The Star, The Demon, and The God - 13. Two Revelations

Two Days Later

Tobias

Maybe I was a little harsh that day when we stopped by the first town. Most people would not even so mad about what I said! They would have listened to my words and they would not ever cross me again.

I have done this plenty of times before. More times than I can count even!

So why is it that I feel like the worst shit that has ever walked on Thymestrys?

Luno has completely gone silent now. I could tell he wants to talk to me again but everytime he looks like he has worked up the courage, he closes himself off again.

It has been two days of this. Two days where we have not said a word to each other.

Well that is not true.

Every now and then, I am the one who tries to spark up a conversation. Obviously I am not the best at that, but now it feels like I am the worst at this.

My first attempt, I told him that I forgive him and using his magics on me. I know I can get quite angry and violent, but how would Luno know! He has not even seen me like that yet.

Obviously that was a stupid thing to say by me.

I forgave him? What kind of idiot threatens someone and then says something like that?

Oh right...me.

My second attempt was not so great either.

We were supposed to be sleeping for the night, but someone made some stew. I thought it would be nice to get some for Luno.

Since he is not allowed to get out of our tent at night, I went out to get it alone.

After grabbing two bowls, I told Luno I was coming back into the tent so he had to make a globe of rock to cover himself from the moonlight.

When I finally gave him the stew, Luno just stared down at it.

At first I thought it was because it was not very appealing to look at but it did taste alright. It was then that I realized that there was rabbit meat inside the stew.

I just about choked on it when I realized I had offered him rabbit stew. The one person I know who eats berries and the like for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Luno tossed the stew away and then proceeded to throw up into the hole he had come out of.

After hundreds of apologies, Luno finally allowed me back into the tent that night.

As anyone could imagine, I am the worst at this.

The second day was not at all any better. I gave up on even trying so it has been very silent since last night. Not even a goodnight from me.

I hate this. How am I supposed to fix Luno? I want him to talk to me again!

We reach the fourth dot on the map today. We will also be seeing the fifth and sixth. It will be quite the busy day for Luno. He will need some much needed rest tonight. I should do something to make him more comfortable, but what?

As much as it pains me, I feel like I have to ask a human for help.

Just thinking about it makes me cringe in disgust.

Yeah nevermind. I am sure I can figure something out later on. I have plenty of time today. Two stops in two villages should be plenty right? I am praying I will be able to make him happy by then.

Should I get something big? Surely I can portal my way to Raiyo and ask for one of the thousands of jewelry he has. I know he has more than anyone could ever possibly need. I am sure he can handle losing one.

It is after that thought that I realize just how far I am willing to make Luno talk to me again.

This is ridiculous.

I am treating this as if he is my lover when he is not! He is my...friend? Are we friends? Luno seems to think we are. I am still not entirely sure what determines when you are allowed to call each other friends. Would we not need to do something first?

Now I am getting a headache just from thinking about it.

Oh that is another thing that has become more common ever since I met Luno. Headaches feel as natural as eating now.

I blame him obviously. Entirely his fault.

Even when he refuses to talk, he still manages to make my head feel like Raiyo’s claws are dragging against my brain.

Is that not a lovely image?

Wait, wait, wait.

What would Luno like anyways? Would he even want fancy jewelry? I just assumed he did because of the stuff he wears right now. Something tells me they are not exactly for show however.

Should I bring him food he can actually eat? Where am I supposed to go to find that?

We are finally out of the snow but it is still fairly cold. Would there even be food around here?

Sighing, I just keep walking on with everyone. This is hard. My head hurts. I need a drink or two. I also need a human that is not completely a shithead.

