Company
Pieces of ornately carved rock dotted the banks of the worn and the dusted road. Their number increased as he went along it further and further, each bigger than the last. He could see them rising on either side of him when he looked ahead and squinted. Parallel rows of small broken towers. They escalated toward a square ruin of what once was a secluded sanctuary. It was swaddled with the decaying boughs of the surrounding pines, almost hidden. Its four walls and roofing had long since collapsed but fragments of it remained, standing incomplete and disassociated. Only the door frame remained untouched. A flat marble pedestal sat in the middle of the desolate chamber flanked with a water basin on one side of it and on the other a fire pit, both long arid. He stood upon it and saw the moon's amplifying glow through the opened roof.
He set his pack down with the sword and walked toward two looming statues standing in opposition to each other as guardians bordering the entrance facing him. The one to his right was clothed head to foot in decorative armor. Its helmet had a winged design that stretched out and upward from its ears and swirling etchings that extended down to the pauldrons and breastplate and greaves. In one hand it wielded a shield sculpted like a diamond and in the other a mighty and beautiful saber encrusted with jewels and tarnished precious metals. On its back was a broad cape, frozen in a billowing motion with overlapping creases. The other figure facing it wore no armor. It was bare save for a cloth that draped over its loins. All of its bulging musculature was exposed, hairless and covered with lacerations. Its mouth was open, displaying large canines and a sharp tongue protruding out. Above each beady eye were three horns aligned vertically on its forehead. It brandished an axe clutched tightly with bony fingers over its head and behind its back in an attack position. Coiled around one of its legs was a snake and the pedestal on which it stood was arrayed with the skulls of man and beast alike.
So entranced by them that he almost did not see the bonfire being lit through the trees far from the road and the movement of obscured figures. But he did and without hesitation he grabbed his belongings and made his way towards the fire, shouting out for help as he got closer. He found himself in a large clearing with the massive fire in the middle, illuminating surrounding flora and shortened pillars of another ruin. He heard the sound of bushes rustling around him and saw the faint shadows of many stalking through the black timber. He raised the weapon with both hands and called out to them. The stirring ceased and a lone silhouetted entity stepped out against the blaze like some pagan deity.
"Who goes there?", the figure spoke.
"M-my name is Gavin", the boy said with as much confidence as he could muster. "I'm a refugee. I've been separated from my home."
"Lower your weapon."
He complied and the figure came closer until his face and body were revealed to him. The individual appeared as nothing but a youth, perhaps a few years older than he. An innocence stained his face but his piercing eyes told of a strange wisdom and he spoke with the clarity and cadence of a man. His ears were long, pointed, and without lobes; a deformity shared by the eclectic cavalcade that also stepped forth to babble amongst themselves and watch. He stood authoritatively with a hand rested on the hilt of a short and rugged sword. It had a golden blade and round guard like a halved coconut; a child's weapon. He wore leather wrappings on his hands and ones on his feet that curved upwards and a leafy tunic of various shades of green. A wide bandoleer crossed over his chest carrying a quiver of brightly colored arrows and tied around the waist of his mahogany pants was a cord made of many vines twisted together. The boy trembled. "Who are you?", he asked.
"Today it seems I am a finder of lost children", the creature said. "But you may call me Cale."
"What is this place?"
"You step foot in my dominion. I am the one in charge of this forest." His face swelled with pride. "You are not from here, are you?"
"No. I came from across the sea. There was a battle. My parents..." He paused. "They sent me here."
"And where are they now?"
The boy didn't answer, just looked at the ground and muttered something indecipherable. Cale diverted his gaze to the sword he held. "What have you there?", he asked.
"I found this over there." He pointed out, though in the encumbering night he had already forgotten the direction.
"May I see it?" Gavin recoiled for a moment, but handed him the blade. Cale brought it near to his face and inspected curiously. He walked closer to the fire, cradling it. His slight body went rigid and he turned his head to briefly glare at the child, but a grin cut across his face as he came back and returned the trophy. "I'm afraid that will not be of much use to you", he quipped.
"Can I stay here with you?", the boy asked. "I have no where to go."
"Well, master Gavin. You've certainly wandered far for one so small." He laughed and his audience echoed. "But this is no place for you. These ruins have been claimed and you are not one of us. You are quite different." He pointed at him and came in close. He smelled of honeysuckle flowers. Twigs and leaves were interwoven in his hair as though the forest itself had just given birth to him. "You must find your own people. The kingdom that lies far from here."
"How can I get there?"
"There is one who lives in a valley down the road. He is a great man, the oldest and wisest. He will show you the way. At dawn I shall take you to him. But for now, we rest." He put his hand on Gavin's shoulder and led him into a crumbled auditorium that he said was his.
