Thursday, October 29, 2009

The Remnant

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[222] Nymaya: The Remnant
Wed Oct 28 18:22:06 2009
To: All New_Thalos Crelius Anastormia Naedala ( RP Necrucifer Imm )
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The sound of the wind coursing through the city was an ominous prelude to
the rise of the sand. It almost mirrored rain, pattering the outside of the
closed shutters and the tiled roof above. A stray breeze caught the flame
of the candles, spun the heated coals in the hearth to a burning glow and
stirred Nymaya's hair about her face.

Her attention was driven from whatever thoughts she had settled upon as she
stared into the hearth. A book held in her right hand dangled down over the
arm of the chair until, with a coiled motion, she arose from the seat she
had been lounging in and carefully set the small tome upon a bedside table.

The desert breeze beckoned her with imperceptible whispers, swirling through
the room, drawing her unerringly toward the window even as the candles
flickered violently. The silhouettes, as the faint shadows danced over the
walls, were strangely reminiscent of her thoughts and yet - there was an
encompassing calm - almost what she would have described as emptiness. She
didn't question it as she stopped before the window and slowly parted one
side of the shutter.

New Thalos was asleep at this black hour but the lights she could see
through the sandy fog winked fitfully, giving the impression that even the
desert's Jewel was not resting well. This was followed by a sense of
waiting, an underlying discernment of held breath that thrummed through her
like a tuning fork. She understood a moment later that it had more to do
with her own awareness of the situation awaiting her than the city itself.

...though she did not delude herself as to what was most certainly coming.

Acutely aware of a stirring in her soul, she held herself still, gaze set
upon the flickers of lightning in the far distance and let her mind enter
unto a silent state. It was a thing that typically happened before she
committed to combat - and into the motionless pit, she felt her fate stir.

She had no way to know what it held in store for her, but she knew what side
of the board she was on - no matter how it had come about. It seemed dark
and certain, though only hinted at by the shadows that moved behind her upon
the walls in a desert's night wind. A wind that might soon howl outside her
window with unbridled wrath, demanding the life it had nearly claimed.

An abrupt chill breath of wind sent her gaze upward and if not for her keen
elven sight, she might have missed the large shadow that swooped over the
sleeping kingdom. It took with it all but one flame within the room and
when she turned back to gaze into what passed for her quarters, she was left
staring at the sinuous motion of deepened shadows writhing along the walls,
ceiling and floor.

Drawn to that single flame, as she always had been, she left the sill to
stand beside it. Watching, mesmerized, she played her bare fingers through
it and considered that in the light of this single candle - the shadows had
grown.

A grim smile curved just a corner of her lips and with a decisive action,
she pinched the wick.

'Wish you were here, Reklah' She breathed into the sudden smothering
darkness and left the room to roam the sand-blasted streets.