Story-time!
First Eight Pages of the story. Untitled, but im thinking chapter one is going to be titled Awakening. "Chapter One"(if i decide that from there to there is a good area for the chapter) is 19 pages. o-o;
There is currently 20 pages written for a grand total of about 8,500 words.
Water flowing from a stone mouth, hitting murky water loudly in the ominous silence after a journey over detailed carvings…All is still, no movement here.
A rusty dagger resting by a stone hand, untouched for ages.
Forgotten, abandoned.
Once shiny baubles resting at the bottom of the stone throne that a statue with obsidian eyes sits on, left in offering long ago. Pillars support the roof, some fallen in the shallow water. Some of the roof is in the water also, showing bits of the dead sky.
Dead.
Everyone is gone, in search of a better life; one not ruled by a vengeful and angry god that ruled with an iron hand, one with a sky full of life and blue- not dead and black, no winds nor rain.
Gone.
Did they escape? Surely the god would not have let them leave so easily…
Perhaps they escaped; maybe they found a new land with a new, and kinder, god. Maybe it’s a land with blue skies and tall grass and flowers.
Or maybe they died fighting their god.
Many possibilities, but they are gone- or dead.
A large skull of some unknown creature rests over the statues head, obscuring the delicate and regal features, but not hiding the piercing jewel eyes.
A pretty necklace of emeralds and sapphires, still as bright and sparkling as the day they had been placed around the neck of the figure. But they seem to have been placed there without care, without love- in fear?
As if the person was in a hurry.
In the water near the statue’s feet, near the ledge that the stone throne rests upon, there is a hand, now only bones, still clutching the statues leg, the arm partially out of the water as well.
It’s a fearful and forgotten place, and it has the quiet feel of anger lurking just behind the obsidian eyes, between the dagger and the stone hand.
Like it’s waiting to be freed, to wreck havoc once again; to gain vengeance.
And it will only take a little longer.
-+-
“Na, na, ‘Rion, keep up!” Rellare called teasingly to his cousin, dancing just out of Arion’s reach. He tossed his head and twisted to the left quickly, slipping out of Arion’s hands again. “Come on, ‘Rion! You can do better than that!” He said, grinning as Arion turned around, a frustrated frown on his young face.
Arion generally didn’t like playing any of the games his family did-he’d much rather be searching for books (which was so far unsuccessful) so that he could learn to read. It was a constant annoyance to him that he didn’t know how to read or write- children in the Great City learned at age five! And he was well past that at sixteen years.
He whined softly under his breath as he obediently chased after Rellare again, who only managed to evade his grasping hands again. “Rellare….cant…can’t we do something else?” Arion pleaded, breath coming quickly.
Rellare rolled his eyes as he turned to face Arion, who was bent over with his hands against his knees. ”… ‘Rion! You’re no fun at all… at least let me show you the spring I found?” A pleading look was in his cousin’s eyes as he said, coaxingly, “C’mon ‘Rion…”
Biting his lip, Arion glanced up at his younger cousin (by only a year, as Rellare constantly reminded him) who stared back with the same pitiful eyes he used to get everything else he wanted…including Arion away from his ponderings on a tree branch to playing a game.
Arion groaned as he straightened, tilting his head in weary agreement. “Yeah! This way, ‘Rion!” And Rellare was off, leading the way out of the camp- they’d only recently arrived at the Yunfhel Mountains- and through thick and heavy brush before they reached a heavily obscured stone path…or what was left of it.
“Rella? What’s this?”
Rellare, who was already running along the path, paused, and turned around at his question. He stared at Arion as if he were quite stupid, which Arion didn’t really appreciate. “It’s a path. Of stones…” His cousin said, matter-of-factly.
“Right.” Arion muttered, choosing not to explain that wasn’t quite what he’d meant. That would be too much trouble.
It wasn’t too long of following the broken path before they reached a tangled arch of branches from two trees standing two arm’s length apart from each other. It…was beautiful, in a wild, untamed sort of way.
Elegant.
But from behind the arch-of which he could see nothing, for it was a pitch black tunnel leading into the mountain- there came an overwhelming feeling that he couldn’t quite place. Almost like……glee. But that didn’t really make any sense, and so Arion just shook himself harshly before following his quick cousin into the blackness. “Rellare?”
“Right here, ‘Rion.”
