Forced Allies

The scream stunned the celebrations into silence, the loud beating of the drums suddenly stopped and the dancers swaying bodies stilled abruptly. All the Umbraki turned their heads towards the sound. Avea's head also snapped towards the sound, her neck heavy with the serpent tooth necklaces.

All of the claimed watched with chilling trepidation lurking in their eyes, as one of the young Umbraki girls that Avea had seen playing with the strange dessert mouse scream, "traitor ... traitor" dragging her friend that she'd been playing with along with her. Shoving her forward, "she spoke to the sands, she hears the traitorous voices." Her little child voice squeaked, but Avea caught the vindictive glint in her eyes. "I didn't ... I promise" the accused girl sobbed. Her chest heaving and limbs convulsing uncontrollably. "I have never whispered or heard the venomous words of the evil sands". The murmurings began to spread across the Umbraki, their expressions had grown withdrawn and suspicious. There was no longer that mystic light shimmering in their eyes, it had all blinked out leaving their eyes empty pools. The dunes shifted, the wind changed, as no one dared speak. As they all observed this young girl who got dragged before them with such coldness and unfeeling eyes.Morpheus remained nonchalantly draped across his obsidian throne cloaked in his shadow, his eyes however remained peering down upon his young subject with unwavering intensity.

All the claimed watched in a dazed confusion as two of Morpheus's wraiths appeared beside the girl shoving her forward towards the throne."What is your name child?" Morpheus asked her, his thin lips enunciating every syllable. "Mira" the young girl choked out between sobs. Morpheus leaned forward on his throne, the movement slow and deliberate like a serpent coiling before it strikes. "And is what you are being accused of true Miara?" The way that he spoke the child's name, made Avea's blood simmer with rage. The moral superiority clung to him so tightly, she had to wonder if his throne was too high that air that the he was breathing was one of self righteousness. "No your eminence...we were just playing" Miara wept. "Why do you protest child?" Morpheus's voice seemed to echo from the great distance from his throne. Out of the corner of her eye Avea could see Neomon's shadows darken. Coiling around his arms like he were gearing to strike Morpheus off his obsidian perch. Upon closer inspection the wraiths surrounding Morpheus were more like guards, their spindly forms always remaining close to the galad. It was like his own shadow had splintered and grown limbs, refusing to leave his side. Few stood behind Morpheus as though they were his council. Avea didn't like the way that the wraiths held the young girl as though she were an offering to their galad.

Morpheus descended from his throne, his long train trailing behind him in a dramatic fashion. The crowd of Umbraki instantly parted, every one of their heads bowing as he passed. Avea immediately sensed that something was very wrong, the desert seemed to sense it too. The warm air chilled, sweeping over the dunes. All of the scarabs that had been fluttering above fled as though they too sensed the danger approaching. Shoved into the crowd Avea could feel all the Umbraki holding their breath like there were invisible nooses around their necks growing tighter with every one of Morpheus's steps. Throughout the celebrations there had been a fear lingering just out of reach. A slight twitch to all of the Umbraki's smiles and unassuming darting eyes. Without anyone speaking it aloud Avea knew that this was what they were afraid of.

"Wait what are they doing?" Avea asked, trying to shove closer to see Morpheus looming over Miara, so intimidating in his stature that even her accuser looked slightly perturbed. All the claimed shove closer, but were strategically blocked by the shadow wraiths which seemed to have doubled in numbers. "Let us through" Kamari cried, the sharp anger rising in her voice. She reached straight for her weapon prepared to fight her way through, but the wraiths simply spilled shadow out from their bodies cloaking her from view. Avea heard a guttural growl come from somewhere deep in the crowd, which she could only assume was Lazarus also trying to get past the shadow wraiths. Who'd metastasised rapidly throughout the gathering crowds, holding back the prying eyes and yet there was a maniacal delight in letting them witness whatever spectacle was about to unfold. Where was Neomon? Their prince of darkness?

