Immortal Darkness: Shadow Across the Land (43 page)

Shocked by her father’s sudden decision to
leave the two of them, Biaulae lifted her wings into the air while
simultaneously crying out, “Hey—wait.”

Shortly thereafter Leyoht realized what was
going on. Neither his friend, his teacher nor his food were
anywhere to be seen. Where could they have gone?

“Dad—wait up!” called Biaulae, wondering if
her father even cared for her now. She flapped and flapped—yet
still retained her energy by allowing the breeze to brush about her
brisk body.

Not too long after Biaulae’s rejection did
Leyoht brush past her—his speed coming as a complete shock to his
friend. How he could have earlier travelled so sluggishly earlier
and now move at what seemed like lightning speeds was a complete
mystery to the greatest extent. As Leyoht circled up to his mentor,
Biaulae’s heart stopped for a heartbeat.

And to think
I
was doing good!
Biaulae resented, losing almost all forward momentum.

Without a single pant brushing from his beak,
Leyoht took a look at the mess of a scholar in front of him and
asked, “Where are we going now?”

The sound of this child’s voice coming as
complete and utter shock Xemson flinched his gaze over on Leyoht.
“Oh-we’re uh—we’re going to actually fly down to our prey.”

Whoever was more confused was a baffling
question in Leyoht’s mind. “Then why—this whole time did you—? Oh,
never mind!” Dumbfounded and stressed beyond all belief, Leyoht
swerved back over to Biaulae.

As Leyoht had come to notice, Biaulae even
then still seemed to have trouble reaching her father’s speed. “Do
you want any help?” Leyoht sneered through a slightly intimidating
voice.

“Don’t talk to me like that!” she snapped. “I
don’t need your help or anybody’s help!”

Shocked by his friend’s harsh tone, he
murmured in response, “You don’t have to be so mean about it!” At
the same time, however, did he feel guilty about what he had just
done—almost as if he deserved to be snapped at by Biaulae. But—in
all honesty—what had he done that was so bad?

For two reasons did Leyoht turn back over to
Xemson. Those reasons were: to discuss future plans and to just
prove to Biaulae that he
could
make it back to her father
without a problem—that
he
deserved more respect than she was
giving him.

It was before Leyoht had the chance to make
his way all the way up to his teacher when Xemson commanded, “Both
of you follow me down!”

Suddenly alarmed, Biaulae made a slight
hesitation in her stride down to her father. Luckily for her, the
boost of speed she made going down was enough to bring her almost
all the way back to the two men in her life. The only downside to
this fact, however, was her now-present inability to channel her
momentum. As a result, her talons scratched up against a countless
amount of tree branches.

“Are you okay?” Leyoht asked with a sneer to
his voice. All the while did he glide just in front of Biaulae.

The sound of these words caused a growl to
form in the bottom of Biaulae’s throat.
He’s teasing me on
purpose!
she realized.
Why?
This very thought caused a
tear to stream from her eye—only to be immediately picked up by the
wind.

In response to her former friend’s hostility
toward her, Biaulae retorted, “Oh yeah! Well
I’m
not the one
with the dead parents!”

A pause came to Leyoht’s forward
acceleration—causing Biaulae to bump right into him. Tears
streaming in his eyes, he failed to hide his true emotions toward
Biaulae’s words. His wings still flapping, Leyoht made a flashing
turn back to her and bumped his head into Biaulae’s, muttering all
the while, “The one with the dead
parents
?!”

An explosion of noise and emotions sprouted
from Leyoht’s beak—leading up to his talons, up to Biaulae’s
shoulders. With barely any warning, Leyoht scraped skin and
feathers off of Biaulae’s shoulders.

Almost as if somebody had ripped out her will
to live, Biaulae released a heart-wrenching screech while
simultaneously spinning out of control. Her body came in contact
with a tree branch—and then again, and then again!

Taking notice of her daughter’s fear and
pain, Xemson made an immediate halt in the air. “Biaulae!” he
hollered, pulling himself out of character.

For all the time Xemson had let Leyoht into
his home, how could Leyoht have just now laid a talon on Biaulae?
Even after he and Aphost had promised to let them in their home,
Leyoht managed to hurt his daughter.