A small shriek escaped him as Rellares voice came from behind him and he whirled around, staring into the other boy’s lit-up face. Oh, Rellare had brought candles…which meant he’d planned this from the start. Sneaky brat. A frown tugged his mouth downwards. “Rella-“
“Shush, ‘Rion, we’re almost there.”
Arion obediently shut up, wishing that he’d just climbed higher into the tree, because Rellare was afraid of heights and couldn’t go very high, and that tree had been plenty high enough for him to escape his cousin and his mad shenanigans.
And then they rounded a corner, and there was light- and then…they were out. It was a stone courtyard, with a natural spring in the middle framed by a stone ledge. Archways led north and west, showing a twisting maze of stone and marble.
It would have been beautiful except that the feeling he’d gotten at the tree branch arch returned even stronger, and it made Arion sick to his stomach.
“Rellare, I don’t think we should be here.” Uneasily he shifted his weight to his other foot, rubbing his suddenly chill arms. Something was wrong here, and he had the utterly terrible feeling that even if they left now…that it was too late, that the dice had been rolled, and their fate decided.
“You worry too much, ‘Rion.” Rellare chided him scornfully. “Nobody cares- this place must have been abandoned for centuries!”
Arion shook his head and decided that he’d had enough- he was going back to his tent, and dragging his stubborn fool of a cousin with him whether he wanted to go with him or not. But when he turned around, the entrance to the tunnel was covered with vines.
Another shudder stole down his spine, and, still clutching his arms across his chest, he turned back to Rellare, who’d obviously noticed the same thing he had. “Its- its nothing, I’m sure. We just must have missed the vines on our way here.” Rellare voiced nervously.
He didn’t bother to point out that they would have noticed that many vines- and they didn’t look thin either, they were thick, and they’d probably need a knife to cut through them. Arion didn’t have any weapons with him though, and neither did Rellare- unless he’d snuck something from his father’s collection.
That would be impossible, though, because Rellares father watched over it like a hawk.
They were stuck.
“Stars.” Arion sunk downwards, resting on the balls of his feet. He stared over at the spring balefully, wishing once again he’d just climbed high up in the tree and ignored Rellare.
“No one knows we’re here.” Rellare said in a small voice, sitting down, staring blankly ahead of him. “I thought this would be a nice secret we could have, you know, together. And we could play here… “His cousin grimaced, focusing on Arion suddenly. “They’ll never find us here.”
Arion looked over at him quickly. “You don’t know that.” He protested. “They could find us, everyone’s good trackers.”
“You know that’s not true, ‘Rion.” Defeat was already showing in his cousins eyes, and Arion hated it. Rellare was supposed to be the cheerful, overactive idiot…not the realistic, depressed one. That was Arion’s job, and now they were reversed.
“They could pay Centaurs.”
Rellare sighed, resting his head in his hand. “That would take too long. The nearest town is at least a week away...”
Suddenly the serious, somber Rellare was gone and his cousin was dashing into his arms and sobbing. Rellare really believed that they were dead, and that they would starve. Arion bit his lip, his gaze drawn back to the spring before going back to the north archway.
Quietly he rubbed Rellares back, thinking. They could wait here and hope for the best, that their parents would be able to sufficiently follow their tracks- which wasn’t likely, no one in their village knew hardly a thing about tracking, only enough to get by and find lost animals, really. Or they could hope that the village would hire Centaurs…but that would take a long time- to gather enough gold, to get to the town, to get back and then find them….
There was nothing for the two of them in the courtyard, which left going further in and hoping for the best.
Arion wasn’t much in favor of that option, the sick feeling still in the bottom of his stomach, but it was the only thing he could see. Slowly he shook Rellares shoulders. “Its okay, Rella’.” He said soothingly, trying to smile when Rellare looked up at him, tears in the corner of his eyes. “We can at least go explore and see what we find.”
The spark was back in his cousin’s eyes, the lure of an adventure. Rellare stood, wiping his eyes with the back of his hands, a new, bright smile on his tan face.
“C’mon, Arion!”
And with that, they were off, proceeding through the northern archway, and into a twisting maze of cobblestone streets and silent, black windows. Arion wistfully thought of how many times those two words had gotten not only Rellare, but him also, into trouble.
There were too many times to count.
In fact, those exact words where what had gotten them into this mess in the first place.
Eventually they stopped to rest, choosing one of the doorsteps to sit down on and see what they had, if anything at all, to eat.
