We left the city the next dawn. It felt so surreal to be packing the few belongings I had into that leather satchel and walking down the winding streets. Well, to be truthful, we were not leaving yet. Adonnija had arranged for us to go and meet someone near the edge of the town, but he had not divulged the information to me or Risha, even though she had been pestering him since he had mentioned his plan. The further out we got from the center of the city, the more I could see the poverty and desperation that lay on the city's outskirts. Women hung out of windows, their bosoms displayed, pushed up by boned corsets. Men smirked and catcalled. I breathed out, distancing myself from what I saw and heard as we strode through the winding labyrinth of alleyways. As we passed people lying on the streets and slumped in doorways, covered with scraps of blankets, shivering and pawing at our ankles, holding out roughly hewn cups and cupped hands, asking, pleading for food and water.
My chest hurt, and I thought back to my years of enslavement. I knew what they felt like, I pitied them, but there was nothing I could do now. Nothing I could do to help. I swore to myself that I would help them. I swore that if the world was to survive, I would ensure no one would live in poverty or as a slave again.
I felt tears well in the corners of my eyes and slowly trickle down my cheeks.
"Let's go."
Maybe I said that too harshly, as both Risha and Adonnija looked at me in surprise. I just shook my head at them, and started walking away from the people looking up at me, woe engraved in their face. I did not want to talk about it. We made our way through the winding streets, the loose cobbles shifting beneath our feet. I could see the carved out rock of the city grow closer and closer.
A different pair of doors loomed before me, unlike the ones we had entered when we arrived here: these were made of iron bars, more like a gate than a door, though the bottoms were made of solid metal. Two guards stood in front of them, just like the last ones, and stomped their spears, crossing them, when they caught sight of us. They stood as still as statues, unmoving as we drew closer. The silence was so thick, all I could hear was the sound of my breathing, and the footsteps echoing from beneath me, the sound of Risha's and Adonnija's seconds behind. Still the guards just stood there. I could see their eyes gleaming through the slits in their helmets, moving as they tracked me.
"Halt." His voice sounded sharply, ringing, bouncing off the bare stone walls.
I stopped, waiting for Adonnija to catch up. The guards eyes flicked to him as he drew closer. He held up his hands, gesturing he meant no harm, and took a step closer. The guards' free hands drifted towards the daggers in their belts.
"Move back!" The guard barked again.
Adonnija halted, but did not move as he said, "We have business in the cavens." He dug around in his pocket and drew out a small scroll of paper, sealed by a wax crest. The guard held out a gloved hand I. could not see what the crest depicted from here, but my guess was that it was the seal of the Tower, judging by how long the guard spent examining it. He quickly broke the wax and unraveled the scroll, scanning over the writing before handing it back to Adonnija. He nodded to his companing and they drew back their spears and unlocked the gate, pushing it open. All that I could see beyond was a long meandering tunnel full of water, the darkness occasionally punctured by the flickering flames of the lanterns hung at intervals from the ceiling. Adonnija strode inside, nodding his thanks at the guards, and I followed, Risha walking behind me. We reached the edge of the shelf of rock, and climbed into the boat gently bobbing and rocking in the water.
As we floated through the labyrinthian network of tunnels as he explained why we were here.
"This place is called the caverns. It is said to be home to the spirits of the dead. Those who wish to study the workings of the mystical forces of this world come here to do so in peace, and to seek refuge from those who wish to stop them.
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A Throne of Flames || COMPLETED
Fantasy"Before there was anything there were dragons. They ruled over oblivion, a gaping void where nothing exists but everything lives." The war had raged for decades. And in it's wake all that had been left was a broken expanse of a fire burnt wasteland...
