The Shadows

None of the stories get it right. There are no districts, no sacrifices for the greater good. You only have yourself and whatever you've managed to learn up to this point in your life. That's how you survive.

Sure, the people in Tranquillis have it good. They thought they were creative when they named it too, but anything on the outside of the city limits is anything but tranquil. Their city holds the elite, the best of the best. Anyone in Tranquillis was either born into a rich family or 'bonded' by a rich family.

Every so often, they open their gates and people living out here in the Shadows flock to the gates to see if they would have the opportunity to work for one of the Elite. I don't blame them, it gives them the opportunity at a much better life. The bonded are fed well, given fresh clothes and a place to sleep. It's not that the Elite are being generous, they have just realized that slave labor works better when their basic needs are met.

It wasn't always like this of course. The Shadows used to be quite beautiful. It was full of life, had beautiful trees and flowers and a touch of magic. Until about 20 summers ago, Sir Keiran of the Elite was experimenting with new technology. He meant to create a new type of forcefield to shield this world from harmful radiation and climate change that had been occurring. His intentions may have been in the right place, but as they say, the path to hell is paved with good intentions.

What he ended up triggering was a chain of events that could not be undone. He managed to raise the forcefield around Tranquillis, and only Tranquillis. This surge of energy caused a premature magnetic reversal of the poles. Radiation flooded parts of The Shadows causing the inhabitants to get sick. Those that didn't get sick and die relatively quickly didn't have it much easier. The wildlife's migration got turned around, the plants ended up dying, in turn causing the animals to die since their food source was so scarce.

Years passed after The Shadows' corruption, and the area became a wasteland, filled with the stench of death and decay. As ash and soot covered the earth, in every sense of the word, uninhabitable. Yet we manage.

As for me, my name is Nyssa Laurier and I mean to undo the damage that Keiran has caused. Quite a daunting task when you put it that way, let me explain. Every child who grew up in The Shadows knows the song, or at least any of them who didn't grow up under a rock (which, out here, is a possibility).

The first time I heard the song that I can remember I was five, in the city of Mey. Mey was located just outside of Tranquillis. It was the day of the Catastrophe. This woman singing it couldn't have been more than 30 summers old. Raven black hair like mine, but wavy and unkempt.

"In the darkened land alone

Near the smallest crystal stone

You shall find what you seek,

The heart shaped time technique

To undo what needs undone,

If thou shall fall; remain shall none"

Shortly after she was done singing, a giant flash of light erupted from Tranquillis accompanied by the loudest sound of thunder I had ever heard. The first part of the song is easy enough, the object is located somewhere in The Shadows, although to be fair it doesn't really narrow it down too much. The Crystal Stones, if I'm to take it literally is a mountainous area to the north. These stones were once used in ceremonial magick before The Catastrophe. Not certain off the top of my head what the smallest one is but I guess I'll have to check all of them.

The next part is a little more cryptic. A lot of our written history was lost during The Catastrophe so our people relied mostly on word of mouth to pass down information. They did try to write down what they could remember, but some things had been lost or forgotten about. There is a tale of a heart shaped object, nobody is certain exactly what it is. It's supposed to be smaller though, like a coin or pendant.

What we do know about it is the object is that it has the ability to manipulate time or allow the holder of it to go back in time and change things. Most people chalk it up to a children's story, something the parents tell their children to try and keep the magick alive. Magick was a huge focal point in many religions before the Catastrophe.

"Hey Nys, how long before you think we get there?" asked Arrow.

"Not too long, I can see the beginning of the Stones just ahead," replied Nysaa.

"You know, we'd get there faster if you'd stop writing in that book of yours." teased Arrow.

Up ahead you could see massive crystal like structures, made of Blue Goldstone. It's like the night sky met with rock to form wonderous mountains.

"Let's split up," said Arrow

"I think that's a terrible idea, but we would cover more ground" replied Nyssa.

