Tomas did not even have the will to retaliate, simply averting his gaze and running his fingers nervously through his hair, unsure of how to feel about the enigma of a woman he was locked in the cell with.
He was exhausted. His mind was strained, his muscles were aching. He could barely muster up a hint of strength, even if he wanted to.
Tomas slowly fell back down to the uncomfortable floor, shutting his eyes. He saw the night sky behind his eyelids, dark and infinite in its expanse.
He could see the millions of white stars shining like diamonds, dotted across the black. He saw Rea, glowing a blueish white, and Ixo spread out in the night like a broken dish. Eos’s two moons were so extraordinary to behold.
Then, Tomas saw the red star. The star he had been watching each night for months as it slowly grew larger and more astonishing with time.
The falling star took up his entire focus. Its crimson fire, its long tail. It shimmered like a hearth.
Tomas opened his eyes and looked to Lynn who had removed her tricorn hat to rest her head in her arms. Within seconds of imagining the red star, Tomas had remembered what Lynn had told Gharland earlier.
Tomas broke the silence. “You said something before about… a light, to the captain.”
Lynn lifted her head, nodding. “Kyzon’s Light, yes.”
“What is that?”
“The bleeding star in the sky,” Lynn said.
Tomas’s hunch was correct. “It’s called Kyzon’s Light? Why?”
“It was first described by an ancient scholar named Kyzon. It is an astronomical anomaly.”
“Meaning?”
Lynn huffed, forgetting she was not surrounded by people of science anymore. “Meaning, we do not know what it really is, other than it returns to our skies once every eight-thousand years or so. The last time it appeared in our skies, Eos was practically decimated.
“It is said that when the bleeding star appeared, Rea collided with our moon, Ixo. Most of Eos was swallowed by the ocean as the tides shifted. It caused the Tekawa people to become nomadic. That’s why it is called the Cataclysm- our world nearly ended.”
Tomas remembered Hila, back in Winterglade. It felt like so long ago. He recalled what she had said about the star.
“Father says the bleeding star is an omen… a sign of something bad to come. ‘A celestial warning of blood and death’, he claims.”
Tomas scratched his head. Could the bleeding star really have something to do with all that was happening?
“You said that you Magister Prime was obsessed with it. Why?”
Lynn shrugged, unamused. “I have no idea. Now, will you let me rest?”
It did not sit right with Tomas. Ever since the red light in the sky had first appeared, he had been suspicious of its meaning, and everything had gone wrong.
“Could it have something to do with what’s going on?” Tomas asked.
Before Lynn could formulate a response, there was a sudden tremor in the cell. The floor and walls shook as if a giant were jumping up and down next door. Dust fell from rocky ceiling as Tomas and Lynn held on to what they could for stability.
The floor vibrated then shook; the door groaned on its hinges as the wood warped. Cracks appeared in the walls, then the floor, like fracturing glass.
The sound was terrible, like stones breaking and lurching all at once. A deep rumble came from far away.
And as quickly as the shaking came, it vanished.
“What was that?” Lynn said, catching her breath. “It felt like some sort of quake.”
Tomas was lost for words. What could make the side of a mountain shake so violently? He did not even want to imagine an answer.
Then came the fear. He realised that they were trapped in a locked cell…underground. He stared at the cracks that had appeared in the walls and floor. Many of the stones had shifted; some rocks were groaning.
The entire cell could collapse at any moment.
“We need to get out of here,” Lynn gasped, realising their predicament. Her voice sounded more panicky than before as she ran for the door, trying to pull it open and banging for help.
Tomas realised that she must have come to the same conclusion as he did. They were in immediate danger and had to get out. He joined her side, knocking on the wood to try and get one of Gharland’s company to hear them.
“Help! Landry!” Tomas shouted.
“Please, let us out!” Lynn cried.
End of Act III
Interludes III
Interlude - Doom
Grata clung to Kasda’s hand with all her strength in the panic. She knew that if she lost her grip, even for a second, her small son would be lost forever in the chaos.
Their hands were sweaty; it was becoming tougher to hold on.
Kasda had felt overwhelmed with dread and anxiety as they reached the docks of Nightenvale, and Grata could not blame him. He had never seen so many people all at once gathered in such a small area.
The silhouettes of the dark, spire-like buildings of Nightenvale were haunting, their stone overhangs and pointed peaks like being trapped in a rocky gulley.
The night was intensely cool and the sea breeze strong. Lanterns guided the way towards the correct piers for the crowd, like beacons in the dark.
The people of Nightenvale took everything they could carry. Some brought more than others, but most had remembered to bring warm clothing for the freezing weather.
Grata kept trying to claw her way through the rugged-up people with her free hand, pushing forwards step by step with Kasda in her shadow.
“Mama, please wait,” Kasda begged as she pulled him along. He was still crying.
“Come on, my son. Keep walking,” she said back to him over the sorrowful
