Snow Falling in the Algid North: Algerime
[ Day Zero; Nine Fifty-Nine PM ]
- PROLOGUE -
Night fell on the modest town hours ago, but it makes no matter to the light present on the ground. The soft glow comes from rows of humble cottages - quaint, but not ramshackle things lined up in circles. Coloured lights twinkle from within the dwellings, flickering like candles on the powder-covered earth. Snow sparkles in their little luminescence, glistening in warmth through all the cold the wind may bring. The moon shines bright in the sky, although clouds gather.
Inhabitants finished their nighttime routines long ago; they sleep peacefully as the mountains shelter them from storm. Their homes are like little gingerbread houses- their shadows are small. The dreamy, snowy town is picturesque, sandwiched between whitened pine trees and an array of ice-covered peaks. The wind chimes through the frosty village; tiny notes emitting from every home's hanging bells. A soft snow begins to fall from the clouds swept in by the gentle breeze. It pitter patters on the ice already on the ground, quiet but not silent. The wind rushes through the trees of the frosty village.
Sadly, it is not to last.
Suddenly a deep, throbbing sound reverberates through the town. Buildings shake before combustion; flames erupt from every surface, fire shooting across the landscape as if fueled by the snow itself. Everything burns. The bell tower from the town's dual church and town hall crashes on the ground, the bell epitomizing the terror of the scene. It blazes with intensity far greater than the lights previously coming from the once beautiful homes. They are no more.
As the town turns to ashes, an alchemist turns away from the tragic scene and walks off into the forest, leaving footprints behind.
By morning, they will have disappeared in the snow.
/end prologue
word count: 288
setting: You'll see.
Keep going.