Elemental Soul (Book 1 of 'A Fantasy in Time')

Chapter 1: City of the Falls

Chapter 1: City of the Falls

As my vision cleared I almost stumbled to the ground as my view took in the entire majesty of the gigantic falls of Niagara.  Reaching forward without really looking, my hand caught hold of a handrail that thankfully was there or else I might have fallen over the edge of the cliff that had a perfect view of the falls.  Stepping as close as it allowed me to, I took in the sights.  Massive amounts of white water crashed into the deep blue reservoir below, before continuing on its way downstream.  Mist that obscured much of the view billowed outward towards me.  An indescribably fresh and cool breeze enveloped me, inspiring me to close my eyes in bliss as I let the rest of my senses take over.

Minutes went by as I enjoyed the sensation of the mist and the conglomeration of smells that tingled against my senses.  “It really is something isn’t it?”  The new voice startled me out of my revelry as I opened my eyes and turned to see who was speaking to me.

It was an older looking gentleman with strong elven features that were all contained in a crisp looking red and black collared suit.  “Pardon my interruption, I’m Monroe by the way” He explained.  “I just like to meet those that come to see the falls whom I haven’t seen before.  Where are you from if you don’t mind my asking?”

“Um I’m Jade and. . . I’m actually new to the world.”  I responded, hoping it didn’t sound too farfetched to this man while also hoping they didn’t have anything against outsiders.

“Seriously?!”  His eyes lit up with excitement and surprise on a face that looked like it hadn’t shown such expression for many years.  “Please, you must come with me then.”  He didn’t grab my hand and drag me off like I feared, but rather started heading off in the direction away from the falls while motioning for me to follow.

With a last wistful look at the falls I began to follow him.  As we walked for what seemed like almost an hour he overwhelmed me with a plethora of questions.  “Where did you come from?  What was it like to travel through time? Do you know why you are here? What sort of machine or magic brought you?”  Stopping for a moment to look back at me, he paused.  “Why are you turning white?”  With that I stopped as well and took a look at my skin which had indeed turned much whiter than I was before.  “Oh um, yeah my skin reacts to how I feel.”

It was strange to see the look of startled embarrassment fill this old man’s face as he realized that he had been acting like a little boy while trying to drag questions out of me without giving me time to really answer.  “I am sincerely sorry, it’s just that you are the first of the promised Travelers to arrive in our city and we had begun to fear no one would come after it being so long.”  His expression took on a look of guilty penitence that I had to struggle not to laugh at, seeing it come from a wizened old man.  If normal assumptions about fantasy creatures gathered from other VRMMORPG’s could be applied to this world and its inhabitants, then this old man could be at least a few centuries old and he was acting like he was 7 again.

In the awkward silence that filled the space between us I broke the gathering tension by finally speaking up.  “How about we trade questions and answers so that as you learn more about me and where I come from, I can learn more about you and this place?”  Grasping onto that idea like a life line, he readily agreed.  “Yes, yes that sounds like a great idea.”  

Rubbing at his hairless chin he motioned to me.  “Why don’t you start with a question first?”  With a sigh of relief I thought for a moment as we once again began our trek to who knows where.  “How big is your City?”  I enquired.
“It is Gigantic” he replied with a smile and joy in his voice.  “It is about 72 square miles and . . . ”  Going on to explain about all the things in the city I could tell he had a lot of pride in living in such a ‘BIG’ city.  Finally he asked me, “What is it like where you come from?”  Patiently waiting for me to gather my thoughts, I gratefully took the time to figure out how to answer such a loaded question without spending the next few days in describing what life was life.