Immortal Darkness: Shadow Across the Land (27 page)

Out of all the owls, Pesstian was most
surprised by the coolness. Feeling as a freezing-cold breeze swept
across his face, a spark of surprise lit up inside him when he
silently exclaimed,
It’s even colder now than it was
earlier!

Taking a glance through the hole in the
ceiling, Pesstian suddenly noticed how it was almost as dark on the
outside of the room as it was on the inside. At this realization,
the curious owl flew out through the opened trapdoor—quickly
finding himself stranded in a pool of darkness. With one single
look up at the night sky, he took notice of a swarm of dark-gray
clouds covering up the moon’s heavenly stare.

Each of the clouds were puffy and black as
the wool from a black sheep should have been. The only exception—at
least when it had come to color—was a small cluster of clouds.

This little cluster seemed to glow with a
light-gray color.
The moon must behind those clouds
,
Pesstian concluded while staring up at the bright clouds. Such a
sight allowed a sense of peace to fill his mind.

I may not be able to see the stars or the
full moon, but at least I can see the light that the moon’s giving
off. I think I might take a while to gaze at it.

These words echoing inside of the walls of
his head, Pesstian lifted his wings into the air in an attempt to
take flight. After giving a strong flap of his two wings, the
little owl travelled a small journey over to one of the ledges of
the human vessel.

Upon making his way toward the ledge,
Pesstian brought an end to his flapping and almost immediately took
a seat upon it. A feeling of comfort lit up within Pesstian’s heart
as his eyes locked onto the cluster of the shining clouds above.
Such a sight make Pesstian feel as if he were staring into a
portal—a portal to the heavens.

If only I could fly through it!
he
silently exclaimed.
If only the humans would let me do that.
They would probably shoot me down into the ocean just like they did
to the last owl that had tried to fly up into the sky.
Releasing a sigh, he forlornly asked himself,
Why do they have
to be so strict?

Pesstian’s turned his gaze up toward the
nebulous clouds, releasing a small sigh all the while. It was at
that moment when he realized the clouds were causing him to feel
the urge to break the rules the humans had
set up
for the
owls.

I don’t think I should keep looking up at
those clouds,
he suggested to himself.
But what else am I
supposed to do?

It was while caught up in the midst of his
thoughts when the sound of yawning made Pesstian’s ears twitch
slightly. Curious to know the source of this yawning, he gave a
sharp twist of his neck—only to catch sight of Leyai.

From what Pesstian could tell, Leyai stood
directly in front of the trapdoors’ exit. It seemed obvious to him
how Leyai had just withdrawn herself from the room. Watching as she
let out another yawn, Pesstian called out to her, “Hi Leyai!”

Feeling as a shiver crawled through her skin,
Leyai gave a wave of her wing in response to Pesstian’s voice. She
had felt as if her bones were falling apart when she hollered over
to Pesstian, “Why is it so cold out here?”

“If only I knew!” Pesstian replied through a
chuckle. “The only thing I’m sure of is that it’s been like this
since we were all still asleep. What confuses me more is why the
humans are only letting us out of our room.

“Why do they give
us
the option to
freeze to death while forcing all of the animals to remain in the
warmth? It’s so weird.” Feeling as these words escaped from his
beak, Pesstian turned his gaze back toward the cluster of bright
clouds just before letting out a sigh.

“What are you looking at?” Leyai wondered,
turning her head at the same angle as Pesstian’s. At that moment, a
wave of surprise swept around her small heart as the light from the
clouds reflected unto her yellow eyes.

Almost forgetting all about the bone-chilling
temperatures surrounding her, Leyai stood in awe at the clouds’
beauty. A gasp formed at the back of her throat just before she
exclaimed, “That’s probably the most beautiful thing I’ve ever
seen!” Turning her gaze over to Pesstian, she continued, “It’s even
more beautiful than the night I saw the moon turn red.”

A blow of confusion struck Pesstian’s head as
the sound of Leyai’s words blasted his eardrum. In complete
disbelief, he slowly cocked his head directly in front of Leyai’s
vision while placing a confused look upon his face. “Since when
does the moon turn red?”

