The Tragedy of Renya

5.1 Proximity

14th day of the 5th month, Kresida

Despite Kresida’s official status as a city, as one of the five main cities of the region, it didn’t feel like a city to Erica. There was too much green all through the city; even in the most densely populated areas people had a small garden. There was even an actual farm in the middle of the city, owned by a farmer whose family had lived there for ages so he refused to sell it. And people let it happen; the reputation Kresida had as a farming city brought what little tourists it could.

One of the things that amazed Erica most of all was that she could swear she saw the pentagonal tower of Renya looming on the horizon. As she stood between the first houses she stared at that tower, wondering if Nick knew this city was so close. At the same time she wondered if she was in the city yet; there did not seem to be a city border, or anything to show that it was actually Kresida. The flat lands to the east and the farms located on it just slowly… merged into the city without seeming unnatural. And on the west the city seemed to end the same way, with some small houses on the mountains. Erica tried to remember the few things Nick had told her about Kresida, as well as the few things she’d learned at the university. Her knowledge from the university was mostly non-existent though; she knew that Wyndri had a habit of appearing in the farm in the middle of the city for no apparent reason. This fitted with Nick’s comment; he said he’d often used Kresida as a safe location near Renya. He’d made an offhand comment about Renya being cursed, and him being the only one going near it. Of course Erica’d asked about it, but he’d shrugged and disappeared into time. Erica had discovered that was a nasty habit Nick had when confronted with questions. Almost as annoying as his sudden decision to help her after spending a long time causing all her problems

At least Nick had promised to fix the damage he’d done with the engagement, Erica realised. That was probably the only reason she was helping him. Well, that and him practically forcing her to.

 Erica turned away from Renya and wondered what the quickest way to their rendezvous point was. She flinched as she saw a man clad in black incredibly closed to her. She took a few breaths to calm down and then frowned.

“Nick you scared me,” she complained. She stepped away from him. Then Erica realised that he wasn’t looking at her.
“That’s Renya, isn’t it?” she asked and he only nodded in agreement.

Erica looked back at the large tower that was barely visible at the horizon. After a few moments she turned back.
“Are you going to keep looking at it?”
“I’ve been looking at that tower for so long,” Nick said, “I hope I can reach it this time.” He looked down at her and smiled.

It made Erica a little bit uncomfortable that he was talking about it that way. She suddenly realised that he was going to do whatever he wanted without worrying about her opinion. And how was that any different from what he did before, she wondered. Sure, he was on her side… for now. The second he decided she wouldn’t be needed anymore he’d just leave.

There were no words for how furious she’d be if that happened.

“You said all of this was for her sake?” Erica remembered, half and half expecting Nick to disappear into time again.
“Hm.” Nick turned around and headed for the more densely populated area of the city.
“Who’s she?” Erica ran after him before returning to a normal pace at his side.
“Hm.”
“Your girlfriend?” Erica joked as she took his hand to ensure he wouldn’t disappear.
“The Goddess of Renya.”
Erica started laughing.
“I didn’t know your kind believed in gods,” she chuckled.
“It’s the name humans around here use. I thought it’d be more familiar than her actual name.”

Erica quickly remembered the story of the founding of Renya. The ancestor of the Pentel family, a somewhat wealthy tradesman, met a goddess bathing in a spring. He fell in love with her, she told him to build a city around the spring, and he did. And then she left him, only to return when he died.