The Divine Demon - Book 1: A New Beginning

28. Darkness

A cool breeze, whistling briskly past Riarshi's face, snapped his swirling mind from his trance. He looked at Professor Khohn, who strolled twenty feet ahead.

The clouds shifted. The newly lit stars and moon illuminated the man's front, casting a deep blue shadow along his back and creating a darkened silhouette.

They didn't speak a word throughout the entire trip. The ghastly silence was broken only by the occasional swoosh of a passing car or beep of a horn echoing in the distance.

The pressure building inside of Riarshi's chest grew with each sluggish step he took. He tried to think, fighting the rising panic. He had to ensure Tabito and Hara didn't pay for his stupid actions. Because all this stress... everything... was his fault.

It was. It really was.

Sacrificing himself for them to continue on was the only way he could truly repay them for the three months of help they graciously gave him. He wouldn't have made it as far as he did without it, no matter how much it pained him to admit.

Riarshi lifted his gaze from the sidewalk again. He suddenly realized he had followed Professor Khohn to the entrance of the Spiritfield Stadium. Its towering and sparking green wall shot from ground by the gate, launching blades of grass and clumps of dirt high into the air. Riarshi could feel the magical aura emitting from the wall warm his skin.

Khohn, unbothered by the heat, lightly tapped it with an extended finger, shattering it like a mirror into hundreds of small fragments that glittered in the night sky.

Riarshi broke the silence first. "Uhm, Professor Khohn, why-"

"No talking. Just follow me."

Riarshi did just that.

***

After a five-minute journey through the stadium's interior, professor and student walked through the long and cold concrete tunnel and into the center arena. 

With an audible grunt, Khohn stepped onto the flat square stage at its center. He stopped in its middle, looked toward the night sky through the arena roof's opening, and clasped his hands behind his back.

The stadium was empty, barren, but most of all - dark. There wasn't a hint of light in the arena aside from the faint glow of the stars and the moonlight streaking down through the opening in the stadium's roof. The nightly illumination glimmered off the reflective surface of the center stage. Everything else was but a mere shadow.

A moment's pause. Silence. Then Professor Khohn released a long, drawn-out sigh.

"Look above, Riarshi," Khohn ordered calmly, pointing at the hole in the roof. "You can nearly see the entire night sky through the opening."

Riarshi instinctively tilted his head and glanced at the indigo sky. He said nothing.

"You see those two stars right there," Khohn shifted his finger position, tilting his chin up. "Near the north end of the roof? See them?"

Riarshi searched. It only took a few seconds, but two stars shining brighter than any other caught his narrowed eyes.

"Yeah, I see them. What a-"

"Experts say that stars are billions of miles away," Khohn interrupted, but with a smooth and peaceful tone that took Riarshi by surprise.

He adjusted his glasses. "The brightest are the ones either biggest or closest to us here on Earth. What I think most interesting is that these stars - although they are large, beautiful, and appear every clear night - are probably already dead, imploded, and gone from existence. Despite that, we still see the powerful light they cast. That is, if we take the time to search for it."