Endless Night

The croak that emitted from the boy’s throat startled her, though her expression did not show it. There were few things she and her son, Hattori, had in common, but the uncanny ability to school their expressions were certainly one of them. After years of abuse, she’d learned the hide any possibly displeasing emotion behind a demure expression, as if she were simply contemplating the weather. His voice belied little use, which was especially curious considering he smelled of a pack. But, by his appearance, she wondered if he was possibly a slave. Venom’s kin, Chimera, had had a tenacity for slavery, of which she considered to be abhorrent. In Iga they had had slaves, to be sure, but she had never partook in them or wanted them around her home, though her husband had certainly had a different opinion. She desperately wanted to offer him refuge with her, but bit her tongue. She didn’t want to scare him away.

“In my homeland, there is an old legend from which we have a festival each summer. We write a wish on a piece of paper and attach it to bamboo, then, at the end of the seven day festival, we float the papers out to sea so that the Gods may read them and grant our wishes. It is not summer, but this canyon will surely lead to the sea. Is there, perhaps, a wish you would like to send to the Gods?” she asked out of nowhere. Fallen stars were an auspicious sign in Iga. It was said that many shrines were made from Fallen stars even, and the sky above them seemed to be providing plenty. Perhaps, this meant that the Gods were closer to the earthly realm and would receive the wishes? Her ghostly gaze followed him, watching as the bat drew itself across the odd sky. It did, in fact, seem to glow ever so slightly, but it wasn’t such an odd thing to her. After all, her own grandson glowed.