The Towers of Adrala

Chapter 4 - Recollections (Part One)

Recollections

“This will be forever burned into their minds.”

“Our greatest weapon will be their revenge.”

-The Four under the Foundings

To Sye it was like he had crawled out into a cruel new world. A world where the sky was a cold gray instead of the warm, cloud laden blue. Jagged lightning lit the distant sea under the horizon, the thunder a thrumming rumble. The warm mild air had been replaced by a chill that bit deep into the flesh. Icy wind howled over the scarred landscape, curling the distant columns of smoke that slowly rose up like dozens of dark kites. Where there once was a city, there were now only ruins from a forgotten people long past. Broken walls that could still stand were far and few in between. Everything else was swallowed in a cold expanse of gray, a stony snow fallen from once proud structures. Where buildings had stood, now only rubble and dust prevailed.

The crash of waves caught Sye's ears and he tore his eyes away from the incomprehensible emptiness to find that the sea opened up little more than a dozen meters away. At first, he was confused, the nearest coastline from Magist's house, or what it used to be, was for kilometers. Sye didn't think the quake had moved them that far when he saw the island supports thrusting out of the black water. They were great, rib-like structures, their ends broken and twisted. Eretia was not a true island, it was a mass of land anchored to Saranoda and held up by an elaborate, flexible complex of support beams that ran underneath the island. They were designed to withstand the swellings of typhoons and terrible storms. They were not designed to be folded nearly in two.

That's what that noise was, Sye thought, distantly feeling horror through the numbness. He could almost hear that ear-splitting screech that had woke them down in the darkness of the hole. It was a piece of Eretia breaking off. We're falling apart.

Sye was unaware of how sore he was, how cold. It was a twisted dream, the sight of everything he knew reduced to a gray desert of rubble. It was Zook who drove Sye back into harsh reality. It was his friend’s anger that tore his detached shelter from him and brought the weight of Eretia's death down with all its terrible force.

“Who did this!” Zook shouted at the nearest soldier. The man took a step back in surprise from the sudden flash of fury.

Who? Sye thought, What did this? How? Is this real, could this possibly have happened?

Why is Eretia gone?

Whatever did we do to deserve this?

“Answer me!” Zook roared, grabbing the front of the soldier's tunic and pulling him so close that their noses touched, “You've been up here! Searching! Someone must have said something! Anything!”

Another soldier tried to break the grapple but Zook violently shoved him away.

“What happened to my city!”

“Zook!”

Zook froze at the harshness in Sye's voice. He seemed to contemplate whether to ignore Sye for a moment, but a moment was all it took to interrupt the swing of his anger. He roughly let the soldier go.

“Syrus Darvini?” one soldier asked.

“Yes?” Sye answered automatically.

“Oh, what a boon for morale,” the soldier said, looking relieved, “If the Mayor's happy it will be like a sun through this dark storm.”

“My father?” Sye asked, standing still, “He's..?”

The guard laughed, “He can hardly be dead if he can be put into a good mood! He's a hardy one, all right, said your name only once. All determined smiles and encouragement, but...he's grieving. His eyes, y'know, he puts on a show but-” The guard stopped in mid sentence, flushing slightly, “Well, you don't need me telling you, of all people…”