Even though Leyoht had nearly caused
Biaulae’s demise, Xemson couldn’t help but feel like Biaulae
deserved to be clawed by Leyoht. Biaulae—after all—was the one who
taunted Leyoht with images of his past.

Unsure of what to say, Xemson finally came
out and shouted, “Stop it right now!
Both of you
!”

With these few words, the violence between
the two owls came to a halt. Retracting from their resentment
toward each other, Leyoht and Biaulae looked over and one
another—only to see the monsters they’d made of themselves.

Fighting the pain on her shoulders, Biaulae
halted all momentum and took a look toward Leyoht. One by one did
tears swell from her sockets. Whether they better resembled her
reddened shoulders or her guilt was unknown to Leyoht.

Leyoht stared at Biaulae, his look of fury
now converting into a gaze of sorrow.
What have I done?
The
very shock from taking in the pain heaved upon Biaulae’s shoulders
nearly caused his wings to stop. “Biaulae,” he began, heartbroken.
“I’m—”

“I’m very disappointed in you two,” Xemson
interrupted, “
Very
disappointed!”

Rather than exchange apologies, the owlets
now had to listen to their own teacher rant on about how bad they’d
just acted.

Leyoht was almost surprised he and Biaulae
were still flying. Back with his parents, whenever an owlet found
themselves in trouble, they would be called down by their parents.
In this current case, not even the condition of Biaulae’s shoulders
was enough to bring them down to the ground.

“We’re still going to do this by flight,”
Xemson assured. “I don’t’ care
how
hurt either of you are.”
With this statement, he strode off toward an empty plainland.
Nothing but snow rested upon this region.

At this moment Xemson started himself on a
flight, beckoning the children to follow him. Fighting against the
wind blowing in the children’s ears, Xemson announced to them, “Our
bodies should blend in with the color of the sky.”

A pause came to Xemson’s words when he took a
look over at Leyoht and his black coat. He grimaced at the sight;
fortunately Leyoht’ hadn’t taken sight of it. “J-just follow my
lead.” Another pause showed itself in the conversation before
Xemson finally continued.

“Whenever you spot an animal, swoop down to
it, grab it with your talons, and kill it.”

Leyoht nearly cringed when he heard the last
two words of Xemson’s statement. Why did he have to kill something
in order to live? Was there any way around this fact of life?

Regardless of whether or not he could escape
his carnivorous destiny, Leyoht locked his eyes on Xemson.

“Just watch me.” Not a heartbeat passed when
the two children’s hearts began to race. All the while did Xemson
dive down toward a little tan speck on the ground.

Is
that
a lemming?
wondered
Biaulae. Everything seemed to happen at once; their teacher’s dive
toward the ground, the death of a lemming. How—even in their
adulthood—would they be able to accomplish such feats?

A cloud of water vapor tickled Xemson’s
nostrils as he heaved the lemming up from the ground. Not a single
blatant mind filled the area; Xemson’s trick was
just that
amazing
. It hadn’t taken long for him to come back up at last,
his talons and beak drenched in red. “And
that’s
how you do
it!” he explained while swooping up to the children.

Okay
, Leyoht reminded himself.
All
I have to do is find my food, swoop down to it, and pick it
up—right?
This thought in mind, he started himself on a gliding
search for food.

With every muscle in his eyes did Leyoht
strain himself to search for food. The tiniest splash of tan was
enough to drive him to swooping down to the ground—only to have him
regret ever having touched the ground.
Oh, gross!

Much to Leyoht’s confusion, Biaulae caught up
and killed a lemming when he himself had already swooped down to
the ground a countless amount of times. Added to this, Biaulae’s
wings didn’t look like they were up to the challenge of swooping up
and down in flight. How could she have
possibly
done better
than him?

Leyoht thought about all this for a
moment—and the answer dropped in his head like a rock.
My
pelt!
he exclaimed.
If it’s black, it won’t be hidden!
He felt so ignorant; the answer was under his beak this whole time!
Were the stars playing a foul joke on him? Regardless of the
answer, he kept his eyes peeled for his food.

--

“I can’t do it!

“Come on,” Xemson grunted, “It’s now or
never!” The sun had nearly completely receded from its position in
the sky, and any lemming out there was surely asleep by now.

