How Did It Ever Come To This?
((Closed to Malagen. This thread contains scenes with explicit sexual content.))
“I can see a frozen point in time
That is easy to retrace
Light and darkness are both intertwined
And the elements are in their place
With one motion of her wanting mind
The real world begins to fade
And all the hateful things I have become
Temporarily go away!”
Celldweller – Frozen
It was getting late.
She had spent more time within the walls of The Citadel than she’d originally thought. Though it was not yet dark the sun was setting on the land of Corone and the sky was being set on fire with an artists paintbrush. Blue was suspended as orange and red took over setting the day awash with a sense of awe over something so naturally beautiful. The Calerian could have stood there for a long time and watched as light slowly faded from the sky and left the city in darkness, she could have. But someone bumped into her from behind, sending her stumbling forward on the city steps. Turning around, she glared at him, promptly receiving a very impolite grunt of an apology as the person moved on. Another wannabe warrior with no manners that didn’t understand how the world operated outside of the walls of The Citadel. She ignored him; he was not worth her time, nor a place among her thoughts.
Taking a deep breath, Ira slung her rucksack over her shoulders and headed out into the city. Even though it was getting late the streets were still filled with activity. People went about their daily business and children were still crowding the streets with their carefree laughter. Windows held warm, comforting light from deep within, setting a yellow glow to reflect upon the cobbled streets of the city. Voices could usually be heard if one paused long enough but she was above eavesdropping on strangers in a strange land. And this certainly was a strange land. Here, it was never truly dark, even in the latest hours of the night. Lamps and lanterns burned deep into the night and guards patrolled the streets giving some semblance of safety to the citizens within. She did not understand what the guards were protecting the citizens from; after all in Astaka crime was nearly unheard of. But here in Radasanth, there were areas unfriendly to anyone, foreigner or familiar alike.
There were roads and alleys not meant to be walked through and she didn’t know it but she looked like the best target out there. She was a female for starters and here in Corone being female did not hold the same respect as it did in Fallien. Here men viewed females as weaklings they could easily overpower. And in the fading light of day she looked like a prime target, dressed in foreign clothes with not a single piece of armament upon her body. That they could see. One need not display their weapons for all the world to see. Not in her mind, but the outside world was much different than the one she grew up in.
Before the Calerian realized it she had been walking for some time. The sun was no longer in the sky and she was merely being guided by the streetlights. And she was lost.
“Katsam…”
Stopping, she turned behind her and looked the way she came but she’d been so lost in her thoughts she couldn’t even recognize the street. There were doorways and darkened windows and little chimneys with puffs of smoke rising from within. Yet ahead of her were also doorways with darkened windows and puffs of smoke.
This was just perfect. She’d managed to get herself lost in a foreign city and with not a stranger in sight to help her. Why is there never anyone around to help a girl when she needed it? Shrugging, Ira turned and continued on ahead. If luck would have her then she may run into someone who could give her directions to the Inn she was staying at. If not, well, good thing she didn’t have any plans for the night. Luck didn’t appear to be rearing its beautiful face any time soon, instead curiosity emerged and Ira found herself walking by what she thought was a park. However, when she got closer to it she realized there was a metallic fence surrounding the entire place and grey stones were sticking up out of the ground. Curious, she opened the gate and walked inside. Reaching the first stone, she knelt down in the grass to try and read what was carved into its surface. It was difficult, she had to use the light of the moon and her body kept shadowing it, not to mention she was better at understanding common in spoken form than written. It soon became apparent to her that it was someone’s name carved into the stone and what looked like their age.
Realization clicked somewhere in the depths of her mind. This was similar to The Valley of the Dead they had back home. Standing up, Ira walked deeper into the cemetery and stood before an extremely elaborate stone that depicted a winged human staring up at the sky. A look of content was upon its face. Looking at the carving, Ira read aloud to herself.
“Here lies Jonathan Davis in the twentieth year of his life.”
Here lies…?
Looking down at the ground below her feet, the Calerian let her eyes wander the row of neatly arranged stones. The meaning didn’t take long to follow her confusion and Ira quickly stepped away from the front of the stone. Why would people bury their deceased in the ground!? Why wouldn’t they burn them? Did it not take up large areas of land in order to bury so many people individually and would they not smell? It made little to no sense within her head and she couldn’t grasp the meaning behind using such valuable space for the dead. Their souls lived on, their bodies need not remain in such a way. Their names should always be remembered, always carved into stone, but why would they keep the body?
Shrugging off the thoughts, Ira looked up to the half full moon above her. In Fallien the night sky would be filled with millions of stars, but here with the lights of the city they were somewhat dimmed to her eyes. She could still see them and they were still a beautiful sight to behold. But the desert truly had the darkest of nights.