Immortal Darkness: Shadow Across the Land

by Alex Rey

  Startled by such a sudden movement, Pesstian hopped into the cart at the last moment. Under the human’s noses, he remained in this cart—paying no heed to the way the cart bumped him all around and about.

  A long ride commenced from that point on. All the while did Pesstian wonder how he could have stayed so long in the same area—so close to the people he was spying on—without being caught. These humans must be more blind than I thought.

  With time the rumbling of the cart came to an end. Pesstian was unsure of how many times his head had come in contact with the grain of the cart. Dizziness bogged his mind, his mind still boggled with the thoughts of the humans’ actions. With the thought that the humans wouldn’t move the cart floating about in his mind, Pesstian rubbed the top of his head. I almost wish I told them that I was in here, he resented. With every will in his body did he fight the urge to release a chirp of pain—but he couldn’t only imagine what would happen to him then.

  Alone with his thoughts, Pesstian continued to rest just below the humans’ gaze. Less and less did he begin to worry about the consequences of being caught the longer he remained in this crate. More and more did he think about Leyai—all the adventures they’d shared and all the feelings he’d felt for her.

  Pesstian was developing a fetish for Leyai. Through the time he’d spent with her, Pesstian felt more and more attached to her. But—maybe it’s because she’s the only owl I’ve actually known in this place, he realized. Has fate brought me here?

  Unlike the many of the female owls Pesstian had admitted to having a fetish toward, Leyai showed respect toward him—treated him like a true owl and not a weak mouse-tail she’d simply tagged along with on a trip. At times, however, Leyai seemed a bit strange when confronting Pesstian. In a sense, she seemed shy in Pesstian’s mind.

  Pesstian could only imagine a day when Leyai showed resentment toward him. In her wings he longed to be—but would he ever be there? If Leyai truly were to hold any resentment toward him, it would have seemed a horrendous scenario.

  It wasn’t long when Pesstian heard a strange chop—chop—chop in the near distance.

  It sounds like the humans are digging into something, Pesstian inferred. What could this something have been? I have to look—but what if they see me? The answer to such a question immediately exited his mind when one of the humans threw a chunk of wood into the cart.

  His eyes taking in the sight of the flying wood, Pesstian flapped his way out of the cart. How any of the humans didn’t hear the rush of wind coming forth by his wings was beyond his understanding.

  They almost crushed me with—wait—what was that? Curious to know, Pesstian took the risk of flying back to the cart—only this time he lay low to the ground.

  Nothing could have saved Pesstian from what he was about to see. At first he’d expected to find nothing more than whatever it was the humans had thrown into the cart. A simple look up, however, nearly brought him to tears.

  Never before had Pesstian taken witness somebody causing so much damage to a tree; they were killing it! How could the humans have been so deceitful, so cruel as what Pesstian had just taken sight of?

  Unable to hold its own weight, this tree withdrew from its place as a pointer to the sky to a heavy sleeper.

  The—the humans, they— stammered Pesstian, still fighting back tears. How did they? How could they? Are the humans completely oblivious to the fact that they’re killing so many creatures by cutting down a tree? My mother—oh no! I can’t even imagine what she would have to say about this!

  From the day he was born to the day he left home, Pesstian and all the owls around him saw these wooden beings as symbols to the very basis in which they lived. Never before had Pesstian guessed a human would topple a tree over.

  While he had heard before about rumors of humans using trees for their own selfish needs, Pesstian never chose to believe in them—until now. Every bone and every muscle in his body yearned to spill human blood, yet he still held enough common sense to keep from permanently scarring the beasts in front of him.

  So what now? Are they going to try to eat that tree? All the while of uttering these words did he rest up against the humans’ cart. Only by doing so did he realize what they really intended to do with the tree.

  They’re—going to use the tree for their own selfish purposes? Pesstian’s heart thumped about in his chest with grief and sorrow. I have to tell Leyai! Without a care for whether or not if the humans took sight of him, he flew up from out behind the cart and up into the sky.

