Grim Ruination, Birth of a Soul (On Hiatus)

The Royal Home

It was strange seeing the structure of his old home having been completely altered. The format of the house had stayed, although it was completely unrecognizable from the small hut he'd once known. His vision shifted to his old house. He glanced at the space where the kitchen had once rested. A wooden table with six chairs around it, two on each side and an additional one at either end. He saw his mother making fresh bread within the brick oven that had been there since he was born. A warm fire roared in the back of the oven, making the dough in the oven rise and harden.

He looked to what used to be the common room through a doorway to his left. All it had been was simply a few rocking chairs set to one side of the room with a small hearth on the other side. He remembered the countless times he'd been sent into the nearby woods with his brother to retrieve firewood. He never understood the reason for doing it when he was so young. He never understood why they didn't buy chopped wood from the market; it was a shorter walk and it was only a few copper pieces for several hours worth of chopping wood and hauling it back to the house.

Then he looked forward, down a hallway, toward a door that used to lead to his bedroom; his favorite place in the house apart from the kitchen. It was his own little space where he could do things uninterrupted, until he was called to do something at least. He recalled all the times he was in his room, swinging around a dull wooden sword his dad had gotten him for his birthday. He remembered the many bruises he had accidently given himself when attempting a waky sword technique. He saw himself trying to do some flourish and hitting himself in the head with the flat of the blade.

Darris was knocked back to reality in the blink of an eye as he saw the changes within the house. It was no longer a dimly lit hut. It was brightly lit with several lamps hanging from the wall along with a bright chandelier that shone light down from the ceiling. Additionally, there were now stairs leading up to a second floor draped in a dark blue carpet. There were only a few steps that went up before turning along the nearby wall and continuing to elevate up to the second floor. The interior walls, once made of cut logs, were now made of finely carved dark wood. The doorframes were now made of carved and sanded wood along with the now hardwood flooring. In the center of the walkway was a royal blue, square carpet with a white symbol of a bird with bladed wings taking flight.

"So you're David?" Someone asked from halfway atop the stairs. It was a middle-aged woman in a fine royal outfit. She looked to be in her mid 50s or so. Whisks of gray hair were woven neatly with her mix of brown and blonde hair that ended in a bun on the back of her head. Her face was beginning to show the signs of her age, lines on the side of her lips as well as faint bags over her eyes were the first notable features. Her ears were slightly pointed, however not quite to the point of a pure blooded elf. Resting on her nose were a pair of golden rimmed glasses in a semicircular shape.

Darris looked up at the woman and was about to speak when Susain answered first. "Yes, he's David. We have our Illusions class together. He was struggling with making-"

The woman raised her hand as she stepped down from the stairs; Susain fell silent. "Your input is appreciated, Susain, but I was asking David." She said calmly, still glaring at Darris. "So you can perform illusions?" She asked.

Darris simply faintly nodded, arguing with himself over whether he should speak or not.
The woman took half a step back and waved her hand toward Darris. "Alright then, show me something simple." She ordered, still starring tentatively at Darris; studying him.

Hesitantly, Darris raised his hand and tried to calm himself as he let a small stream of souls flow over his hand. The golden mist arose from his skin and began to gravitate to the surface. Slowly, his illusory skin began to age, wrinkles appearing across his knuckles and his skin becoming pale. Then he let the secondary illusion fade. He glanced up at the woman in front of him.