Chapter 5 - Metal and Glass

The path had taken him into what appeared to be the heart of the city. There was not a moment that passed that he was not astounded by the sights around him. From afar, the monumental size of the buildings seemed otherworldly. Though he could not have reckoned with their true size until he walked directly within their shadows. A single massive tower was nearly the width of his entire village. The glass panels which adorned most of the buildings allowed for a view inside. Within them he saw all manner of incredible things, homes, schools, restaurants, animals. Even recreational ponds build within buildings, encased in some manner of carved stone. The gods too, were quite strange. And clearly they considered him to be as such too. Heads above him, they looked at him with expressions ranging from disgust to amusement to pity. The children seemed to be of regular size, for the most part. Though the few children he had seen had been quickly whisked away by their mothers once they had caught sight of Arwin.

The city was also littered with all manner of mythical beast. Giant snakes adorned with glimmering metallic armor slid about at high speeds across raised roads that stretched out along the peripherals of the city. The gods would raise their wrist up to a small square at its midsection, upon which the whole skin of the creature would retract and allow them to enter. Once a sufficient number had entered, the snakes would enclose them and then speed off in a certain direction. More astounding than that were the multitude of airborne creatures they employed. Giant armored birds who never flapped their wings, monstrous bee-like creatures which fluttered effortless about in the sky with a loud hum. It seemed every manner of transportation was utilized through these creatures. Whats more, Arwin never saw a trough or a feed station at which they would rest. Nor did he ever see dung upon the streets. Curious little beetles would appear from small burrows and zip along the pathways. Once they had found some kind of mess, they would simply glide over them and eat up whatever had been on the road, then lick the spot clean and return to their little burrow.

For gods, the inhabitants of the city seemed awfully concerned about their daily lives. Arwin often saw men and women in the streets arguing with one another. Men darting off as if they were exceedingly late to some important ceremony. One exceptionally tall god was even berating another who seemed to be operating some kind of merchant stall. From an outsider’s perspective it seemed to Arwin they were arguing over money, yet he never saw any of the gods use any kind of coinage. Whenever they went to interact with something, they would simply raise their wrist up until the little square before them chimed or changed color. Then they would take whatever good or service they needed and be on their way. It was a very peculiar routine to observe. Shoppes lined every corner of the city, while most seemed to be for their peculiar fashion or cuisine, a fair amount also carried goods that were entirely foreign in concept to Arwin. Metal was the dominating aspect of the whole of the city. Metal and glass. It seemed every building was made of a combination of the two. The strange stores that didn’t not carry either fashion or cuisine were filled with all manner of glass and metal devices. Some attached to the eyes, others to to the wrist. Others still were placed underfoot and carried the one upon them away with great haste.

None of the gods seemed bothered by any of these creatures, activities or routines and treated them as exceedingly normal. The only thing that was out of place in the whole of the city was Arwin himself. After a whole day of witnessing these confusing sights, Arwin was exhausted. He ducked into a quiet alley and caught his breath. The sun had already set hours ago, but the city seemed to care very little. Minutes before the sky darkened, the whole of the city had lit up with an incalculable number of lights. Having found one close enough to inspect, Arwin had tried to make sense of them. It would take a slaughter of gigantic magnitude daily to produce enough candlewax to satisfy the needs of the city, so clearly the light was procured through other means. His examination of the lights was unsatisfactory, for all the could see inside their small glass casings was the light itself. No wick, no flame, only the strong unwavering light within. The other oddities he could at least excuse within his mind as being completely foreign to him and therefore easier to accept. For some reason the simple lights puzzled and captivated him more than the giant flying creatures or cityscape. Finally alone in the alley, he enjoyed the relative peace and quiet. The bustling of the city was surreal and even with the fall of night it seemed like it was not to cease. In fact, it seemed that the city came even more alive at night, as even stranger fellows appeared on every corner, harking excitedly some product or news in their peculiar language. The alleyway was warm. The whole day Arwin had not been uncomfortable for even a moment. Whatever magic the gods used to control the temperature did its job well. It was always just perfect. Hardly a single cloud ever drifted overhead, and some of the few that did even seemed to have been formed by the giant bees and had spelled out different part of the god’s language into the sky itself. Despite the idyllic setting of the city, Arwin was always homesick. He did not belong here, despite what Gesturne may have thought of his abilities, it was clear he was not cut out for this. Perhaps tomorrow he would find some way to begin learning their language. He hoped it would be easy enough that he could be communicative in a few years at the least. Then once he found Aelithae he could hopefully convince her quickly enough that she would send him home after no more than a year. Five years, that was the budget he was giving himself. Surely he could accomplish his mission in five years. It was not an impossible goal. However, tonight’s goal was quite simple. He was going to sleep. Then tomorrow find a meal. He hoped the food the gods consumed was also suitable for human consumption. Judging by the pleasant smells he had encountered on the main thoroughfares he presumed as much as least or rather it was a cruel trick that they had made whatever ambrosia they consumed to be only an imitation of the taste of food fit for men.

As his eyes begin to drift off to sleep, a sudden movement down the alley spiked his interest. Although he was truly exhausted, the sudden disturbance is this untouched portion of the city seemed distinctly alarming. Surely no god would bother coming to the backwards, narrow and dark place. It must have been a beast of some kind, maybe a dog or perhaps one of the street cleaning beetles that had grown a distaste for rubbish and began to crave flesh… A shiver ran up Arwin’s spine as he considered the possibilities. The ease at which he had walked the city was not lost on him, but rather thinking it a privileged he simply assumed the gods were too far above him to care any about his activities. The disturbance came again. This time it had clearly grown nearer. Put on edge by this development, Arwin stood up. He had no weapons nor means to defend himself and it was quite clear that calling for help with neither be understood nor appreciated. Perhaps he could scream, would that bridge the communication gap? Either way he was ready to do something. He had five years to go in this strange place and he wasn’t about to become a forgotten footnote in the distant past tonight.

The intruder was getting nearer and nearer, it would be only a moment now before whatever was just around the corner made itself seen. Arwin tensed, ready to react to whatever horror awaited him. But nothing came. He was sure of it, the sound had been just there. Just on the edge of the alley. Where did it go? Was his mind playing tricks on him? His head was pounding, he had been processing too many thoughts and emotions today, perhaps he had simply been overload and started to hallucinate. Arwin remembered the way his sister had caught the leaf mold fever and was convinced that Arwin had visited her at her bedside everyday. He of course hadn’t it was a very contagious affliction, but she had sworn that he had showed up everyday and talked to her and eased her pain. It was a miracle she had survived as she did, the mortality rate was awfully high, but somehow she had pulled through without any long term harm. She credited his visits to her survival and for days he had continued to deny it. He only stopped once he had seen the pain in her eyes. It must have been a terrible feeling to be told what you held as a dear memory was untrue, that reality was not as it seemed. He felt he might be experiencing a bit of that karma now. As he stood in that empty alley awaiting an intruder that never came. No, but he was not sick, he was not insane. If he had heard something then surely it had been there. Better to get the jump on it than it on him, he reckoned. Gripping his fist tightly he came to approach the edge of the alleyway. He walked closer and closer until he stood just as the precipice. One half step more and he would be upon them, whoever they were. Just as he closed in, he heard a slight rustling behind him. A hand clasp over his mouth and stifled his scream. A bag was thrown over his head and a strange scent filled his nostrils. A moment or two passed like this before he felt his strength vacate his body. The sickly sweet smell within the bag had flooded his senses entirely and he quickly succumbed to its effects and blacked out.