Take To The Sky

From beyond the thick veil of darkness, a howl traveled to Freya's and Nix's ears. The beasts had arrived. Which meant The Enforcers were near.

"Come on!" Freya snatched Nix's hand and pulled the boy into a run.

Together, they rushed off further from the direction of the howl. They had to weave their way through the trees and remain vigilant of exposed roots that might make them trip. Their every step never failed to cause a crunching sound from their boots meeting the dried leaves scattered on the ground.

Nix frowned. If they went on like this, one of the beasts was bound to catch the noises they kept making. Besides, running was just too slow. "Freya, please excuse me," he uttered as he swept the girl off her feet and carried her in his arms, one hand holding her legs and the other supporting her back. The young demon then unfurled his black wings and took off.

Freya let out a yelp but calmed down after she got ahold of Nix's arm and shirt. She didn't dare to look down, so she leaned her head against his warm chest.

Nix's sharp hearing was able to discern all the noises coming from the forest. He could tell, from all the shouting and the hastening thumps of hoofs, that their pursuers had spotted the two flying in the sky. He clicked his tongue. "They can see us."

Hearing this, Freya immediately knew what to do.

'I wish that we were unseen.'

She slowly let one hand off Nix's shirt and lifted it up high, palm up. From her hand, a golden glow radiated off into the night sky, before it expanded and curved to form a bubble enveloping the two kids. The glow then dimmed and the surface of the bubble turned transparent with a faint tinge of gold.

"They can't see us now," Freya said while grinning.

Nix observed the bubble taking shape with eyes full of wonder. He couldn't even form words to convey his astonishment. The boy wasn't able to fathom how his childhood friend had suddenly become a magician and possessed the knowledge on how to perform magic as if she had known it all her life.

Seeing her friend's expression, Freya smiled wryly. "I can't really tell you how I was able to pull this off, Nix. I guess it has something to do with the shooting star that we saw back in the forest."

It was a lie. In truth, Freya understood full well. About the reason she got the ability to use magic, about the shooting star, and about everything else. Because she herself was the star.

However, there was a bitter truth behind her current situation. Even though the star had perfectly fused with the girl, it was not a two-way occurrence. In the process, it had consumed her entire being. And by doing that, it had become her. But Freya herself, she...had been lost completely within the core of the star.

The real Freya was gone.

The star knew this. But since it had assimilated with all of Freya's memories, including the desires in her heart, in a way, it could be said that the star had also become the real Freya.

Every wish that was granted had a price, after all.

Just like how she could feel her energy slowly dwindling as she maintained the bubble of invisibility.

Nix noticed this, and he knew he had to find a shelter for them both soon. They needed some rest after running all night, anyway. He considered approaching a human village and let Freya rest in an inn while he sneaked out before he could cause any ruckus. Demons weren't welcome in human territory, and vice versa. But then he realized they didn't have any coins. Besides, there was a big part of him that was reluctant to be apart from her.

Nix finally settled on a place at the border between human and demon territory. He flew to a valley sandwiched between two mountains—Mount Tyr of the human territory and Mount Mal of the demon territory. The valley itself was called Valley of Lost Spirits. It was said that the region had long been haunted by the spirits of those who had lost their lives during the human-demon war that broke out a few hundred years ago. This was also why the valley was scarce of living beings except for a few daring merchants who chose the cheaper and shorter route through the valley.

But Nix had no other choice. They had been flying for almost an hour. He could see Freya was now barely awake. And even though his wings were durable enough to go on for a few more hours, there was a risk of getting seen once Freya's magic wore off.

Besides, Nix was confident he could fend off against any spirit, if there was any at all. He had never been in the valley, nor had he had an encounter with this elusive creature called a spirit. In fact, a part of him theorized that it was mere superstition created by both humans and demons to maintain their current status quo. If the valley was deemed safe enough to cross, someone might develop a stupid idea to bring an entire village over or worse, annex the other's territory through the valley.

Nix slowly landed on the rocky and barren ground of the valley. There were only a few patches of grass here and there, as if the land struggled to flourish. He also noticed that the air was a bit foggy, and it was considerably colder down here than up there, which was odd. In addition, the overall atmosphere felt somewhat eerie, even though he couldn't quite put his finger on why.

He shrugged it off as a natural phenomenon owing to the towering height of the mountains or the fact that the region was located roughly on the northern part of the two territories.

Looking around, Nix spotted a small cave-like hole on the bottom of a rocky wall along the foot of Mount Mal. "That looks perfect," he said as he flew low toward the hole.

None of them wore any extra layer of clothing, so even though he didn't like it, Nix had to set the now-sleeping Freya down on the dirty and cold ground. He gently lowered her body and let her back lean against the wall. After starting a fire, he pondered how they were going to get food. Nix was used to hunting beasts, but he hadn't sighted any around the valley.

He sat next to the fire between the sleeping form of Freya and the cave entrance. He was lost in thoughts for a bit, but then reminded himself he had to stay on guard. He knew his body badly needed sleep, but he was unwilling to let any harm come to them.

Meanwhile, as Nix struggled to stay awake, Freya—or rather, the star—experienced for the first time how it felt to dream.

Well, it didn't really feel like its first time, since it had Freya's memory of the dreams she'd had in the past. But since it also had its own memory of the eternity it had spent as a dormant, unliving entity, it was able to compare a life with and without dreams.