Opening - Dusk

“Sometimes when I look up, it doesn’t look like the clouds and the sky are actually real. I mean, they look just like a painting, a really well painted painting, but still. The clouds that the intellectuals call, Nimbus’, are somewhat breathtaking, especially when they’re white. I can look up and when I think I know how high the sky really is, those clouds put things into new perspective for me. The sky seems to literally bend upwards above the clouds, and then I can only wonder if perhaps the sky never stops going up, but like looking into deep water you can only see so far into it.

Are you Listening to me Jack?”

The man named Jack was shaken from deep thought as the other named Matthew looked at him waiting for a reply, “Why do you wonder about clouds so much?”

Matthew did not return an answer.

The two guards patrolled along the tall stone wall surrounding a small military fort. The younger of the two, Matthew, spoke again in a lighter tone to pick up the conversation.

“So you’re making your way down to Lumen tomorrow; thought you might stick me with the night shift all by myself?”

“Yes,” the older guard chuckled, “thought I’d take a break from you for a while, Matthew.” They shared another laugh as they continued along the wall. They stopped in one of the many towers rising over the wall that encircled the fort. An oil lamp that Matthew was holding illuminated the hollow tower. Matthew’s armor was shiny and new, while Jack’s was lack-luster and covered in scratches and dents, each nick and ding able to tell a different story.

“Warm night tonight, Jack. I kind of expected the summer to end sooner this year. But I suppose that we’ve had enough of the heat already.”

“Hm.” The old man acknowledged. Jack made his way to a chair in the corner, reclining back up against the wall with eyes closed and his hands behind his head. Silence came over them like a blanket; a warm and comfortable blanket. The sun sunk far away in the depths of the sky, encroaching on the bordering horizon. The towering nimbus cloud that stood by itself in the air began to gather others around it, darkening the sky with dull gray clouds. The silence was interrupted by a statement from the young guard.

“Jack, I think it’s gonna rain in a bit.”

“Boy, you just said it was nice weather out. Do you like bothering me?”

Matthew looked out the window in curiosity as a massive stretch of black clouds rose from the horizon, eating away at the orange tinted sky, and deadening the air.

“Jack, I was-” the boy was cut short by his older comrade.

“Boy, you’re real determined to keep me from nappin’, huh?” His voice was warm and calm.

“I was just wondering how long until you will be back from your trip? I mean, it’s been while since we’ve actually been apart for more than a few days.” Matthew continued to look out the window, “Not to be rude about it or anything to ya, but why is the captain sending someone like you down to the capital? It seems like everyone knows that your gonna be gone, but no one knows why. I figured that it was confidential business for the state, but once again the question of ‘why use you’ comes up.

“Well thank you very much for the confidence friend.” said Jack, still attempting to find rest in the hard wooden chair.

“I’m sorry but, you just haven’t been talking much about the trip at all since you mentioned it a month ago. What’s the Guard have for you to do that’s so important that you’ve known about the job for a month?”

All the while Matthew was talking, Jack reminisced on all of the things they had both gone through, good and bad. The boy also was thinking about the things they had been through together. How when Matthew first joined the Lord’s Guard, Jack had looked out for him. Now he got into trouble all by himself.

Jack watched his friend think. He stood up and walked next to the boy and put his arm around him. Jack and Matthew looked out over the land; a vast field of long yellow grain covered the land for miles. Beyond that were tall hills spotted with trees and covered with bushes. Jack loved to watch the grain undulating in the wind. Thunder boomed and the sea of grain became furious.

“I guess you were right boy. A storm is comin’.” said Jack.

Twilight came over the land, it always seems like time moves faster at this point in the day. The sun all of a sudden begins to fall faster, as if the earth itself speeds up. The light from the sun frayed off the edges of the mountains along the horizon casting a split mixture of shadow and shining rays across the plains. Finally once the twilight had passed, darkness began to set over them. No sign of stars or the moon could be seen past the fog of the storm clouds.

A tumultuous wind tumbled over the plains crashing against the stone walls like waves against a cliff. Water fell in sheets from the darkening storm and lightning twisted in jagged lines along the cloud's underbellies. The storm clawed in through the window, filling the tall, hollow turret with icy rain and shrieking wind.

