When the World Falls to Darkness

Traveller

The snow was a deceptive thing, really.

It dusted the landscape with a sugary coating of beauty that had at first seemed entirely enchanting - until he'd been forced to battle through it, each step an impossible assault upon the ocean of white. Then there was the matter of the cold, and the cold was a monster. No matter how closely he pulled the sodden furs around his trembling body, it would still slash at him, wearing him down with fangs of frost and ice and attacking ferociously with daggers of frozen wind.

He stumbled.

For a moment, Lukas simply remained there, sprawled out in the snow, chest heaving beneath the cloak of fur. He should stand. He should continue in this endless war against everything else. After all, he was close to the village - and they'd have food, and drink, and a warm bed...

Somehow, he struggled to his feet, pushing himself up with numbed fingers. Warmth. He tried to remind himself once of its replenishing sensation, whispering its name against the howling of the wind. One night of warmth, and then it was back to this again. One night was enough. It had to be, after all, because that was the whole reason why he was alive. Should he remain in a single place for too long, then somebody would find out who he was. And then they would kill him.

Besides, he should be grateful. Only raiding parties and soldiers of the war could cross safely between all four kingdoms and return to their own with their body parts intact and wallets full enough for survival. If they were lucky.

Those people - and Lukas.

Staggering blindly onwards, he watched his breath as it faded into the night, a curling wisp of steam that had been quenched by the cold. Any distraction. Anything to rescue even a little of his conscience from the knowledge that the village might be anywhere, and that if he didn't find it soon, he'd have to revert to that. Which, all consequences considered, made a frozen death seem merciful.

Another of the violent shudders rippled through him. Lukas tried to ignore it, inhaling another deep breath of bitter air before pushing on again.

Was it really that much to ask for a single night of warmth? Safety would be too much to ask for, though perhaps if the scales of fortune finally decided to tip even a little in his favour, he would find a haven in which his sleep would not be brimming with nightmares woven from the cold reality of his past. The haven would be beautiful, glorious, everything he had ever possessed and everything he had ever lost.

For now, warmth. The only feeling he had left was the weight of dread and bitterness and desperation.

Lukas raised his head, and saw them instantly. Lights.

Illustrious, glorious, celestial lights.

Instantly the slope of the icy mountain seemed insignificant, and the only thoughts that filled his head were of a fire, food and a bed. The cold had been rendered a secondary obstacle; the exhaustion was snatched by alleviation.

He finally set foot in the village and realised that the snow was shallower here - shallow enough that he could still see the frost-tipped fur of his boots. The half-submerged dwarven buildings, so far untouched by the constant battles between armies, managed to block at least some of the wind, and he stood there for a moment, allowing himself a moment of rejuvenation.

Lukas made his way through the streets, glancing at the buildings in hopes of spotting a convenient inn somewhere amongst the other buildings. Once or twice, he considered stopping one of the dwarves to ask them for directions, but quickly ruled out that idea. The less he spoke, the higher his chances, no matter how numb his fingers were.

It had been a while since he'd been around this race. His last kingdom had been that of the humans, and Lukas found himself comparing the buildings as he dragged his frozen body through the streets. Humans resided in structures that were usually above ground, while the dwarves were happier either on ground level or below it. Their shelters were built into the earth, submerging only as rounded domes of earth, constructed in messy lines to form streets. Lukas liked both, but right now the small, cosy dwarven rooms seemed preferable to the spacious rooms of a human residence. The dwarven rooms, would be warmer, after all.