before you know it.”
A distressed look on her face, Leyai lay on her stomach—watching as Pesstian lifted his wings into the air. Nearly frozen tears escaped from her eyes as she futilely reached out for the comfort of her only friend. Don’t leave me! You can’t let me die here!
Although his stomach ached more and more with every single push of his wings, Pesstian continued to flap, the target of food filling his mind. He could feel as his blood pumped with the urge to sink his beak into the meat of a rodent—or anything of the likeness.
Unfortunately for Pesstian, fatigue bit at his wings—removing his will to move on any further. As a result, his face met with the ground—and such ground would lay upon, lying in wait for a savior.
Just as quickly as he had given up on flight, a human noticed as Pesstian on a snowy floor, clumps of melting snow clotting up the owl’s coat of feathers.
Upon taking sight of the owl’s weak body, the human picked Pesstian off of the ground, brushed off the snow from his body, and pressed two fingers against Pesstian’s chest. He was feeling for heartbeats, unsure if the only male owl they had brought with them was still alive.
After waiting for a few heartbeats to pass, the human confirmed Pesstian was still alive. His breath was still there, his essence present. Pesstian could feel as the human’s grip relaxed slightly.
Relief washing over him, the human carefully placed Pesstian feet-first into a rough bag—large enough to fit a human child in it. Hoping to insure the owls’ safety, the human walked over to where he believed he last saw Leyai.
As predicted, she remain in the exact spot that he had first thought. As unpredicted, she lay face-first on the floor.
Fearing for Leyai’s life, the human decisively placed her in his bag right beside Pesstian—who was still shaken up by the freezing temperatures he had recently undergone. It was then when the human quickly snapped the bag closed and let the owls be, hoping to keep the cold air away. He didn’t even bother to carry the owls; he just left them there.
Shivering and half-frozen, Pesstian silently uttered to himself, I should have never gone!
Almost as if she had taken hearing of Pesstian’s silent words, Leyai mumbled, “Why did you go? Y-you didn’t accomplish anything at all! I may have died if that human hadn’t found me.”
“I’m sorry—okay?” Pesstian snapped through a soft voice. “I just thought—I just thought that I could get us a mouse or something like that. I was doing it to help you. So don’t blame me for anything that just happened.”
Feeling as the heat from Pesstian’s anger, Leyai released a small sigh—from it sprouted fear and hopelessness. “Just promise me you won’t do anything like that again. I don’t think I could survive anywhere without a good friend by my side.”
Feeling as if he held a special place in Leyai’s mind, Pesstian couldn’t help but allow a small chuckle to slip through the corners of his beak. It was then when Pesstian was interrupted by disruptive shake—the likes of which spread down the walls of the human’s bag.
Uncomfortably leaning against the bag’s fabric, Pesstian wondered out loud, “What the heck was that?” Not even waiting for an answer to come, he took a look up, taking notice of the outside light seeping through. The bag’s opening! he realized.
Seeing his goal, Pesstian sprouted through the opening. He felt as his head shot up through the top of the bag, and—as predicted—met the cool air outside. Such a feeling calmed him; the sensation of the breeze running past his ears made him feel at peace with himself.
Upon poking his head out of the bag, the first thing Pesstian caught sight of was a strange area of land clearly renovated by the humans. It was as if this place had been completely cleared of snow and grass—if grass had even existed in this land.
Gathered up around this patch of soil were all the humans Pesstian had come to know over the past few days. Strangely enough, they all seemed to be looking down at their pile of cleared earth.
Pesstian couldn’t understand a word the humans saying. Fortunately for him, he could make their emotions by listening to the tones of their voices. It was a gift he had been given at birth—and it could work on any creature!
Thanks to his recognition of emotions, Pesstian was able to make out the many bolts of anger sprouting from the humans’ voices. Completely awestricken by the sound of their fury, Pesstian kept his distance, afraid the humans would start a fight.
All anger came to a stop when one of them pointed toward an area Pesstian could not see. Obscuring his vision was a hill of snow. Curiosity taking over his mind, Pesstian pushed his head through the hole—struggling all the while—hoping to push himself out of the bag.
“What’re you doing?” Leyai asked through a yawn. “Are you leaving again?”
A shock of fear and surprise moved its way across Pesstian’s spine when he took hearing of these words. Feeling as the shock travelled down to his tailbone, he nervously took a look back at Leyai. “I’m just going to take a look,” he murmured through a nervous smile.
“Don’t go!” Leyai commanded, the words sapping her strength. “Have you already forgotten what just happened a moment ago?”
“I’m just taking a look,” Pesstian whispered, hoping to calm Leyai down. “I’ll barely even move away from the bag. You’ve got nothing to worry about!”
Before Leyai could have protested any further, Pesstian gave a large flap of his weary wings and pulled himself out of the bag. Once free, he blocked out the sound of Leyai’s voice. What are those humans looking at? he wondered, curiosity pecking at his mind.
Pesstian used all his strength in an attempt to increase momentum, moving only his wings. Thankfully for him, it hadn’t taken much for him to catch sight of the human activity.
Both surprise and confusion flared within Pesstian’s mind when his eyes caught what looked like hundreds of gargantuan creatures—the likes of which were nearly four times the size of a human. To add to their enormous size, these animals held thick blankets of brown fur covering their entire bodies.