World of Shadow and Song

1

The day of the festival finally arrived and the streets of Yorutei were lined up with floating pink lanterns that reminded me of cherry blossoms. The overall atmosphere of the town was festive, with dozens of food stalls lining up the northern district near the gate, along with street performers and singers filling the air with song and dance. I even noticed the bard that occasionally performed in the tavern we frequented, belting his heart out to a cheering crowd of admirers. He looked our way when we passed by and waved at us.

Not many people from Yorutei actually go to the Everdark during this time of year, with most being content in making merry in their own town. But from what I heard, many of Yunha’s villagers also visited this side during the week. They even had preferential treatment in whatever establishment they went to, usually with a song or two to match the celebration.

I wished we had something like this back home. I remembered festivals back in Japan when I was a kid, but nothing as vibrant or as stimulating to the senses as this.

It was close to sunset when the Mayor of Yorutei, a beautiful older woman wearing an elegant white kimono and a crown-like ornament in the shape of a blue flower, opened the gates north of town to reveal the road leading to the Everdark. It was filled with bigger lanterns at the sides of the road, alternating between pink and yellow. At its end, in the dark shadows of the cursed forest, lanterns of pure white began to glow one after another.

“Those are the special lanterns the villagers use,” Tori said next to me. “Think of them as similar to the protective lanterns around Yorutei. They can be really bright up close.”

“Is it true that fiends burn when they get near the light?” Jennifer asked.

“That’s how it works,” Tori replied. “Though really, it’s hard to say if it’s true or not. I’ve never seen it work in person. What I can say for certain though, is that Everdark fiends avoid them like the plague.”

From what I understood, the lanterns were made with rare stones and even rarer magic. Maintaining them took a lot of work and manpower, while mass producing them simply wasn’t feasible. Still, I wondered what that light was made of exactly. If anything, it looked like…

“The sun,” Jennifer whispered in my ear. “It’s similar to my magic.”

“You think it’s the reason the arbiter gave you that ability?” I whispered back. “But you’re not the only one who can use them, right?”

“Exactly. It’s not common for magic users, but at the same time, it’s nothing more than a variation of fire magic.” Jennifer squeezed my arm. “I haven’t had as much practice as you when it comes to fighting, but I’ll pull my weight when the time comes.”

I smiled, then noticed Tori grinning behind Jennifer. “I see you two are done with your lover’s spat.” She walked around us and rubbed her tail against me. “It’s a shame. I really thought I could get Ryota to look my way, but he’s surprisingly stubborn.”

Jennifer swatted Tori’s tail. “We weren’t fighting!” she said, causing the other woman to laugh. “And get away from him!”

I raised my hands awkwardly, but in my head, I couldn’t help but wonder about the abilities given to us. Me with my power to control darkness… and Jennifer with the power to conjure the sun. There had to be a reason for this.

The parade finally started after the mayor finished her speech and a group of blue-armored soldiers marched north, followed by key people from Yorutei; heads of the merchant class, as well as a few members of nobility from other parts of the Shusui Republic.

Behind them were members of the Protectorate Guild led by Yin, and then regular citizens of the town.

The three of us champions, along with Dak, Hesina, and Hakan were ordered by the guild to hang back with the rest of the Yorutei guardsmen to provide support in the rear.

I now understood why the guildmaster needed to give us permission. We could enjoy the festival however we saw fit, but if anything were to happen in Yunha, we were expected to act like soldiers for the protectorate, even if we weren’t officially part of their retinue.

2

I’ve seen the Everdark several times since we arrived in this world, though never as close as we did tonight. The moment we entered it, light from the night sky simply did not pass through the thick canopy above our heads, and it felt as if a heavy weight pushed on my body from all sides. It made me feel nauseous.

The forest was an anomaly that made no sense as far as the laws of physics was concerned. It was bathed in complete shadow and prevented any light from bouncing off the trees, the grass, the rocks and the ground itself. Even regular torches and magic only lit a portion of the person holding it, as if light simply could not travel past a certain point. The only reason the parade could even progress was thanks to the white-colored sun lanterns sporadically placed at the sides of the road. Their light traveled farther and brighter, though never to the point that you could see very far.

As such walking through the Everdark was like walking in darkness in the deepest part of the ocean, with occasional spheres of light assuring me that there actually existed a forest or a road. But the extremely sharp contours of the shadows around the bubbles of color made me occasionally doubt myself.

Sound was less odd, thankfully. The sun lanterns also allowed them to pierce through the emptiness but with a higher radius than light.