  Okay. Where did the humans take me from? Pesstian moved up and up and up, hoping to find a human light stick out into his eyes. Upon finding such a series of lights, he immediately flew toward the human village.

  From the time Pesstian had left the human town to the time he’d returned, the light of the sky disappeared from sight. As a result of this fact, Leyai was nothing more than an invisible speck in the background.

  It was after a long time of tedious searching when Pesstian took sight of Leyai sitting on one of the human roofs. Upon taking sight of her, he swept down to her while simultaneously shouting to her, “Get off of that!”

  “What?”

  “Get off, now!” he responded, coming up by Leyai’s shoulder.

  “What’s wrong with you?” asked Leyai, lifting up into the air. “Do you know what the humans are making their stuff from?”

  The only response to such a question was silence.

  It was at that moment when Pesstian felt his heart being attacked by a thousand and one lightning bolts.

  Seeing him still as her friend, Leyai released a sigh before commanding of him, “Pesstian—just—follow me,” and lifted off toward the place where they’d both rested during last night’s blizzard.

  What’s she been hiding from me? wondered Pesstian. Does she know about the humans?

  Upon making her way to the top of the familiar cliff, Leyai sat down and made her confession to Pesstian. “Pesstian,” she began. “Do you remember yesterday when I asked you to get me a coat?”

  Hesitantly but sincerely, Pesstian responded, “Yes.”

  “I didn’t really need a coat; I just made that up so that I could distract you from the humans behind us. Ever since the first day we came here, I’ve seen them, Pesstian. I’ve seen what the humans have done to the trees!”

  These words left Pesstian speechless—giving Leyai the chance to move on.

  “I didn’t think you would be able to see them if I made you go to get one of those coats. So while the humans were out in the woods killing trees, I wanted to make you get away as far as possible away from them.”

  “But—why would you do that?” snapped Pesstian. “Why would you keep that from me? We could have stopped them!”

  “Stop them?” Leyai murmured, picking herself up on her feet. “What makes you think two little owls could possibly stop creatures who like to bring down trees? If we tried to kill at least one of the humans, another would pull out one of their weapons and kill us—just like they did to all those owls on their oceanic device.”

  “Can’t we just use the weapons that are short to the humans? Their weapons will at least help us to take them over. We can stab, slash, and slice the humans up!”

  With a notion to stop Pesstian’s wild ideas, Leyai confronted him by muttering, “Pesstian—”

  “How about we go get all the owls out in the wild to rise up against the humans?”

  “Pesstian—”

  “Or maybe we can set a fire in their—”

  “Pesstian!”

  “Ah!” Pesstian screamed in fright. “What?”

  “We can’t just attack the humans!” Leyai huffed, growing up to nearly twice her size.

  “Then what can we do?” snorted Pesstian.

  A moment of silence befell Leyai’s beak just before she released a grunt of contempt. Just another moment brought her to flight.

  “Hey!” exclaimed Pesstian, readying himself to chase Leyai. “Wait u
p!” What’s up with her?

  What seemed like a short time turned into days for Pesstian. Looping through infinite amount of rings in the sky, he yearned to catch up to Leyai—but not a single event of any scenario would seem to withstand the ability to change her mind.

  If she won’t stop, there will be no future for us, Pesstian realized. This thought in mind, he boosted the amount of speed placed into his wings. A velocity of such magnitude caused tears to stream from his eyes as an unaccounted-for amount of feathers drifted off in the distance.

  With time Pesstian focused too much of his attention on speed and not enough on simply trying to catch up to Leyai. Resulting from this simple mistake was his sudden habit of circling above a cluster of trees.

  In the midst of Pesstian’s confusion and hyperactivity, Leyai swept out of the commotion to watch her friend acting like a fool. In her mind it appeared as if Pesstian was having a seizure in midflight.

