Asunder shadows

Our universe, an infinite expanse full, among other things, of planets along with bright stars that bring light and life to them.

There are different beliefs about how it was formed, but no one knows for sure. In reality, despite there being so many who claim to have the most accurate or credible theories, no one can assure that they possess that knowledge lost between the millennia.

While I think about the mystery of creation, sometimes I stare at the night sky, admiring all those celestial bodies that illuminate it. Watching the millions of stars shine, I ask myself a question that probably has come to any people's mind: is there something on other planets?

Being more accurate, it is difficult to believe that the human being is really the only intelligent life form in this mysterious universe. People have assumed that the human species is the only and the most technologically advanced without taking into account the possibility that other planets could have had the same fate as our's millions of years ago. Perhaps, right now, on another distant planet, could be someone else gazing at the same night sky in the same way as me.

At the same time that I question this triviality, another a little more extravagant one makes its way from my subconscious. Is it possible that there is a completely different universe to this? My mind is lost in the image of crowds of people raising their heads to observe a starry sky completely independent of the one I am used to seeing.

Not compiled with my nocturnal delusions, completely ignoring the light of the bright stars, I also stare at the blackness of the night hidden behind them, and another question is asked. Before all this was created… what was there? Only one answer wavers in the air, the most absolute nothing. A nothing that no one knows and whose darkness covers the mantle of its domain.

We live in a world surrounded by light and darkness. A light that shines brightly even in the middle of the black night. Hence my last questions, would it be possible for the existence of a universe where the light could not reach? Would it be possible to live in the deepest darkness? Anyone you ask would almost certainly answer no. But.. is that a universal norm? Perhaps there is a place where light does not predominate and darkness is not just a shadow of what it used to be...

***

Quietness reigned in the middle of a city painted almost entirely in black. Huge and tall buildings, tinted in the same color as a moonless night, loomes wherever one looks, giving it that characteristic non-existent color that not even the night sky could achieve on its own.

Although the shape of these constructions differed slightly from each other, they used to be rounded and generally ended with a pointed roof. Thus forming something like a pile of semi-conical needles. Some of them had side branches that connected directly to huge spheres that seemed to be floating by themselves.

Right in the middle of the city, another large building somewhat different from those around it could be seen. Its structure resembled a pile of discs of different sizes stacked on top of each other, arranged from the largest to the smallest, finally ending with the same pointed rood as the others. Within this building, hurried footsteps echoed loudly through the corridors.

"Always the same! I can't take it anymore!"

The owner of those complained loudly before arriving in front of what appeared to be her room. She put her hand on the doorknob and slowly opened it. However, she barely opened two fingers before closing it again even more slowly.

"Always the same…"

Her red eyes were fixed on the knob, which she squeezed tightly after a few seconds. She narrowed her eyes slightly and, after fluttering the pair of black wings that grew from her back, she started running in the opposite direction from where she had come.

She didn't run for much time. Her speed slowed until she was walking in slow irregular steps, trying to make as little noise as possible. She sneaked down the hallways, making sure at every corner that no one saw her. Maintaining that caution the entire way, she managed to reach a room completely separated from the others. She flung the door open and sprinted inside, shutting it even faster. She spent a couple of minutes with her back pressed to the door, listening silently for someone to approach.

"Oof, nobody has seen me, right?"

She sighed in relief as she flopped back against the door and wiped the sweat from her forehead, where her long grayish silvery hair was slightly sticking.

She had just entered a large room that was undoubtedly male. Great emotions were drawn on her face as she looked at the wall that she had right in front of her. Next to a double bed, just above a lavish nightstand, quietly rested a short sword, hung on a weapons counter. A simple short double edge sword without any decoration with the exception of a transparent gem set right in the middle of the handguard.

"We finally meet again, my dear Vurtalis."

She slowly approached the sword and fearfully raised her arms to it, stopping just before taking it. Finally, after regaining her resolve, she gently withdrew it from the wall with great care at the same time that a trembling melancholic smile spread across her face. She gugged that sword as if it was the most valuable thing in the world for her and looked at the photo that sat silently on the nightstand.

"Mom, I'm begging you, even if it's only for a few hours, take me away from here."

And as if understanding the girl's words, the sword began to glow brightly, until the light swallowed her up...