The Veridians

Chapter 7

Julian's eyes opened with a startle & a gasp escaping his breath. He couldn't remember most of anything after he ran from Callahan, nor could he remember what had happened for him to get where he was now, wherever that might be. He remained in a blur of fading memories, slowly regaining feeling everywhere else in his body. He felt a bruise reveal itself on his cheek. He rubbed his eyes. Then all of a sudden, he remembered. The creature that knocked him out. As he awoke himself fully, his environment was revealed to him. He lay in a cage of sorts which was covered up by a purple cloth. Poking his fingers through the bars of the cage, he attempted to lift up the cloth to see where exactly he was. As he lifted up the purple cloth, he was blinded by brighter sunlight than he had ever seen in Verzawald. But as his eyes adjusted to the light, his eyes were met with something extraordinary.

A diverse community bustled outside of his cage. Buildings upon buildings lined each road, people walking all along the street. People and many, many other creatures. Julian could recognize & identify almost all of them. He saw an elf with a visor against their eyes pounding a tool against an anvil, seemingly forging something. Seated at tables outside what looked to be a restaurant, two vampires were seen eyeing one another romantically. An elf waiter with curly hair came out from a door connected to the restaurant carrying a large tray of appetizing delicacies. Julian's mouth watered. He dropped the cloth on that side & crawled to the other side of the cage, lifting up the purple from the other side. On the other side of his cage, he saw something unexpected. Another centaur, this one appearing to be much smaller than Callahan. The centaur had short, brown hair & donned a dark gray shirt. Their horse half was white & spotted with brown splotches. The centaur was strumming a guitar impressively, whilst singing a beautiful song. Magic flowed through their tune, as others walked past the performing centaur. As Julian eyed the centaur, somebody stepped in front of Julian, immediately blocking his view of the centaur.

"Hey! Get your eyes off the Ausdaro citizens, creature!" The person had bright, purple hair & wore a blue cap with a silver badge on it. Julian assumed they were some sort of officer assisting with escorting him while he was in the cage. But before Julian could say anything, the officer dragged the purple cloth back down, covering up Julian's view of the outside world. Julian sank down into his cage. He did not struggle out of it, he just sat. Waiting. His mind was too preoccupied with processing everything else that had happened that day, he couldn't even give escaping the cage another thought. So, he sat. And he waited. As something carried him and his cage away to a new somewhere.

After several minutes of movement, Julian was brought back to reality as his cage crashed onto some sort of ground. He fell with the cage onto a hard surface, the bruise on his cheek stinging as his face hit the floor of the cage. As he lay in the cage, the purple cloth was removed from overtop him. A light from wherever he was stunned him, but as his eyes adjusted to the light, wherever he remained was revealed to him. And it left him perplexed. He lay in what looked like a child's bedroom, pink walls, toys laying around everywhere, and a bed with puffy patterned bed sheets beside his cage. The room was very large for belonging to a young child. He felt the sun beaming in from a window with pastel pink curtains behind him, warming up his body. The door leading to an exit held a grand hallway, almost like one in a royal palace. In front of him, the officer stood with somebody who was carrying the purple cloth. The cloth had been blocking the second figure's face, leaving Julian unable to recognize who the figure was. But once the cloth was dropped from the figure's face, it all became clear. The creature who had knocked him out stood, the cloth in its four hands. Julian felt a rage underneath him begin to surface. He grasped the bars of his cage & began to rattle at them.

"Hey! Let me go!" The creature flashed forward, hissing at Julian to silence him. Julian jumped backward, quickly ceasing his protest. Slowly, the creature backed away beside the officer once again.