storm - a sky cotl au

chapter 3 - vale

Moon and I walk in awkward silence as we make our way to the rock. It's a huge slab of stone that looks like a staircase to the sky. Stone steps are carved into it. Whenever I come here, I always wonder who took the time to carve them.
I had though that Moon would focus on the steps, like me, but instead, her gaze is pointed at what's beyond the steps.
The temple.
I look over at her. "Ready to climb?"
She nods awkwardly.

We eventually reach the top. This is almost the highest point in the isle, and the view stretches for miles. I breathe in sharply. I haven't been out here for so long — it's so strange.
Moon breaks my train of thought as she mumbles, "How do we get up there?" She points before us, to the temple.
I hesitate. "Do you trust me on this?"
"I...wha..."
"Do you trust me."
She hesitates for a moment, then nods.
And then I push her off the steps.

She screams for a bit. Which is expected. Most people don't react well to being thrown off a cliff.
But then I hear her go quiet.
Then I hear her start whooping. She flips up before me, her cape catching the wind. "THIS IS—HOW—"
I smile. "The wind currents."
"HOW—how did you even know about this?!" She does a few more flips in the air before me, her eyes wide as she keeps staying up in the air.
"Just something I did last time." I step into the wind current, and my cape billows open behind me. I fold my legs up a little, and I feel myself get propelled to the same level as Moon.
"You must've done a lot of crazy things to discover something as cool as this," she says, a hint of awe in her voice.
I shrug. "Nothing much. Follow me."

I spread my arms out wide, to catch the wind as much as I can, then tilt backwards a little. Soon, I feel my cape catch the wind, and then I'm being propelled forward, amongst the clouds, towards the temple.
I can see it in the distance. It stands tall, on a grassy island nestled amongst the ground. One of the few patches of grass in the isle.
We don't get to touch grass very often here.
I can hear Moon murmuring enthusiastically to herself as she copies me. I wonder how many times she's flown.
Eventually, I straighten my legs and skim the grass as I land. Moon is less graceful, tripping halfway and falling down. She gets up in a moment, trying not to seem flustered.
"So...uh...this is the temple?" she asks.
"Yeah."

In a matter of moments, we've entered the temple. It's a bit dusty, and the windows are a bit grimy, but it's in a decent condition. All around us are murals, of all the other kingdoms.
Most people have never seen the other kingdoms. I wouldn't count myself lucky to have seen them, though.
Moon runs her fingers over the paint quietly as she follows me.
We walk out of a corridor into a light-filled room. All around us are windows, letting light dapple across the ground. There's a walkway to a shrine in the middle, while an endless pit surrounds us.
"This doesn't seem like the safest of constructions," Moon says nervously.
I hesitate, before stepping onto the walkway. It stays intact. "It's safe enough."
Moon hesitantly follows me, her footsteps light and barely audible. We walk to the center of the room, where there's a shrine, with a singular candle upon it.
"So...we're supposed to light it, right...?" Moon says softly.
I hesitate. "You know it's going to be hard to convince him to let you open the door, right?"
"Yeah...but I'm going to try anyways."
She takes out a red, partially melted candle, and swipes her light source. It bursts into flame, but there's something different about that flame that I can't place.
Before I can ask anything, she's lit the candle.
Then everything goes dark.