“Well…” Arion doubtfully patted the makeshift pockets he’d sewn himself on his pants, hopeful. With a jolt of delight he realized that he had a few berries he had picked earlier in the day. Sure, they were a bit smushed but food was food. “I have some berries, Rella’.” He held up his left hand, with the berries.
Rellare looked over at him, holding up his own hand, showing off his own find. “And I have a piece of bread.” His cousin smiled brightly, and ripped the bread exactly in half, and Arion distributed the berries evenly between them.
Looking up at the sun to try and gauge the time, he had another moment where the bad feeling was so strong that he thought he might vomit. Dark clouds were creeping in slowly but steadily, already obscuring the sun and causing the shadows to deepen.
For a moment Arion debated the risk of the unknown and heading further into the city. But….going back to the courtyard wouldn’t really work- he doubted he even remembered how to get there again. He glanced over at Rellare to see him licking his berry-strained fingers clean, sucking the leftover juices away. “Alright, Rellare…let’s keep going.”
Rellare lifted his head away from his fingers, and gave a brief, serious nod before standing up and stretching lazily. “Onwards!” He shouted with a bit too much cheeriness, and Arion nibbled his bottom lip worriedly.
“Right…” He muttered, following behind him as they walked. It was hours, or felt like it, before there was any change in the monotonous grey and white of the houses. Arion stared in awe at the giant road that appeared at the end of the latest row of houses, with its towering pillars evenly spaced, sloping upwards gently.
They exited from the winding maze of housing, walking to the middle of the road. It was a giant’s walkway…that was the only way Arion could describe it. To the west, the road disappeared in the distance, but to the east….it led to a sharp stairway that lead to a temple-like building, which, in all likelihood, was a temple.
But when he looked closer, he could see the cobblestones were cracked with age, that some of the pillars were leaning against each other or broken and half of them on the road itself… and the temple, with its giant statues of people in flowing robes, was in a state of disrepair.
“Wow…” Rellares sigh of wonder jolted him out of his own awe and he shook his head roughly and bit his lip again for what felt like the hundredth time that hour. The road seemed to end at the temple, but it was probably the main road- which meant that, maybe, if they followed it long enough to the west; they’d reach the main gates and be able to get out.
Although the black clouds were still obscuring the sun and giving everything an evening look, he could tell- and feel- that it was nearing night. It was obvious that they would not be getting out of the mammoth city before nightfall, which meant that they would have to sleep in there.
“It's almost night, Rella. We need to find a place to sleep.”
Rellare glanced at him, a nervous look in his eyes, and an unspoken agreement. The houses were too frightening; they felt haunted with fear and despair. “We…we could sleep at the temple, maybe.” Arion suggested hesitantly, turning to look at the building again.
His cousin rubbed his arms, feeling the chill from the wind that was starting to pick up. Rellare looked at the temple for a few seconds before nodding. “Yeah… I guess so.”
They hurried along the giant road, and by the time they’d reached the top of the stairs they were out of breath. Arion’s breath came fast not only because of the climb, but because the same uneasy feeling was back in the pit of his stomach, making bile rise in his throat.
He swallowed heavily before ducking through a jagged person-sized hole beside the barred, impassive stone doors. Arion could hear that Rellare was following behind him and he groped for his cousins hand in the darkness, both of them letting out a yelp when he found it. “Only me, Rella…” He laughed nervously.
“Rion! Don’t scare me like that!” Rellare snapped, although there wasn’t really any sort of anger in his voice. It was more relief- that it was ‘Rion, and not….someone or something else.
“I’m sorry, Rellare.” Arion gave a small smile even though Rellare wouldn’t be able to see it. He forged ahead, leading Rellare along behind him with their mutual grips on each other’s hands, stretching his free hand out, searching blindly for a wall.
Eventually his questing hand hit the other side- exactly on the edge of a door, what luck! Although Arion wondered wearily if any ‘luck’ they’d had so far really counted as such…. It all seemed….so convenient. As if, magically, there was what they needed to go further in.
Absently he was amused by the stray thought of if the entire road heading west would be grown over with vines in the morning as he opened the door. Arion dropped his cousin’s hand to shield his eyes from the sudden brightness and he wondered, eyes clenched shut painfully, why they hadn’t seen the light peeking out from underneath the door.