Understanding his confusion, Leyai took a
seat next to Pesstian and released a small chuckle before
explaining, “From what I’ve heard since I was young, the moon
sometimes turns different colors. I didn’t really believe it
either—until I saw it turn red one night.”

“How does it even
get
red?”

“I don’t know,” sighed Leyai, shrugging
slightly. Her beak pointing down toward the lumber beneath her
feet, she suggested, “Maybe it has something to do with the sun. I
just don’t know.”

Pulling his eyes off of Leyai, Pesstian took
a look down into the ocean below him. All the while did he wonder,
Why haven’t I ever seen the moon turn red before?
What
seemed even more unbelievable about a reddened moon was how he had
never even heard anybody—except for Leyai—tell him of such an
occurrence.

A small chuckle began to form in Pesstian’s
lungs when he wished through a whisper, “If only the moon were red
right now
.” His gaze meeting up with Leyai’s stare, he
continued, “Imagine how weird
that
would look!”

“It would look like the sky was on fire!”
Leyai laughed in response to the thought. “Everybody on this huge
thing would go insane!”

“And what would happen if the sky actually
was
on fire?” Pesstian challenged his friend.

In response to the question, Leyai turned
around in her seat and took a look down toward the ocean just
before giving a blunt shrug of her two shoulders.

Before another word could slip from
Pesstian’s beak, the slightly enthusiastic spirit leaned backward
in his seat, his gaze pointing skyward. While in this position, he
began to explain what he thought would have happened if his
scenario
had
actually come true.

“I’m not sure whether or not we would be able
to survive without a sky anyway,” he mumbled while turning his head
over toward Leyai. “I mean—it goes on forever, doesn’t it?”

Leyai repeated her shoulder motion once
again—as she hadn’t known how to even being answering such a
question.

A sigh escaped from Pesstian’s beak just
before he shared an idea with Leyai: “Something that goes on
forever can’t be destroyed—I’m pretty sure. Unless that thing that
goes on forever wants to destroy itself.”

With the sound of these words funneling into
her head, a spark of sympathy for Pesstian flashed within Leyai’s
heart. Taking of this spark, she slowly removed her gaze from the
salty water—tilting it more and more until it met up with the sight
of her mysterious friend.

Blinking rapidly, Leyai exclaimed through a
series of stutters, “I-is that even possible? That’s a smart idea,
but—but I’m not entirely sure if it’s possible.”

In response to Leyai’s slight fear, Pesstian
placed himself back into a sitting position while releasing a small
huff of laughter. “I’m pretty sure that you have to be
alive
in order to destroy yourself.” His beak pointing over toward
Leyai’s direction, he explained through a small grin, “I don’t
think it’s possible at all.”

Only a moment had come to pass when Pesstian
noticed a sense of boredom crawling its way into his mind. Feeling
as this boredom dug deeper and deeper into his brain, he stifled a
yawn while giving a rapid series of blinks—as to keep himself from
shedding tears over this matter.
What am I supposed to do
now?

Feeling the need to swipe a sharp talon at
his tedium, the young owl picked himself up from his seat. Now on
his feet, he allowed his talons to clutch around the ledge in which
he had just been sitting upon.

Unfortunately for the little owl, the
presence of a cool breeze caused Pesstian’s balance to shift. It
was then when he realized his feet were in an unbalanced position.
A small sigh of relief escaped from Pesstian’s beak at the
realization of how lucky he had been to have not been toppled off
by the breeze.
Now to get off of this thing before that
does
happen.

Keeping this thought in mind, Pesstian
carefully crept his way along the ledge. Although he was well-aware
of how he could have simply hopped off of the ledge, the curious
owl felt much more obliged to discover where the its end lie.
Something in the back of his head had told him the humans may have
been hiding something back there.

