Moonless World [EDITING]

Chapter 1 - Caelie

"It's strictly forbidden to go near the sea."

- Rules of Survival, Rocco Government

203 A.F. (After the Fall)

"Caelie..." she heard. Again. The girl had been hearing that voice for days now. Calling her. It sounded like someone she knew, which was unlikely since she didn't really know many people.

The girl looked at the sky. The Sun was almost fading, and even now she still admired him. He was her idol, her protector. She believed he was kind and loving. Bad moon, she used to say when she was a child. How could she leave him?

When her mother was alive, she used to tell her child all kinds of stories. However, Caelie had always fancied the tales about the Sun and the Moon. The legends, the romance, the adventures. She believed half of those stories had been invented by her mom, and maybe the other half came from true legends. She loved them anyway. "The sun was always very kind. Poor lad. If he leaves the sky and comes to Earth to look for the Moon, we'll be lost. He knows that, but he won't let us die. That's why he stands there alone, just waiting for the return of his lover..." the woman used to say.

He was still in the sky and beamed a little light, though it was weak and it had no heat. The Sun was dying. In the first years, it was beautiful to look at, it was just like an eclipse. The sun was dark with a line of light around it. Now it was just sad to see it fading, and its light disappearing with it.

During the day, on the few hours they were still gifted with sunlight, many minstrels gathered in the city square. Some of them sung stories about the Sun, waiting in vain for its revival. Others shouted that the end was close, the world was going to collapse. Caelie believed that the world was already broken and they were living in hell. It was not possible that there was a worse place than that, and maybe she would never be able to leave.

She hugged her body at the terrifying thought. The cold that night seemed more threatening than in any other if that's possible. Maybe it was because she was alone.

Even though the days were received with gratitude, the nights came like cold storms. The Eternal Winter was close, it was what the old people said. Actually, it was what everybody said, and all of them felt it. The reports of people waking up dead were just increasing every day. The lack of food and blankets were leaving people desperate, and a lot of them would do anything for a piece of fabric.

Despite wearing a heavy coat, which was really troublesome to get, the wind came through the sleeves and into her neck. She trembled and tightened the embrace.

Caelie cursed herself. Why was she alone in the streets at that time of the night? She was breaking at least ten rules on that account, for starters the curfew. Well, it was not like she was afraid of being caught or to go to the prison. The city was deserted. Not even the guards wandered around at night. Just the Krieger, the protectors, and those ones looked after everybody, and not reprimand them.

There were just a few spots on the streets illuminated by some magic lampposts. Caelie took a deep breath. It was suffocating to be out there like that, even if it was a vast open space. The houses in Wynarski were spaced and the streets very large. There was an invisible pressure pushing her.

She hugged her body tighter. "I'm not supposed to be here," She thought. But it was too late now. She could only walk forward, even if she didn't know exactly where to go. Well, she could go back, but what was the point if she didn't figure out who the voice was calling her name every freaking night?

"Caelie..." there it was again. The girl turned around, but the voice seemed to come from nowhere. Not in that realm. It was inside her mind. She felt a shiver down her spine. She had been hearing that voice for days, and still felt terrified. She would always wake up all sweaty to that dream, but only now she dared to leave the orphanage and look for it. It was calling her. Or maybe she was going insane. It was not like she could tell that to anyone. They would think she was going mad or that she was possessed. Caelie still wondered if what was happening to her was one of those options. In either one, she would be as good as dead.