My feet, pounding on the sand.

"Hurry, Sotha! It might be hurt!"

His reply.

"Over here!" I gestured urgently behind me, beckoning him.

The dull, featureless child, curled into a ball.

I knelt beside it.

"Hello?"

No reply, and Sotha arrived, panting. I gave my husband no time to rest.

"It looks like a child, where did it come from? Are you alright, little one?"

The small figure stirred, and looked up at us blearily. I felt relief.

I turned to Sotha. "Send word to the Elder, I'll take care of them until….."

- Memory of an Ushering Stargazer

The voice dissipated, as if being carried away by the wind. I sucked in a breath. The memory had been sharp, real, almost as if I had been experiencing it myself. I almost stumbled backwards. "C'mon, Tom," I muttered. "This might be something you have to get used to."

In unison, almost uncannily, all of the children made a gesturing motion, imitating the spirit's motions from before. In another flash, the form of the spirit became a rising sphere of light that arced its way to the backlit temple up in the clouds.

There was a moment of reverent silence as we watched the light soar, and I felt a small echo of that strange weightless feeling I'd felt when I'd touched the shining child. Wait, what were they called again? Oh yeah, winged light.

Cel turned and smiled at me. "Your first spirit, Tom! How do you feel?"

I blinked. Last time I'd been asked that was by a therapist, but the difference between the two instances of that question being asked could not have been greater. I thought for a moment, and the moths began to chatter and gesture at each other, trying out the new motion. Still in my thoughts, I answered: "I feel… good. Cleaner?" The word was odd, but it fit.

"Well, that's what you're doing." Ori nodded. "You're cleaning off the dark from that spirit, and setting it free. Thanks to you, Tom the moth, the world is a better place." They stated it so deadpan, that I had to wonder how much sarcasm was actually present.

I shrugged. "Also, I felt confused. I kind of want to know what was going on, in the memory."

Cel shook her head. "It's rare that any spirit memories match others, or fit together. There's so many of them, you see."

I nodded, taking that in. "So, I'm going to just run this again out loud, correct me if I'm wrong, ok?"

The kids looked at each other, then nodded.

"So. What we just saw was the memory of a person who has been dead for a while, long dead. Yeah?"

"Yes. Most spirits died a long time ago." Cel's answer was confident.

"And her soul was covered in darkness energy, the same force that made the stars fall."

"Yes…" This answer, from Whitti, was not as confident.

"And we freed her soul, using fire." I took note of their expressions.

"If you think that we are using regular old fire, you're obviously not paying attention." Ori was quick with the reprimand. "The power of a winged light is far beyond any earthly flame."

I took that in stride. "All right. Cool. Thanks for clarifying. Now what?"

"Now we go up to the temple, unless you want to go and try to find more spirits down here?"

I looked up to the resolute silhouette of the temple, remembering what had guided me there; the voice from beyond, the winged light, and the existential cave paintings. "Yes. I'm ready to go now."

Soon we gathered everyone up and grabbed each other's hands, with the more experienced kids in the middle, forming a long, if somewhat chaotic line.

"Allright, everyone, hang on tight!" Cel called.

Looking up, I swallowed against the lump in my throat. The distance between the temple and the ground was at least two hundred feet, without even a cliff face to mark the ascent. Just walls of billowing clouds.

This would be quite the flight. I tried to take a calming breath. Then a thought occurred to me. How was I supposed to flap if I was holding somebody's hand?

"One, two…"

"Actually, how-"

"Three, go!"

All of a sudden I was lifted from the ground.

Unlike the previous times, which had felt like someone had tried to jerk my arm out of its socket, this was far less painful and unexpected. The line of sky children rose, and became an elongated V-shape, with Cel at its head. She flapped, and somehow my cape flapped with her in unison, regardless of my arms not moving. I guess it didn't matter I only had one flap, because Cel had more?

Then I made the mistake of looking down.

"Holy-" The wind drowned out my panicked words, and the ground swept below us until all I could see was roiling banks of vapor. We were rising at an unprecedented pace, and my heart, which had already been working overtime, now was forced to do repeated double shifts. My breathing quickened, and I tried to push the fear back, unsuccessfully. I knew my face betrayed my panic, and stress caused my grip to tighten on the children's hands to either side of me.

