"I step on broken glass, and dream of soft clouds
When feelings are heavy they become all we are
And we become night time dreamers
And street walkers, small talkers
When we should be daydreamers
And moonwalkers and dream talkers"
-AURORA, "Daydreamer"
I stood tall beneath the half-sun in the smoldering ruins of After's predecessor, my wounds healed, limbs restored, and my head high.
I was free.
I mourned, of course. A deep, intangible sorrow dwelled in my cavernous soul. I mourned for the life I would've lived back on Earth, a life I'd grieved for even when I was alive. But no longer did my heart pang for the Light—for Dominic. Now it pounded in full force as I scanned the dim horizon of the realm of the dead for my friends. They were long gone, and miles of shadow-infested wasteland separated us. I bunched my hands into fists, imagining the phantom weight of my missing spear. I grasped for my armband, a force of habit, and instead felt the blanched topographical map seared into my skin beneath my thumb, my lux burns. I touched my little lux crystal instead, and a warmth filled me as I did.
I took in a slow, shuddering breath and watched as the luxlight within me faded. My scarred arm stopped itching...Mostly.
Save for the destroyed ziggurat just behind me, there were no landmarks around me I recognized, for this semi-lit world was utterly foreign to me, and yet I knew exactly in which direction After lay. The hundreds of black shadows creeping across the sand all migrated in one direction. I scrambled to hide behind an old leaning wall, one of the few remaining walls of the ziggurat, touching where some poor soul died long ago. I peered over the top into the city. The formerly catatonic shadows slunk against buildings, trying to keep out of the weak sunlight. Every once in a while, I'd hear a shadow screech as it retracted a limb covered in boils out of the light.
How did they awake? My scar prickled at the memory of that aura pulsing from me. I imagined my eyes turning red like Crow's and Blackburne's and I gulped. Had I awoken them?
A shadow hissed at me from above, so close that I felt flying spittle rain down on me. I bolted out of the way just as the creature pounced; escaping through the ruins of the pyramid that had become a maze. The shadow screamed after me. From the sound of it, even more monsters joined the hunt. Panting, I hugged the walls as I ran beneath the night sky, searching desperately for the way out.
There was a tunnel of debris just ahead, like the explosion had exposed an old chamber, and I dashed for it, following the tunnel down into the depths. Shrieks and hisses followed me down into the blackness, growing terrifyingly closer by the second.
That's when I hit a wall. "No!" I yelled, pounding my fists against the dead end in the blackness. I'd cornered myself. I swore the shadows laughed at me.
I whirled around to face their glowing eyes with my back against the wall.
Then a roar like the splitting of the earth sounded from every dark corner of the cavern. A huge shape crashed to the ground between me and the horde of monsters. It rose to its full height and let out another head-splitting roar. The horde charged at the bigger beast. I could hear the clack of their teeth from where I hid, and see the spray of oily blood wetting the sand.
The smaller shadows tore at the giant monster's limbs and ripped at its underbelly with their claws. The beast lumbered after its assailants, jaws slobbering and snapping. It used its weight to its advantage as it tossed smaller shadows aside with its dribbling jaws. It chomped down on one of its smaller kin, severing it into many pieces in a spray of blood.
The rest of the shadows yiped in fear. Their many limbs slid in the sand as they scrambled to scurry away. The monster huffed, watching them leave. Its breath sent clouds of dust flying.
I remained paralyzed against the wall, praying that the shadow—the largest shadow I had ever seen!—wouldn't turn around and notice the measly little morsel in its cave. I could see the shape of it, outlined against the light from the chamber's mouth—my escape. If I could just sneak around it, maybe I could creep back out the way I came...
Something crunched under my boot. My heart stopped. My breath hitched. When I looked down at what I'd stepped on, my body went ice-cold. A human femur lay cracked underfoot. And scattered around the femur was a dusty rib-cage, more long-bones, and other bits and pieces. Just a few short feet away, the empty eye sockets of a human skull stared at me accusingly, looking as shocked as I felt.
The shadow maneuvered its limbs with a growl that made the cavern shake, turning itself around almost deliberately slow. Blood bubbled from its wounds and boiled in the sand as the creature heaved, clearly in immeasurable pain. Its black hide was cracked and seeping and duller than all the others. This shadow was old. Probably older than all the rest.
Blood caked the matted mane around its neck, giving it the appearance of an old battle-scarred lion. Where a nose should be, only two vertical slits existed, and scattered round those slits that expanded and contracted with every breath, its many milky-white eyes lacked the animal hunger that gave all the shadows their feral appearance.
The creature heaved another shuddering growl as we locked eyes. Trembling, I had to turn away from its horrid human face that was disfigured with white scars. It raised a twisted arm, as if about to strike. There was another crunch beneath my boot.
The beast roared again, but it wasn't looking at me. It sniffed at the skeleton I stepped on. Gingerly, I stepped away from the old bones. The shadow's hackles lowered.
We both stared at the remains.
Hier schläft es.
That was what Blackburne had scrawled on his wall.
The beast let out a mournful keen and lowered its body into the sand. It reached out with arms as thick as tree trunks and shoveled the bones toward itself. I watched in sick fascination as the monster shut its eyes and nuzzled into the bones.
This creature was grieving.
I touched a hand to my heart. This monster was not the many-eyed behemoth that haunted both Crow's and Blackburne's memories. It was big, but not big enough to annihilate a city. And, unlike other shadows, it seemed almost...tame.
I didn't know what I was thinking. I slunk away from the wall, but I didn't break for the cavern's mouth as I should. I crept toward the keening beast and laid a hand on its seeping flesh, and we both mourned together.
It turned its head to me, the branching white scars on its face, like burns, matching those on my arm.
I clapped a hand over my mouth at a realization. Those scars on this shadow's face were identical to Blackburne's. I fell to my knees before the ailing creature who didn't appear to want to hurt me, this time not averting my gaze from its pupilless eyes.
While the wind stirred clouds of sand around the two of us, I stared into Blackburne's face.
Mad world beats
Outside our hearts
Times of need
We are apart
Under stars
We are alone