Three suns later
“Has Kilon recovered?” Avaanel asked Eharel. She used two starstag antlers to the sides of her leg, to support her weight the missing foot couldn’t.
“Hard to say,” Eharel responded, his eyes looking doubtful to the ground. “Him using all those lights so recklessly during the first attack, may have injured him in places we don’t know of,” his voice trembling with bits of worry.
“It doesn’t matter,” Menoel interrupted their conversation, leading their attention towards his tall body. “Once we’re surrounded by those mountains, we can rest for more than a sun,” his eyes looking forward, as they now passed a portion of a mountain to the right of them, and to the left, another portion of a mountain started.
The Lightborn have travelled for nineteen suns since they left the Link into the Warm Lands, or twenty-seven days, since the last sun was a normal day. They left the Northern region of Erta, the day-night cycle started to work in half of a day, instead of whole days, thus the last sun being a normal day.
Since they started to travel the Warm Lands, until they reached the Lands Between Mountains, twelve suns or days have passed. With two days to rest, one after crossing the Closed Passage, and one after the second rootworm attack, the Lighborn have travelled for thirty-one days before they reached-
“Our home, it’s here,” Menoel bluntly stated. Eharel looked at him with disdain, as if Menoel’s words offended him somehow, or were oblivious to some fact that should be known.
“Our home, you say…” Avaanel repeated, squinting her eyes at the top of the mountains and admiring their beauty. Those peaks weren’t covered by thick layers of snow, or ceaselessly attacked by ruthless winds, she could see. Instead, they were covered by green, tall trees, plants, and almost certainly, wildlife. The breeze coming from ahead of them was chilly. A powerful scent of fauna and life infiltrated deep into their lungs, as they started to make their way into the passage.
“What should we call this one?” Eharel asked Menoel, a hint of sarcasm in his voice. Menoel didn’t seem to notice it at first.
“This passage you mean brother?” Menoel asked back, trying to see if Eharel sought to annoy him.
“Well, everything. Since this is clearly our new home, we should come up with names really fast right?” Eharel continued, his sarcasm now stepping on his brother’s nerves, as Menoel clenched his left fist, parallel to Eharel.
“You’re doubting this place? Now that we’re here, you dare doubt Kilon and our siblings’ sacrifices?!” Menoel inquired of Eharel, his eyes starting to emit an aggressive glow.
“I’m not doubting Kilon,” Eharel snapped at Menoel, aiming his gaze into Menoel’s eyes. “I’m questioning your ability to judge our circumstances, dear brother,” Eharel continued, a frown, followed by a smirk as he said these things, appeared on his face.
“How about, the Passage Gates,” Avaanel suggested amidst their dispute. “Maybe not that though, doesn’t sound proper enough,” she continued, like she was oblivious to her brothers’ concerns.
“Either way Eharel,” Menoel wanted to finish. “Me and Kilon already discussed what to do once we get there,” Menoel smirked back at Eharel.
“Then tell us too, about these plans you and Kilon talked about,” Eharel maintained his sarcasm, while also wanting to know more about it.
“I will, once we arrive. There is no point in explaining it here, given that we need something to practice with,” Menoel teased his brother, switching his gaze back upon the road, his eyes calm in their glow.
Eharel wanted to know what Menoel was talking about, but knew that it was a bit late to persuade Menoel, given the way he talked towards Menoel. Avaanel, on the other hand, simply couldn’t contain her excitement. There were so many things showing up just as they were entering the valley.
Trees, plants, and at times small critters. They were all just as fascinating as it was when they escaped the Shivering Lands. Some Lightborn would stop and gather some of these plants. Smell, taste or apply their power to them, are things they would do to see how this new life interacts with them. Some interesting plants were the: sharp flower, bloom moon, crying rose and tree shroom.
Avaanel would grow fond of the bloom moon in particular, as, at night, the bloom moons let go of their seed heads into the night. Then, while flying high above ground, these seed heads, when daylight first strikes them, would break apart, releasing seeds everywhere.
Menoel, on the other hand, was wary about the tree shroom. This disease, which acted so vicious against trees, that they named it as a different species after the kind of morphing it achieved against trees, could prove an issue if it’s widely spread.
Some Lightborn, meanwhile, were playing around with sharp flowers. Their hard to see pointy, sharp ends, proved as an entertaining tool to mess around with others. Melonius had yet to recover from the death of his brother, but these sharp flowers proved to be a good way to take his mind away from it. He would gather a bunch, use wind manipulation to make them float, then chase some of his siblings around with them. The unlucky ones had to pull out, at times, a couple dozen from their bodies.