When their eyes adjusted to the bright light, Arion silently took in the room, in awe all over again. The same towering pillars where there again, supporting the crumbling roof from falling completely. The floor was a silvery marble, and at the far end of the narrow room was a simple, rectangular, and flat fountain that reached from ceiling to floor.
The water ran down into the narrow box on the floor, disappearing. Curiously he reached a hand out to touch it, ignoring Rellares protest that it might be dangerous. Arion shivered as his fingers touched the water, making a break in it. It was freezing cold, as cold as the mountain streams in winter…or perhaps even colder than that, though it was hard to imagine.
Slowly he drew his hand away from the water, finally noticing the two open entryways on either side of the fountain. As he wiped his wet fingers on his pants, Arion approached the left one, running a hand along the frame, staring beyond into a similar room- save for the fact that there was no fountain, and instead of two doorways, only one.
Rellare waited for Arion to make a decision, shifting his weight from foot to foot anxiously. Arion went to the other doorway, quickly, just to see if it looked like the other one- and it did. It was identical to the room on the left.
“I guess… we can sleep here.” Arion said, the words coming slowly. Then, he realized what was making his cousin so nervous- besides the clear facts-…There was no source of light, but it was as if there were windows everywhere, with a sunny day.
And Arion knew for a fact that it was not a sunny day outside, and there were clearly no windows in the rooms.
“Yeah.” Rellare said softly, sinking down to the ground and leaning his back against the right wall. Arion sat down beside him, staring up at the blank ceiling and wondered how they were ever going to get to sleep and if their absence had been noted yet.
Arion’s grey eyes opened slowly, fluttering shut a few times before they opened fully. He sat up, pulling away from Rellare who had curled around him while they slept. Sleepily- he hardly felt as if he had slept much at all- Arion rubbed the back of his head with a sigh. He could already feel the headache from sleeping on a hard floor starting.
Rellare was still sleeping peacefully, unaware of his cousin pulling away from him, and obviously not feeling the evil feeling that Arion was still feeling.
“Come on, Rella.” He said softly, aware that this was the first time he had said those fateful two words to his cousin, and not the other way around. Arion shook his cousin’s shoulder gently, almost smiling as Rellare took a while to wake.
As his cousin rubbed his eyes sleepily, yawning widely, Arion stood, waiting patiently for Rellare to wake up fully. Rellare finally stood, although Arion could tell part of him was still asleep. His stomach grumbled at him, reminding him that other than yesterday’s breakfast and meager lunch, they’d had nothing to eat- or drink.
He swallowed heavily, staring at the fountain across the room, biting his lip. There was already a small cut on it from all the biting and chewing Arion had done on it since they’d gotten into this whole mess.
Warily he approached the water, as if it might lash out at him (he was ready to expect most anything after all of the vines). When it didn’t, and he was standing in front of it, Arion laughed at himself softly for being so silly.
It was just nerves, he told himself in his mind. Just nerves, just anxiety. When he cupped his hands to catch some water, Arion noticed his hands were shaking. From exhaustion, hunger, or thirst, he didn’t know- perhaps it was a combination of all three. Or, maybe it was fear.
That seemed the most likely explanation as some of the cold water splashed out of his tightly cupped hands as he lifted them to his lips, tilting his head back slowly and swallowing. Arion stood there staring at the fountain for a good five minutes, just waiting. And, when nothing happened again, he laughed shakily. The water wasn’t poisoned, at least.
Rellare shifted on his feet, his eyes blinking open, staring at Arion fuzzily. “Right, Rella. Come drink some water.” Too close to sleep, his cousin didn’t question Arion, and for that he was grateful.
When Rellare was finished drinking the water, and fully awake from the chill of it passing down his throat, Arion turned around and immediately made a complete circle so that he was back to staring at the fountain.
Vines.
More vines.
He was really starting to wish he’d already learned how to use the spear and dagger, so that he would have one with him and they’d be able to get out of the stupid mess. Arion’s stomach growled loudly again, and he glared irritably down at it, ignoring Rellares giggle.
Softly he sighed, glancing up at his cousin. Rellare seemed to have come to terms with the fact they were in the city, and although his stomach was rumbling as well, seemed not to have a care in the world, thankfully still not noticing the vines across the doorway.
Arion envied that ability to not worry, to just go with the flow (after a short breakdown, of course)… “Well, I guess our only option is to go further in. Maybe there’s a back entrance or something….” Rellare glanced at him, the look in his saying he didn’t understand what Arion was talking about. But when Arion pointed to where they’d come in, it was clear.
