Frost 1st 122 AS, 10:15 AM
Pulling his heavy fur cloak over himself Myles shrugged it into position roughly fastening it to his dented breastplate. Then he stooped and fastened the girls cloak around her neck, she’d grown at least an inch since they’d met, and the crystal sprouting from her head had grown slowly but surely as well. As he tied a smart bow for the girl she stared at him unblinking, something she often did when he drew near like she was searching him for something, or just staring through him, he was never sure.
He'd weighed the risks of leaving her in the room or taking her with him wherever he went for most of the journey and with the way the world only seemed to be getting more and more dangerous had pushed him to decide she was safest at his side for the time being. Moving his bedding from in front of the door Myles unbolted the two locks on the door and opened it enough to peer out. Seeing nothing but a dark empty hall Myles sighed and opened the door and stepped into the hall again scanning it for anything amiss. Finding nothing he motions to the girl to follow him, closing the door behind him and locking it Myles turns to the stairs, the girls hand already lightly gripping his own.
The quietness of the massive city was unnerving, never would he have expected a place that dwarfed Zaichaer to be so quiet, and yet the shadow that had fallen over the world had caused such. Creeping down the stairs Myles and the girl made there way to the front of the dingy inn they were staying at. The only denizens of the small bar and dining area was a single alcoholic, the proprietor and an old mercenary he’d hired to keep watch of the place with him. They all eyed Myles and the girl as they entered the room, her condition was impossible to hide so they all just gawked, as they often did. Still a look back to Myles kept most tongues held. Nodding to the owner behind the bar Myles laid a gold coin on the counter as he passed. “I’ll be back today” “Sure” the man responded. Stepping into the were light of the dawn Myles again cast his eyes about ever agitated and on high alert.
The streets were empty, the northern half of the city they stayed in laid quiet, no birdsong no people, just the light howl of the wind. Where food stalls should be sat shuddered wagons and carts, no criers yelling news, not even any patrols of soldiers. It wasn’t a secret this was the poorer side of town but the absolute lack of any security was disheartening. Myles had been lucky so far to avoid the creatures that had spawned from the shadows but he’d witnessed the aftermath of their ilk already and had little interest in seeing them first hand.
The two moved in relative silence down the street eyes darting to any storefront that showed signs of life, and so far he’d seen none. Adverts still clung to walls, the occasional newspaper wetly plastered to the cobblestones showing a date several days prior. It was as if the denizens of the city hoped that hibernation might save them from this dark winter.
Trudging onwards ever alert for food or danger Myles moved towards the center of the city looking for any signs of an open store or place he could acquire rations. As much as he craved sweets he also needed to restock their depleted supplies if they wanted to have a chance of continuing their journey should the empire prove fruitless. He still had leads to follow but they were dwindling. Looking from storefront to storefront from alley to alley Myles pulled the girl around his mind somewhere else and his instincts guiding them, the sound of her feet behind his and her hand in his own anchoring him to reality and preventing him from despairing about the increasingly grim state of things.
A tug at his hand shook him back to alertness, the girl had stopped and was now staring intently at an advert on a boarded-up restaurant. It advertised pancakes dressed with cream and fresh syrup. The sight made his own stomach growl, as he cursed the talented hands of the artist that wrought the sign.
In spite of the boards on the windows the front door was slightly ajar, a silver bell gleaming at the top of the cracked door. Stepping towards the door his curiosity peaked Myles reached for the handle but stopped just shy of it. The silence suddenly broken by a low growl from inside the shop….
