Runesight

19 - Beats of Destruction

There wasn't much else to say, they opened the gate. I stepped through dramatically, looking over the city as if I hadn't seen it in twenty years. This wasn't difficult as small pieces of me were always jeering at the little changes in the place since I'd gone. Were those stones always so worn? When did this blacksmith shop replace its roof? That kind of thing.

I appraised the city for a moment, noticing with glee that the entire wall guard seemed to be freaking out at each other for several moments before the responsible one from earlier pointed at three of his fellows, said something, and then descended the wall while screaming orders at the remainder of the guard.

Now that I thought about it, that one was probably their captain.

Oh well, I'd figured it out eventually. Sparks I'm sounding more and more like Fari with every passing moment...That was...technically a good thing considering she's who I was trying to be at the moment, but I wasn't sure I liked it.

I continued walking, not making it clear to the wall guard that I'd even noticed them, but I did see one of them clutching a communication stone as a few more worked to close the gate.

The particular one I'd been bullying was nowhere to be seen, but after a few moments the captain guy caught up to me and matched my pace. Probably a stalling tactic as they got orders from higher up.

"Ma'am I must apologize for earlier, no one knew you were...well alive."

I nodded curtly and stopped, figuring I should give them a bit of a break. Besides, I had no idea where I was going anyway. "I know." I smiled at him and gestured toward the city. "And I am sorry about that. Disappearing wasn't really my idea, but at a glance it seems that Reiaran is doing fairly decent without me."

"So you really are her then? The Hero?"

I sighed, "I was never really famous before, but I figured that people would at least recognise me."

"Ahhhh..." The guy nervously glanced back at the wall, "You do resemble the portraits I've seen."

I nodded and started walking again, instinctively taking us toward Nightwind. Mmm, yeah that could work. The ancient bartender probably remembered me from the numerous times I'd started fights and danced on his tables drunk.

"Miss...Hero...Forgive me for bothering you but where are you going?"

I glanced at him, "A tavern. Nightwind if it's still here." I caught a glimpse of a transmission stone in one of his hands, he probably had some of the wall guards rushing ahead to make sure no one offended me again. Very nice of them.

The captain nodded slowly and continued after me, people along the street were staring at us and I had a feeling the wall guard would tell more than just the folks at Nightwind who exactly it was who was marching towards that tavern. "So...where have you been all this time?"

I ignored the question, not really having a good answer yet. The captain watched me for several moments and then glanced up as Nightwind came into view. Sparks, I could swear that half the city was on the streets or peeking out windows with baited breath just trying to get a glimpse of me. I didn't really like that, but I plastered on a grin and waved at a few people I dimly recognised from Fari's memories.

Walk with confidence. Fari had always been confident. I was planning on kicking open the door all dramatic-like, but someone opened it for me. I caught a glimpse of the wall guard's uniforms rushing through the crowd.

When I entered the tavern it was surprisingly empty, only three tables were full but I suspected that was how it had been before the wall guard told everyone I would be here. I suspected they were limiting the people who could flood in.