Pitiful, something said in the back of my mind. Years of cultivating a tough look, and it was stripped away in less than a second. There was nothing but translucent clouds and certain death beneath me.. Nothing could help me here, in this unknowable distance from the ground, and if -when- I fell, there would be nothing stopping me from falling straight onto whatever jagged surface undoubtedly lay in wait for me; if we were still above stone ruins I'd be crushed in a moment. But if it was sand? Or water? At which height did water become as hard as concrete on impact? How quickly would I die after my body shattered, leaving nothing but a mess and traumatized children behind? I wrenched my eyes closed and clenched my fists on the hand-shaped lifelines holding me. When I hit the ground, these poor kids would join the ranks of all the people I'd hurt; hurt by my wounds, my weakness, my acidic words and fire-spitting heart, but no matter how much I wanted to push everyone away and set them free I still couldn't do it; I wanted their connection so much, I was so afraid to leave but I couldn't decide what terrified me more; the fear of stepping into that familiar hole called death or the helplessness of being blown into that blindingly, unknowable, darkening sky known as life.

And here I was, falling again because I always had.

The hand to my right tightened on mine. I jerked my head to them; it was Question. The boy looked at me with wide, inquisitive eyes. He said something, but I couldn't quite make it out over the wind.

"WHAT?" My desperate voice was almost a scream, not entirely because everything was loud.

"I SAID, WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE COLOR!?"

I grabbed onto the lifeline. "BLACK."

"BLACK?"

"I ALSO LIKE BLUE."

"MY FAVORITE COLOR IS GREEN."

"YEAH GREEN'S PRETTY COOL."

Then suddenly there was solid, wonderful ground under us. I only had a second to brace myself before the entire wing of sky children landed in smattering of footfalls. My heavy boots clomped, tearing into the soft grass while the kids skidded gracefully to a stop. Everyone released each other's hands, and I sank to the ground, kneeling, gasping for breath.

Question crouched beside me, nonchalant. "I'm glad you like green. It's a really good thing there's so much of it." He patted the grass like it was an animal, then looked up and stroked his chin as if there was something to be stroked on his markedly smooth jaw. "Though, there is definitely more blue. Here, at least. And that's ok, I guess. Anyway." He looked back at me. "I have a lot more important questions for you."

"Can… Could they wait?" I sat, trying to get the shaking in my arms and legs under control.

"Oh no, these are absolutely essential for me to know, such as; do you prefer night, or day? Sun or shade? Do you like playing in the water from the sea or water from the rivers? Which is cuter, baby birds or baby mantas?"

I didn't answer, but with Question's never-ending chatter, my emotions slowly settled down into something recognizable and presentable for the outside world. Panic and fear were still there, but I buried them in the pushing against familiar motions, resisting the urge to pull out another cigarette. (I'd have to ration those, only nineteen left.) So I showed the kid what I wanted him to see. Gratitude, mixed with light annoyance. An acceptable snippet of my inner state.

"Hey." I met the kids' gaze. "Thanks."

He cocked his head. "Thanks for what?"

"For the question. It helped."

"Helped what?"

"Don't worry about it."

"Why not?"

I thought I heard, in those words, the faintest hint of a honk. I stood, taking a deep breath, and walked towards the stone building, recomposing myself with every step. With a bit of luck the kids would be distracted enough to let me wind down in peace- I didn't want to risk an outburst in front of them. With some dread it also dawned on me that I really would have to get that fear of heights under control, if flying really was the main mode of transportation here.

The other children had gathered around outside its open door, and I saw Celeste's eyes on me as I approached. I caught a flash of worry before she looked somewhere else.

Question sighed but didn't pester me further, instead focusing his inquisitiveness on the outside world as we walked together. There was a pause; Question seemed to take his time with whatever was coming. "I wonder where we'll go, after this."

"I don't know."

He nodded, as if that answer were still just as valid as any that actually gave him information. We stopped behind the others.

Cel clapped her hands once. "All right everyone, we're going to meet the Elder. Don't forget to be polite, and to speak up, he's not as young as he used to be."

Question raised a hand.

"Yes?"

"What's an Elder?"

I remembered that word from the memory, so I listened carefully.

"That…" She pointed at him. "Is a really good question, Question."

"Thank you."

"The Elders are prominent spirits in the history of the Sky Kingdom." She thought for a moment. "We can speak to them directly, and they can teach you about your journey and give advice."

Question raised his hand again.

"Yes, Question?"

"Why are they different? I can't talk to normal spirits."

"I… don't know." She looked around. "Anybody know that?"

Ori spoke up. "I heard some smarty-pants skykid once talking about a 'cultural collective of memories' or something like that."

Cel, whose eyes had glazed over, shook her head. "Regardless of how it works, it doesn't really matter, because they're here, and we can talk to them! All right, let's go in!"

