Tarragon: Key Keeper

Chapter Five

IT ALMOST LOOKED LIKE A group of elementary school kids had been dismissed for recess. The three locals plunged ahead, past the gateway. Daphne and Josef disappeared into one of the low buildings, making out.

Courtney attempted to follow Tyler for a short while. She gave up when he seemed disinclined to move from the main courtyard. Instead, she went off down the main street and disappeared from sight.

Anwen moved more slowly, feeling a heaviness settle over her. Finally, after years of planning and researching, she had reached the Ruined City. It felt like a solemn moment dedicated to the memory of her ancestors and their attempts to return there.

Walking with almost heavy footsteps, Anwen passed under the arch and into the open courtyard. Stone pillars lined the main path on either side. Some of these pillars had cracks running down their sides. Others had fallen over or had been destroyed. Their elegant capstones were scrolled with dragon's tails and lizards.

Off to her left, a smaller yard opened up. It was made from the same dun-colored stone, but it had a small fountain in the middle. The fountain was chipped and cracked. The centerpiece might have once been a mythical bird but was now almost beyond recognition. The bowl was stone dry.

Anwen moved fowards and traced a finger across the dirt-crusted edges of the fountain. She wondered how it had looked before falling into ruins.

Overhead, the sun shone down, giving more than ample light to see the City's remains. Anwen almost felt like she'd gone back in time, but not quite. The stones were swept clean of anything but the architecture, leaving no more clues about her past than what she already had.

Seeing nothing of note, Anwen moved towards the right side of the columned pathway. Once there, she discovered another open square with low structures around the edges. Those buildings might have once been someone's homes, or, perhaps places of business. It was hard to tell from the empty doorways and even more empty rooms beyond them.

Distracted, Anwen almost tripped over a cracked flagstone. She compensated for the loss of balance by imitating a windmill, glad no one was around to see her near failure. It was embarrassing enough without an audience.

After some further exploration, Anwen noticed a small alcove between two buildings. It didn't look like much, more like an alley where some stones from nearby roofs had fallen to choke the small lane.

Checking to make sure more slabs wouldn't come crashing down, Anwen slipped between the choke stones. It became dark for a brief moment as she moved around other debris past the main opening. After taking a few more steps, a bright light shown down near the end, just beyond another protrusion of fallen stone.

Anwen almost ripped her shirt on a protrusion but finally made it into another courtyard. This one opened up on an almost round are paved with the same stone as the one she'd just come from.

The rounded courtyard reminded Anwen of a small amphitheatre. Some shallow steps formed a semi-circle at one end. Those steps only descended half a dozen inches or so before stopping at a raised circular platform. The platform sat even with the main floor.

Several stone benches stood around the strange stairs, as though intended for spectators. Or, more likely, some weary person to sit and rest. Overhead, beams of wood ran with crisscrossing lines. Their forms made square shadows on the ground.

Off to one side of the stage sat a small niche of shelves, carved into the wall of the surrounding cliffs. Small stone jars stood or lay tipped over on them. Some of the jars had cracked, but a few were whole, making them the first real artifacts Anwen had seen since starting out that morning.