Shadow Lights and the Forbidden Crossings

Chapter Five: The Missing Fruit

A tick, followed by another, reached his ears; the second hand moved, and with it, the minute hand.

"The clock moved! We can't lose another second!" he shouted angrily, only to regret his outburst. "I don't mean to disrespect you, Your Highness. But please! Come down now," he begged with praying hands. "I'm appealing to you, as your page, on behalf of the remnants, let's go!" Waiting for the ceiling floor to squeak, he listened for feet to tread toward the stairs, Prince Elijah appearing as he descended. No one moved.

His hopes started skidding. A lonely bookshelf pushed at the base of the stairs saved him. He quickly checked the shelves, his eyes zooming over to inspect from afar. "Children's books, a black leather Bible, the kids' drawings, and bundled keys," he itemized, still browsing, hoping to find the Chronicles of Light. "I'll take it home myself if you don't want to go back," he said, wishing for Prince Elijah to say something in objection, voicing a desire to go back. No one responded to him. Looking over the shelves a second time, he glanced over the children's silhouettes with contemptible eyes.

A thought came to him, bringing his face to light up. "Did you disguise the Chronicles of Light to keep it safe?" he wondered, quickly sorting the books and looking into the pages, starting from the thick, dog-eared Bible, down to the children's books. Words swam up in his eyes, skimming over each page. "Angels, devils... Nephilim." The last brought him to a smile. "My ancestors!" He moved on to the next book, a book on animals, and skipped it fast, dreading the image of the snake that showed up right on the first page. A small light flashed below him. "Shhhhh. I don't want to remember," he told his memory stone, stopping it before a scene replayed. Resuming his browsing, a colorful book took him captive. "Prince Charming? Do I know a prince by this name?" Curious, he read a paragraph of the flying words quietly, taking it in. As he went down each line, his forehead began creasing till his lips tugged into a frown. "Unbelievable! This prince is searching for love!" He slammed the book shut through his eyes, finding the story trivial, and moved on to the next book.

Soon, the living room turned dark. The shadow of night crept in, like a black-colored flood, bleeding in through the bay windows and spilling all over the walls, floors, and ceiling. In a blink, the entire house was engulfed.

"The night is here." He quaked as the flood started breaking inside his hiding space. Unprepared and not knowing what to do, he used his feet as a door stopper, but the darkness managed to sneak through. Next, he rolled his shoulders forward and swooped in his right wing to block the floor slits, like sandbag, to no avail. Unable to stop the invasion, it flooded his tiny space. Submerged, he flapped his arms and wings desperately to float.

"Umbra!"

His feathers fluttered. It didn't sound brittle to his ears, frozen with ice and cracking apart with the slightest movement. Rather, it sounded fluffy, completely free of the debilitating cold that arrested him back in Shadow Lights. He stopped struggling, brought back to his senses. His memory stone stopped blinking, done with the flashback.

A male Lucere stood in front of him.

His heart jumped.

"Prince Elijah!" Excited, that joy turned into bewilderment when he grasped what stood before him. "A mirror?" He stood stiffly, staring at his own reflection for a while, studying his face. His skin was darker than he remembered, but it wasn't a bad look on him. Impressed, he touched his smooth cheeks. "I got a tan!" Beaming, he started gliding his palms against the mirror that hung horizontally. "A two-way mirror. What a smart tactic!"

The second hand moved again.

His leafy ears stood stiff. He waited for time to freeze, but the second hand took a while. It held him up in suspense, while the trees in the backyard clapped, anticipating his next move again, testing his courage this time. Taking the challenge, he gave in to their whim. One jump and he was out. The second hand moved right after; a late signal. His face crumpled, weirded out by how long it took him to step out. For some reason, he felt there were invisible hands stopping him.