They definitely wouldn’t be going out that way.
There is currently 20 pages written for a grand total of about 8,500 words.
Water flowing from a stone mouth, hitting murky water loudly in the ominous silence after a journey over detailed carvings…All is still, no movement here.
A rusty dagger resting by a stone hand, untouched for ages.
Forgotten, abandoned.
Once shiny baubles resting at the bottom of the stone throne that a statue with obsidian eyes sits on, left in offering long ago. Pillars support the roof, some fallen in the shallow water. Some of the roof is in the water also, showing bits of the dead sky.
Dead.
Everyone is gone, in search of a better life; one not ruled by a vengeful and angry god that ruled with an iron hand, one with a sky full of life and blue- not dead and black, no winds nor rain.
Gone.
Did they escape? Surely the god would not have let them leave so easily…
Perhaps they escaped; maybe they found a new land with a new, and kinder, god. Maybe it’s a land with blue skies and tall grass and flowers.
Or maybe they died fighting their god.
Many possibilities, but they are gone- or dead.
A large skull of some unknown creature rests over the statues head, obscuring the delicate and regal features, but not hiding the piercing jewel eyes.
A pretty necklace of emeralds and sapphires, still as bright and sparkling as the day they had been placed around the neck of the figure. But they seem to have been placed there without care, without love- in fear?
As if the person was in a hurry.
In the water near the statue’s feet, near the ledge that the stone throne rests upon, there is a hand, now only bones, still clutching the statues leg, the arm partially out of the water as well.
It’s a fearful and forgotten place, and it has the quiet feel of anger lurking just behind the obsidian eyes, between the dagger and the stone hand.
Like it’s waiting to be freed, to wreck havoc once again; to gain vengeance.
And it will only take a little longer.
-+-
“Na, na, ‘Rion, keep up!” Rellare called teasingly to his cousin, dancing just out of Arion’s reach. He tossed his head and twisted to the left quickly, slipping out of Arion’s hands again. “Come on, ‘Rion! You can do better than that!” He said, grinning as Arion turned around, a frustrated frown on his young face.
Arion generally didn’t like playing any of the games his family did-he’d much rather be searching for books (which was so far unsuccessful) so that he could learn to read. It was a constant annoyance to him that he didn’t know how to read or write- children in the Great City learned at age five! And he was well past that at sixteen years.
He whined softly under his breath as he obediently chased after Rellare again, who only managed to evade his grasping hands again. “Rellare….cant…can’t we do something else?” Arion pleaded, breath coming quickly.
Rellare rolled his eyes as he turned to face Arion, who was bent over with his hands against his knees. ”… ‘Rion! You’re no fun at all… at least let me show you the spring I found?” A pleading look was in his cousin’s eyes as he said, coaxingly, “C’mon ‘Rion…”
Biting his lip, Arion glanced up at his younger cousin (by only a year, as Rellare constantly reminded him) who stared back with the same pitiful eyes he used to get everything else he wanted…including Arion away from his ponderings on a tree branch to playing a game.
Arion groaned as he straightened, tilting his head in weary agreement. “Yeah! This way, ‘Rion!” And Rellare was off, leading the way out of the camp- they’d only recently arrived at the Yunfhel Mountains- and through thick and heavy brush before they reached a heavily obscured stone path…or what was left of it.
“Rella? What’s this?”
Rellare, who was already running along the path, paused, and turned around at his question. He stared at Arion as if he were quite stupid, which Arion didn’t really appreciate. “It’s a path. Of stones…” His cousin said, matter-of-factly.
“Right.” Arion muttered, choosing not to explain that wasn’t quite what he’d meant. That would be too much trouble.
It wasn’t too long of following the broken path before they reached a tangled arch of branches from two trees standing two arm’s length apart from each other. It…was beautiful, in a wild, untamed sort of way.
Elegant.
But from behind the arch-of which he could see nothing, for it was a pitch black tunnel leading into the mountain- there came an overwhelming feeling that he couldn’t quite place. Almost like……glee. But that didn’t really make any sense, and so Arion just shook himself harshly before following his quick cousin into the blackness. “Rellare?”
“Right here, ‘Rion.”
A small shriek escaped him as Rellares voice came from behind him and he whirled around, staring into the other boy’s lit-up face. Oh, Rellare had brought candles…which meant he’d planned this from the start. Sneaky brat. A frown tugged his mouth downwards. “Rella-“
“Shush, ‘Rion, we’re almost there.”
