Stargazer Pt.1 (Bonus chapter)

-This chapter begins the night before the demons came to Verrenvill-

The sun had taken its long journey across the sky, reaching the end of its daily routine. For the humans that gazed upon the majestic sight of the evening sunset, it was like watching the very sky be set ablaze with the glory of heavenly fire.

As it dipped lower on the horizon, its sendoff was one final wave of orange light across the air. Finally all its energy had been used up, at least for this face of the world.

Darkness filled the sky in its absence, but not to swallow up the realm of mankind in utter blackness. The universe provided plenty of stars to take the place of the old. These tiny little dots of light hardly held a candle to the greatness of the sun, but they weren’t afraid to follow up its performance.

Not many people stayed in the park to see the stars on full display. The silent call of work in the morning tugged the adults away, and school was an ever present necessity for children. Only a quiet few remained in the field to watch the sea of scattered light.

But even as the minutes went on, they all grew weary and retired their telescopes and binoculars, heading back home like all the rest. All but a single girl with short hair, who had a sketchbook and pencil in hand.

A little light radiated from a shield shaped neckless she wore. It had a crystal gem shaped like a star at the center, allowing her the privilege of seeing what she was drawing on the paper.

Her pencil danced all over the page. Not just taking note of where all the stars were, but giving to all of them their names.

“Kelbi…” her pencil pointed to a dim red star in the sky. “Nicen…” a bright blue star next. “Donova…” and finally a yellow star.

She traced a triangle shape in her book, connecting each of them.

“The Northern Gate sets in the east on the first days of harvest-”

She drew a person shaped sketch at the center of the triangle of stars, also adding scribbles representing wings behind them.

“-and the final angel of the Lord will leave not a righteous soul behind.”

Her head filled with scriptures while her eyes feasted on the stellar sight. Peace was never closer to her.

“Hey!” A voice and flashlight spotted her, breaking her trance. “Yamin? Is that you?

“Uh, ahh…” she nervously brushed the back of her head and closed her sketchbook. “Yeah, sorry, Captain Ward!”

The guard let out a groan, then laughed. “I don’t even know why I asked. You’re here every night.” He approached her and helped her stand up.

“Sorry, Captain Ward,” she closed her sketchbook and held it to her chest. “It’s just, this field has a really good view of the sky.”

“I know. But we already let you stay out an hour past curfew. And you’re under eighteen, so you don’t have any excuses being out later.”

There was never officially a deal letting her stay out past curfew, but her harmless nature and the local security made it easy to let moments like this slide.

Captain Ward led her to the parking lot just outside the field. His car was the last one parked there.

“I can drive you home if you want. Just let me lock up the fence here.”

He began to tug a long metal fence gate over the gravel entrance to the park, then locked it shut.

“No, it’s only a block away. I can walk. But thank you very much.”

Even after insisting on taking her home, she refused, wanting to walk alone.

The reality was that she wouldn’t have minded getting a ride. But she wasn’t ready to give up the night sky just yet.

Along her lonely trip she held her shield neckless so it would light up the dark portions of the sidewalk between streetlamps. Her hands were blocking the light from going up, so it wouldn’t pollute out the sky above with its brightness.

She almost forgot where she was going as she got lost in the constellations. Luckily her body took over and instinctively took her to her front door.

“It’s always such a quick walk…” she sighed, pulling out her home keys.

Not being a stranger, she walked right in and smelled the sweet air of baked goods. She’d missed dinner, so this must have been dessert. But if she knew her mother, it was only a matter of time before…

“Darling!” Hands wrapped around Yamin from behind. “My baby is finally home!”

“Gah! Mom!” Panic faded quickly as Yamin calmed. “Please don’t do that!”

“Well, now you know how scared I get when you’re out there all alone.” Mother dramatically placed hands over her forehead like she was about to faint, but then walked past Yamin with a condescending smile. “Dinner’s been ready for a while, so let’s eat!”