I ended the world on the second chapter. Yep. All in a day's work.
Chapter Two
Daniel walked forward eagerly, thinking vaguely that he
might use some of the money that Amar had given him to buy a room at an inn or
something - if there was an inn. As he drew nearer, he realized that it was
built on the shores of a lake, glittering under the moonlight. Simple stone
buildings stood here and there, built along a winding dirt road. Tall lanterns
on posts provided warm light.
He noticed, though, that there didn't seem to be any
particular way for the lamps to be lit. Illuminated spheres hovered next to
tall bronze poles.
"Halt! Who goes there?"
A man appeared from the darkness, riding on the back of a
tall two-legged creature that resembled an ostrich, though Daniel was confident
ostriches didn't typically have two heads or frills around their head.
"I'm just a traveler," he said hastily. "I'm
just looking for somewhere to sleep tonight."
The man narrowed his eyes, studying him. "You came from
out there?" he gestured to the empty wilderness.
"Yeah. I didn't mean to land here but well, it's kind
of a long story and..." he realized he was babbling.
"Yural. What do you think?"
The two heads leaned over him, both studying him. The
creature let out a long throaty call.
"She seems to like you. I suppose that means you're not
an evil spirit come to curse us into oblivion." The guard seemed almost
disappointed.
"Um, no. I'm not." Daniel blinked, bemused.
"Right, then. You said you wanted somewhere to sleep.
The Wayhouse isn't too far away. I'll take you there myself."
Whatever this Wayhouse was, Daniel thought, it sounded
better than the hard ground. He followed the man to a large comfortable looking
building. They passed through an archway into a wide courtyard, of tiled stone
and a massive lump of crystal standing in the center of the square. More of the
hovering balls of light adorned the walls. Daniel could see better now, he noticed
there was a rune carved into the wall, right behind each of the lights.
"Well, here we are. I'm going to get back to my rounds.
Best of luck to you, stranger."
"Um, yeah. Thanks." Daniel said, and walked
inside. It was pleasant inside as well, with lots of tables but only a handful
of people - a rowdy bunch of men laughing and talking in the corner. A girl,
about his age, cheerfully chatting with some other guy, who appeared absolutely
smitten. She turned and saw him, and offered a flashy smile. The guy glared at
him.
He shrugged.
"You're here for a meal and room?" He turned to
see an older severe looking woman studying him up and down.
"Well - yeah. Um..."
"Three Otters."
"What?"
"Copper pieces. You do have money, don't you?" the
woman sounded a bit impatient.
"Um, yeah." He opened the satchel, and rummaged
around in it before he finally found what he guessed was the money, finding
three of the copper pieces - which did, in fact, have otters on them and handed
them over.
She took the money, pushing it into a pocket on her apron
and pulling out a key.
"Take the hallway over there." She pointed.
"Third door on your left. Now. Sit, you look like you could use a good
meal."
He obeyed, and presently found himself enjoying a meal of
hot soup, bread and some sort of hot spicy drink that tasted just a slightly
bit sweet. The meal was good, and he found himself devouring it, happy for a
change of pace after three days of the flat tasteless rations Amar had
provided. Presently, he became aware of someone watching him and he looked up.
The girl sat there across from him, her chin resting on her
hands. The boy was with her too, looking none too pleased.
"So...where are you from?" she asked. "Those
are interesting looking clothes." He glanced down at his T-shirt and
jeans, now stained and filthy from the desert.
"Can we just leave him alone?" the boy asked.
"I mean - we were having a good time just us, right?"
"I just met you, Retin," the girl said.
"You're a good flirt, but this isn't a date." The boy scowled.
"I - well..." Daniel said. "I walked here
from the desert. I'm just lost."
"Oh," the girl sounded. "So...just the
desert? Are you a spirit or something?"
"No," Daniel said. "At least, I don't think
so." He tore another piece of bread off. The girl stared at him intently.
"Uh...who are you?" he asked uncomfortably after a
moment.
"Oh, sorry. Rude of me not to introduce myself. My
name's Alieas. I'm just here for a bit of socializing tonight, before I have to
go to those boring old ruins tomorrow."
"Ruins?" Daniel asked.
"Yeah, my parents are archeologists and they travel
around, looking at these old ruins. I have to go with them, of course, since
I'm not of age. It's really very dull."
"Oh." Daniel said. "Sounds kind of
cool."
"Not really," she said, and then snapped her
fingers. "Oh, I know! We're actually here to investigate some desert ruins
tomorrow, you should come with us! You seem like a fun guy to hang out
with."
"You think so?"
"I know so!" she said. "So, its settled then?