That night the boy would dine with the stranger's assorted troupe on a stone table. They'd stare at him and gossip of his idiosyncrasy as he ravenously ate and thought the same of them. He would sleep curled up on a derelict pew made from chiseled granite and dream of the old world, now more real to him than the one he walked on.
He set his pack down with the sword and walked toward two looming statues standing in opposition to each other as guardians bordering the entrance facing him. The one to his right was clothed head to foot in decorative armor. Its helmet had a winged design that stretched out and upward from its ears and swirling etchings that extended down to the pauldrons and breastplate and greaves. In one hand it wielded a shield sculpted like a diamond and in the other a mighty and beautiful saber encrusted with jewels and tarnished precious metals. On its back was a broad cape, frozen in a billowing motion with overlapping creases. The other figure facing it wore no armor. It was bare save for a cloth that draped over its loins. All of its bulging musculature was exposed, hairless and covered with lacerations. Its mouth was open, displaying large canines and a sharp tongue protruding out. Above each beady eye were three horns aligned vertically on its forehead. It brandished an axe clutched tightly with bony fingers over its head and behind its back in an attack position. Coiled around one of its legs was a snake and the pedestal on which it stood was arrayed with the skulls of man and beast alike.
So entranced by them that he almost did not see the bonfire being lit through the trees far from the road and the movement of obscured figures. But he did and without hesitation he grabbed his belongings and made his way towards the fire, shouting out for help as he got closer. He found himself in a large clearing with the massive fire in the middle, illuminating surrounding flora and shortened pillars of another ruin. He heard the sound of bushes rustling around him and saw the faint shadows of many stalking through the black timber. He raised the weapon with both hands and called out to them. The stirring ceased and a lone silhouetted entity stepped out against the blaze like some pagan deity.
"Who goes there?", the figure spoke.
"M-my name is Gavin", the boy said with as much confidence as he could muster. "I'm a refugee. I've been separated from my home."
"Lower your weapon."
He complied and the figure came closer until his face and body were revealed to him. The individual appeared as nothing but a youth, perhaps a few years older than he. An innocence stained his face but his piercing eyes told of a strange wisdom and he spoke with the clarity and cadence of a man. His ears were long, pointed, and without lobes; a deformity shared by the eclectic cavalcade that also stepped forth to babble amongst themselves and watch. He stood authoritatively with a hand rested on the hilt of a short and rugged sword. It had a golden blade and round guard like a halved coconut; a child's weapon. He wore leather wrappings on his hands and ones on his feet that curved upwards and a leafy tunic of various shades of green. A wide bandoleer crossed over his chest carrying a quiver of brightly colored arrows and tied around the waist of his mahogany pants was a cord made of many vines twisted together. The boy trembled. "Who are you?", he asked.
"Today it seems I am a finder of lost children", the creature said. "But you may call me Cale."
"What is this place?"
"You step foot in my dominion. I am the one in charge of this forest." His face swelled with pride. "You are not from here, are you?"
"No. I came from across the sea. There was a battle. My parents..." He paused. "They sent me here."
"And where are they now?"
The boy didn't answer, just looked at the ground and muttered something indecipherable. Cale diverted his gaze to the sword he held. "What have you there?", he asked.
"I found this over there." He pointed out, though in the encumbering night he had already forgotten the direction.
"May I see it?" Gavin recoiled for a moment, but handed him the blade. Cale brought it near to his face and inspected curiously. He walked closer to the fire, cradling it. His slight body went rigid and he turned his head to briefly glare at the child, but a grin cut across his face as he came back and returned the trophy. "I'm afraid that will not be of much use to you", he quipped.
"Can I stay here with you?", the boy asked. "I have no where to go."
"Well, master Gavin. You've certainly wandered far for one so small." He laughed and his audience echoed. "But this is no place for you. These ruins have been claimed and you are not one of us. You are quite different." He pointed at him and came in close. He smelled of honeysuckle flowers. Twigs and leaves were interwoven in his hair as though the forest itself had just given birth to him. "You must find your own people. The kingdom that lies far from here."
"How can I get there?"
"There is one who lives in a valley down the road. He is a great man, the oldest and wisest. He will show you the way. At dawn I shall take you to him. But for now, we rest." He put his hand on Gavin's shoulder and led him into a crumbled auditorium that he said was his.
That night the boy would dine with the stranger's assorted troupe on a stone table. They'd stare at him and gossip of his idiosyncrasy as he ravenously ate and thought the same of them. He would sleep curled up on a derelict pew made from chiseled granite and dream of the old world, now more real to him than the one he walked on.
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