The Last Beacon

V

"How did you do that?" Laurenz blurted out, wading through the knee-high grass towards Sascha, slipping his gun back into its holster.

"I don't know." Sascha replied, distant. She didn't meet his concerned gaze; instead, her eyes lingered on the slender sun-kissed blades of grass, swaying powerlessly in the warm breeze.

The dark clouds began to retreat, leaving the stage open for the blue sky and the golden sun.

Sascha's eyes lingered on the spot where she and Decius had been standing only moments ago. The grass in that area had been flattened and blackened, small tendrils of smoke snaking up, before fading a few feet from the ground. A metallic smell lingered in the air, clouding up Sascha's senses.

Where did Decius go?

"What happened to him?" Sascha asked Laurenz, who had now reached her.

"I'm not sure. Just be thankful that it wasn't you."

Sascha bit her lip and looked down. "So, what now?"

"Into Vaneaux." Laurenz replied simply, as if it was obvious. He gestured for the girl to follow him, and he began to briskly walk towards the city looming over them.

Sascha had never seen such buildings before. There were enormous buildings that reflected in the sunlight, and the tops almost seemed to reach the skies. Azoka was the only city she had ever seen, and it was nothing like Vaneaux. Azoka was built from wood and stone, whereas Vaneaux's buildings were all raised from metal and glass; something she had never seen before, and almost wouldn't have believed.

"They're called skyscrapers," Laurenz informed, noticing the girl staring in awe at the towering structures ahead of them.

"Skyscrapers," Sascha repeated, the word sounding foreign on her tongue. "They're so big."

"There's so much for you to learn, Sascha. You haven't had the life you deserve." Laurenz sighed.

"That's why I'm here." Sascha responded. "Because you promised me a better life than the one I left behind."

Laurenz bit his lip when he knew for sure Sascha wasn't looking. He hoped that he could fulfil that promise.

The two were silent on the trek into the city. Vehicles sped past like Sascha had never known; roaring beasts of metal and gasoline, tearing past along pristine tar roads.

"I've never seen anything like this..." Sascha marvelled in awe, eyes wide.

Laurenz smiled sympathetically down at her. "You wouldn't have. Your home town is nothing like this, is it?"

Sascha shook her head. All she had been exposed to were stories; none of which she believed. Stories of iron giants, and creatures who spoke the same dialect as the humans. Stories about races of tiny people that lived within towering hollow oaks. She never considered them true.

But now?

She wasn't so sure that it was all a bedtime tale.

Sascha was wrenched from her thoughts when Laurenz stopped her.

"In here." He suggested, nodding his head to a small shop with a sign scrawled in markings she could not understand. Although the city was born of metal, this smaller building was wooden; crammed between two skyscrapers.

Laurenz pushed open the door, sending the tinkle of an entry bell to fill Sascha's ears, before pulling her off of the street and into the dim room. The thick aroma of incense swarmed her senses and many candles were dotted around the small room.