I took a moment to let my eyes adjust to the dim interior of the temple; this was the darkest place I'd encountered in this sun-drenched world yet, and followed the others.

Echoes rang as a cacophony of footsteps broke the dusty silence. I looked around what looked like an antechamber. The walls were unadorned, rough-hewn stone, and just ahead was another large door, decorated with boats and humanoid shapes. It was also closed.

Excitedly, the smaller skykids clustered around some things on both sides of the room; I hadn't been able to get a good look, my eyes were still adjusting. After a moment, I saw the flickering flames of white candles, and just like in the cave, white lines of light colored the walls with illustrations of six buildings, all majestic and reminiscent of the one we were currently in. I watched the kids for a second, clustering around the lights and speaking excitedly; their darting and enthusiastic nature helped me understand some of why they were called moths.

"Whitti, can you get the door?"

"Sure thing, sister."

Together, they brought out their candles and touched them to diamond-shaped notes set in the huge doors. The two boat figures, their stylized cargo now glowing with light, both rose upwards towards a stone-wrought cloud layer, and I took notice of this. The ancient spirits also used light to fly, it seemed.

The doors opened with a ground-shuddering rumble. Sunlight flooded into the chamber, and my eyes widened in the next room. The doors opened to a free hanging walkway, splitting the round, floorless chamber before us in two, with swirling clouds underneath. The massive walls were interrupted by rows of narrow slits, letting sunlight in, leading all the way up to a domed ceiling.

At the end of the walkway stood a large statue, square and honestly kind of reminiscent of a gravestone, with three unlit white candles in front of it on a small plinth at the base of the statue. I could make out eyes and a stylized beard.

"That's the Elder?" I said, confused.

"Yeah!" Whitti replied with a smile.

"It's a rock."

"It's a grave." Cel stated primly, stepping past me. "Please be respectful."

"Oh. Sorry." I hung back as the children filed around me. "This Elder, did he have a name?"

"He was known as the Navigator, or the Dawn Elder."

That would do for now, I guess. I followed them apprehensively, until we all stood, dwarfed by the block of stone.

"So," I started to say as Question pulled out his candle. "What can I expect when—" He lit the candles, and I was whisked away from my body.

Happiness.

Peace.

Belonging.

Holding her against me, breathing in harmony with our hearts.

Time stretching out, intangible, and that was the way I wanted it. Because here, we were free.

Maybe this would last forever.

- Memory of a Content Newlywed

I staggered to my feet. I was in a darkened landscape, awash in blacks and grays.

A figure, dark, leaning on a twisted staff, lumbered out of the darkness. "Are you lost?" The figure called. His voice was rough, weak.

I shook my head. Something was off, here, but I couldn't figure out what it was. "I dunno, you seem quite lost yourself." I didn't mean to sound defensive, but it might have come out that way.

"I did not claim I knew any particular direction to go," the figure, who revealed themselves as a tall old man, replied. He didn't seem offended. Something was wrong with their face, but it was too dim to see clearly. "Perhaps, we might be able to see a path if we travel together."

For some reason, that felt like a good idea. "All right. You seem pretty chill."

We started walking. Everything was dim and silence reigned. We passed a low wall of wrought stones, and that tickled a memory that refused to surface. Something about death.

"So, old guy. You got a name?"

"Daleth. Your name, young man?"

"Thomas. Tom works."

"Nice to meet you, Tom." His long arm reached over and we shook hands.

I tried to look him in the eye, but couldn't quite find them. "You wander out here often?"

"As often as I need to."

"Why do you need to wander in the dark?"

"I am trying to find lights."

This brought something to mind. I had a light. I reached into my pocket, but instead of… whatever I expected, I held a slim red candle. It was already lit. "Here. Light."

Daleth looked at it appreciatively. "Thank you." Instead of using his hands, he brought the hooked end of his staff around to frame the hook over the flickering flame. He lifted it, and one flame became two.

Suddenly, I saw Daleth's face. It was broken, shattered, just a long weathered beard and the very edges of temples remaining. But with the addition of the light, shards of face returned to him, and his dark robes lit up with diamonds of gold, strands of silver flowing down his chest and illuminating his physique. His smile, whole now, was kind and wise.

Some measure of clarity returned to my mind. I knew, somehow, that I'd been detached from reality, but it didn't freak me out as much as it probably should have. Maybe it was the light, or Daleth's presence, that kept me calm. He stood tall now as he straightened his back, apparently some strength had returned to him.

