The Enlightened Few - The Journey Begins

The fall

The road was cobbled, but to each side of this there was a layer of coarse sand outlining the pedestrian walkways. The cleaning had already begun the night before for the streets. There were only one set of footprints ingrained in the sand. There was only one who could not glide and Ilmatar had his confirmation about where Aden had headed off to.

Aden's footsteps led to the zeppelin landing. The air was fresh and the night had not fully been displaced. It felt as if a storm was on the way. The sky was an eerie dark blue colour with even darker purple clouds.

The zeppelin was stationary and tied up the night before the Viatra festival. Aden's tracks led to the side passage, which would end in ten thousand narrow, steep and dangerously rocky steps. These steps would take Aden and Ilmatar separately all the way to the bottom of the mountain. The full majesty of the mountains was hidden behind the clouds surrounding them. Legend has it that the steps had been etched by the wind and led the first settler to the top, and this why the city had been built where it is today.

Without the view of anything else but the rock he was standing on and the rocks he was holding onto, Ilmatar had to fully rely on his senses. He held on as tightly as he could, uncertainty pulsed through his veins and his nerves were overreacting as he prepared for the possibility of any loose rocks. In some areas, you could see shadows outlining what looked like trees. It was unimaginable how their weight had been supported on this steep and cruel surface.

Halfway down the first set of stairs, Ilmatar noticed something red swaying in the wind. It flew with such a speed that it simulated what looked like a bird of prey. It flew straight into his face, blinding him for a brief moment. As he regained his balance, he managed to remove it from his eyes, it was a royal red cloth. When Ilmatar touched it, he knew where it had come from... Aden's tunic. Ilmatar tried hard to regain his composure as it would cost him his life, so he held his breathe for a while, taking only deep breaths when necessary. Ilmatar tried to keep a positive mind, but an urgency to climb faster began to overwhelm him. What if something had happened to Aden, what if he had plummeted to his death?

He had increased his pace so much that safety was no longer a consideration, the climb felt lonelier and the wind had been filling the space with echoing wild howling that would never ease his heart. Ilmatar's hands were burning from the cold and his stomach began to hurt. The coldness turned into numbness. His blue hands tried to hold his weight, but the cold had affected his grip too and he would not be able to continue much longer without a break.

Suddenly Ilmatar heard a distant cry. Someone could be faintly heard calling out. At this stage, he could not determine whether his mind was playing tricks on him or whether in fact it could have been Aden. He tried to turn and look down, but ended up losing his grip. Ilmatar was falling. He was falling into the unknown, into many clouds.

With a thumping bang, he found himself being rescued by a landing. He had fallen mainly on his buttocks and thankfully not injured himself much, but no one could be seen around him.

He wondered if the fall had been a sign that he needed to rest, but just then he heard it again. Someone was calling!

"Help", cried the unknown source.

"ADEN, Aden is it you? I'm coming!"

He rushed down a short staircase, but there was still no one.

"Aden, where are you?"

It felt like Moonicles had passed with no sound and then just as Ilmatar was ready to rush through another set of stairs, he heard a clearer response.

"I am down here."

"Thank the stars, I am coming!" cried Ilmatar.

There were many fallen rocks scattered on the landing below. Aden could hardly be seen as a large boulder had trapped his leg and he was forced to lie in agony.