Echo by H Waters

Author:H Waters [Waters, H]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-08-22T22:00:00+00:00

IX

After walking for a while I asked, “Why is Alaric not here yet? Should we not stop for a while and let him catch up?”

“I guess it wouldn’t hurt to take a break,” Scarlet replied.

Scarlet veered to the side of the path, taking a seat on a large rock. I sat next to her. While we were walking I had never really noticed the lack of trees, but sitting here I was really able to breathe in the landscape. The large trees and forest life had given way to ground that was almost completely made up of rocks. The only vegetation was a handful of hardy shrubs forcing their way through the thick crust.

After a couple of minutes we saw Alaric happily bounding down the path towards us. He was wearing a gray long-sleeved shirt, brown pants, and his tunic bearing the large red cross of the Saints. Scarlet looked at him and laughed.

“How long have you known Alaric for?” I tried to ask, but could barely speak the words.

Scarlet looked at me, confused. “Are you okay?” she asked, sounding genuinely concerned.

I tried to respond, but again nothing came out. I tried to take a breath, but even that was too hard. The air felt heavy.

Scarlet began to say something else, but before she could, she disappeared. I looked down to my feet where Lucy had been sitting; she was also gone. The remaining rocks and shrubs began to twist and bend, making strange noises, turning a blue color much like that of Dante’s jungle. The rocky path reshaped itself into a fine cobblestone square, and all around wooden and brick buildings appeared. They looked far different from the buildings in Kata. Then the strange sounds and colors stopped, leaving behind a deafening silence.

I spun around, examining the town square in confusion. Nothing was moving, the air was completely still, everything felt fake. “Aaaaah!” I screamed, jumping out of my skin, startled by the abrupt sound of trumpets. After the trumpets came a light breeze, followed by the sounds of eager people, lots of eager people. They poured into the square from every little side street and house door, running right past me to assemble in a large crowd facing a stone building. “Well, I might as well follow suit, maybe I will find the source of those godawful trumpets,” I said aloud to myself, trying to stay as calm as possible.

I slowly made my way forward, keeping close to the buildings at the side of the square in order to avoid the ever-growing mob of people in strange rags. As I walked, the breeze brought smells of fresh breads, cheese and sweet wines. Once I got to the front of the crowd I could make out the source of the noise. On either side of the stone building stood two short men with bronze trumpets. They stood at attention like they were soldiers, but they were not what the crowd was so fixed on. They were all focused on

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