The Revenant

Nocturnal Death Dance

ESKARINA

That night, after our joke attempts failed,for some strange reason,I found myself unable to sleep. I lay in bed,tossing and turning,trying to find some position in which I could finally be comfortable,but I was ultimately unable to find it. I groaned in my bed. Gods it was comfortable. The fabric was so soft,almost making the bed feel as though it wasn't beneath me. I truly felt as if I were floating on the matress. Not to mention the incredible feeling of the duvets and blankets. They were exceptionally comfortable,yet they did almost nothing to help me sleep.

I decided it'd be best if I took a walk. Maybe stretching my legs would allow me to trick myself into exhaustion.

Groaning as I left the comforts of my bed,I slid on my slippers and left the room. The night air stung my skin,making my teeth clatter almost immiediatley after I set foot out my room door. The Imperial Cities cold weather was nothing to scoff at. Nevertheless,I pulled my nightgown tighter around my body and continued to walk down the hallway. The lights of the barracks danced round me. It was the first time I saw the circular hallways lit up. Small lights dotted the ceiling in a spiral pattern,stopping at the crossroads before it continued to snake round each of the other hallways. The architects who designed this place must have been genius.

I found myself wondering,if this were the barracks,what did the palace look like? The thought alone hurt my brain. I wondered what insane design the palace had. Granted I had not yet seen the palace,but I hoped I would see it sometime soon.

I walked toward the entrance gates of the barracks,where I soon stopped dead in my tracks.

Below me,I saw Nova sitting alone on the steps. He stared up at the night sky,wearing nothing but his black trousers. Like Elena had said,his body was covered in scars,some standing out more than others.

In Nova's hand,once again,he held a black rose,which I saw slightly poking out from his figure as I observed him from behind. He once again had A black rose...Just as he did on the balcony at dusk. I watched him closely,thinking maybe he would do something besides just...sit there. But that was all he did. Sit,looking up at the stars.

A part of me wanted to say hi. Walk up to Nova and just say hello. Yet another part of me gave me a yanking feeling to stay away. Not out of fear,yet rather out of a sense that Nova was in a sensitive place,needing to be left alone for a while. Trusting my gut,I slowly began to back away,yet as I turned round,I bumped into a rather solid object behind me. I spun round to see three large men,all glaring down at me. Flashes of my incident at the gates of Firekeep flooded my mind, and in that moment,I was fearing for my life.

I took the oppurtunity and sprinted past them,pushing them aside and running as fast as I could round the corner. I hid behind a stone column,breathing heavily as my heart raced in my chest.

For a moment,I heard the men speaking.

"What in the Dark Flames of The Abyss was that about?" One asked.

"Fuck if I know. Come on. Let's get this over with before we alert the fucker. We can get the jump on the little shit right now,then we get this army back to being a place of adults,not little children."

I listened carefully,dread filling my chest as I heard them speak. I had no doubt they were talking about Nova, and those men were rather burly and seemed tough for even Nova to handle.

I snuck out from behind the corner,carefully approaching the end of the hallway,allowing me to peak round the corner. The men walked down toward Nova,drawing small daggers,raising them above their heads to strike. I felt an urge to leap out and help,but I was frozen,struck with fear and horror. Nova sat,seemingly oblivious to the murderous intentions of the men behind him.