The calm and coldness of the Night washed over Ray as his powers stirred awake. He snorted, finding the notion of feeling bad for mere prey ridiculous. It was their own fault for being weak. There was nothing more to it, prey was just prey, food.

He turned towards the tunnel and left without even a backwards glance as his leftovers turned to Ashes behind him. He had casually Clawed at it as he turned without thinking much about it. He just didn’t want it to stink up the place even if he was abandoning it for now. He’d probably be back eventually.

Although he was weakened during the Day, not just in body, but clearly in mind and spirit as well, the plans he had made were still sound and logical. He saw no fault with them, so he decided to do just as he had planned.

After digging around in the beginning of his tunnel, he pulled out a stone big enough to obstruct the opening. When he was done with that, he headed towards the inner wall by climbing on the cliff.

It was a bit cumbersome, but the city wasn’t that big, and he was strong and fast. He easily made his way to the outer city. He was still up on the cliff, considering if he should descend. He could move there faster on flat ground, and maybe see the cliff better from a bit of distance to find a good spot to dig a tunnel at. But he also didn’t like the idea, there were still people occasionally milling about outside.

He decided on something in-between as he observed the rows upon rows of uniform block housings as far as the eye could see. Ray wondered if the flat roofs were because of the difference in status, it was like the top was missing. It looked just as ugly as in his old world, even worse as it was more cramped here.

He shook his head and started descending. It didn’t matter what was before, what mattered was those flat rooftops looked a good way to move about on. They seemed deserted.

There was a wide gap between the mountain and the first building, as if they didn’t dare to build right up to it, like they did in the inner city. He descended towards the ground. He might be able to make the jump, but it was a risk he didn’t want to take. While there were gaps between the buildings as well, he was sure that he could safely jump that much.

Even though the Night was dark, it wasn’t dark enough. The Moon and the Stars shone, and as he descended, his discomfort grew. Eventually, he came to a halt. He felt too exposed to land on the ground.

He hated the feeling, to be seen.

He wanted to lurk unseen in the dark, he was the hunter of the Night. He needed to be hidden. He looked up at the sky, to the Moon and Stars.

He was confused. He felt things weren’t as they should be, he was missing something crucial. The Night, the Moon, the Stars, they should be his allies that hid him. But he felt exposed by their light.

Light…

Ray frowned. Wasn’t he hurt by Sunlight? Or are the rays of Sun reflecting from the Moon were too weak? Even so, shouldn’t the Moon and Stars be his enemy? But his instincts told him differently, he felt They should help him.

He knew a different Moon before, in his life of a wolf. He knew how it felt to be embraced by it and he tried to recall the feeling.

It didn’t work. He couldn’t get over the fact that in essence it was just Sunlight. The Moon was just a big piece of rock. Or could it just stop reflecting Sunlight on him? He just wanted this light to be gone, he refused it, rejected it.

—

Vorm watched as Ray clung to the rock seemingly stumped by something as he looked up at the sky. Even though Ray wasn’t saying anything to Vorm, and it couldn’t know what the fool was thinking now, Vorm had a pretty good idea just by seeing the fool’s ridiculous face.

Vorm enjoyed the fool’s foolish struggle. Well, it would be a good lesson for him, the fool had too many preconceptions of the world. Who ever said moons had to always reflect light? Or that they were on a planet to begin with?

Vorm wondered how long the fool would foolishly stay frozen like that. It knew this version of Ray was too proud to ask help from Vorm itself, so probably long. And as much as Vorm enjoyed the show, it would also enjoy poking fun at the fool.

—

“What got you so stumped?” came the unwelcome, languid voice of Vorm, interrupting Ray’s thoughts.

Ray did not like how it talked to him. Although it generally seemed to help him, Ray hated that a power he did not understood resided within his soul. He wouldn’t have turned to it for help, but if it came to him, he might as well make use of that.

Isn’t the Moon just reflecting the rays of the Sun? Shouldn’t it hurt me then? The Stars also, being just far away Suns?

“Wow, what prejudice, what discrimination! Poor Moon and Stars! How cruel of you!” Vorm answered in faux-indignation. “Even I feel hurt on their behalf!” Vorm continued, not sounding hurt at all.

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Ray expected many kinds of different answers, but this was far from anything he could have imagined. He only had one word for all that, What?

“It’s alright, They will forgive your insults made in ignorance. Probably. Little Child of the Night.”

Ray was fuming, being called a child and all. When had he ever insulted the Moon and the Stars? What prejudice, how does that even make sense? Ignorance? He probably knew way more how celestial objects worked than anyone else on this planet and—

Something occurred to Ray as he narrowed his eyes in thought. Planet… prejudice… Moon… ignorance… Stars… Sun…

He reached out with a hand, closely looking at the Moon- and Starlight reflecting off his palm. It felt different from the Sunlight. He was trying to figure out why it felt different, but what if… what if it felt different, because it was different?