  A sigh befell Leyai’s beak when she halted all forward momentum. “Is he serious?” she murmured. A small growl formed beneath her throat when she uttered, “Pesstian—” The only result from such a quiet commandment was Pesstian’s continued circling.

  He’s chasing nothing! she contemptuously thought. Resisting the urge to keep herself calm, Leyai screeched at the top of her lungs, “Pesstian!” The end result was Pesstian’s inevitable halt. Always gets him. “Pesstian! Over here!”

  With these few words rumbling about in his ears, Pesstian was able to decipher exactly where Leyai was. Taking no time to hesitate, he zipped his way up to her side—and to his surprise, she made no move to retreat. Instead of feeling some type of elation, Pesstian felt a sense of remorse nag about in his head.

  Hoping he wasn’t making the wrong move, Pesstian suggested to his friend, “Uh—maybe we should stop flying.”

  Another sigh surpassed Leyai’s lungs as she gave a quick nod of her head—and as a result she and Pesstian slowly drifted down to the trees.

  “So what do you expect us to do?” Pesstian asked at the very moment his feet touched the ground. “Do you suggest we—well—run away?”

  “I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t know!” Leyai snapped, a foot stamping to the ground. “Do you expect some idea to just pop into my head?” she continued. “Do you expect something to just fall out of the sky and suddenly make sense of everything that’s going on?”

  In the blink of an eye, a glittering, shining speck showed itself in the clouds above.

  “Are you even listening to me?” growled Leyai, taking a small step back. She was heartbroken, robbed of her pride—yet she knew not of what rest behind her head.

  Without any regard for the temporary contempt Leyai would hold for him, Pesstian tackled Leyai down on her back. At the same time did he command to her, “Look out!”

  Fear suddenly clutching to her heart, Leyai shut her eyes while simultaneously wondering, “What’s going on?” The only answer to such a question was the sound of wind brushing through what sounded like the leaves of the trees above. To add to this, both she and Pesstian took notice of branches falling off from the trees.

  A moment of silence commenced almost immediately after the trees’ trimming. After such silence did the sound of human cries split the air.

  “What happened?” asked Leyai. “What was that?”

  Picking himself up from Leyai’s face, Pesstian crawled up on his feet and took a look up at the trees. It was then when he took notice of the glistening speck he’d seen earlier—now stuck in a cluster of leaves.

  The sight of her baffled friend flashing in her eyes, Leyai held her tongue. Just what does he think he’s doing? It wasn’t before too long when the light from the glistening object sparkled in her eyes. It was then when a gasp escaped from her beak. What is that?

  In Pesstian’s wings was a large blue rock weighing more than his own being. “Whoa!” he screamed in fear while being pulled down to the ground. “Look out! It’s too heavy!” His fear had led the little owl to believe one foul swoop would have left Leyai beheaded. It wasn’t until he felt the sudden shift of weight from this heavy object when his fears went away.

  Turning his head, the sight of his once-resentful friend shined in his eyes. Whichever glistened more—Leyai’s feathers or the stone they both held—was a matter he would probably never be sure of. He was literally stunned by her presence; he was shocked by her being.

  Bringing Pesstian out of this trance, Leyai started releasing her grip on the sapphire block. It was at that moment when he took realization of the true danger this block held.

  Not only was the weight of this object very disorientating, but also was the danger within its edges. Pesstian could literally feel the weight of this object digging into his talons. He tried with all his strength to overcome the pain withdrawn unto his fingers.

  The moment finally came when the two little owls came down to the ground. With a twitch of his eye, Pesstian slipped his fingers out from under the blue object upon him. “Ow!” he screamed simultaneously.”

  A moment of silence passed Pesstian before he took a look down at his bludgeoned talons. He grimaced at the sight of blood—now wondering if it was worth it to go after this object that had nearly killed the two owls.

  A gasp escaping from her maw, Leyai took a look at Pesstian when she asked, “What happened?”

