The Unending Epic Written to Appease a Friend, Tell a Tale, an...

58

          Her second look at the town feels more somber. Where before she and Asher had run through it in a half panic, now she walks through quietly, like one passing through a forest of broken branches after a heavy storm. She casts her gaze around for anything that might be useful, but the fire has done its job well--there are no buildings left that look to have anything whole inside. So, she carries on through the street like a waif of smoke.

          When she reaches the village's east side, however, she finds a standing structure. Though half of it is collapsed and spills broken bricks onto the street, the other half remains sound. Hopeful to find something, even a place to spend the night, she cautiously enters the hole in the wall that was once the doorway.

          Inside is a spacious room, with a floor of wood and walls of brick. Furniture is splintered and clay tablets and parchment lie scattered about. A smear of blood on the floor makes her shiver. More so, the body she sees when she rounds a corner. He is a short man, sitting up against a wall, but stocky and muscular. His eyes are closed and his right arm lies limply at his side. He wears metal on his body, and a silver cloth hangs over his mouth. May gasps at the sight of him, and his eyes open. A long moment passes, as the two remain absolutely still, watching each other. Finally the man grunts and shifts against the wall.

          "Ish," he says, "telu alib or ilash." He looks at May meaningfully, though he doesn't seem to expect a reply.

          "Felira Nintu," she breathes in her own tongue. Then shakes her head. "Who are you?"

          The man grins at her, something she can see by the shifting of the skin around his eyes, and says something in his own language. He seems to find whatever it is funny. May glances at the wound at his side. The blood around him is dry, so it must have stopped bleeding, but he nonetheless seems too weak to stand up. Something within May is made happy at that. This man was at her mercy.