If I had been a scientist, I probably would’ve been theorizing and speculating on how any of this could be possible. My friend from high school, Toby, would’ve nerded out completely. But regular old Ryota Rutherford was simply in awe and extremely terrified.

But it wasn’t just me. Both Jennifer and Allen clung to my arms, trembling. Thanks, guys, I would’ve clung to either of you too.

Occasionally we would pass by ruins of the old civilization that existed here. Broken down walls, monuments, a pedestal here and there. It was hard to tell how similar they were to the structures in Yorutei, or exactly how long they’ve been here, but it was clear the land and forest already grew on top of them.

For some reason, I expected everything inside the Everdark to be preserved like a time capsule, but vegetation sprouted like normal. Time, in fact, passed. When Jennifer plucked out a leaf from a nearby vine, its color was an ivory color with the faintest hint of green. It was almost the same shade as the Everdark fiends I’ve seen.

The march stopped twice to take a break. Each time, us guild members and the guards would take turns to be on the lookout, and while we expected a few somethings to lurk in the dark, we never saw or heard any. Perhaps the lanterns were as powerful as they say. In a way, we were at the mercy of the villagers. If they left the devices to run out of power or remove them completely, we’d be stuck here. Not that they’d risk antagonizing Yorutei or its people.

I don’t know how long we’ve been walking, but at some point, the nervous chatting of people stopped completely, and we were left with the deafening sound of nothingness. The three of us champions were simply too tired or too scared to fill in the silence, but eventually, the sound of music echoed from the distance. It was like hope. It was like… the sun.

Finally, we caught glimpse of the ancient civilization once part of the Lusian Empire, now simply a ruin devoured by the land. They had more lanterns to illuminate the village and allowed music to reach far. It was an oasis. It reminded me of the sketch Jennifer made from a painting she saw, except that it was mostly blotted out by shadow.

The entrance to the village looked like a castle wall with the draw bridge left open. There probably used to be a moat around it, but in its stead was land, more trees, and magic gemstones fixed at the side of the walls. They weren’t bright like the sun lanterns, but they provided enough light. They each had a symbol on them too ancient for us to read.

“Welcome and a thousand blessings to the people of Yorutei and the outside world!” a voice shouted from inside the village. I craned my neck to see our receiving party and saw a group of men and women wearing robes of pure white. They were styled like Yorutei kimonos but much longer and paired with skirts rather than tightly fitted trousers. Ironically enough, they were more similar to the kimonos I knew from earth.

Eventually we were ushered inside.

There was more forest at first. But the stone road we walked on was cleaner, less cracked, and better maintained. Stone buildings began to appear, lit by regular red and yellow lanterns that showed their silhouettes. A few villagers were there as well to greet us. They didn’t look any different than the people of Yorutei, except they all wore white color kimonos and have generally pale skin tones. Hakan’s booming laugh echoed as he greeted the villagers in turn. It was also his first time here.

“Look, I think that’s it,” Jennifer whispered to my ear.

We eventually came upon a large entrance to what Jennifer speculated to be the remnants of an ancient castle. There was a large entryway, but everything around it was mostly covered by land and grown over with plants and trees.

As soon as we entered, light became normal. Sound became normal. The pressure around my body became normal. Something about this castle held the Everdark shadows at bay.

The ceiling above us was high, affixed with a different kind of lantern that provided illumination akin to a spotlight. The walls around us became real, and it got wider the farther in we went.

We reached the plaza at the center of the village. In the map that Jennifer drew from the Yunha cultural center, this would be the circle in the middle of the asterisk. And it was big. It could probably fit five football stadiums. The ceiling’s height varied in places, held by massive stone pillars, but the lowest was at least five meters high.

In this place, light bounced around naturally, exemplified by the fact that color was everywhere. Not only were there pink lanterns that matched Yorutei’s festive mood, the walls and floor were designed and decorated in a wide array of cascading colors. What the village lacked outside, they definitely did not lack inside.

There were families walking in groups, chatting. Children were running around. People in more vibrant and relaxed-fitting kimonos danced and clapped along. Guardsmen in ivory-colored armor stood on the sidelines while enjoying meat skewers they got from a nearby food stall. When people noticed our group’s arrival, some approached us with warm smiles, while a few kept their distance, observing with interest.

It was at that point, after a long time of walking in darkness, that I finally felt at ease. This place was no different from the town. The villagers were ordinary people, and we were welcome.

Ahead of the plaza to the north, I noticed the large entrance leading to the ceremony grounds. It was where the music and singing were coming from.

A few days from now it was where we planned to take this village’s treasure… and ruin everybody’s fun.