No, not just different… but the opposite.

The Sunlight hurt him, but this light…different light… a light that was called light, yet was not light. If not light, but the opposite… shadow?

A light that is not light… but shadow?

Ray did not understand, could not understand, could not comprehend, his logical mind was screaming at him that it made no sense. He ignored it, cast away all thoughts and followed what felt right.

Instead of trying to push it away, he embraced the light of the Moon and Stars that was not light but shadow, welcoming it, wanting more.

Understanding, he could not grasp but feel, came to him as unbidden phrases echoed through his mind.

Child of the Night, abandoned by the Light.

Ally of the Moon, shunned by the Sun. Siblings of the Stars, the nemesis of men.

The world shifted as the Moon and Stars shone brighter on him, melding him into the Night. He was of the Night, shrouded in the Shadowlight of the Moon and Stars that empowered him, hid him, made him the unseen hunter in the dark.

What Vorm had said before suddenly made sense. Maybe it was just because of what it had said, but he felt like he offended the Moon and the Stars, and they felt insulted. The idea was ridiculous, Vorm was just messing with him, but he couldn’t be sure. To be safe, he mutter a quiet “sorry” towards the sky, feeling stupid, but he seemed to see Them sparkle in forgiveness.

He was taken aback, but the sparkle was gone. He must have imagined it, it was Vorm’s fault for messing with him. Same as when it said Night twice and claiming it was different. He felt like he was forgetting something, but he threw that to the back of his mind. It was time to truly embrace the Night.

Jumping from rooftop to rooftop, Ray felt free, not having to be worried anymore to be seen, as the Night hid him, as the Moon and Stars empowered him. After he had come off the cliff and ran to the closest building, he easily scaled it all the way to the top. It was only thirty meters or so tall.

He leaped, ran, and leaped again, easily crossing the ten or so meters gaps between the buildings. Over and over. It reminded him of when he ran in the sky free as a wolf, Moonlight as his steps. He could not run in the sky like that, but he was not less than back then.

The cold Night silently watched on.

It was some time later that Ray found himself standing on the outer wall, boiling in rage. He could not jump down. No matter how he tried, his body refused to listen to him. He had even tried climbing onto the mountain and pass the wall high above, but he couldn’t. He just couldn’t leave.

He knew it from the beginning, yet he had to try. He knew it, but facing reality and confirming that he was caged made him feel infuriated. Him. Caged. Like an animal. Helpless, like prey. He couldn’t stand it, but no matter how he strained, his body did not listen.

Not only he couldn’t leave, but he couldn’t even see outside. He couldn’t understand how he didn’t notice it before when he had observed the city from up above. He didn’t even think of looking outside the outer city wall. That wasn’t normal, was it? He found it suspicious. Was something messing with his mind?

It wasn’t that it was a black void. It was just a hazy blur. There was a world outside of this city he couldn’t grasp, couldn’t even see.

Turning back, he jumped off the wall. He wanted to kill something. No, not just kill. Massacre all the prey, revel in their blood, gorge himself full on them, listen to their panicked hearts.

He almost gave over to his urges, but he stopped himself. That would be just running away. No. It disgusted him. That was how he acted as a pathetic human when faced with a seemingly insurmountable obstacle. No, he wasn’t a lowly human anymore. He was much more, better. He wouldn’t be ruled by emotions. He was a superior being now, and he would crush anything that dared to stand in his way.

“Wow, how menacing…”

Ray didn’t bother to react, that would just encourage Vorm.

He scaled the closest building and started heading away from the cliff. The outer city looked the same no matter how far he went. Eventually, he deemed he was far enough as he looked back to make sure.

His breath caught as his eyes traveled upwards, up and up.

He felt tiny, insignificant.

He had thought before he only couldn’t see where the cliff ended because he was too close. He was hundreds of meters away now, and only now did he start to realize the sheer size of the mountain. It wasn’t just tall. It continued into the distance on both sides.

That gave him pause. He couldn’t see outside, yet he could see the mountain.

He gave up trying to understand and just wondered how tall the mountain was. Maybe if he scaled it he could leave. He knew he couldn’t, but he could hope.

Ray couldn’t comprehend the sheer size of this mountain and his curiosity eventually won over his pride.

Vorm, how tall is this mountain?

“Only like 10 km.”

Only?!

“Well, considering what’s under the surface, yes, only.”

What do you mean?

“Don’t you like surprises?”

No, you know I hate surprises.

“Yes, that’s why I’m not telling you.”

Fuck you.

Vorm just laughed and Ray decided to focus on his most pressing issues instead. He needed to stealthily kidnap someone.