Four Weeks - The Beginning

Four Weeks Later

There was an air of desolation. The formerly clean, pollution free environment of Raeon was now tainted with battle and devastation. Niara sauntered along a vast, open yard with a few trees around the corners. She came to a point and stopped. She looked at the sensational night sky with a deep longing. She carried a bag of stones with her. She stood at the scene, calm and motionless as though she were taking in the atmosphere. After a few moments, she walked forth two more steps and laid down the bag of stones.

Out of the bag, she removed the first stone. It was meant to be a tombstone, something she had learned from all her time with humans. She dug one of the stones into the yard and got down on her knees in front of it. She took out a twig from her garment and began to etch a name upon the stone.

The name read

Fraidor

She remained on her knees, looking peacefully at the stone for a while as if to pay respects to a departed soul. After a few short moments, she rose. She pulled out another stone from the bag and took it to another spot in the yard some distance from the first and put it there. Before long, there were four tombstones laid out in the yard, each with a name etched on it -- Huron, Veera and Nora.

Niara rose and drew back a few steps. She stood there in utter tranquility, looking at the stones in the still silence of the night. She closed her eyes and as she stood engrossed in the moment, a gentle smile came upon her face.

To be continued...