Arion obediently shut up, wishing that he’d just climbed higher into the tree, because Rellare was afraid of heights and couldn’t go very high, and that tree had been plenty high enough for him to escape his cousin and his mad shenanigans.
And then they rounded a corner, and there was light- and then…they were out. It was a stone courtyard, with a natural spring in the middle framed by a stone ledge. Archways led north and west, showing a twisting maze of stone and marble.
It would have been beautiful except that the feeling he’d gotten at the tree branch arch returned even stronger, and it made Arion sick to his stomach.
“Rellare, I don’t think we should be here.” Uneasily he shifted his weight to his other foot, rubbing his suddenly chill arms. Something was wrong here, and he had the utterly terrible feeling that even if they left now…that it was too late, that the dice had been rolled, and their fate decided.
“You worry too much, ‘Rion.” Rellare chided him scornfully. “Nobody cares- this place must have been abandoned for centuries!”
Arion shook his head and decided that he’d had enough- he was going back to his tent, and dragging his stubborn fool of a cousin with him whether he wanted to go with him or not. But when he turned around, the entrance to the tunnel was covered with vines.
Another shudder stole down his spine, and, still clutching his arms across his chest, he turned back to Rellare, who’d obviously noticed the same thing he had. “Its- its nothing, I’m sure. We just must have missed the vines on our way here.” Rellare voiced nervously.
He didn’t bother to point out that they would have noticed that many vines- and they didn’t look thin either, they were thick, and they’d probably need a knife to cut through them. Arion didn’t have any weapons with him though, and neither did Rellare- unless he’d snuck something from his father’s collection.
That would be impossible, though, because Rellares father watched over it like a hawk.
They were stuck.
“Stars.” Arion sunk downwards, resting on the balls of his feet. He stared over at the spring balefully, wishing once again he’d just climbed high up in the tree and ignored Rellare.
“No one knows we’re here.” Rellare said in a small voice, sitting down, staring blankly ahead of him. “I thought this would be a nice secret we could have, you know, together. And we could play here… “His cousin grimaced, focusing on Arion suddenly. “They’ll never find us here.”
Arion looked over at him quickly. “You don’t know that.” He protested. “They could find us, everyone’s good trackers.”
“You know that’s not true, ‘Rion.” Defeat was already showing in his cousins eyes, and Arion hated it. Rellare was supposed to be the cheerful, overactive idiot…not the realistic, depressed one. That was Arion’s job, and now they were reversed.
“They could pay Centaurs.”
Rellare sighed, resting his head in his hand. “That would take too long. The nearest town is at least a week away...”
Suddenly the serious, somber Rellare was gone and his cousin was dashing into his arms and sobbing. Rellare really believed that they were dead, and that they would starve. Arion bit his lip, his gaze drawn back to the spring before going back to the north archway.
Quietly he rubbed Rellares back, thinking. They could wait here and hope for the best, that their parents would be able to sufficiently follow their tracks- which wasn’t likely, no one in their village knew hardly a thing about tracking, only enough to get by and find lost animals, really. Or they could hope that the village would hire Centaurs…but that would take a long time- to gather enough gold, to get to the town, to get back and then find them….
There was nothing for the two of them in the courtyard, which left going further in and hoping for the best.
Arion wasn’t much in favor of that option, the sick feeling still in the bottom of his stomach, but it was the only thing he could see. Slowly he shook Rellares shoulders. “Its okay, Rella’.” He said soothingly, trying to smile when Rellare looked up at him, tears in the corner of his eyes. “We can at least go explore and see what we find.”
The spark was back in his cousin’s eyes, the lure of an adventure. Rellare stood, wiping his eyes with the back of his hands, a new, bright smile on his tan face.
“C’mon, Arion!”
And with that, they were off, proceeding through the northern archway, and into a twisting maze of cobblestone streets and silent, black windows. Arion wistfully thought of how many times those two words had gotten not only Rellare, but him also, into trouble.
There were too many times to count.
In fact, those exact words where what had gotten them into this mess in the first place.
Eventually they stopped to rest, choosing one of the doorsteps to sit down on and see what they had, if anything at all, to eat.