Tomorrow, just leave the village, look for the archeological expedition, it's
just outside of town. I know my parents would love to have you along!"
"You sure about that?"
"I'll tell them, of course. They'll be interested in
meeting you." She smiled.
At that moment, the innkeeper returned, and smacked Retin
with a broom. "What are you doing out here? Get in the kitchen, there are
dishes waiting!"
"Yes, Grandmother, sorry!" he gabbled, and took off,
running to the kitchen.
"I apologize for him," the woman said, picking up
Daniel's bowl. "He's a good boy, but lazy sometimes and he annoys the
other guests."
"It's fine," Alieas said, waving her hand airily.
"He's good company." The woman nodded absentmindedly.
"Yes, yes. Now, then. Are you ready for me to show you
to your room?" The question was directed to Daniel.
"Yeah. I'm beat."
"Right then. I'll see you tomorrow." Alieas waved,
as Daniel stood. She had already turned her attention to some other person,
sitting in the table and had struck up a conversation with the boisterous men
from the other table.
He followed the woman down the hallway to a very clean room,
though somewhat sparsely furnished - a simple bed, low to the ground, a desk
and a chair. Nothing else.
"If you need to wash, the baths are right through
there," she pointed. "Is there anything else I can do for you?"
"Um, no. I think I'm good but thank you."
The woman nodded. "We serve the morning meal starting
at six."
She closed the door,
leaving him alone. He knew he probably needed to at least try and wash - three
days of wandering in the desert had left him feeling fairly disgusting but he
didn't move for a while. He lay on the bed, staring up at the ceiling for a
long time and before he realized it, he had fallen asleep.
He was home again, in
his comfortable mess of a bedroom. A stack of homework stood precariously on
his desk, dirty clothes spilled out all over the floor. But something was
wrong. He tried to put a finger on it, but nothing came.
"Hello?" he
stepped out into the hallway and into the living room. "Anyone home?"
Nobody was there. He
felt a prickle of fear. There should be somebody. His siblings. His parents.
Anyone.
The pendent felt warm
against his skin. He studied it, wondering where it had come from. He stepped
outside. There was nobody around. No cars, no people. And the silence. No birds
sang, no wind whistled in the grass. It was as though the whole world had gone
mute.
The dread began to
increase.
He stepped into the
street - just plain, quiet suburbia, nothing special. And then he saw it.
Darkness. A vast wave of it, rose high, higher than the sky, covering
everything, sweeping forward. He stumbled backwards.
"No..." he
whispered. "No."
And then for the first
time, he saw somebody else besides him standing there, a boy with medium length
black hair, and eyes. He turned to look at Daniel.
"Owen?" he
whispered hoarsely, wondering how he knew that name. Some distant memory
stirred in the back of his mind. He and Owen had been friends, he was pretty
sure.
"Well, guess this
is it, huh?" Owen asked. "End of the world and all that. Any regrets
before we all die?"
"I..." he
said.
The darkness drew
closer. "This is a dream, isn't it?"
"No dream, dude.
I don't know what you did, but I don't think you did a very good job."
"What I
did?" Daniel asked. Owen didn't seem to be paying much attention. His gaze
was focused on the imminent destruction of the world.
The Darkness reached
the town buildings. As it touched him, Daniel noticed that the details began to
wash out of them, leaving behind what looked like wireframe sketches before
they too dissolved.
"Well, good luck,
buddy. See you on the other side, I guess. If there is a other side." He
laughed.
The massive wave of
nothingness loomed right above their heads now. The light from the pendent
began to glow fiercely, a bubble of light formed around Daniel.
And then it crashed
down. Everything vanished.
And for a little
while, Daniel floated in emptiness, dimly aware of himself. The world was gone,
surrounded by a bubble of strange copper light. And then he fell, though he
strangely felt no fear. Comets and stars blazed around him, suns burned bright,
planets tilted slowly in the never-ending night.
And then he saw the
world and knew, somehow, that was his destination as he drew closer and
closer...
He woke up, panting and drenched in sweat.
What was that? My memories?
He swung his legs over the bed and stepped into the
washroom, splashing some water over his face, thinking back over the dream.
"So am I dead, then? If the world ended then..."
he didn't feel particularly dead. Nothing about this world suggested he was
dead. He picked up a towel and dried his face, staring at his skin. He stopped.
"It just doesn't make any sense," he said aloud.
"If the world ended, then I shouldn't be here. I'm pretty sure this isn't
the afterlife. I hope it isn't the afterlife..."
He pulled the pendent out and studied it. "It's connected."
He decided. "Somehow, in a way I don't understand. But I'm going to figure
it out."
And with that thought, he headed back to the bedroom and
fell asleep.
No comments:
Post a Comment