The Trials of Hallac- Part II: The Dead

Once I breached the city’s guard walls,
Without challenge or questions asked,
Did I then notice the state of the buildings that surrounded me.
A great many of the stone walls
Were crumbled with rooftops missing.
Wooden window slats were broken,
Cotton curtains shredded or torn,
Stone and wood and tile debris sat,
Littering the sides of the streets.
Only the banners I saw flap
Looked whole and untorn, yet unstained
As the wind whipped them on their poles.
Stared I at the sky a moment,
Feeling a wrongness descending--
Something of this place was amiss.
Stood I there, trying to identify this feeling of wrongness
As the sun beat down, baking stones
That surrounded me, all the walls
Of this uninhabited place.
With a shiver did I realize what had me so unsettled:
Wave the banners and pennants did--
In a breeze that was not blowing!
Not a stir of wind could I feel
Caressing my overwarm skin.
Warily I placed my steps now,
Uncertain of the near buildings
And the people that were not there.
Shivers made their way down my back
As I still did not feel a breeze,
No wind to throw up dust from the rock-paved roads between the buildings.

Unmolested, I felt boldened
And began to peer in buildings,
Searching for someone who lived here.
Found I, after many hours passed:
Nothing, not a man or a beast,
No animal nor human left,
Not even so much as remains
From those who one time had lived here.
No sign was there at all that ever had anybody lived here.
What people had made these buildings,
Those who had lived in this place,
Were long dead and ages far gone.
Except for what was left on and in the buildings, there was nothing.
Wondering what this dead place was,
I found a tall structure with stairs
That were still well intact and whole
And did climb the three levels up
Until I was near the roof tiles.
Spied I then from that lofty height
The banners and pennants flapping,
Hoping that a sigil I would recognize would be before me.
Many different houses were there, marked by many foreign signs,
Heraldry that I did not know:
Three green stars on white and black stripes,
Silver fish on royal purple,
Arrow and anchor grey on blue,
Soaring emerald eagle on golden yellow slashed with orange,
Rising sun on a maroon field,
And numerous other sigils.
Most easily noticed of these
Was the one sported on the most and the highest of the towers:
A silver trident over a black six-pointed star on green field.
This was no doubt the crest of the city and of its ruler’s house,
But recognize it I did not.
I did not know to where I’d come.

I descended from my viewpoint,
For the evening dark was nigh.
Searching about me, I looked for anything that might threaten me,
Something that might my safety crush.
But found I there nothing to fear,
So looked I then for a shelter,
A place where I might be guarded
And rest the night in peaceful sleep.
Unblowing wind unsettled me,
Still putting chills within my heart.
Found I a sturdy, strong corner
Where I could construct a good bed
And pass the night in peacefulness.
Stones I gathered, those fallen down,
Broken masonry from the walls,
Moved them inside my chosen room
And set up new walls to surround my corner and protect me there.
In my makeshift fortress I stayed,
Settling in for the night’s length.
Dusk came in a hurry, fading,
Blanketing all in hazy grey.
The sun set outside my shelter,
Taking with it the light and warmth
With surprising speed, it was gone.
In that last moment between sunset and full dark, something happened:
Bright red light spilled into my room,
Flooding me in a crimson glow,
Filling the room so it looked like blood covered each of the stone walls.
I jumped to my feet, armed myself,
Backed into the corner I’d chose,
Waiting for the source of the light.
Of a sudden, a stiff breeze swirled,
Kicking up clouds of dust and sand
And sending the pennants flapping, I saw as I peered through wall-cracks.
This was the wind I had not felt
The whole time I traversed the streets.
Upon this wind did come, too, sounds
Of voices without their speakers.
Crying I heard, and whispering,
Disembodied and frightening,
But the words I could not make out.