Bearer of the Stars

Chapter 13: Melody of the Night

Night lost all sense of direction in the storm. The rain came down in blinding sheets and lightning crackled in the sky, violently shaking the air of the forest. Night was pretty sure she had sped off into the forest that was near the gold district, but she hadn't been paying attention. Each district had a layer of woods barricading it from each other layer. The gold district had the biggest wood, because they were the district that bordered the commoner districts.

At this point Night's coat was soaked down to her skin, and the cold had seeped even deeper down into her bones. Night lost track of which dribbles streaking down her cheeks were rain or tears. Her body screamed for break, but Night would not allow such release.

Her mind was still screaming, so she pushed through the aching feet and stiff cold muscles. They never cared. Why would they? She was their precious mistake.

The earth below her next step gave away, and before Night even realized she was suddenly spinning downward. On the way down she crashed onto the muddy slope, and ended up sliding the rest of the way down. Night attempted to get a hold of something, and even tried to dig her claws into the mud, but the earth did not give in.

Her grip on the slippery mud let go and a sharp pain injected itself into her flank. The root that had impaled her kept a strong hold and ripped into Night all the way to her spine. The pain was horrendous, causing Night to teeter on the edge of her consciousness.

She could feel the hot blood seeping into her fur, mixing with the rainwater and mud that had plastered her coat. Screaming, Night continued her downward fall to the ground, before she eventually landed with a sickening thud.

It felt as though life was draining out of her, and she could barely catch her breath. The landing had knocked it out of her. A pitiful groan escaped her. She attempted to get a control on her limbs, to push herself up and get help, but her body refused to work.

Was this what it felt like before death? Complete helplessness and then a sweet release? Night hoped the sweet release for her death would come faster, because the wound that stretched from her stomach to her back had begun to burn as though hell fire had ripped through her skin.

She just had to hold on a little longer, and try a little harder. Then she could make it. She had to make it. She wasn't ready to go yet. Panic filled her chest as the thought of dying truly hit her. She had to say goodbye to her brother... To her family. To the family she ran away from but never truly hated.

"Relax sweet child." A voice broke Night's train of thought, and she managed to look up and see a glimmering Ninetails that looked as though she had stars decorating her pelt.

"I am here to help you. Relax your head dear Melody of the Night." The goddess's voice was a sweet lullaby to Night's fear and anxiety. A silver aura circled the Ninetail's feet and soon came to stretch out over Night.

A warm sensation filled her and a sweet buzzing filled up the spaces that had been burning before. The pain that she had been feeling subsided and Night was finally able to breath without the claws of agony wrapping around her lungs. Though she couldn't move her head, it refused to work under her command.

"Melody of the Night. Light to Winter's Breath." The Ninetail spoke to Night as if those were her titles, but Night had no titles. Night was just... No one.

But the world around Night started to twist and change, the air around her began to glow in shades of violet and blue.

"The gods above may have given up on you, bearer of thy stars, but I shall give you one last chance. I shall offer you a Fallen Guardian to watch and protect you from harm's way." Night found herself floating above the ground, held up by the swirling mix of purple and blue.

A darkness began to take her, begging her to close her eyes and give up to the world. Night looked to the Nine tails in panic, but she simply smiled. Her silver fur glowed like a star itself in the midnight, and her eyes were an abyss of white. Somehow it was comforting.

Her consciousness slowly began to fade, but before Night could give up the Goddess spoke, her voice just as powerful as a brewing hurricane.

"Find what has been lost in the catacombs of old

For that light can whittle out the cold

You will stand against all odds

And become a beacon to be awed

Steel your heart

For you will bring the dawn."