Duality : Book 1 of Codex Elysium

Chapter 4(edited)

Chapter 4

Present time

Elysium

The rain had finally stopped and the wind had died but the storm clouds remained, black and ominous. The city called Elysium returned to silence, the only sound to be heard was the steady drip, drip of water. Making its way down the west gate road was a little black cat. It was cautiously picking a path between lumps of rubble while trying to stay out of large puddles. For three-days-straight the storm had raged, the rain never easing even slightly. The cat had been forced to take shelter in an abandoned shop. There it had stayed in the relative dryness and watched, emerald green eyes never leaving its target.  Dotted down the centre of the street were trunks of long-dead trees. The cat paused at one and began clawing at it and marking the tree the way cats do best. With that job taken care of he continued towards his destination. Lying face down in the middle of the crossroads was a body. For three days it had lain in the storm, showing no signs of life. A sword lay nearby in a puddle. It shone dully in the storm light, it was a very plain and ordinary sword, the only decoration was an emerald embedded in its cross-guard. The cat had been worried that someone might come along and steal the sword but there had been no signs of life in the city at all. He studied the body, slowly circling it. Black boots, black trousers, black robe and short brown hair. Yes, this is the one alright, he thought. On a slightly less wet patch of ground the cat settled himself down and waited.

As the day wore on, the body began to twitch. First it was just in the fingers and hands, then it spread through the limbs, slowly the body raised itself onto its hands and knees, then up into a kneeling position.  Jason blinked a few times and looked around.  There's something wrong with my eyes, he thought.  Everything around him seemed to have a dull grey quality to it except for the jet-black cat. Its fur was the deepest black Jason had ever seen. Its eyes shocked him. They were emerald green and shone brightly. Jason took another look around.  The sky was black and stormy, and that's why everything is dull, he thought.  The buildings all around him were in ruins. they had a faded grey look to them. The cobbled stone streets were littered with rubble and debris. Windows were smashed, doors hung limply on rusted hinges. Jason looked at the town hall in front of him. Realisation hit him all at once. He recognised the town hall, and he knew all the shops and buildings around him.  What the hell? Had there been an explosion? He got to his feet and turned in a slow circle. There were no fires or smoke, no body parts. There had been no explosion. This ruin was the work of time and slow decay.

The cat sat patiently at Jason's feet, still as a statue. Jason stopped and looked down at the cat, it was the odd thing out in this place. Well kitty, you're clearly not a stray, where do you belong? Jason thought.

"Kitty! Not a stray indeed!"

Jason started in surprise, had the cat just spoken?  He laughed at the stupidity of the idea and thought, of course cats can't talk!

"Oh, please! I can talk if I want to, humans are just too stupid to listen."

Jason felt his head, he was checking for lumps and cuts, clearly, he had hit his head when he fell.

"No, you haven't hit your head! Why do I get stuck with the stupid ones?"

Jason squatted down in front of the cat and studied it intently, he hadn't seen the cat's mouth move yet he had clearly heard it.  Jason hadn't spoken a word out loud. Can the cat read my mind? 

"Do you understand my thoughts, cat?"

"Cat indeed! I do have a name you know!"