The Aftermath
There can be a great deal of space between being awake or being asleep, and Sophia currently found it quite pleasant to drift between the two. That was, of course, before some idiot decided to bang on her door as though the world were about to end. Growling, she wondered who would be so insistent she wake up, and why.
Mumbling about strangers bothering her this early in the morning on Sunday of all days, Sophia drug herself out of her bed, threw her house robe over her pajamas, and opened her bedroom doors.
"Sophia, my sweet, what are you doing abed at this hour? On such a fine morning too. Well fine I suppose, except for the damage caused by that atrocious storm last night, which is obviously why I've returned so early. We can't have it being said that the council members weren't there when New Haven needed them, can we?" Bellowed the tall, broad man in a most presumptuous manner.
"What?" Sophia muttered, her tired mind needing a moment to recognize the man as her father. "You're home early ... Wait, what damages?"
Her father took a moment to grimace at her ignorance before answering, "Sophia, my dear, you really should have noticed. Last night's storm shattered the cities shields and shattered the monument to Pathos. I can't believe you didn't hear the sound of it, quite horrible I've been told, you really do sleep like the dead."
"What? The city's shields are destroyed; has that ever happened before? The monument is one thing ... It could always be rebuilt, but where do we even start with the shield?" Sophia wondered aloud, worry edging her voice.
"Don't you worry about a thing, Darling. The council is going to take care of everything. Now, I've arranged for you to spend the next week or so at the villa del mar with Charlotte's family. How does that sound?" He asked, almost managing to hide that it was truly an order made out of concern for her.
Sophia's spirits immediately heightened at the prospect of visiting
her dearest friend at the Council's estate by the sea. "Well father,
I'm glad you're clever enough that you at least made me an offer I
couldn't refuse. Of course I'm going, when do I leave?"
Markus awoke to the mining station's steam whistle, as he always did,
but this morning he simply lay there for a moment, trying to make
sense of the occurrences of the previous night. After a moment he
brushed his questions away with a shrug, worrying wouldn't do him any
good. He would live his life as he must, as he always had, but now he
would keep an eye out for Allos.
Markus knew he would see Allos again. Until then, all he could really do is wait, yet he somehow knew he wouldn't be waiting long.
Just after dawn Allos found himself, sopping wet, in the middle of the trail. For a moment he wondered if he had fallen or ... had something happened? Yes, now he remembered, he had fallen unconscious and that strange kid in miner's dress had appeared out of nowhere and warned him not to go up the mountain.
"Well, I'll be danged if I'm gonna listen to whatever load of crap he gave me." Allos said to himself as he returned to his climb with renewed vigor.
An hour later, as Allos rounded the bend onto the final stretch to the summit, Allos was less sure of himself. He began to entertain the possibility that the whole affair had been nothing more than a strange dream; but then why had he awoken partway up the mountain? No, Allos was convinced the storm was real, if for no other reason than that he usually didn't dream.
So it was that Allos, confused and feeling the first stirrings of fear, crested the last rise to the summit and was struck one of the worst blows of his life. There, in the valley before him, Allos saw the smoldering ruins of the village which was his home. Shocked as well as stunned Allos possesed no sense of what he was doing until he found himself on the outskirts of the village.
Allos wondered through his home, marveling at the destruction, for at least an hour before remembering the warning he had received the night before. He considered the events of the night for a moment, glanced around himself, and began to collect supplies. After all, what choice did he really have?
