Delmora: The Lost Quest

Bedtime Stories

They soon left the desert far behind, catching the river and following the road that ran parallel.

They ran into a few houses and mills before reaching a small town. It was here Edith's stubbornness waned. Talk of thieves and stomach turning things in the forest made them wary of bringing more attention to themselves than they already had. Travel with a women is scarce enough, especially if she was from Balthazon. Edith gave in, tied her hair up and wore common clothes, concealing her weapons at her waist. She flattened her chest as much as she could. They had gotten rid of the camel by then to some fascinated traveling merchant, forcing their loads to be more heavy and their paces slower for the horse's sake. But their stores had far since depleted. They relied heavily on the wildlife around them. The people in the town were even more untrusting than the last. They received little welcome. They kept to themselves, they did not welcome outsides and were less willing to trade.

Even Tyler's songs or enthusiasm didn't sway their stoic moods.

In one town a large shrine took up most of the center water well. An old statue made of stone stood before the well. Steps lead up to it. It was of a man, his arms raised to the sky, bird wings sprawled behind him. It was a shoddy figure. There was little detail and erosion left the man's face nearly gone. His fingers were missing, his nose and ears gone. One of his wings was almost completely gone. But it's eyes were still solid and pricing, gazing at whoever walked the steps before it. Its face was hard and it did not smile. It wore simple clothes, but it's bottom half was a carving of the sun. Or what was suppose to be the sun Lance couldn't be sure. The rays jutted out from the round bottom. It almost looked as though the statue were on fire, but the sun rays were as grey as the rest of the sad, gloomy sight.

Lance pulled his horse next to it and dismounted.

"Imagine taking a piss infront of that thing" Morn said. Tyler chuckled nervously.

"Is that you're god?" Edith asked Lance.

Lance took in every nook and crumbling, rock cranny.

"no, its one of his people" Lance said.

"Hey wait isn't that a Hikari?" Tyler asked.

"Why would you build statues of those?" Edith asked.

"That's not a Hikari, Hikari are evil, this is a being of virtue."

"I thought the Hikari were suppose to be his people."

Lance bit his lip "I don't know, I've never seen a Hikari. But I know they were the chosen one to hold the Lord's light. But they abused that power. Used it for death instead. They were said to have been destroyed by the Lord once he took the light back." Lance said. He walked up to it and removed the vines and dust from its hands. "Besides, why would they build a statue for a being so cruel?"

The rays on the sun were long torn from it, but it still kept its round pitted shape.

"Is this Havenhall's land?" Edith asked.

"It's closer to the mountains, but its within our borders. We sometimes send supplies to outer villages should they need it but they mostly keep to themselves. These were originally the outskirts of Helasia and further from our major cities. " Lance said.

"What are you doing?" an old man's voice asked from beside them. He was wearing night clothes, they were dirty and thin. His beard was patchy and long and his hat was slouched over his bald, bumpy head. He had few teeth and a crooked eye.

He carried a lamp, although the sun had not yet left the horizon.

"hello sir, we are just passing through." Lance said bowing slightly.