Esmurus (Original Draft)

Chapter 2: Autumgloom I

                  

The putrid smell of decaying grass full the air. The rough feel of the dead and broken wildlife stimulated the senses of the lost. The taste of vile and contaminated water wandered into the tasteless mouth of innocent by-passers. The loud silence of a broken, devastated land penetrated the ears of the deaf. It all horrified anyone who dared roam the now abandoned North. The South was both exactly the same; and quite an unrealistic opposite. On one hand the ruptures to the earth caused by the crumbling of the North effected the South greatly, disrupting cities and causing many earthquakes. But on the other hand; The South, for now, was forsaken free. There was no the threat from the Unliving. But Rancid's march was inevitable.                                                                                                                The months following Rancid's takeover of Solaris were a heavy drought for ALL the inhabitants of the western world. The continent of Uditela became a broken land; one where water was replenished and plague ridden. A land where the once flourishing green wildlife was now baron and deserted. A land no-one really cared about. The North of Uditela was now a plagueland. Rancid ruled here and ever since the march of Solaris, his scourge had spread city by city. The unliving spread like a disease. Solaris, Khaso, Shadowfell...All taken by the Unliving plague. Shadowfell wasn't even a city anymore, much like Solaris, it was now just a crumbling ruin. Beyond this however, closing the gap between the contaminated North and the now somewhat peaceful - yet anarchistic -South; was a border. A desert. With only one road existing between the two war-torn, continental sides.

There were no souls nor spirits to be detected by eyesight in this waste land. The Area was deserted, as you would expect from a desert. The Sun glared down on to the pure and pressured sand, with heat so immense it could set anything it touched aflame. The air so thick and humid that it could leave people, both living and in death, breathless within minutes; and the moisture was so intense it could leave them saturated with sweat - endlessly dripping out of their pores. Not to mention the dusty, almost fog like wind; which only created more heat and left an almost unbearable atmosphere. The waves of heat could be seen for miles beyond the borders on each side of the desert; there seemed to be no way for refugees to escape the scorching sun of the Infernal Desert. Until now.

[????] "I found it...it is actually real; if only I could grab it"                                                                                                   

The desert floor of the tomb crumbled beneath her feet as she reached out for the unknown artefact; the crumbling effect knocking her down and onto the ground below. As she hit the floor the ground began to crack, giving her only a small amount of time to get to her feet and begin to make a haste-full rush out of the now collapsing desert tomb. Dust flew into her crystalline blue eyes as she sprinted out of the tomb. Only to be knocked onto her back by an unrelenting for of wind from a desert sandstorm created by the tomb's ruination. Luckily, the artefact the blonde haired archer was looking for was still in her now battered and broken hand. The onyx black shard was coruscating within her grasp and almost blinding to most human eyes that looked upon it. She was different however. But it was all too late, the storm, the collapse, and the exhaustion. It was all too much. Her breathing began to hinder. The colour in her deep blue eyes began to diminish. They began to. Shut.

[????] "Hey, wake up."

[Woman] "W-What?"

[????] "I said, wake up."

Her eyes began to slowly drift open. Revealing a shaded room. Stone walls surrounded her and above her looking down on her frail
and beaten body, was a tall hooded figure whose eyes couldn't be seen at all. The black hood hid eyes face as if it wasn't even its purpose - until he pulled it down - revealing long black hair and deep Crimson eyes that would pierce your soul if looked at.

[????] "You were out for a long time; I found you holding this"

The Crimson eyed man held out his hand revealing the onyx shard from the tomb.
[Man] "How did you look at this without being blinded?"

[Woman] "I'm different, I'm not a normal human being"

[Man] "Elaborate woman"

[Woman]  "Ever since I was born I have seen things and done things no other human has been able to do; I don't know why I can look at it without being blinded, I just can."

[Man] "You do know what this crystal is right? And why normal people can't look at it?"

[Woman] "I'm just a hunter; i figured it would sell for a lot so I went looking for it - and I found it"

[Man] "Well woman, this - this is one of the 12 Shards of creation brought to this planet by the Orcs from their realm when they arrived here all those years ago."

The shady figure removed his hood completely and wrapped the shard within it.

[Man] "We need to get out of here now."

[Woman]"Why? What's the rush? Why are we leaving so suddenly? Are you forgetting that you were the one that brought me here? You haven't even told me who you are yet you sick weirdo."

[Man] "Woman; I don't have time to explain. There will be time for names and formal introductions later. But this shard is dangerous and we need to get out of here before-"

Suddenly. The roof began to crumble and the stone walls surrounding them began to cave in. The mysterious, tall and red haired male grabbed the arm of the money craving hunter and began to run with her, pulling her over his shoulder and jumping over falling rubble and the cracked, decaying obstacles in the ruptured floor below; making sure he didn't hurt her still broken body - only he knew how bad her injuries truly were.

However. The shard. Which was still wrapped in the hood of the strange man, began resonating and shining its dark light out into the world. The raw power of this gem. This shard. This "crystal of creation" It could be felt by merely being in its presence. The road ahead was sharp. But, who knows where our 'heroes' are headed...who knows what the danger of the shard truly could be. Well, he does.