Noticing as Pesstian travelled down this
path, a sense of confusion began to fill Leyai’s mind. Part of her
felt like asking her friend what he was up to—but instead she
decided to hold her tongue.
Maybe I should just leave him
alone
, she suggested to herself.
He might be up to something
private.

While on his journey down along the ledge of
the human vessel, a sense of luck swept through Pesstian’s mind
when he realized hardly anybody had even seen him cross along the
ledge. With this thought in mind, he was able to swiftly pace his
way toward the end of the ledge.

In order to ensure nobody had caught so much
as a single glimpse of him sneaking away, Pesstian took one last
look around the corner of the vessel’s hull—just to be sure. A
sense of self-security filled his mind when he discovered not a
single eye had drawn down upon him.

Now with the owls’ voices shrouded by the
sounds of the sea, Pesstian moved further and further down the
ledge. Now with a sense of peace and assurance building up within
his head, Pesstian noticed as the sound of deep voices called to
him from above his head. Afraid for his safety, he tilted his head
upwards.

In an attempt to discover from whom these
voices were coming from, the little owl poked his head over the
hull of the humans’ vessel. A shock of surprise bolted its way
through his blood at that moment.
Humans!
Pesstian silently
shouted.
Hundreds of them!

As the sight of the humans bled into his
eyes, Pesstian felt as almost every one of his muscles tightened
altogether. He felt as his lungs constricted themselves, cutting
off the breath he had so desired.

Over and over again did Pesstian silently
command of himself,
Please—don’t let them see you!
The fear
of being shot and killed by the humans caused his heart to nearly
leap up into his throat. Such a sensation distracted him from
coming up with a plan for escape.

If I try to poke my head above that upper
floor, the humans might kill me!
a desperate thought asserted.
My only choice is to somehow sneak my way through without even
taking a
peak
toward the humans.

The fear contained within Pesstian’s heart
caused a great difficulty in thinking to spread into his mind.
Surrendering to his mental numbness, Pesstian allowed a blanket of
weariness to envelop his thoughts. Thankfully for him, such a
blanket was destroyed with just a little time.

Taking a look at his surroundings, Pesstian
hoped for an idea to pop up. Although he was well aware of how he
could have simply turned back in the other direction, Pesstian’s
sense of curiosity begged him to move forward.

A spark of surprise lit up within Pesstian’s
stomach when the sound of a small clank caused his ears to twitch.
Almost forgetting about the threat the humans had mentally imposed
on him, he took a look down.

Once in this position, a sense of amazement
filled Pesstian’s head. He took notice of a large hole in the side
of the human device.
From the look of it,
Pesstian guessed,
the humans put this here on purpose.
Barely even a single
heartbeat had passed before he asked himself,
Why?

Almost as if he were a bat, the curious owl
held on tight as he placed his talons along the upper ledge of the
hole. It was then when he literally swung himself into a dark
room—much like a pendulum. Doing so had nearly caused his swinging
body to crash into a wooden wall.

But then—like a bat—he was still hanging on
the ledge, hanging upside-down. Pesstian began to swing his wings
in an attempt to regain his balance while in midair. He let go and
flapped, flapped for his balance.

Now feeling as balance befell his wings,
Pesstian found himself with enough patience to gently rest his feet
upon the floor. A small series of panting escaped from his beak
shortly thereafter.

While attempting to relieve himself of his
weariness, Pesstian noticed as a bright-orange light pierced into
his vision. It was only just after attempting to focus upon this
light when a large, wooden block obscured his sight. It was his own
sense of interest which drew Pesstian to find the source of the
light.

Feeling as if this room would shield him from
the humans, he slowly took a peak around the edge of the wooden
block. It was then when he began to stare into the orange light’s
radiance—noticing as it spilled out from the creak in a
nearly-closed door.
That must have been where the clank came
from,
Pesstian noted.

The humans
must
be in there! But
what are they going to do?
For once in his life—or so it had
seemed—Pesstian decided not to bother the mysterious humans.
Instead of meddling in their affairs, he remained in the dark,
mysterious room—hoping to take a gander at whatever wonders it
held.