The wall of flame that had erupted earlier had prompted a slow and cautious gait in the Paravellan's stride. Which was why it took him much longer than it should have to traverse a ten stride journey. Even after Marschal had crossed the gate threshold, with no sign of scorching flames, he still felt compelled to watch his step into the crowded iron courtyard. It took a while before he felt confident in not being consumed by a wall of searing fire.
But now he found himself swept up in a mass of strangers gathered beneath a metallic, palatial structure. The front of the building consisted of four towering closed gates that spanned the entire length of the Factory wall. He looked further up to see the spires protruding from the roof like a sky scraping crown. Plumes of smoke rose up from the spires and obscured the sky above them.
Marschal then lowered his gaze to the courtyard around him. Blooming from the centre of the crowd was a pair of iron water features that softly trickled against the metal, sounds that competed against the murmuring voices surrounding them.
As he studied the sleek, grey fountains, Marschal's ears pricked up at the wafting sound of melodic vocals. The people around him also noticed the mellifluous song permeating the packed courtyard. Like a leaf being carried away by a river current, the Paravellan followed the moving mass of strangers towards the beautiful singing voice. By the time he recognized one of the fountains as the source of the lullaby, Marschal took it upon himself to manoeuvre his way through the crowd until he eventually reached the epicentre of the melody.
That was when he saw her.
Her elven features were the first thing the Paravellan noticed. Two feathery antennae protruded from her silky raven hair. Marschal mistook them for headwear at first before he witnessed the way they moved on top of her head like living appendages.
The elf's slender form seemed to be melded into the edge of the fountain, as though she were an antique extension of the iron water feature. The long silky cape draped across her shoulders, flowed down her sides and flared outwards across the floor. Marschal found the colours and circular patterns on the cloak hypnotically alluring, reminding him of eyes on a butterfly's wings.
She closed her eyes as she propped the stringed instrument up on her lap. When her delicate fingers struck the chords, the crowd was gifted with a wave of music that was complimented by her soothing vocals. In response, the Paravellan closed his eyes while enjoying the elf's performance.
It wasn't until he eventually opened them again did he finally realize the lean, silent warrior standing by the elf's side. Was he also an elf? Marschal found it difficult to tell from the excessive amount of cloth obscuring the bodyguard's face. He could only make out a dark slitted gap in the fabric for the warrior to see through. After studying him for a bit longer, the Paravellan noticed that he couldn't see a single piece of the bodyguard's skin beneath his attire. His sleeves were tucked into his dark brown gloves and his pants were tucked into his boots. The rest of the warrior's clothes reminded Marschal of the desert garb he had seen in books he read about the Wasteland. Was that where he was from?
The Paravellan's gaze then followed the warrior's hand resting on the curved blade handle on his hip. All of which presented an interesting contrast between the beautiful elven singer and the cold stoic warrior standing beside her. However, judging from the crowd's faces, no one seemed to be paying the bodyguard any mind. When the warrior turned to face Marschal, the Paravellan quickly tore his gaze away from the bodyguard and continued to listen to the soothing lullaby.
With his attention back on the musical elf, only now did he notice the foreign lyrics carried by her mellifluous voice. Where did this beauty come from? And why was she here? He pondered these questions until the lulling performance gradually faded away into a still silence.
YOU ARE READING
Warwielder - Book 1 of The Evernoth Odyssey
FantasyMarschal's down on his luck. He's a remnant of a fallen empire that once spanned several conquered nations. Now he's forced to struggle through day-to-day life with too many enemies on his tail. But all that changes when a stranger offers to grant h...