"The whispering of the sands are poisonous if what you have been accused of is true then the ancients must see for themselves, you have nothing to fear," Morpheus closed his eyes and held out his hand towards the young Umbraki. Mirara's face blanched, turning to run, her little legs scrambling over the sands, but the dark shadows were too fast. Swarming towards her in a wave, she screamed blinded by the shadows unable to find her way out. The icy fear gripped Avea, flooding into her lungs crushing them so tightly she couldn't draw breath. Morpheus's shadows began swirling around Miara, who was trembling so violently with fright as the slithering shadows hoisted her into the air.

"Let her GO...LET HER GO!" Avea screamed, fighting past her strucken horror. She thrashed against the wraiths, but no one could hear her. All the crowd stood on the edge of exhilaration and terror, as Miara's little arched body dramatically floated above them all. No one was going to speak up for her. "What are you doing to her?!" Avea screeched again, it still fell on deaf ears. The wraiths shadows were somehow silencing her, as their wisps of darkness brushed against the edges of her consciousness. Deep in her bones Avea knew that there was something, deeply unnatural about them, they did not belong to this moon.

Avea's eyes remained locked on Morpheus, his eyes had become depthless pits of wholly black, as he held the young girl suspended in the air. What is he looking for? She thought. That's when the shadows stilled and both Morpheus and the young girls heads snapped back so violently Avea thought they'd broken their necks. Both eyes opened wide, staring up at the stars, locked in a powerful trance. "No stop let me through" Avea screeched clawing at the shadows. Suddenly a bolt of shadow blasted past the wraiths, striking Morpheus in the side. He staggered back clutching his side with one hand, as all of the Umbraki cried out in alarm. Morpheus grimaced as he lost his grip on the young child. Miara fell from the sky, but was gently cradled by othered shadows onto the sands. Someone had saved her. Avea glanced to where the bolt had struck Morpheus, piercing his side, she could see the blood marking his hands. His ceremonial ensemble had been torn too, peeking at the flesh Avea could see the black veins running up his side. The fabric materialised before she could get a closer look, covering the flesh. Morpheus was disheveled his eyes darting frantically trying to find his assailant. However, Mirara suddenly shifted on the sands, slowly turning her head to face the crowd, all eyes diverted back to her. The crowd gasped in horror taking a step back. There was a violet ring glowing brightly around her iris, like a cosmic flare.

"She's one of them."

"A sand devil."

"She hears the cursed whispers."

"But she's a child ..."

Morpheus staggered backwards, his slender frame sagging with wariness, his wraiths held him steady. Their shadows cloaked him, Avea suspected they were tending discreetly to his wound. He couldn't have his subjects seeing their untouchable Messiah weakened. Mirara crawled onto her hands and knees, before her neck snapped towards Avea. Whose heart involuntarily lurched at the sight of those eyes, glowly brightly with its violet flare. The young girl now observed the crowds of the Umbraki with those eyes, resembling a feral animal they all flinched away from her stare. "Witness" Morpheus cried, lifting his hands to the skies suddenly invigorated seeing the young girl's violet eyes. "The truth...a devil of the veil, born from the cursed sands" the Umbraki all cowered away, with true terror in their eyes as they beheld this small child. "You don't seriously believe this?!" Avea scoffed with disbelief.

Miara suddenly blinked, like she'd awoken from a trance her eyes returned to their original shade of yellow. She seemed to shrink back into herself, "you are one of the cursed, a disguised devil of the veil," Morpheus solemnly spoke. "No no please... its a lie" Miara's little voice squeaked in fright, falling to her knees at Morpheus's feet. "I have heard the ancients, and as your galad I must protect the Umbraki ... you shall be sent back to the veil demon walker."

The Umbraki cheered with an unhinged fervor, while some began praising Morpheus murmuring the same word "saviour ... saviour." Avea could see some Umbraki falter, unsure how to feel about their galads decree, as Mirara fought against the restraints of the wraiths. "No...the sands told me he lies...our Galad lies to us" Mirara began to scream. "Silence child...the sands whispers have corrupted your mind, soon you will turn into the parasite you are, leaching the uri from all of us!" Morpheus called out the Umbraki, who all drew a panicked breath, now all standing back from Mirara as if she were indeed a parasite among them. "No the sands speak to me ... she told me there are tears in the viel... you're a LIAR...A LIARRRRRR," Miara was savage, her eyes were wild frantically darting around searching for any ally, but she was whisked away by Morpheus's wraiths before any of the Umbraki could step forward.

