He didn't wish to waste a moment. He wanted to step beyond the light's reach. Yet, uneasiness surged within him given that those promises were made. Looking back at his siblings, he saw fear on their faces, as well as glimmers of hope in their eyes.
There was no point in waiting, but for him, it was the first time leaving his home, with only this strand of light which followed him as a reminder of his birthplace. The thought of leaving like this, terrifying to him.
He took a glance back one last time, looked at the Link, and whispered a little prayer in his mind "Let me return successful, or doom may follow." Then, he stepped into the blizzard, his figure barely discernible after a few steps and lost within the storm after a few more, the strand of light following him slowly fading after his glow.
As he went further from the Link, a few changes took place. His glow was weaker; the hair still radiated stronger than the skin, but not as before. Also, the strand of light got dimmer as well, now barely visible to him, but he felt it just as strongly, allowing him to traverse the cold and be nourished through it.
Lastly, a strong feeling of loneliness engulfed him. Kilon, all his life until then, was surrounded by his countless siblings. Now he was all alone in the suffocating cold, winds and harsh snow. At times, the snow would form in clumps of ice and bruise his skin, small sparks getting out of the cuts, healing the bruises as quickly as he got them.
He yearned to go back home. These feelings were new to him; despite his wisdom and intelligence, they were limited to the Link and his siblings alone. Outside of his birthplace, he was like a kid lost amidst a jungle. Given that he was out there, and the Link was outside his vision, he had no choice but to keep on going.
And so, he spent his first sun, or two days, walking aimlessly in the Shivering Lands. Unbeknown to him, he was going south. During his first day outside, he had to struggle against the powerful winds, and snow that built all around him.
He was able to rest only when the blizzard ceased. Anyone, normally, would do it the other way, but these blizzards could easily last half a day or more, so he only stopped when they weren't active. When he did, he was able to see the sky and the lands around.
The sky was, at times, stuck between day and night, as the sun shone through a portion of the sky, while countless specks of light did in another, a sight only possible in these unforgiving lands.
The lands, when not obscured by blizzards, provided a sight akin to one in a desert. Only that, snow was everywhere instead of sand, dunes of snow here and there, as not even the sun's warmth was able to melt this frozen desert. Here and there, one may have witnessed some critter trying its best to find what little was there to find.
There were, what Kilon called, stormhawks. These animals usually had white feathers, but at times some gray ones could be seen with some stormhawks at the sides. They only hunted during blizzards and storms when tornadoes formed.
For Kilon, they were no threat, as they were usually solitary hunters and only preyed on small creatures. They would only form a flock if they deemed the prey that valuable.
Stormhawks could easily navigate tornadoes, their bodies bending with the wind when caught in one. At times, it was on purpose. They seized the opportunity to snatch caught animals away from a tornado, drag it to the edge of it while in air, drop the prey to its death, and eat it.
Some of their prey adapted through time to these tactics, like the horned rabbits, which developed stronger, more flexible hind legs, or the icicle turtles, which sleep buried in snow or ice to protect themselves from stormhawks' attacks.
Kilon had to face these flying predators during his first day, or half sun. He was caught off guard by a tornado, as the winds made it hard for most sounds to reach his ears. The tornado swept his slim, tall body like the branches of a tree in the blink of an eye. While caught up in the tornado, a few stormhawks flocked to it. They saw his tall body, although slim, as a good, long-lasting meal.
Kilon quickly found out that, despite their small bodies, their force became greater in sync with the winds. They pulled towards the air currents that escaped the tornado, aiding their efforts. He tried to shake these hawks off, but their beaks did not let go, pinching with force at his limbs and hair, at times ripping at them.
Kilon knew he had to find a solution, or he would fall to the ground and die. So, he closed his eyes, let himself feel the winds with his skin and mind. Then, as the stormhawks pulled him away at the edge, he held the palm of his right hand open, grasping the winds, much like the light from the Link.
This was easy by comparison; the winds acted in tandem, not individually, like the strands of light, which came and went, then arrived back differently. The winds were more consistent, with only small changes here and there, that were negligible by comparison. Once he grasped the winds with his right hand, with his left he started to lead the wind as he willed. With this, he was able to lead the stormhawks away from his body, by making the winds surrounding him unstable and unpredictable. The stormhawks' natural instincts kicked in as the surroundings became strange. So they let go of Kilon, dispersing away from the tornado.
Using this newfound ability, Kilon was also able to safely place himself back down, taking inspiration from the stormhawks to navigate the storms and stay safe from blizzards.
After the struggle against the stormhawks, the sun shifted towards east, signifying the end of the first day or the early sun, as the Lightborn say, the night and day gently meeting in the middle of the sky. Passing this early sun, Kilon felt as if he could tame the sky as promised, if only given a bit more time. Though, after all that happened, he rests, watching the weird phenomena in the sky occur, since the blizzard stopped.
It was the first time he could clearly observe this. Back at the Link, either the storms obscured the view, or the Link shone too brightly. The only way to tell the time was by watching the surroundings get brighter or darker. He was able to see the moonless sky lit by the sun in the east, and lit by the specks of light in the dark west.