“Well…” Arion doubtfully patted the makeshift pockets he’d sewn himself on his pants, hopeful. With a jolt of delight he realized that he had a few berries he had picked earlier in the day. Sure, they were a bit smushed but food was food. “I have some berries, Rella’.” He held up his left hand, with the berries.
Rellare looked over at him, holding up his own hand, showing off his own find. “And I have a piece of bread.” His cousin smiled brightly, and ripped the bread exactly in half, and Arion distributed the berries evenly between them.
Looking up at the sun to try and gauge the time, he had another moment where the bad feeling was so strong that he thought he might vomit. Dark clouds were creeping in slowly but steadily, already obscuring the sun and causing the shadows to deepen.
For a moment Arion debated the risk of the unknown and heading further into the city. But….going back to the courtyard wouldn’t really work- he doubted he even remembered how to get there again. He glanced over at Rellare to see him licking his berry-strained fingers clean, sucking the leftover juices away. “Alright, Rellare…let’s keep going.”
Rellare lifted his head away from his fingers, and gave a brief, serious nod before standing up and stretching lazily. “Onwards!” He shouted with a bit too much cheeriness, and Arion nibbled his bottom lip worriedly.
“Right…” He muttered, following behind him as they walked. It was hours, or felt like it, before there was any change in the monotonous grey and white of the houses. Arion stared in awe at the giant road that appeared at the end of the latest row of houses, with its towering pillars evenly spaced, sloping upwards gently.
They exited from the winding maze of housing, walking to the middle of the road. It was a giant’s walkway…that was the only way Arion could describe it. To the west, the road disappeared in the distance, but to the east….it led to a sharp stairway that lead to a temple-like building, which, in all likelihood, was a temple.
But when he looked closer, he could see the cobblestones were cracked with age, that some of the pillars were leaning against each other or broken and half of them on the road itself… and the temple, with its giant statues of people in flowing robes, was in a state of disrepair.
“Wow…” Rellares sigh of wonder jolted him out of his own awe and he shook his head roughly and bit his lip again for what felt like the hundredth time that hour. The road seemed to end at the temple, but it was probably the main road- which meant that, maybe, if they followed it long enough to the west; they’d reach the main gates and be able to get out.
Although the black clouds were still obscuring the sun and giving everything an evening look, he could tell- and feel- that it was nearing night. It was obvious that they would not be getting out of the mammoth city before nightfall, which meant that they would have to sleep in there.
“It's almost night, Rella. We need to find a place to sleep.”
Rellare glanced at him, a nervous look in his eyes, and an unspoken agreement. The houses were too frightening; they felt haunted with fear and despair. “We…we could sleep at the temple, maybe.” Arion suggested hesitantly, turning to look at the building again.
His cousin rubbed his arms, feeling the chill from the wind that was starting to pick up. Rellare looked at the temple for a few seconds before nodding. “Yeah… I guess so.”
They hurried along the giant road, and by the time they’d reached the top of the stairs they were out of breath. Arion’s breath came fast not only because of the climb, but because the same uneasy feeling was back in the pit of his stomach, making bile rise in his throat.
He swallowed heavily before ducking through a jagged person-sized hole beside the barred, impassive stone doors. Arion could hear that Rellare was following behind him and he groped for his cousins hand in the darkness, both of them letting out a yelp when he found it. “Only me, Rella…” He laughed nervously.
“Rion! Don’t scare me like that!” Rellare snapped, although there wasn’t really any sort of anger in his voice. It was more relief- that it was ‘Rion, and not….someone or something else.
“I’m sorry, Rellare.” Arion gave a small smile even though Rellare wouldn’t be able to see it. He forged ahead, leading Rellare along behind him with their mutual grips on each other’s hands, stretching his free hand out, searching blindly for a wall.
Eventually his questing hand hit the other side- exactly on the edge of a door, what luck! Although Arion wondered wearily if any ‘luck’ they’d had so far really counted as such…. It all seemed….so convenient. As if, magically, there was what they needed to go further in.
Absently he was amused by the stray thought of if the entire road heading west would be grown over with vines in the morning as he opened the door. Arion dropped his cousin’s hand to shield his eyes from the sudden brightness and he wondered, eyes clenched shut painfully, why they hadn’t seen the light peeking out from underneath the door.
When their eyes adjusted to the bright light, Arion silently took in the room, in awe all over again. The same towering pillars where there again, supporting the crumbling roof from falling completely. The floor was a silvery marble, and at the far end of the narrow room was a simple, rectangular, and flat fountain that reached from ceiling to floor.
