• The Stranger •
We walked past the gate into the steady glow of golden light. I had long anticipated what the city of Ziruh looked like from the stories.
We came around a corner and a massive opening awaited us. It was an entire city underground. But...
"What happened here?" Sithra's eyes were huge in shock. The buildings were a dull grey and in ruins. Vines crawled and spread over everything. The dust in the air floated lazily past our eyes in the dry air.
"Where's the rain?" I extended a hand out to feel the air. "I don't understand... it's supposed to be here..."
"It doesn't look like it's rained here in a hundred years." She bent down and scooped up a handful of bone-dry dirt.
"Maybe it's further in the city?" I suggested, casting an illumination spell around us. We walked between the crumbling buildings.
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We walked on for what seemed like ages. Eventually, we came into an opening; the city square. A grand water well was in the center.
Sithra ran over and looked down into the well, but came back up disappointed.
"It's dry." She frowned. "We came all this way..."
"No!" I refused to accept it. This was my ticket to freedom. I had to find it. "Let's split up. Maybe we're just missing something..."
———————
I was busy rustling through a house, searching every bowl and cup. Suddenly, I heard Sithra calling my name. I ran outside to find her standing in the street of cobblestone. She was kneeling down to the floor. A small puddle, barely enough for a gulp, rippled when I came rushing over. The water looks like molten gold, but was cold and smooth.
"This is all that's left..." She wiped a tear away. "This beautiful town destroyed and this is what's left."
"It still works, nonetheless!" I eagerly pulled a vial out from my cloak. Finally...
Sithra looked up at me. "There's only enough for one person..." She realized.
Immediately, my mind didn't care and hungered for the rain for myself... But my heart... My heart that I hadn't felt for nearly decades, it was telling me something different.
In that moment, I had to make a decision. I could be free and mortal again, or live in fear for the rest of my life and save a Queen whose subjects needed her... and her daughter needed her...