He wondered, "What curiosities are out here. Beautiful, enchanting, and at times dangerous, perhaps. But all exciting nonetheless. I have to wonder. Are these freezing lands all there is? Or is there more? I shall find out; I still have four suns and a half left until my return, so I shall travel a couple more before making my way back.".
As he glanced at the sky, he euphorically thought, "What beauty...what beauty.". Then, after a moment of longing and wistfulness, he continued his thoughts, "If only my brothers and sisters could see it..."
The sun slowly let the night take over, as a blizzard started strong too. Signifying the beginning of the second day or the late sun, as the Lightborn refer to. Kilon resumed his travel, swaying the winds around him. He grasped the winds with both hands and led them to the sides. In a way, it could be said he was "swimming" through the wind, like a speck of light swimming against waves of cold.
Kilon heard the usual stormhawk here and there, but the night provided a good cover for a traveling entity like himself. That was, at least, what he thought at first. For some time now, Kilon had heard soft yet heavy sounds in the distance but never saw anything. At first, he thought it was the wind or some stormhawk preying on a critter by dropping it, but that was not the case.
As the blizzard settled, Kilon could catch his breath, then he heard the sounds again. Sometimes at a distance, sometimes closer. It was as if something was sizing him up, or trying to decide whether he should be its next meal. This created a sense of uneasiness within Kilon; these lands were still a large mystery. He recalled that some of his siblings died really fast, when they barely got out of the Link's range. Although, neither he nor his other siblings ever saw anything, they also never saw the way these Lightborn died.
Kilon now grew worried. Not that something was following him, just that, if there are more of these creatures, and if, much like it did with him, they sized up his siblings to be prey, who knows what he will return to.
His erratic thoughts were stopped. The sound of a large thump and the squeals of a dying animal, sending a mix of fear and curiosity into him. He looked around but he wasn't able to see outside a small, lit circle around him, formed by his own skin and hair's light. He listened closely and, using his wind manipulation, he pulled in the scent of blood from the air.
Carefully and attentively, Kilon approached the source of the smell. He found refuge behind a snow hill west from where he stood. As he glanced over the hill, he focused his light within, then casted rays for light from his palm, allowing him to see the dismembered body of a starstag. Its insides, with most of the outsides, were missing. As his dim light shone upon its body, the marks of large fangs showed up around the back area, where most bones seemed crushed by some weight.
Starstags were magnificent, large creatures, with white fur like most creatures around, some blue around the chest at times. Their antlers sparkled with sediments, giving them the appearance akin to branches of trees holding small stars as fruits within. They usually ate underground roots or licked exposed minerals, often digging with their antlers, which had a unique shape - pointy at the top, round in the middle, and then slowly tapering at the base until they disappeared into their skulls. This digging allowed for the mentioned sediments to get stuck in the antlers, that at times, got chipped from the digging.
Kilon noticed that starstags usually walked alone, while at times, some were seen together. Sometimes a male and female, sometimes more males and a female or more. He also witnessed them fighting, using their antlers to stir up the ground below. The larger the snow and dirt cloud, the mightier they seemed. This usually deterred adversaries. However, there were rare occasions where a young starstag got daring and tried to fight an older one. These conflicts typically climaxed with a broken antler, leg, or some minor injury, as creatures around here devised all sorts of ways to conserve energy, and fighting for long periods was not an option for them.
With all this in mind, Kilon knew that this was no mere conflict between starstags. Something attacked and ripped apart this large creature, larger than even him. He also deduced that, whatever did this, was probably following him until it found something better, in this case, the starstag. If it wasn't satisfied, and was going to attack, it would do so without him knowing.
Looking at the dismembered, empty body of the starstag, he knew it wouldn't take long for this predator to defeat him and ate him fast. As for why it didn't finish eating the starstag, Kilon figured it must've been because of him. Although he was at a fairly large distance from the place of attack, the predator must have a strong awareness and sense of its surroundings, adding to the danger it possessed.
Knowing what might come for him, Kilon felt the need to protect himself. For the beast has probably been following him ever since he left the Link. The only reason as to why it hesitated to attack, must've been due to his height and strong glow. Thinking on it, Kilon could deduce that it might've been responsible for some of his siblings' deaths. The thought alone made him feel sad, angry and upset. He couldn't confirm it yet, but given how some Lightborn died so fast, it wouldn't be a surprise if that was so.
While he didn't like that he has been stalked by whatever this beast was since he left the Link. This aspect was a key factor, indicating that, even if he took this beast outside its territory or caught it off guard, it wouldn't be scared off. Normally, this wouldn't make anyone happy. It was that some of his siblings were probably killed by this creature, and that was something he could not allow—for his dead siblings and his current siblings, who all depended on the success of his mission. He had to "Kill the beast, no matter what. Be it me or the beast, one of us returns to the Link," Kilon whispered to himself in a grave tone.
As a blizzard swept through, the body of the starstag got buried under layers of snow. Before it got completely buried, Kilon placed his right hand on top of it, prayed with "May the light embrace you. May you let it guide you. May you find peace," in his mind. Then he pulled and broke off an antler, taking it with him as he started walking into the blizzard, letting it consume him. So the beast would finally approach him, focused on what's to follow.246Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVmineutTbv
