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.
Just past the benches, and heading away from the alcoved circle, another stone path led towards the Mountain's peak. It turned in a gentle curve of columns that might have abutted the buildings on the main street. It was hard to tell as the path moved around and disappeared as if going into the actual stone.
Bending to explore the small shelves of jars, Anwen almost knocked one over. She quickly righted the bottle, pulling her hand back like she'd touched a hot stove.
For whatever reason, her skin suddenly felt electrified, like someone was watching her. She let out half a squeak as she turned around, one arm flung out as if to ward off a potential blow. At the same time, she bent her knees to lower her center of gravity. Her other arm went to her bag, holding the straps so no one could take it.
Tyler stood at the far end of the courtyard, closer the alley. The light distorted his shadow, making it stretch further than normal. He had his hands in his pockets, backpack hanging from one shoulder.
Anwen lowered her arm as soon as she realized who was there. "Tyler. You startled me." She took a few cautious steps forward
Tyler's expression was unreadable as he watched her move away from the shelves, dusting her hands off on her pants. "Why did you come here?" he asked.
Unsure how to answer his question, Anwen moved further away from the wall and closer to the middle of the courtyard. "You told us we could explore," she answered in confusion. "I was just looking around. I wasn't going to take anything." She stopped near the pathway leading off under the columned roofing.
Tyler didn't blink once as he watched her cross the paved floor. "That's not what I meant. Why are you here? No one from outside these mountains ever wants to come here."
Anwen frowned. "I don't understand. I didn't think it was a big deal. I mean--" She trailed off, not sure why she had to explain herself.
It wasn't like she was doing anything wrong. She was certain she wasn't. And who was this boy to question her motives? What right did he have to ask such questions? He couldn't be any older than she was.
Letting out half a sigh, Tyler's expression clouded over. "What I meant to say is it's unusual for an outsider. Most people don't know about the village, let alone the Ruined City. How did you learn of it?"
Anwen opened her mouth to answer but stopped as she remembered all the precautions her mother had made her take. She still wasn't sure if this boy was a local or not. He seemed to be. And yet, he also made it sound like he wasn't.
Not to mention his speech patterns were a bit odd, sometimes changing. He was used to being some figure of authority. That much she felt sure of. But beyond that, what did she really know about him?
Tyler took a few steps towards her but stopped under one of the crisscrossing beams. "And while we're on such topics, why do you insist on using an alias, Anna?" He pointedly used the name she'd signed to the inn ledger. "Because you never did explain why you're afraid to use your real name here."
Anwen felt her body trembling as her heart pounded. She hard a time breathing and had to sit on the closest bench, hands on either side of her, holding to the edge. She locked her elbows to help keep her body upright.
If she'd thought crossing over that chasm had been nerve racking, she was not prepared for the emotions warring inside her now. It felt like the atoms inside her were trying to tear themselves apart.
"No one was supposed to know." Anwen found she regretted talking to him on that sorry excuse for a bus. If only she'd been more on guard. But she hadn't. She'd sown the seeds of her own destruction. Her mother had warned her that it was an option she didn't have. Not if she wanted to discover the truth about her family.
Tears began to trickle down her cheeks as she closed her eyes. "I'm sorry, father," she whispered, head bowed. "I let you down."
Tyler's expression softened as he saw the tears and emotional discomfort. Either she was a good liar, or he'd somehow misjudged her and her intentions. But it was better to be safe than sorry. It would not be the first time someone had tried to fool him. "Why are you really here?" he asked again, more gentle this time.
Anwen sniffed as she looked up. She saw a hint of compassion on his face. It was a face that was both old and young at the same time. His eyes were as deep as time itself.
"What I told you on the bus," she replied. "I'm trying to connect with my roots. I'm searching for my past and everything I've learned points to this place. I don't know why. It just does."
Tyler pursed his lips, one hand moving to his chin in thought. "Then why the secrecy? Why don't you want anyone to know who you are? And why did you tell me if you want to keep it a secret?"
At least this wasn't in front of the others, Anwen thought as she sighed. For whatever reason, she wasn't sure if her mother had been right about all the natives. If Tyler was one.
"I told you because I didn't think it would be a problem. I didn't know you were a local. I thought you were just a nice guy passing through. Until you started talking about the village like it was your hometown. By then, it was too late to give you another name. And then you confronted me about it and made me agree to go to that stupid festival with you so you wouldn't tell anyone. I didn't know what to think."
Tyler moved several steps closer and stopped, almost as if he was still debating what he wanted to do. "And why can't you use your real name here?" Inside, he felt a sense of anticipation for her answer. It would likely confirm at least one of his suspicions.
Anwen's eyes pleaded with his, trying to will him to understand. She knew he either wouldn't or couldn't, though through no fault of his own. He had been nice at the festival, and again on the hike up. Even if he'd tried to not show any preferences. Taking a deep breath, she decided to just let it out and hope for the best. "Because I'm a Porter."
