essetia

Overhead the pastel sky indicated the coming of nightfall, but the evening yet remained a barrier between light and dark. I watched it as I trailed the borders of what was considered my home, the Dragon’s Throat. However, everything was still new and somehow foreign… This land was made of heat and extravagance. It was nothing like the waterfalls I’d come to know in the Hidden Falls or the thick mists of the World’s Edge. Even in the winter months, an arid breeze blew over the sands and it often forced me to seek out the oceanic mote that promised to imprison and protect me simultaneously. The curious Diviner had allowed me passage via a quaint, although frightening, vessel with metal accents. Never before had I experienced the rocking of the water without it pressed against my skin and it truth, it had been a pleasant adventure, if uncomfortable.

As an old spy for the Falls, I had come to expect an easy transition into the ranks of the Throat, but had yet to meet anyone, much less the head Sleuth. The days had passed in a flurry of warmth and sand, but I had grown too impatient to wait for introductions. In fact, I’d decided to go ahead make my own no matter the ramifications. I had done that much when first invited into the Falls and at some point or another I had grown to respect Midas after our little soiree. Of course, having overcome his death and the invasion, I was now a bit more inclined to take action if only to achieve the things I wanted in life. It seemed like a fine idea when I’d first arrive in the Throat and now that time had soothed the nervousness I’d formerly felt, I was ready to meet this Sleuth I dared to serve.

However, I didn’t want to face him in a battle of wits. I wanted to face him there on the sands with the dying sun casting rich salmon-colored ribbons of light across my back. With the wide face of daylight’s charm receding in the west, I positioned myself to face east and toward the impending shadows of twilight. The faint twinkling of stars started high in the sky and I knew the moon would be upon us soon, but the tapering of daylight meant that the cool winter breeze would become almost unbearable. Yet, it was comforting because it promised to keep me alert, on my toes, and ready for what was the come.

From time to time, small desert drifts would dance around my hooves and with Romul at my shoulder, eager and waiting, we watched them twirl and leap across the plains. Are you ready? I questioned. There was no reply from the wolf at first, but when I bent to study him with a slight grimace, his eyes were shining and distant. In an attempt to find out where he’d gone, I summoned the thin tie that ran between his mind and my own. From there I followed him out across the sands of our imagination in search of a shadow or any ghouls wishing to separate us. Of course Essetia, he finally supplied as we traced our way back to reality together. In that moment I knew that we would fight as one entity and for the first time in our lives I wanted Romul to stand beside me this battle.

As if thanking me for my faith in his readiness, the young wolf lifted a mournful wolf-song toward the heavens. I smiled as I listened with rapt attention before shaking loose a cry of my own. Come little bird, give me reason to honor your title, I whispered excitedly to myself. “Face me Sleuth or relinquish your position. Either way, my respect will be yours,” I challenged. As we waited, I pictured the look of shock and confusion on Midas’ face when last we met in a practice spar. I almost wished to encounter much the same thing when I finally encountered this Dragon’s Throat sleuth. Of course, this trial came at more of a expense than the last.

In the final moments before what could be a lesson learned or a lesson taught, I surveyed my surroundings once more. The ground was hard and compact to allow for optimal footing and the towering figures of cacti were spread sparsely throughout the open plains. The sun was setting at my back in the west and its rays fell over the sand until they reached the ocean’s shore. I’d chosen to remain inland so that we wouldn’t edge too close to the water and consequently the uneven footing its tide would create.

I looked down at Romul one last time and we smiled gently at one another, both promising imminent victory.

Attack: 0/4
Defense: 0/1
Word Count: 800
Setting: Dragon’s Throat, Frostfall, at sunset near the southeast boarders by the ocean
OOC: Challenging @[Bucephalus] for his position as Sleuth.

And I see war on the screen,
And it is cruel and unclean,
But I still worry more about you