Everyone was left in a stunned silence. Morpheus was left standing before them, his head bowed in sorrow as though condemning the young child weighed heavily on his conscience. He raised his head to the Umbraki villagers, "the words the child speak are lies, born from the parasites that seek to destroy us. The duty of being your bestowed Galad is a heavy burden at times, but I will stop at nothing to see our moon protected and our uri restored." His pretense was sickening, with those departing words he began disappearing behind the cloak of his shadows. The Umbraki cheered frantically with some falling to their knees sobbing with gratitude.

As soon as they vanished the drums began to beat again and the instrumentals chimed in. Only there wasn't the same fluidity and beauty as before, it was more desperate now like the musicians were trying to drown out the memory of the Umbraki child. The celebrations commenced as though this atrocity had never occurred. All Avea could think about was how twisted and warped this moon had become, sick with their own paranoia. Now all she could see was the was the fear in the Umbraki's eyes, the way they frantically darted to one another, suspecting an attack. Never looking each other in the eye as though that might be enough grounds for an accusation. The music continued and Avea swore that the notes were flatter like the joy in the music had been sucked out of the instruments. All of the Umbraki reached for the Nyx elixir drinking in large gulps to quietly numb themselves from what they just witnessed.

All of the claimed were pushed back into the celebrations, handed gifts and offerings of food. In attempts to distract them from what they'd witnessed of their moon, all the Umbraki danced around them, swaying side to side loosing the coordination in their limbs. Avea's head began to spin, as all of the faces around her blurred into one disorientening haze. She couldn't take all the pretense any longer, shoving past the Umbraki and running outwards towards the dunes, all the Umbraki now too drunk on the Nyx elixir to notice her absence. She couldn't breathe, couldn't draw enough air into her lungs. Gasping pulling air into her lungs like it may escape her again.She crashed onto the sands, clawing at its grainy texture. Desperate to ground herself, but the sands simply sifted through her fingers, giving her the panicked sensation that she was sinking rather than standing still.

"If you're trying to dig your way out of this moon ... it won't work." A voice spoke from behind her. She turned around to find Neomon standing behind her, "so were you impressed by our nocturnal firmament." "Is that supposed to be a joke?!" Avea spat, disgusted by the sight of him. "No its not" Neomon replied, his voice tired and drained. Still slightly concealed by his shadows, and Avea couldn't contain the searing rage at the sight of those shadows. Turning on her hands and knees to face him, "are you ever not hiding?!" she snapped. The last of her restraint giving way. There was a beat of silence between them, a challenge. Neomon stepped out of his shadows, his body solidifying to come sit next to her. Now letting her have a proper look at him. His skin was an even deeper indigo up close, and his eyes glowed with a yellow fire. His horns sat in a proud arch atop his head and seeing him in solid form felt strange. He'd been a shadow trailing behind the claimed since she'd known him, no more than a lingering shroud of darkness. "What do you want?" Avea asked.

"The truth" Neomon replied, the facade of indifference had finally cracked. His face was more serious than she'd ever seen it, his dark eyebrows had furrowed into a hardened expression that aged him beyond his years. "The truth of what? Why your moon is filled with such spineless cowards?!"" Avea asked, too angry to meet his stare. So instead she stared at the sand, as flashes of that young girl screaming echoed through her mind. Neomon winced as though she'd struck him. "You were right at the unification ceremony, about me being a coward" his words fell with a dull heaviness. Avea finally met his stare, he said it as though he were afraid that his secret would carry along the winds. Far from the celebrations, the drums were a distant thump in the chilled night air. Her footsteps had been covered by the winds and there was only the two of them alone in the dunes. Avea could finally see Neomon. He was frightened, the nihilistic sarcasm was nothing more than a mask. "Morpheus swears that he is protecting us, that he is the chosen one. Yet there is a new banishment everyday and the veil hasn't disappeared. He's turning neighbour against neighbour, brother against brother, mother against children" the words sent a cold shudder through Avea. She'd seen the the way that the little girls friend had turned her in with such eagerness, like a victor returning triumphant. Neomon stared into her eyes, as if he knew the exact moment she was thinking of. "The paranoia is the parasite, and Morpheus is using that fear to control us." Avea was becoming increasingly aware that she was out in the unknown terrain with an known adversary who could wield shadows. Despite this thought, something told her that she needed to trust Neomon. Perhaps it was the way that he'd looked upon his galad with so much seething hatred concealed behind his placid smile. The sort of hatred that you hid behind a mask around those with power, for the sake of not feeling the wrath of it.

