Feathers -eng ver-

Chapter 21- New-Moon Night

The afternoon arrived and the sun began to descend towards the horizon. It was just over four hours before sunset and -fortunately - the three men had managed to find the Temple.

It was in a clearing, in the most isolated part of the Palace gardens. Trees with greyish leaves and dark bark opened up, leaving a fairly large portion of the soil exposed to the sky. The ground was dusty and dead, allowing only a few tufts of dead grass to sprout here and there. Burnt-out climbing plants wrapped themselves around the three huge stone pillars that had stood, weathering the elements, and had remained standing -telling of their antiquity through the cracks that ran through them. What had once been a pathway led up to a hill, on top of which stood an imposing stone altar. Large carved boulders were scattered all around, suggesting that perhaps the place had once been covered.

The three of them had explored the place for a few minutes, approaching the old and unstable structures. Climbing the few steps that had survived the years, they had discovered a large circular mosaic representing the phases of the moon, in the centre of which was the altar. The black and white stones were missing for the most part, leaving visible the stone and dirt that was beneath the design.

Estel had slowly climbed the steps, and making the coloured, disused mosaic tiles creak, he walked up to the altar. He placed his fingertips on the stone, marvelling at how cold it was -despite the beating sun of the hottest hours. As he moved his hands, he felt the roughness of the sterile material under his fingertips and couldn't help but shiver when he imagined Noya's lifeless body on top of it. He looked away with a quick jerk of his head, turning away immediately afterwards.

Mikhael and Han meanwhile had been watching everything else.

Once reunited with the youngest, they decided to leave, partly agitated by the atmosphere of the clearing. Indeed, a slight warm breeze ran through the trees of the forest while, there, the air was perfectly still. Not a breath of wind was blowing, and even the sounds from outside the temple seemed to become silent.

~~~

The hours passed and soon dusk approached. Noya -as usual- was locked in his room, sitting on the window sill while, with dull, distant eyes, he watched the sun descend towards the horizon. His gaze was lost in the warm hues of the twilight, fixed on a small flock of birds that, like an oil slick in a pool of water, widened and changed shape as they swirled across the sky.

That was his last sunset, and he was watching it alone.

He hugged his legs to his chest, ignoring the almost suffocating pain caused by the stitches on his shoulder blade, letting the orange light embrace him and dye his pale complexion golden. The skin tugged and gave him an intense pain where it had been slashed and violated with indelicacy almost three weeks before, screaming and begging him to relax his forward-curved shoulders.

The sun hid behind the crest of the hills.

With his head and back leaning against the wall, he watched the last rays illuminate the distant hills and rooftops of The Two Cities, the flock descending on the Palace gardens to finally go to sleep and rest. In silence, he listened to the song of the turtledoves blending harmoniously with the crickets' which, with that cheerfulness and peace he had always loved, quietly announced the arrival of evening.

The light stopped caressing his face, dissolving into thin air and giving its final farewell to the world.

He kept repeating to himself the obligations Killian had imposed on him, hoping that that would be enough to get his friends home safely. With a tiny flicker, his pupils fixed themselves on the hill behind which the sun had just disappeared, welcoming his old friend who had always silently watched over him.