Moonless Night
Eric once again laid on his back and watched the sky.
The night sky spread out before him.
It stood empty and bleak, with only a handful of stars shining.
The Moon was nowhere to be seen, as if hiding from all.
Through all of this, a lone star shined bleakly, but brighter than all others in the sky.
It stood out yet seemed to blend in with the other stars.
Even if its light waxed and waned, it would stand out more.
Like a nagging thought that tried to hide.
No matter what it did, it would always be different and stand out.
This single star gave Eric a deep sense of unease, as if calling out to him.
The more he tried to ignore it, the more apparent it became.
This star filled Eric's forworn mind with dread, slowly making him question himself.
Eric couldn't endure it any longer, then a simple thought came to mind.
He could shoot down the star and free himself from this vile thing.
To free himself, he raised his bow and grabbed an arrow.
With this one shot, he would shoot down this star.
Solely focusing on his target, he notched an arrow.
But the arrow fell.
With a small clatter, Eric looked down.
The bow he was holding was fading away.
It all turned to dust and was blown away, save for the bottom half.
Yet it differed from the bow he was just holding.
It had a long ugly scar running down the arm.
Watched by the star, he tried to shoot down.
Eric sunk to his knees, looking back up at the star.
Much like the bow, the lie he had kept unraveled; he was not fine.
The star that filled Eric with dread and unease now calmed and soothed his tired mind.
Closing his eyes, he was confronted with every death he saw.
Yet faced with countless deaths, he remained calm and collected.
Every death still heavily weighed down on him, but now he could bear it.
Refreshed, he opened his eyes.
The star's light had faded slightly, but now it was no longer alone.
It now seemed to be the eye of an archer in constellation.
It looked as if ready with an arrow drawn, to shoot across the sky.
Seemingly in perfect form, it released a shooting star from its bow to fly across the sky.
The star flew straight across the sky as if it was falling from the heavens until it disappeared behind the horizon.
With its ethereal beauty, it had completely captured Eric's mind.
He replayed it in his head, trying to understand it, yet there was one last thing missing.
Eric stood and imitated the form, yet there was one massive difference: he did not have a bow.
Something in Eric moved, as if creating a connection somewhere else.
In his hands, an ashen gray long bow appeared.
It fit Eric's hold perfectly, as if it was made for this very moment.
Notching an arrow, the air seemed to hum with excitement.
Eric drew the string back as if it was a part of his body.
At this very moment, he couldn't tell where he ended, and the bow began as it extended his body.
He released the arrow.
It streaked away, like a light towards the sky.
This one shot took everything from Eric.
He drifted into a restful slumber.
Zeus awoke, but something was different.
He could finally sense Eric.
After two entire days of running around, there was no trace of him.
The bow he and Conor had commissioned was already done.
Quickly kicking Conor in the face, trying to wake him as fast as possible.
Conor let out a weak. "Let me sleep longer Fun"
Before promptly getting kicked again.
"Wake up, servant number two. I can finally sense Eric, so hurry and get ready." Zeus said, continuing his assault on Conor's face.
"Fine, I get it. I'm getting up. Wait, did you say you can finally sense him?" Conor stammered, trying to shield himself from the crow.
Finally, getting out of the room.
The trio of Conor, Zeus, and Fun departed.
Zeus lead them through the city, guiding to a small decrepit area.
The entire area was in ruins, with every building in some form of collapse.
It was next to the wall surrounding the city.
Unlike every other area of its type in the city, it was a ghost town.
It was like every other area in the city: it had shops, restaurants, and homes, but it was completely abandoned like it was left for the dead.
the place was eerily quiet, as if it was a massive tomb.
Zeus ignoring all of this in favor of finding Eric lead them to a small hill.
On the top of the hill sat a small temple, with the surrounding area covered in graves.
Row by row, they progressed until they finally arrived at the temple's steps.
The temple had six white pillars, each in a different state of disrepair.
The two pillars that loomed with the entrance between them were only creaked and chipped.
The middle pillars were cracked and missing chunks, with the outer two were missing their top half.
Venturing into the building, there was a single large room.
With similar pillars to the outside, went down the length of the room.
Unlike outside, these pillars stood completely intact and a clean marble white.
The roof had several holes with debris scattered under them, allowing the starlight it enter ominously.
On the far wall was a large hole, as if something had burst through it.
In front of the wall sat a large altar decorated with a pale blue cloth with two white strips running down it.
The cloth draped down of the front of the altar, and leaning against it was a young man with an ashen grey longbow sitting on his lap.
It was Eric.
They had finally found him.