The Towers of Adrala

Chapter 3 - Unlit (Part One)

Unlit

Shadows are born when we block out the sun. What do we become when we are sunless ourselves?

-Excerpt from the Book of Idusces

It was a long, cold time before Zook realized that he was awake. His first clue was the scattered feeling of searing embers and coals nestled in his muscles and bones. His first immediate thoughts were, in the detached way when assessing some sort of injury, that he was blind.

That's what I get for walking through those fumes at the hospital, he thought, his medical mind removing any panic he might have had. He sat up and a large rock rolled off his chest onto his lap. Zook then became very still. Slowly, he picked the rock up, hearing the heavy dust fall off his clothes.

A grinding roar made him jump to his feet. Something hard struck his head and he promptly fell back down to the rubble. He didn't move for a moment, realizing that no roar had sounded. He had imagined it, scaring himself. Why such a sound would terrify him dawned on him in a flurry of images. He reached out blindly and touched the cracked angled walls that had shielded them from the falling debris. He wasn't blind, it was just completely dark.

Zook sat, calming his rapidly beating heart. There was no roar, the ground was still. The wave had long passed. With cold realization Zook frantically reached out into the black, whispering, “Eris? Sye? Pird?” His hands stirred only cool stones and dust. He then came to touch what he thought was a shoe. Slowly, dreading what he would find, he moved his hand up to the ankle. Relief rushed over him when he found the flesh was warm. He gently shook it.

“Wha-?” he heard Eris’ cordial voice mumble in the darkness.

“Don't move,” said Zook, Healer taking over, “We are..?”

“Under Eretia,” Eris replied, a tone of disbelief in her voice.

“Do you feel any pain? Coldness? Dizziness? Can you move your fingers and toes?”

No answer.

“Eris?”

“My head's sore.”

“Do you remember Sye's father's name?”

“His last name is Darvini, you know I can never pronounce his first.”

Zook felt a thin blanket of worry peel off him.

“No!”

Zook had to stop himself from jumping at the frightened shout, “Sye?”

“What? Zook?” came Sye's disoriented voice. It always struck Zook how commanding Sye sounded, even though he knew it was unintentional. “Why can't I see?”

“A house fell on us,” Zook answered, gambling that his bluntness would do the most to comfort his friend. Sye was never one for dancing around the issue.

“What do you-?” Sye began, then abruptly fell silent. Zook closed his eyes, even though he couldn't tell if they were really open, knowing what was going through Sye's head. The roar. The wave.

Eretia.

“Wait, then...” Sye began, almost silently, “That means...everything is...that wasn't a dream?”

“A nightmare,” Eris said softly.

Zook let out a long, hissing sigh, “It was real.”

<Let go.>

<Save yourself.>

Zook violently pushed that thought away, retreating to the cold silence of wherever he was. It was not a thought of his, he believed, so he had no reason to dwell on it.