I can only hope they would understand what Luno needs to get him talking again.

~~~

We reach the first village.

Since the other humans cannot walk past a certain perimeter of the place, I have to go in with Luno.

Honestly I forgot that was a possibility. Sadly it makes my plans all the harder.

Luno stays quiet as we walk to the center of the village. Since I do not want to make things worse between us, I stay silent as well.

Now that we are alone again, Enfi flies back down to meet us.

One look at me from her tells me that I am not on her good side either. Is it weird that, that makes me feel even worse? I had thought the little fire chicken liked me. Looks like I was wrong.

What did I even do to her?
We find the pile of bodies fairly quickly. They had a spiderweb of twigs surrounding them this time.

It is strange how the bodies are being protected now. Why would that be needed? Is whatever force causing this trying to protect them for a specific reason? Why kill them if they want to keep the animals from destroying their bodies?

So many questions. That is all we ever find in these places. Questions, questions, and again, more questions.

Luno uses his magic to lift the strange wooden cage off of the humans. He disentangles the branches and creates small trees from them. They line up along the village road.

I guess that is a nice thing to do. I did not even think about that; not that I could have. I do not possess the magic to do something like that.

It must be nice being able to do things like creating trees from dead branches in only a few seconds. Hell, Luno can create most things out of thin air. I do not know many people that can do that. Besides Raiyo of course.

Once he is done with the trees, Luno sheds away his winter clothes and reveals the outfit I first saw on him. That strange long, grey, two-sided skirt thing that shows off his thighs.

It is a bit funny that I thought he was wearing a blue scarf with all that jewelry, but it was in fact a strange blue-scaled, dead in the mouth, winged serpent.

Portals open up in front of the homes around us.

The usual demons are here now. This time they are not standing on the rooftops. They do not want Vlad’s people seeing them.

As Luno tends to the bodies, I look for the furthest house I can hide from the light he gives off.

Like all the others, the village is eerily silent. Nothing moves in here; not even the branches in the new trees that Luno sprouted out. It is all just...dead and creepy.

After a small time of marching with the humans, every sound they make starts annoying the shit out of me. So much so that I constantly find myself wishing we would get to the next dot on that damned map. Yet, when we get here, I want to get as far away from it as possible.

All these places. Something is very wrong with them. It is not just the bodies, but everything. The air is still, nothing with a beating heart moves. Not even critters or bugs that happen to come by.

Absolutely nothing.

Shivering at my surroundings, I see a house that is pretty much in the corner on the outskirts of the village.

I stop moving when I hear a thumping noise.

At first I think it nothing. Perhaps my mind playing tricks on me to creep me out about the place even more, but then I hear the thump again.

It is a slow rhythm. Perhaps every five seconds or so.

Looking back for Luno, I see he is flying up into the sky.

Okay he is fine.

The thump comes up behind me again.

I am pretty sure it is coming from the house I was headed after.

Pulling my weapons out, I silently make my way for the house; completely circling around to find a window to peek through.

The thumping was coming from the front door, so I can assume that it can look in through pretty much anywhere else. That is, unless whatever is inside decides to attack me from said window.

Speaking of windows, this house barely has any. There are only two and they are boarded up from the inside.

Another thump on the front door.

Deciding to mentally say fuck it, I elbow my way through the wooden boards blocking me from whatever is inside.

Leaping through, I find an interesting scene.

There is a man in here. Based on what the other bodies have looked like, he is very much dead. What I see next really does not sit well with me.

A very familiar black wisp is holding the human up. It holds him by the collar of his shirt and then swings his head into the front door.

It appears the wisp is trying to take the human outside but it couldn’t. The door is boarded up.

The wisp must now register an opening in the house and carries the human out through the window I just came in through.

Before I can follow it, a bright light shines through the window followed by the sonic boom of Luno’s magic. The wisps do not have eyes so I can imagine that it knows its way to the other bodies.

Covering my eyes, I make my way to the window to try and close the curtains.

When I am able to manage that, I sigh and fall onto a couch.

Looks like I know who is behind all the human deaths now. Perhaps it was obvious? Maybe to others it would have been. It was not at all that way for me sadly.

Maybe after learning about what he did to Halehigh, I should have let the thought cross my mind that Raiyo could have been behind this strange thing going on in the world. He apparently was fine with murdering a few hundred innocents before; why not add a few million to the list?

I cross my arms and drum my foot in thought.

Why would he do this? What is the point of doing this? To gain power? Surely not. There must be something more to it.

Wait a second. If he is truly behind all of this, then why did he send Luno and I on this quest to bring everyone back? Why send us off to ruin his plan?

Does anyone else know why he is doing this? Does anyone know that he is doing this? I imagine the answer to that is a no. Pretty sure the other Demons, Angels, and Gods would have done something about that.

If it were possible, I am sure the humans would want to join in on that whole situation. It is their people who are dying after all.

Why? Why is this happening? This leader who I once followed is all of a sudden the worst being I have ever met! To hell with Morgoren or the Gatekeeper. I barely even know what they have done in history. The only reason the Demons dislike them is because of how much Raiyo constantly speaks lowly of them.

This is all getting crazy all of a sudden yet the world feels as if it is still moving far too slow.

Am I the only one who knows what is happening?

I have to tell...who? I need help with this.

Luno. He should know what to do, right?

I need another person’s head to help me plan this out.

