Child of the Moon

Chapter 7: Lessons

Malria guided Malek through the trees and back into a clearing. Most of the Children had left, and Malek barely realized he hadn't met anyone new. He didn't know whether he had wanted to, but it didn't matter now.

He felt limp and weak, though Malria effortlessly dragged him along, forcing him to keep up.

"Where are we going?"

"My place."

"Where's that?"

She didn't answer, but Malek didn't ask again. As quickly as the stars broke through the black of night, the trees around them darkened, dissolving into the air and revealing an empty plain devoured of life and green. Malek's stomach churned, and he felt as if he had stepped into death itself. Part of him felt the familiar ache that came before he started placing souls in the sky, but something about this was different. It felt gentle, prodding, as if the feeling were asking permission to hurt.

"Don't fight it," Malria said.

Malek started to question what she meant, but he breathed in the feeling like he did before he got to work, and the pain enveloped him. He cringed, waiting for it to intensify, but it only expanded, taking over his body in a single wave. It was bearable, almost strangely enjoyable, like deep pressure in old wounds that never fully healed.

"Feel better?" she asked.

He nodded as the pain went away, and his body felt alive with a new energy. He stood up straight. "What is that?"

"My body cannot be weak, or my Len will take control. Here, I can revive without resting."

"You don't sleep?" he interrupted.

She shook her head. "Disease has a lot more power than anything else, so to control it, the Exist must remain in power at all times."

Malek looked around the barren plains, gray rock rising in a few places atop the pale terrain that covered the land as far as he could see. "What is this place?" He jolted and faced Malria. "Not the Underneath?"

His eyes were wide with fear, but she laughed. "Of course not!" He didn't feel convinced. She kept a smile, and he waited for her to continue. Her smile fell. "The Underneath is one layer below."

At her words, Malek looked up to find an empty sky, a black expanse covering his Len and hiding it from view. Stars didn't shine. He couldn't even see the Moonsoul. There wasn't a sky at all. It only looked dark, and the little light that existed—though he didn't see the source—didn't reach far enough to cast shadows on what he knew wasn't his sky.

"Yeah, we're underground," Malria said, sighing. "But we need to be here."

Malek's chest tightened. He searched the ceiling for a single star or speck of light. He'd never lost sight of the souls he protected. They were always there, their light a subtle glimpse of hope for what he'd one day feel: freedom and peace. Now, it looked as empty as he felt inside. She said they weren't in the Underneath, but it felt something like what he expected it to be. Lost, alone, and surrounded with only his thoughts, he felt the emptiness around him. 

"Malek."

He gasped for air, his throat feeling tight. He tried coughing, but that only trapped less air in his lungs as he crumpled to the floor.

"Malek!" 

A sharp sting ignited on his face, and his lungs opened up again. He didn't dare look up but instead imagined the stars hovering above him, watching him like he would them. When he felt moist air fill his chest, he coughed again. He met Malria's gaze, which was filled with something he couldn't remember ever seeing in her, hard pity—something he'd expect to see in Sorora or even Cyria.