The Sciell

How could the moon disappear? It wasn’t as if someone could reach through sky and pluck it down. Granted, humans had the technology to blow it up. Shade ripped the paper and threw it across the room. Humans weren’t so foolish that they’d destroy something so important. Beside, a great white ball reduced to dust wasn’t likely to go unnoticed. Why was it gone? For the hundredth time, she sniffed the air. Shade couldn’t smell any power blocking its light from Raesul. Why would anyone bother blocking it?

Wraith latched onto the paper in her hand and snatched it out of her reach. How long had she sat there tearing apart her books? From the mess on her floor, too long. She couldn’t replace them. Well, Vayle could. He could do anything.

When she found the vermin who took her light, she’d do to them what she did to her favorite books.

Like she needed that reminder. She destroyed half her collection. Damn it all.

Shade couldn’t sit here any longer. She needed air. Her wounds still throbbed as a reminder she wasn’t supposed to walk the village by herself. Wraith held his ears up while he kept guard ahead of her. She wasn’t, exactly, by herself.

She needed the moon. Shade didn’t know why she held such an affinity for its rays when no other Del’Prae-li had this connection. Vayle and Bleak figured being half Del’Praeli made her closer to their animal side. Bleak said she witnessed something similar in darklings. However, they lost the connection when they got older. To Shade, all those words meant they didn’t know and didn’t find it important.

The night was fresh. Usually, darklings played in the river or threw others in. Some Del’Praeli were usually seated in front of their cottages chatting with nearby residents. Other would enjoy the night by walking barefoot around Raesul.

Tonight, only silence and emptiness reigned.

Shade smiled and patted Wraith. She’d never been able to stroll around without someone heckling or hurting her. She’d always wished to walk barefoot around the village and now she was doing it.

Many Bria-fed plants outside the cabins glowed purple, bright blue, pink and yellow. As a darkling, she’d sit at the window wishing to see these luminescent flowers up close. Even if Vayle was with her, it wasn’t safe for her to travel the village at night. She could touch them now. Shade crept to the nearest house. Why were her legs shaking? She pulled her hand back a finger-breadth away from the glow petals. They weren’t that pretty.

Instead, she sat by the river, rolled up her pants legs and slipped her feet into the cold water. How she used to dream about doing this. She smiled as Wraith curled up beside her. She used to be afraid of this river.

The cold eased her agitated nerves.