“I’ve been at it
forever
! I can’t do
it anymore!” Leyoht pleaded.

Lying against her tree, Biaulae moaned
through a bloody beak, “And I can’t keep eating this. I’ll
explode!”

Xemson wanted Leyoht to learn the art of
hunting, but he didn’t want Leyoht to starve as a result. He was
stuck between a starving child and an engorged child. It seemed as
if there was only one reasonable solution to this problem.

“Alright; fine!” Xemson huffed. “Biaulae,
give him the rest of the lemming.” Rather than give Leyoht any
food, however, Biaulae dragged her heavy body back up inside the
tree while Leyoht carried the weight of his frail body over to the
carcass.

Food now in his presence, Leyoht buried his
beak into the richness of the meat in front of him. Never before
had he felt so happy to eat such a stale rodent.

A sigh surpassed Xemson’s beak as he flew
back up into his home. Upon making his way inside, a grimace upon
his face was enough for Aphost to give off a look of sympathy for
him. “Sad that you couldn’t teach Leyoht to hunt?” asked she.

“You know it,” sighed her mate. “It’s because
of two things: his impatience and his black feathers.”

Not a single word missed Leyoht’s ear.
Secretly was he listening in on the parents’ conversation—each word
given the power of lightning bolts to his heart.

“Are you sure he’s
really
a snowy
owl?” Aphost wondered. “Are you sure he’s not something else?”

“I don’t know, but Biaulae
swears
he’s
a snowy owl.”

“But I also could have sworn I saw him out
there last night, white and all! I don’t understand it! You sure
he’s not dirty?”

“Uhm,” Xemson stammered. “Well—I’m pretty
sure if he were dirty, all the black would have gone away by now;
especially since he’s dove into the snow about
how
many
times now? It’s just getting ridiculous.”

Every single word was a hammer-swing to
Leyoht’s heart. Were they right? Was Leyoht destined to lead a
failure of a life in his black coat? Hoping to find out, he sat
down, grabbed a hold of his own black feathers with his talons, and
tugged away.

“Ow! Ow!” he screeched. It was at this moment
when he released his grip on his pelt, realizing there was no way
out of his fate.

Leyoht sighed, wondering how today would have
gone had he been in Biaulae’s body. Either way they were both
crippled—Biaulae by her shoulders and Leyoht by the coat on his
skin.

These thoughts in mind, it
was
evening
after all. A yawn escaping from his beak, he ceased all thought and
pulled in his feet as sleep overwhelmed him.

--

Through the course of the night did Leyoht
sleep in heavenly peace. This night, however, proved him to be
quite the heavy sleeper. A half of the moon was raised up high in
the sky as sounds of the wind and sounds of screeching and howling
filled the air.

To add to Leyoht’s inability to be awoken by
sound, not even the feel of Xemson carrying him back up into the
tree proved enough to wake him up. If
that
didn’t wake him
up, nothing would—or so it had seemed for the time being.

The wind beneath his wings and about in his
ears, Xemson pulled and pulled Leyoht to his rightful resting
place. Such a process nearly put a crack in his spine. Regardless
of the strain put into the effort of carrying Leyoht, Xemson
finally made it up to the hollow’s rim.

Slowly but surely did he float Leyoht down to
a nice spot to sleep next to Aphost—and there it was Leyoht remain
for the night.

The sight of seeing such a small child fast
asleep in his own home caused the sands of dreams to whither about
in his head. Said sands led up to his beak: where—finally—they
sprouted up from a yawn.

Guess I better join the others
, he
proposed with a slightly delayed shrug. This thought in mind, he
settled himself over to Aphost, closed his eyes, and let his dream
roll past his eyes.

--

Of all the visions Xemson’s mind has picked
up that night, none would shock him more than the thoughts he held
about Leyoht.

Befitting to his physical situation, Xemson’s
dream began with him waking up from a deep slumber. With a quick
stretch of his legs, he looked around his hollow room and realized
something was missing.
Or someone
.

At the moment of this realization, he called
out to his mate, “Aphost? Where’s Leyoht?” But much to his
disappointment and confusion, not a single word returned back to
his ears. Now that he’d thought about it, not even the sound of
snoring retracted into his ears. Nothing was heard except for the
sound of still silence.