The Last Light of Eden (Sky Children of the Light)

Chapter Four: The Fallen Child

     A small sprinkling of cold raindrops fell silently from the cloudy sky, their watery bodies bursting as they hit the forest floor. The gentle breeze that had lazily swept through the woods for the past couple of hours was beginning to pick up, morphing into a biting wind.

     Tun dug his fingers deep into the fleshy surface of the transparent mushroom he sat on, his back pressed up against a tree trunk. He didn't have a problem with heights--he lived in the valley citadel, after all. . . He just didn't feel like accidentally sliding off the slippery mushroom and plummeting to his death, today. 

     "See anything, up there?" Tor called out from the muddy ground far below.

     Tun warily lifted one hand and raised it to shield his eyes from the rain. He squinted into the darkness, slowly turning his head from side to side, surveying the woods. Everything was still, silent, and otherwise completely normal. There was no sign of broken branches or glowing lights to be seen.

     "Nothing up here!" Tun yelled down and dug both hands into the mushroom cap, swinging himself out into the air and dropping down to the mushroom below him. It bounced slightly under his weight, and he crouched down, scooting away from the edge. He glanced up, ready to make the next jump, then stopped, narrowing his eyes against the rain. He could have sworn he'd seen. . . There it was again! Nearly invisible in the dim moonlight was a long, dark line slashing through the treetops. Almost like. . . "A scar. . ." Tun whispered out loud, eyes widening.

     "What!?" Tor yelled up to him, tapping her foot anxiously against the ground. "I can't hear a word you're saying! Stop messing around, and get back down here before you fall!"

     Tun turned to look down at her, the smile that was slowly beginning to spread across his face hidden beneath his mask. He crouched down low and leaped out into the air, slamming feet-first into the next tree over and springing off it, landing on the wet ground and skidding a few feet. Mud sprayed up around him as he landed, coating his legs in a thin layer of dirty water, but he hardly noticed.

     "Found it!" he gasped pumping a fist with one hand and pointing off into the woods with the other. "That way! I saw something dark in the trees! It looks kinda like some of the branches have been. . ." he paused, looking for the right word. "Burned. . ."

     Tor's eyes slowly widened as her brother's words dawned on her. "Burned. . ." her head swiveled to look at him. "You're sure?"

     Tun shrugged as he leaped up onto the manta's back, staring off into the woods. He pointed into the shadows with one hand, wiping streams of water from his mask with the other. "Dunno. Only one way to find out, I guess!"

     The manta gave an annoyed huff and tilted itself over sideways, depositing the elder back onto the ground with a loud "Thunk!" It huffed softly and flew a few feet into the air, circling for a second before settling back down to the ground, wings propped up to shield itself from the rain.

     Tor gave a wry smile and offered her brother a hand. "Looks like we're walking." she scrunched up her face as she pulled the muddy boy up off the ground. "Or, at least, you're walking. I might just tag along with the manta, here. . ."

     "Oi!" Tun laughed and gave her a joking shove, leaving a muddy hand-print on her arm. "If I have to walk, so do you! It's, like, the twin law or something!"

     "What!?" Tor scoffed, crossing her arms and looking away. "Twin law? Who came up with that garbage?"

     "Uhh, guilty?" Tun admitted with a small grin. He could have sworn he saw the manta roll its eyes as it turned away to block out the twins' bickering. It lowered its wings slightly to hide its head from view. "Guess we'd better get going. . ." he said, jabbing a thumb in the manta's direction. "Before Grumpy Face over here decides to fly off without us!"