Jack worked his way to the window, struggling to keep his balance against the elements. Matthew had his helmet off peering through the haze of rain and darkness while trying to talk to Jack, but the wind had become so unnaturally loud.

He screamed as loud as he could, “What is going on? Jack, what are you doing?” ,but still Jack could not hear. Matthew grew nervous, he knew something unusual was happening; the way the storm hit so suddenly at this strength seemed unnatural.

Jack held on to the window sill, reaching out to grab the shutters in an attempt to close out the storm. His fingers grasped the doors when a boot came through the window driving into his face, and knocked him back against the wall next to Matthew.

“Jack what happened? What’s wrong?” Lighting flashed several times, cracking the darkened sky, and revealed a figure standing at the window. The floor was soaked from the unending rain, and the man’s feet hardly touched the ground- like he was striding over the water. Lighting struck every few seconds, and every flash the fiend grew closer. The man was draped in a long black cloak, and wore thick black boots.

He raised his hands to take off the hood; all the while Matthew held tight to Jack’s unmoving body. Lighting flashed again illuminating a face he would never forget, yet always wish he could. His expression was one troubled, or of lost hope. His eyes were golden and radiated through the darkness. His hair was red and dark as blood, drenched in the rain, careless and tousled.

The wind blew harder, the rain poured faster, and the thunder boomed louder, but the man screamed louder than it all.

“Thought you could get away?” he kicked Jack in the stomach.

“Thought you could hide!?” He grabbed Jack by the throat and picked him up into the air. The wind was blowing so hard now that bricks were being pulled out of the wall and thrown across the room.

“I’ve been looking for you for such a long time, I wondered what it would be like to find you!”

Jack awoke and struggled to fix himself so he could breathe in the grasp of the man. His emerald green eyes winced as they met the bright golden ones of the man holding his life.

“You’ve come back.” Jack managed to choke out.

His eyes flicking back and forth, upset, unknowing what to do next, the man in the black cloak held Jack in his grasp. His grip shook, and his chest began to heave.

“Have you nothing to say?!”

“I’m wondering,” Jack scrapped at the powerful hand denying him firm ground, “Why you’ve come back. You could have found me sooner. What are you up to now that you need me?”

“I want to know how you did it. How you got rid of the rose petals.”

“I can’t help you with that now. Only the Tsudika can do that. Only Taito can use it now.”

“No,” the nameless man dropped his victim at his feet. He looked down at him with disappointment. “You could still use it.”

“Who are you planning to destroy now? Found someone you can’t beat by yourself finally?” Jack rubbed his throat inching away from Matthew, who only sat dumbstruck and paralyzed with fear.

“So tell me where he is. I never wanted to see you again anyway.” The man in the cloak turned from Jack and faced the storm. Rain streamed down his face, his eyes glistened in the faded moonlight.

“You know I wont. And you’ll never find him.”

The rain turned into hail and lightning began to strike so often that the air now lighter than day. Matthew sat in horror as his friend lie limp at the feet of this mania. Lighting struck the tower they were in, setting fire to the roof.

“Fine. I never should have come here in the first place.” He started toward the window, but Jack called out to stop him. He was struggling to stand, and remain so in the torrent surrounding them.

“How? How did you remember me?”

The man with gold eyes and bloody hair lowered his head; he reached for his arm and pulled up his sleeve. On his skin were tattoos, or designs of what could be vines, with thorns about it - a rose vine.

“Of all the people I would remember, it was to be you. I didn’t choose.”

Jack’s stance hardened, and the dark man turned colder in his expression. Tension flowed from both of them, filling the room like the wind.

“They’ll all be moving now. And I’m behind it. Everyone will be coming here, eventually.” the cloaked man put his hand on the violently swinging shutter, holding it still before turning back to Jack. “I don’t know whether to kill you or not. But unless you tell me where he is, you’ll be dead along with him.”

“Get out.” Jack hissed.

Lightning struck through the ceiling ripping burning beams down with it. Light in the room suddenly dimmed as the endless fall of lightning outside ceased. Flames from the fallen rafters glowed enough so that Matthew could see that Jack was on the ground and the man was gone.