The water ran down into the narrow box on the floor, disappearing. Curiously he reached a hand out to touch it, ignoring Rellares protest that it might be dangerous. Arion shivered as his fingers touched the water, making a break in it. It was freezing cold, as cold as the mountain streams in winter…or perhaps even colder than that, though it was hard to imagine.
Slowly he drew his hand away from the water, finally noticing the two open entryways on either side of the fountain. As he wiped his wet fingers on his pants, Arion approached the left one, running a hand along the frame, staring beyond into a similar room- save for the fact that there was no fountain, and instead of two doorways, only one.
Rellare waited for Arion to make a decision, shifting his weight from foot to foot anxiously. Arion went to the other doorway, quickly, just to see if it looked like the other one- and it did. It was identical to the room on the left.
“I guess… we can sleep here.” Arion said, the words coming slowly. Then, he realized what was making his cousin so nervous- besides the clear facts-…There was no source of light, but it was as if there were windows everywhere, with a sunny day.
And Arion knew for a fact that it was not a sunny day outside, and there were clearly no windows in the rooms.
“Yeah.” Rellare said softly, sinking down to the ground and leaning his back against the right wall. Arion sat down beside him, staring up at the blank ceiling and wondered how they were ever going to get to sleep and if their absence had been noted yet.
Arion’s grey eyes opened slowly, fluttering shut a few times before they opened fully. He sat up, pulling away from Rellare who had curled around him while they slept. Sleepily- he hardly felt as if he had slept much at all- Arion rubbed the back of his head with a sigh. He could already feel the headache from sleeping on a hard floor starting.
Rellare was still sleeping peacefully, unaware of his cousin pulling away from him, and obviously not feeling the evil feeling that Arion was still feeling.
“Come on, Rella.” He said softly, aware that this was the first time he had said those fateful two words to his cousin, and not the other way around. Arion shook his cousin’s shoulder gently, almost smiling as Rellare took a while to wake.
As his cousin rubbed his eyes sleepily, yawning widely, Arion stood, waiting patiently for Rellare to wake up fully. Rellare finally stood, although Arion could tell part of him was still asleep. His stomach grumbled at him, reminding him that other than yesterday’s breakfast and meager lunch, they’d had nothing to eat- or drink.
He swallowed heavily, staring at the fountain across the room, biting his lip. There was already a small cut on it from all the biting and chewing Arion had done on it since they’d gotten into this whole mess.
Warily he approached the water, as if it might lash out at him (he was ready to expect most anything after all of the vines). When it didn’t, and he was standing in front of it, Arion laughed at himself softly for being so silly.
It was just nerves, he told himself in his mind. Just nerves, just anxiety. When he cupped his hands to catch some water, Arion noticed his hands were shaking. From exhaustion, hunger, or thirst, he didn’t know- perhaps it was a combination of all three. Or, maybe it was fear.
That seemed the most likely explanation as some of the cold water splashed out of his tightly cupped hands as he lifted them to his lips, tilting his head back slowly and swallowing. Arion stood there staring at the fountain for a good five minutes, just waiting. And, when nothing happened again, he laughed shakily. The water wasn’t poisoned, at least.
Rellare shifted on his feet, his eyes blinking open, staring at Arion fuzzily. “Right, Rella. Come drink some water.” Too close to sleep, his cousin didn’t question Arion, and for that he was grateful.
When Rellare was finished drinking the water, and fully awake from the chill of it passing down his throat, Arion turned around and immediately made a complete circle so that he was back to staring at the fountain.
Vines.
More vines.
He was really starting to wish he’d already learned how to use the spear and dagger, so that he would have one with him and they’d be able to get out of the stupid mess. Arion’s stomach growled loudly again, and he glared irritably down at it, ignoring Rellares giggle.
Softly he sighed, glancing up at his cousin. Rellare seemed to have come to terms with the fact they were in the city, and although his stomach was rumbling as well, seemed not to have a care in the world, thankfully still not noticing the vines across the doorway.
Arion envied that ability to not worry, to just go with the flow (after a short breakdown, of course)… “Well, I guess our only option is to go further in. Maybe there’s a back entrance or something….” Rellare glanced at him, the look in his saying he didn’t understand what Arion was talking about. But when Arion pointed to where they’d come in, it was clear.
They definitely wouldn’t be going out that way.