Traverse

[DawnsLight]

Fires blazed, lighting the night sky with such a glow that the veil of stars above was outshone and overpowered. Screams and the gutteral cry of men at battle and the tang of steel contacting steel were the only sounds to be heard above the roar and crackle of flames. A shout, a barked command, and a mad dash. Heavy booted footfalls were lost in the din to all but the one who made them. Cutting down and Enemy with near effortless ease, he never faltered in his stride. There were none who would stop him from completing his task; none who would stop the righteous victory of the Empire and its effort for a world without everlasting war.

He was proud to have been chosen. Proud to take on this most unusual mission and to be trusted to recover an item so sacred. The future of their world rode squarely on his shoulders and he was honored to bear the weight of this task.

A footfall and then another and then the cacophony was simply gone. Not an echo. Not a ringing. Only one lone glowing ember having made the journey with him to float upward on an alien wind before burning to ash and disappearing under foreign stars. The soldier's pell-mell sprint slowed to a trot before coming to a stop at the end of an alleyway cloaked in shadow. He stood for a moment, hand braced upon cool brick while his breath was recovered.

So quiet. It was so quiet here.

A soft glow of lamps lit the boulevard that opened before him; it appeared to be night in this world as well. And late, perhaps, judging by the lack of people on the street. Still he hesitated, unsure. As if to cover for his reluctance though there were none to see it, the soldier glanced at the beacon lashed to his wrist with supple leather. A subtle glow lit his face as he did; where the beacon appeared to be nothing more than a slice of pale violet geode in his world, here in the faint presence of the artifact it took on a soft light. It was here, maybe not exactly nearby but close enough.

In the shadows, watching a couple move together down the boulevard huddled close together in murmured conversation, a small smile lifted one corner of the soldier's face lit with ghostly amethyst light. In another moment he was gone; the sound of heavy-booted footfalls accompanying him down the boulevard.

 

[Elyd]

Eriath rubbed xyr temples, a long day dragging on into a long night. Sitting and doing paperwork was not xyr idea of a great evening. Eriath would rather be sitting at home among xyr books, studying and learning about ancient artifacts. Xe found ancient lore fascinating, and xe had hoped to be a scholar as a young one. Now it was simply a hobby.

Wearing the long robes in the Ministry's colors of blue and cream, Eriath took one concession from the standard dressing that everyone else wore: a violet amulet nestled next to xyr chest. Eriath found the amulet as a youngling, and it had sparked xyr interest in the ancient lore. As a member of a high family, though, most people put up with the strange attachment to an object for beautification, and Eriath hid it under xyr robe to keep nosy strangers from staring.

Xyr world may be peaceful, but that didn't make it perfect.

Glancing up at the clock, Eriath sighed. It was late. Too late, really. Xe pushed back xyr many braids - a symbol of xyr family line – and shuffled the papers into the correct spots for morning. Leaving the office, xe paused at the entrance to a coworker's office and knocked lightly at the door. "Leaving, Jamaiya. You should get some sleep as well. It will all be here in the morning."

Her colleague, Jamaiya, a tall, waif-like creature, and like Eriath, seeming neither male nor female but with elements of both, looked up and smiled weakly. "It always amazes me how much paperwork we have to do for a state visit, Eriath. I'll be here for a little longer yet. Good night."

"Good night," Eriath answered, and softly shut the door and made her way out the building and into the brightly starlit night.