Tyler moved a few steps closer, now within easy reaching distance, towering over her as she sat beneath his gaze. "And why would that be significant?" he asked.
It was hard to forget the incident on the rock over the river, when the stone she'd kept hidden had glowed. He was certain about one thing. That stone had come from inside the Mountain. How she'd gotten it remained a mystery he hoped to solve. And soon.
Anwen looked up, one hand going to her chest where the pendant lay hidden. "Because one of my many times great grandfathers, enough generations back to make my head spin, was Mathias Porter. His entire family was exiled from the Village of Lindwurm several hundred years ago."
Tyler felt the air in his lungs freeze at those words. Was she really a member of that line of Porter? It was too much to even dare hope. And yet that was exactly what she was claiming.
How many years ago had that been? Several hundred at least. And yet, sitting in front of him was someone who might be from that exact line. Everything pointed to that, though he'd been fooled before.
There was one way to find out for sure though. Perhaps it would answer both of his questions.
Walking towards the stone steps, he nodded for her to follow. "Would you like to see something? Something that no one else alive has seen? Something from the Dragon City?"
Anwen's heart continued to pound, her confusion growing at the sudden change in her companion. She wasn't sure what it was exactly, but it almost felt as if a small but stubborn flame had sprung up. He seemed determined to fan the flame to see what would happen.
"From the Dragon City?" She hesitated.
Tyler nodded as he moved towards the stone shelves. "Yes. They call it vision dust."
He took one of the still intact jars down from the shelf. Breaking the seal, he poured something like glittering sand into one hand. Keeping the fine grains trapped between his fingers, he walked towards the circular platform. "There are those who say it grants visions to the viewer, visions of their future, or of their past. It doesn't always work, but maybe we'll be lucky."
Anwen rubbed sweaty palms on her pants as she tried to swallow the lump forming in her throat. All the journal entries she'd read had never mentioned anything about vision dust. Was she just getting her hopes up that he might be willing and able to give her what she wanted? Or was he just stringing her along and really intended to do something they would both regret?
Having reached the platform, Tyler moved around the circular stage. He began to sprinkle the dust on the surface, making sure to keep it inside the inscribed line near the edge. Once he returned to his starting place, he blew the remaining grains from his palm.
A breeze seemed to swirl around inside the enclosure the moment he stepped back. It swept the dust particles upwards in a spiral, much like powdered snow when stirred by a quick passage of air. Except that shapes began to form inside the column of swirling sand.
Anwen moved forward in eagerness, not sure what was going on, or how the sand managed to stay within the confines of the circle. But it was what was happening inside the swirl of dust that caught her attention.
Small clouds of sand began to form striking images. They reminded her of the puppets from the festival, some long and lean, with others shorter and stockier. Most had wings protruding from joints just below sinuous necks, or further down long spiny backs. One figure reared its head and spouted a swirl of gold-colored dust that undulated like flames.
Dragons.
With held breath, Anwen watched the miniature dragons fly around the enclosed space. Mountains formed below the figures in an almost exact replica of the Drakonii Mountain Range. Two dragons launched themselves from the Mountain peak near the Ruined City. They flew in tandem, circling the Mountain as one. Then one reared up in what could almost be considered a battle cry, flames flowing from its mouth.
Just as mysteriously as the images had appeared, they vanished. The moment reminded Anwen of a giant's hand swatting an unsuspecting fly as the dust fell back to the ground like rain. The action left a fine layer of sand covering the platform, which an errant breeze blew away.
Pebbles scattered as Courtney entered the courtyard from the stone-choked alley. "There you are," her voice filled the silence. "I've been looking for you. Who knew this was back here?" She looked around with some measure of interest, but focused back on the two standing near the stage.
"Who indeed," Tyler replied. He was the first to react, dusting his hands off on his pants.
The jar he'd been holding had somehow disappeared. Either that or he'd put it down while Anwen had been mesmerized by the vision in the circle. She wasn't sure which, but was glad he'd taken the initiative to break the awkward silence.
Courtney shrugged at his indifferent tone. "Anyway, Daphne and Josef are ready to head back whenever you are. Figured I'd better let you know. Oh, and it looks like it might storm so we'd better hurry." She looked up at the sky where several dark clouds had begun to gather.
Tyler followed her gaze and nodded, well acquainted with the odd mountain weather. "You're right. It'll be a bad one. We should try to get back to the village before it breaks. Come along, Anna. I don't want to have to haul you down the mountain on a rope."
Without another glance, he walked past Anwen and disappeared into the alleyway as he followed Courtney back towards the main courtyard.
Anwen felt like she'd become part of the stone beneath her. It took a moment for her to break free from the sensation.
Why had Tyler's mood changed so much from one moment to the next? It didn't make sense. And now he was treating her like some creature he had to put up with. It wasn't fair. She followed after the two retreating individuals, feeling old and out of her element.