~~~

When the light had disappeared, I quickly made my way out of the house. I needed to get to Luno.

A scream can be heard. I run as soon as I hear it.

It did not sound like it could be Luno. The voice was too deep for it to be his. Perhaps it was one of the villagers? I cannot think of anything else.

I reach where all the bodies are slowly getting up. None of them look like they understand what is going on. Nothing seems out of the ordinary so what on earth could possibly have happened?

Now I realize that something is off.

Where is Luno? He is not in the sky, nor is he speaking with any of the people to try and ask questions. Nothing at all.

Not knowing where else to look, I run back for the soldiers that are waiting for our return.

I breathe a sigh of relief when I find Luno.

He is kneeling on the floor with a soldier’s head cradled in his hands. The man’s eyes are red. Blood drips out of them and they leave red trails over his cheeks. He claws out at the air in front of him and he constantly groans in pain.

Jogging over, I crouch down in front of them. A crowd of soldiers stands around us.

“What happened?” I ask.

Luno looks up at me with tears in his eyes. He chokes on a sob and shakes his head. “Why is it not working?”

His fingers glow yellow as his keeps them inches from the man’s eyes. He is trying to heal him but it does not look like it is doing anything at all.

Luno continues to cry and constantly whisper that he is sorry over and over.

“What happened to him, Luno?” I reach out to touch him arm, hoping that he will give me an answer.

Unfortunately, he ignores me.

Changing my gaze to one of the soldiers standing around us, I pick one out of the crowd that surrounds us.

“You there,” I point, “What happened here? Why are his eyes bleeding?”

The man looks almost scared to answer. He constantly looks between the one in pain and me.

“W-we made a bet, sir,” he gulps. “We said he wouldn’t be able to keep his eyes open during the light. I swear we never knew it could hurt you!”

Turning back to Luno, I see he is still trying to heal the man’s eyes.

No doubt he is permanently blind now thanks to his idiot friends. Not that it is only their fault. He never should have done that in the first place.

“Take him away,” I sigh. “Have a doctor take a look at him. See if the damage will be permanent.”

They quickly work together to lift their friend up and take him away.

I notice a few soldiers are staring at Luno now. Most have fear in their eyes. That is not something anyone should ever feel towards him.

Wrapping an arm around Luno’s shoulders, I turn us so that he does not see all their stares.

Luno cries even after the man in gone.

What do I even do here? Do I mention what I saw earlier in the village? Surely now is not the best time for that.

Should I kiss him?

No definitely not that.

I end up rub my hand up and down his back as he buries his face into my chest.

Curse those fools. Why did they have to be so stupid with things they did not understand?

“It is not your fault,” I say. “You know that right?”

Luno sniffs and pulls back to look at me. His eyes are puffy and red. The flowers in his hair start to wilt. The last time they did that was when I made him cry back in the sanctuary.

“I burned his eyes,” He says, almost as if he is in pain. “I did that. That is never supposed to happen! Do...do you not feel it right now? The empty feeling in your gut? It feels like the worst pain I have ever felt! That pain seeped into my magic. I do not even know if I brought all those people back. I heard that man screaming in pain and I quickly ran over to help him.”

Frowning, I shake my head. “I have no idea what you’re talking about Luno. I do not feel anything. Also the people in the village are alive again. The only reason that man was hurt was because he decided to stare into your light. Surely anyone would have been blinded by that.”

Luno’s bottom lip trembles as he tries to stop crying. He only breaks down a moment later.

“What is it Luno?” I ask, holding him close to me. “Surely you are not so sad about that man? You do not even know him!”

“You seriously don’t feel it?” He says almost as if it is a plea.

I can only frown and shake my head.

“It’s Mother,” He says in a shaky voice. “She’s dead.”