Every Little Memory

Entry #51: Shadow

This memory is alarming from the very beginning, as soon as I enter. There is a dark feel to this vision; as though things have taken a turn for the worse. The Hold seems…different, as though everyone and everything within has reached some sort of breaking point. The real demons of negative emotion and energies have been unleashed.

 I am in the familiar corridor outside the meeting room. The grand doors are shut tight, and perhaps for a good reason. Iza stands beside them, surrounded by several servants. Both are women, appearing a bit older than Iza but with much less wisdom and authority. They have scraggly hair and wear dirty rags covered in soot. This doesn’t seem typical for the Hold’s workers; usually they are taken better care of.  They speak in hushed tones with Iza as though they do not wish to be overheard. I never thought the dragon one for gossip, so I am intrigued. As I get nearer, I see how frustrated she seems to be with the servants.

 “How does a corpse simply disappear?” she whispers, one the verge of raising her voice in anger.

 One servant shrugs, giving her a genuine look of uncertainty. “I do not know, miss. There was no one in the room. There couldn’t have been. When we checked, she was just…gone. No clue who took her.”

 “She is dead. She could not have just stood up and walked away!” Kaiya? Something happened to her corpse? Who on earth would steal away the body of a deceased lupine?

 “Well she ain’t there no more!” the other servant pipes up.

 “And you thought it was best to tell Lord Kain of this? He is already in an unstable condition! Do you realize how upset he is now? Even more than before!”

 “S-sorry! We was just doing our job, miss!”

 Sighing, Iza replies, “I know. He is incredibly distraught over this. She may not receive a proper burial now, as was his wish.”

 “What are we gonna do?”

 “We are not going to upset him further. Listen. I will try to reason with him. I worry for him these days and I fear the worst is upon us. Keep quiet while I do so. Is that understood?”

 The servants nod dumbly at the dragon who stares them down sternly. Once gaining their obedience, she turns towards the doors. She takes a deep breath, as if mentally preparing for what lay ahead while she places her hand on the polished surface of the doors. With a single shove they open, swinging inward to reveal the meeting room.

 Iza strides in with her usual brisk pace; the one that makes crowds part like the sea for her. The nervous servants trail behind her, almost as if they were cowering in fear. The dragon allows them to stand by her, paying no mind to their presence. She exudes an air of confidence, but I bet on the inside she is experiencing turmoil. I would be too, if I had to put up with the mess that Kain is on a daily basis.

 When I see him, I find it hard to believe he is the same person. His hair is disheveled, as though he stopped bothering to groom it. There are dark circles under his eyes and they look heavy with lack of sleep. His tunic is untucked and the strings at the top are undone. He seems to have stopped caring about appearances a long time ago. Overall, he is stressed, without a doubt. There even appears to be traces of…insanity in his eyes.

 The servants stop in the middle of the room, refusing to get any closer to him. Iza, however, steps forward to her usual spot beside her floating mirror. It is nearby Kain, who is sitting at a chair at the large table, scribbling something on a parchment sprawled out on the surface. I am…not sure I want to look at what it is, but he must have a lot of ideas for how rapidly he is writing.

 “Have you worked out a strategy, mi’lord?” Iza inquires with caution, staring intensely at him with her electric green eyes.

 Kain sets down his pen on the table and sits back to stare at whatever it is he wrote. “I have,” is his blunt response. There is an eerie calm to his voice. Something dark and frightening….almost mad.