"You're their claimed, why don't you just expose him?" she asked, meeting his hard stare. Neomon shook in head in defeat, "not without proof, he's manipulated the entire Umbratus moon into believing he is the only thing standing between them and the veil destroying them." Neomon took a step towards her watching intently as Avea stood, brushing off the sand that clung to her layers. She raised an eyebrow, "I know you don't know where I'm from, but I do know a proposition when I hear one." Neomon sighed, "I need your help to find the Crone." "The who?" Avea asked. "The crone, she was rumoured to have caused a tear in the viel using forbidden forces which created the Moros shadow. Morpheus declared that offering her to the untamed veil would be a worthy sacrifice, but it spat her out and now she is cursed to wander the dunes in her solitude." "How is she going to help you expose Morpheus?" Avea replied skeptically, staring into Neomon's eyes which were burning into hers."The myth is that the crone was the keeper of a secret library that holds all knowledge, past, present and future of the Umbratus moon. When she was sacrificed to the veil, she forced the library beneath the sands and only she knows where it is. If there is any evidence that connects Morpheus to the viel it will be in that library," Neomon said, his yellow eyes bright with a fire. "So you want to find this crone who the Umbraki sacrificed only to then exile... for her help?" Avea replied.

"Yes."

They stared at each other, Neomon's face didn't hold an ounce of his usual deadpan humour, he was seriously asking for her help." Well ...Good luck with that" Avea shrugged walking straight past him. She'd made it about three steps, "the library will have records of the past ascension." Avea stopped, her feet sinking slightly in the sands before she turned to face Neomon. Who remained standing behind her, his shadows swirling softly along the sands. "Don't you want to know the truth about your mother?"

A chance to clear her mothers name.

That's what Neomon was offering. Avea considered his words carefully, ruminating over every detail to find the catch... the hidden snare. She couldn't help, but feel the hope blooming in her chest, making her feel lighter for the first time since she'd landed on this strange realm. A chance to prove her mother wasn't the traitor. "Why are you telling me this, why not just go find her yourself?" Avea asked, her eyes cautiously watching Neomon, who was quiet for a brief moment that Avea thought he might retreat back into his shadows and forget this ever happened. "I need a witness. Someone objective who can vouch for the truth or tell it in case I don't make it." "And you're picking me?!" Avea shrieked, mostly at the absurdity of his choice. Neomon looked at her, really looked at her so that she could see everything in his face. "You're not one of us" he said, adamantly. Avea couldn't help but feel the stab of rejection at his words, the same words she'd been hearing all her life. "Thanks" she said through gritted teeth. "I mean you're not easily blinded by lies or deceit, that's all this moon has become now. Everyone burying their truths and Morpheus is behind it all I just can't prove." Avea considered her fellow claimed's words, she couldn't suppress the part of her that needed to know if her mother was truly the women the raised her or if it had all been a lie.

She sighed, "okay."

"So you'll help me find the library?" Neomon asked. "Yes we have a deal" she replied, extending out her hand. Neomon stared down at it, clearly perplexed. Avea huffed, grabbing his hand and shaking it surprised by how warm it was. Then Avea smirked, "I thought you said there are no allies in the lunar trails?" Neomon huffed, "lets hope its the last time you prove me wrong." "Doubtful" Avea replied, as there hands shook in agreement.

They set off, silently hoping that this crone had the answers they were so desperately seeking.