  “Can’t you tell?” Pesstian responded, trying not to snap. “That thing’s sharp! There’s no doubt it would have killed one of us if I didn’t act fast enough. I don’t think my talons can take it anymore!”

  “Not that,” murmured Leyai. “You have a scar on your forehead.”

  “I do?” Pesstian snickered. “Does it look pretty?”

  “It’s bleeding, Pesstian,” Leyai huffed, “Stop joking around!”

  “Sorry!” Pesstian mumbled.

  “I just don’t understand,” Leyai sighed. It was then when she continued, “It’s just a—” only to be interrupted by the sensation of the block pricking into her fingers. “Ouch!” she hissed.

  With a quick tug, her fingers were free. Like Pesstian’s, however, they retracted from under the stone with traces of blood clinging onto them. Before too long what felt like tears started rolling down her eyes. With a quick rub of her eyes, however, she discovered no such tears existed; instead there remain blood.

  Curiosity bit Leyai on her head when she wiped her other wing—a dry, clean wing—across her forehead. The result in doing so was the realization of the scar that had truly been placed upon her forehead.

  After allowing a moment of silence commence, Pesstian chuckled, “Are you sure you’re not the one with a scar?”

  “We both have scars, okay?” Leyai hissed. “Just because you can’t feel something doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.”

  Theist logic— Pesstian silently sighed.

  “What was that?” Leyai snapped.

  Taking a backwards leap, Pesstian found himself dumbfounded when he explained through a series of stammers, “I di-I didn’t say anything!” Wow; why’s she being so stuck-up?

  “Stuck-up?” Leyai repeated, “Why are you being so immature?”

  How did she even hear that? It was at that moment when Leyai realized Pesstian was uttering these words without moving his beak. It was at that moment when she noticed the strange abilities bestowed upon her mind—but was it by the stone?

  With a sigh, Leyai—without warning—raised her wings into the air and went her own separate way.

  “Leyai!” her pessimistic friend called after her. For a split-second did Pesstian yearn to catch up to her—only to be stopped by his own pessimism. He sighed and started himself on a walk while silently wondering, Can she hear my thoughts from all the way over here? When no answer came from the sky, he released a sigh of relief and decided to walk his worries away. All the while did he remain in contact with his thoughts.

  Chapter XV

  New Friends

  “I can’t believe Pesstian!” Leyai mumbled w
hile in air. Closer and closer she came to the clouds, more and more did she beat her wings. Without realization, she gained altitude at an alarmingly-rapid rate—as did her temper.

  “Just what makes him think he can just take down the humans? What makes him so high-and-mighty and strong that he can just do and tell me to do what he wants?”

  Although she was unable to tell, her recently-placed scar started emanating a neon glow above her eyes.

  Surrounding the little owl were layers and layers of blanketed clouds; coming in from behind were the dawning sun’s rays. Because of her great altitude, not a speck of green showed itself unto Leyai’s eyes. At the same time did the blowing wind bristle about in her ears—interfering with her hearing.

  Leyai barely needed to flap her wings in her current environment; the wind did all the work for her. She could only imagine how long she could keep airborne without having to flap her wings once again. How she made it all the way up here was beyond her thoughts and memory.

  Although the day had soon to come, the sun shined on behind Leyai, its light bouncing off her cloud-soaked feathers. She’d almost completely forgotten about what time of day it was because of this fact.

  Once she praised Pesstian—but now she despised him. It was at this moment when Leyai finally retracted back into her thoughts.

  “And what a weakling! He can’t even put that blue rock down without needing somebody’s help.” As her words grew louder, so did her altitude and temper and the glow from her scar. Eventually she came to the point where the light proved bright enough to interfere with Leyai’s sight. What is that?

  --

  No need for flight, Pesstian calmly reminded himself every time he felt some kind of slowdown in walking.

  Thick and dense, a cluster of woods surrounded Pesstian—hiding him from all possible threats. As a result, he felt no need to turn his back and check for any possible phenomena.