Eharel took note of this and feared for his life that Melonius may come to stab him as well. Avaanel could only hope he would dare such a thing against her, while Menoel simply ignored Melonius, as he knew Melonius needed this.
As night would settle though, Eharel has had enough. Melonius terrorised his brothers and sisters for half a sun at this point. That wasn’t the issue for him, it was the constant fear he had to live in, not knowing if he was the next target of these assaults.
“Melonius, can we talk?” Eharel asked Melonius, who was chasing a few of his siblings around.
Melonius stopped from his play, then, to Eharel’s surprise, changed his demeanour to a serious one immediately. His eyes were focused on Eharel solely, a slight frown showing he was listening. “Of course brother. Is it about Kilon? Or is there something that needs to be done?” Melonius asked, ready to comply with any orders.
At first, Eharel didn’t know what to think of this sudden shift in behaviour. Whether Melonius was playing him for a fool, or if he realised that there was no point in playing around after what happened. “Are you aware of the ruckus you’re causing?” Eharel asked of him, his eyes searching for an expected reaction, while his voice trembled a bit. Scared that because he asked Melonius directly, that might make him a target.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
Melonius looked at Eharel, trying to see if there was something more important his brother wanted to know, but there was nothing more. Once he realised the sole reason Eharel is there, he adopted a more casual stance, his face looking playful again. “I’m well aware. I do it to entertain myself after all,” Melonius’ bluntness taking Eharel aback.
“Melonius, understand that you’re making our siblings run around like scared animals. Can you stop for a-” while Eharel tried to reason with Melonius, as he exaggerated his words with his head movements, once he stopped to look straight at Melonius’ face, he could see it. A creeping smile and eyes happy to find a new target. Once he realised that this was it, Eharel simply said that “Um. Just don-don’t bother anyone else okay!?”. Then he walked back to the front, hoping that Melonius was going to cease.Eharel would find himself open to the assaults of Melonius as night encompassed the lands.
The Lightborn stopped to rest, as Avaanel’s traps haven’t been activated for the past three suns. They formed large groups, between one to four hundred, and made circles. In these circles, most prayed, while others simply rested their bodies. When they prayed, given the density of some groups, their lights could be, at times, seen by those with a keen eye. Menoel watched these lights in his spare time, trying to guess who’s light is depending on the light’s intensity and fluctuations, as the light can reveal inner aspects of someone.
The amount of light they produced, due to their skin, hair and use of abilities at times, attracted some curious critters from within the mountain forests. One such nocturn critter, they called, was the regal deer. They were akin to the star stags, but with thinner fur and smaller bodies. Their names come from their antlers, which, in some, have been noticed to grow the size of their body or even larger. The bone of the antlers, diverging into many tines the larger these grew. Their necks were particularly thick, and their front limbs seemed muscular. The regal deers gathered in packs of four or six, watching from a safe distance the Lightborn’s lights dancing with the night.
Some birds also were showing to investigate. One species, the mane looters, proved a bit annoying, as they would sweep above their heads and steal hairs from their heads with immaculate precision. A few Lightborn tried to capture some of these birds, and one in particular proved more skilled than the others. Her name was Avunaia. She was as tall as Avaanel, while her glow was orange. She used small, yet effective, simple contraptions to trap and kill animals. Her light was described as ‘nurturing’ and ‘warm’, which was part of the reason as to why she was better at interacting with critters.
Once Avunaia got the hang of catching these birds, she taught her siblings how to do it as well. Overnight, a group of Lighborns, by the self imposed name of the Sweepers, was brought to life, Avunaia as their leader. They formed this group as a method of getting their hands on new plants and such earlier than others. This group, with Avunaia as their leader, was formed of mainly red and orange glowing Lightborn, five in number with Avunaia, and one white glowing Lightborn. The white glowing Lightborn, by the name of Meriumus, had the role of bargaining.
“We act as discussed,” Avunaia started. Her group was paying attention, while she was measuring all of them up, pacing around in front of them. Her mane looter, which she called Prickety, stood on her shoulder. When Avunaia moved, only the legs of the bird shifted and bent with her movement, the body standing seemingly still. “We send the mane looters ahead, and when they return,” Avunaia grabbed Meriumus by the shoulders as she continued, “We put Meriumus up for a bargain with our siblings.”.
