In the Market

Our world is bound by two powerful forces.
Sun, to warm our hearts and light the day,
Moon, to brighten the night and chase the demons away,
Never one without the other, the ultimate duet,
Together they make a gorgeous silhouette.
They sing their joyful song in perfect harmony,
Their sweet voices melding in holy matrimony.
Lux tenebra!

He finished the poem with a snap of his fingers, shouting the final line.

A flash of light shone across my face, causing me to squeak and cover my eyes. Following the light was a loud pop that rang in my ears. It felt as if I was floating for a split second, then my feet hit the ground with bone-shattering force. We had arrived.

This time around, I really was in awe. The ground was paved in silver stone and buildings of all shapes and sizes dotted the horizon. We seemed to be standing in a square, a large marketplace lying around us. Stalls of all kinds were filled with an array of products: Fresh produce, intricately stitched quilts, freshly baked pies. The space seemed filled with a vibrant energy, though we seemed to be the only beings in it. For a moment, I took it all in: The sights, the sounds, the scents. This place, strangely, felt like home.
The light that bathed the scene seemed almost white, giving everything an eerie shimmer. The sky was an incredibly pale blue, and there wasn't a cloud in sight. In fact, the sun was nowhere to be found.

"Where's the sun?" I asked stupidly, pointing at the strange sky.

Nicole laughed loudly, earning her a sharp look from Damian. "Sorry."

"Anyways, Luna, there is no sun in Luminira. The city is entirely powered by bioluminescence, with is why the light looks a bit artificial. It also makes things glow a bit, like our skin and hair."

I nodded, looking more closely at them both. Damian was right, as usual. The way the light caught their hair made it look vibrant and healthy, giving it an appearance that resembled newly-spun silk.

"If you think that's cool, you should see the people who live here." Nicole said, pointing to the rapidly filling square around us.

Damian nodded, agreeing with her for once. "Just watch."

Soon, the square was filled with countless bodies. As a family of four passed us, I squinted at them, taking their strange yet beautiful features.
Their skin was pale, paler than mine, as if the sun had never touched the smooth, unblemished surface. Their eyes were incredibly large and round, with disproportionately huge pupils. As for colour, their eyes seemed to range from near-white to a cornflower blue, with everything in between. Their hair also seemed to be fairly coloured, a rather limited spectrum of blonds and pale browns. Peeking out from their hair were the tips of their ears. They were pointed enough to be considered noticeable, yet not so much as to be considered elf-like.

What really struck me, however, was their height. I had always considered myself tall, yet compared to these people, I was on the lower end of average. Everything about them seemed to be elongated: Their faces, their limbs, their torsos. The shortest of the men looked to be at least six foot two, and the women, about six feet. They moved with elegance and grace, but not in the same way a human would. Their muscles seem to ripple and bend differently, causing oddly fluid movements. They paid us no heed as I stood and gawked, and continued to enjoy the market around us.

"Wow…This is crazy." I said, gazing at the kingdom's people.

"Natives of Luminira, or Luminirans, as they're called, have peculiar physical traits due to the lack of sunlight. Generally, our eyes have much larger pupils than average, mainly because they do not have to let in as much natural light. The light, or lack of, also affects the pigment of our skin, hair and eyes. Even I'm a strange phenomenon, with my dark brown hair." Damian quickly explained, running a hand through his thick locks. "Anyways, no one is quite sure why we grow to be quite so tall.  The tallest man, to date, was your father, who stood at approximately 7 feet 4 inches."

"Wow." I turned to Nicole, who hadn't said a thing during Damian's grand explanation. Compared to those around us, she looked like a child, standing what was now considered a mere 5'8.

Nicole tapped her foot impatiently, scowling. "Can we go to the castle now? Please?" She whined, clearly not impressed by the Luminirans.


To possibly be continued.