Light hadn't just kept itself to the old man's figure, either. The whole realm was brighter. The source of it could be seen in the distance; the dim glow I'd seen had revealed itself as a massive mountain, the peak of which was crowned by a beacon of sky-ripping radiance. I stopped walking.

"What is that place?"

"Where you must go, to complete your journey."

"My journey?"

"Do you wish to return home, young Tom?"

"I… don't know. I don't like my life, there."

"That is your choice to make." He met my eyes. His were gray, in the way that wet rock was gray. "But you do wish to help and travel with the children of light?"

"Yes." That answer was easy.

He lifted his staff, and pointed towards the mountain. "That is their journey, as well."

I took a step towards him. "I want to follow them."

"The way is hard, and dark in places. Are you sure?"

"I don't have much, but what I have is because of them. I'll go."

He nodded "Then I, Daleth the Navigator, will direct you on your way." With a great swing of his staff, a flock of birds rose from somewhere in the gray beyond, and ascended in a flurry, a flock, a chirping chaos of a procession that arched their way to the blade of light that pierced the heavens. Suddenly the whispered words of the Winged Light returned to me.

"Guide them home. To Eden."

I knew then what that mountain was. It was Eden. And it seemed I'd have to go there.

"Follow the sun to the Prairies. Then descend to the heart of the Forest. From there, follow the jagged trophies to the city of the triumphant. Cross the Wasteland, and see our folly. Ascend our Vault, and only then, after all necessary questions have been answered, you will find your goal. Fare well, Son of Another Light." Daleth—The Elder—met my eyes with a bearded smile. "It was an honor."

And then I was back. I shook my head, blinking furiously at the difference in brightness. Wait. That made NO sense. Where had I even gone!? I realized then that the statue had changed. It's small eyeholes were now glowing with a golden light, and it seemed as if the Navigator was watching over us even now.

"Tom?"

"You're awake!"

"Are you ok?"

"What happened?"

Apparently they'd learned their lesson the first time, because this time the concern emanating from the group of moths was muted, reverent.

I sat down, slow. "Did y'all also see that?"

"See what?"

"The Elder?"

"I saw him! He was nice."

I took a deep breath. It had been similar to the visions in the cave, but much more… disjointed. I remembered everything Daleth had told me, and my replies, and also the strange dream-like quality that place had possessed in comparison to the real world. I looked around. Ori, Whitti, and Cel were all sitting in front of the statue, their eyes closed.

Question followed my eyes and piped up. "They're still in the soul realm. What did you see? Is everything ok?"

"Soul realm?" I took a deep breath. "What… is that?"

He shrugged. "I don't know, that's just what Cel told me. I tried to ask her what that meant, but she didn't tell me." He leaned in, conspiratorially, lowering his voice. "I don't think she knows the answer."

"Tom." Tina's small voice stood out from the others, even in the echoing brightness of the chamber. She approached, her dark violet eyes questioning. "What did the Elder tell you? You don't have to tell me," she looked away shyly. "Only if you want to."

I looked out into the clouds. Somewhere out there, I thought I could make out a distant beam of light. "He told me where I have to go. What did he tell you?"

"That I was good at being kind!" She beamed at that but sobered again quickly. "But I need to pay more attention to the spirits. Oh, and that I need to speak up sometimes."

I put my hand up to my ear. "You need to what?"

"Talk louder."

I smiled crookedly. "Sorry, I can't hear you."

"The Elder said I have to raise my voice!"

I made a pair of finger guns at her. "There you go. I heard you that time."

She smiled again, then hesitantly repeated the motion.

Question, who'd been watching this exchange with interest, was distracted by movement behind us. "Took you guys long enough!"

I turned and saw the two of the three elder skykids rising; Celeste, however, didn't move from her sitting position.

"Cel," Whitti asked, "What's wrong?"

She didn't reply, just stood slowly, her lower robes covering her slim black boots. Then she looked directly at me, her normally kind blue eyes intense and narrowed. "Whitti, Ori, come with me."

They looked at each other, then obeyed.

"Tom. You too." She stepped past me, taking brisk strides. Apprehension rose in me. What did she want?

"What about us?" Question asked, and the other moths looked on with wide eyes.

Whitti gave them a placating smile. "Stay here, ok? We'll be right back."

I followed them out into the previous, darker chamber, trying to read the mood. Ori and Whitti were both confused, as far as I could tell, but Cel seemed… crestfallen.

"What did the Elder tell you?" I asked.

She stopped, her back to me. Her white cape seemed gray in the dimness.

Her voice was clipped, sharp. "I have been instructed to take you with me." She faced me then, hands clasped in front of her. "On my journey to the Eye of Eden."