“Why don’t we just ask them for what we want?” A foolish Lightborn, by the name of Mercaara asked. Avunaia let go of Meriumus, then stepped up to Mercaara’s face, a stingy slap given as a response.
“We’re in new ground sister!” Avunaia exclaimed, what she thought was obvious, to her sister. “Remember how everyone looked at Kilon when he brought home the head of the beast?” Avunaia explained, grabbing Mercaara by her shoulders, the passion in Avunaia’s eyes undeniable. Mercaara was speechless when confronted with that excitement. “Imagine just how incredible he must’ve felt when all those eyes were on him and him solely. Don’t you want some of those looks directed at you Mercaara?” Her reasoning making Mercaara, who was soothing the pain from the slap with her left hand, feel some unnecessary shame.
The others were also feeling a bit ashamed if they doubted Avunaia’s idea, while getting excited at the prospect of popularity amongst their siblings. This was Avunaia’s intention. She wanted them to get as excited about the idea, as she was. Even if nothing came of it, at least she could spend time doing what she liked with her siblings.
Meriumus already knew about her plan. The only reason he agreed to it, was due to his deep rooted fascination with wild flora. As these lands provided an over abundance of them, and Avunaia wanted to gather specimens to impress their siblings, their ambitions tied in nicely.
The night went by with no issues, except for the occasional mane looter snatching bits of hairs from here and there. With the dawn of the new day, Kilon has finally recovered. Until that point, he slept in a coma-like state, after he gave away command to Menoel. He’s been carried by some of the best wind manipulators in their group.
From time to time, he could hear his siblings. Their voices and play around him, reminding his fading consciousness of the duty he had to them. But most of the time, while in his deep slumber, the vision of the Lightborn killing his siblings haunted him. He could, at times, feel as if he could do something inside those vivid dreams. It was futile to try though, as the vision would end the same.
“What day is it?” Kilon asked of his siblings surrounding him. They jumped a little as they heard his voice, then smiled as they saw him awake. They didn’t pay attention to his question. Instead, they gathered around him and told him of the things they discovered, saw, even ate.
“It’s the fourth day after you faded,” Meonel told him, a subtle smile on his face. Behind him was Eharel, pulling sharp flowers from his back and butt. Melonius also followed, a serious expression on his face and bouquet of sharp flowers in his right hand.
“How close are we?” Kilon posed another question, looking at the sky to see bloom moons breaking with the first sun rays. He looked around to ensure none of his siblings were missing, although it was hard to tell when hundreds, soon thousands, were gathering around.
“We spent the late sun here,” Eharel started to explain, a painful look on his face. “If we hurry, we’ll make it through the passage by the time the next late sun arrives.”.
“Is everyone alright?” Kilon’s last question was embraced by everyone with a smile. “I’ll take it as a yes then,” no words were needed.
“What about you brother?” Menoel wanted to know, “Have you recuperated?”. Everyone else wanted to know as well. Some were leaning forward to listen to Kilon’s words, while others were trying to get closer by almost climbing the backs of those leaning forward.
Kilon knew there wasn’t a better answer, than showing it. So, he lifted himself up, standing once more above all. While he didn’t have the over one hundred lights of his dead siblings, his own grew stronger yet again. He wasn’t absolutely sure of it yet, but it seemed that, the more strain on the body one suffers, the greater the power one can achieve.
This new, higher power, was displayed to Kilon’s siblings. He first told them to back away some distance. Then, with sparks erupting from around his eyes, a powerful glow in the palms of his hands and gestures of his hands. Kilon swayed the winds to such a degree, that he formed a controlled tornado around himself. Those outside the tornado didn't feel any pull or push from it. While the tornado itself wasn’t that great of a feat, his overwhelming control on how these winds gathered and left, was spectacular.
After his display was over, they gathered around once more. Eharel checked his body closely, looking for any signs of the light behaving in an erratic manner, but there were no such signs. Menoel, brimming with excitement, smiled at Kilon, ready to be led by him once more and bring their plans to fruition. Melonius had a stern look on his face, preparing himself to aid their siblings in making their new home.
Avaanel finally made her way to Kilon. Having to both walk with antlers as support and make it through the gathering crows, was a challenge. She saw everyone happy around Kilon, who was better. “Well, dear brother. You made it back to us,” Avaanel stated aloud, her awkward steps making way to Kilon as everyone went silent. “Now, give me what you ought to give us since we left.”.
“Yes, sister. Like I said, we are to find a home. And, although I couldn’t be with all of you the whole time, now I will guide us through. Our way home is here, we just have to walk a little bit longer.”.