So they did just that. Arrow went off to the northwest while Nyssa started to the northeast. It seemed as if she had been walking forever, when she heard a sound that almost made her heart stop and her blood run cold.

A Dreasibura. Nasty creatures. One of the few that survived the Catastrophe. Equal to me in height, dangerous talons. Like the appearance of a raven but the size of an ostrich. Nyssa pulled out her daggers, she had one shot to hit the bird in its weak spot on it's neck. She turned to face the creature getting ready to strike when the Dreasibura raised a foot and stomped with it's talon. Nyssa was able to raise her left arm to take the hit of the talon while plunging the dagger into it with her right arm. The creature collapsed in front of her while Nyssa began to slink off towards the crystals.

She was frail and could barely walk from the exertion of the fight. Her left arm was left bleeding severely. She was exhausted from the lack of light, food, and travel. 'This is it, this is how I die,' Nyssa reflected. Alone in the Shadows having failed at the mission she set out to do. Nyssa collapsed, turning over on her side. The pain was so intense from her arm she felt like she was going to throw up.

'I could just close my eyes for a little- What is that?" thought Nyssa, her eyes darting to something glimmering on the ground.

A heart shaped locket lay there on the ground next to a formation of blue goldstone no more then a foot high. Nyssa shook her head, they did say the smallest one but she's never of thought to look where she is now.

Nyssa picked up the necklace and put it on.

Nothing happened. Why wasn't it doing anything? Nyssa tried to focus on the day that she wanted to go back to. No luck.

'What if I sing the song?' That seemed like a good idea. She had been so focused on finding the locket that she just thought that when she found it, it would work the way it was intended.

Nyssa took off the locket, studying it trying to find any manner to get it to work. As she flipped it over, she noticed small words inscribed on the back of it.

"Backwards or forwards comes at a cost

Look inside you or all will be lost

Outside sources will not work to go onwards

Only red for backwards and blue for forwards

Do so and think of when you want to be."

Well, that's not cryptic. Nyssa began to think about the encryption on the locket. Thinking about when she wanted to be wouldn't be a problem. Tranquillis, the day of the Catastrophe. She wanted to go backwards so she would need something red. Red what? Oh geeze, Nyssa wasn't carrying anything on her person that was red.

....Unless. No, it couldn't be that easy. Nyssa looked to the mostly dried blood on her arm. She touched it gently, getting some of it that was still wet on her finger and pressed it to the locket.

In that moment, Nyssa was instantly transported back to the day of the Catastrophe, twenty years prior. It did indeed bring her into Tranquillis. Keiran wouldn't be too hard to find, all of the scientists usually ended up doing their experiments in the Atrium.

Nyssa made her way to the Atrium, and sure enough Sir Keiran was there with that cursed object in his hands.

"Sir Keiran?" Nyssa asked, knowing full well the answer.

"Yes? Do I know you?" asked Sir Keiran.

"No sir, you don't, but I need you to listen to me... What you are holding in your hand is going to cause an event that is going to shake this world to it's core. The forcefield does indeed go up around the city, but only the city and sends the rest of our world into a state of disarray" said Nyssa. Even saying out loud sounded crazy if you hadn't been through the Catastrophe.

Sir Keiran laughed.

"This? Here. Hold it, I'll show you, it won't cause any harm," said Sir Keiran.

Nyssa took the object. She didn't know exactly what the technology he was working with looked like prior. It was a small cube with writing on it. Not a language that Nyssa knew or understood. This was it. This was the object that caused that last twenty years of her life to be filled with such anguish and misery.

The emotional toll was starting to get to Nyssa, tears began streaming down her face before Keiran spoke again.

"It's harmless, all it's meant to do is raise a force field around the city in case of an attack. Hand it back, I can show you," said Sir Keiran.

Nyssa panicked. She didn't know what to do. She certainly wasn't going to give it back to him. As quickly as she could, Nyssa took the locket off of herself, threw it around the object and sobbed over it and the cube vanished.

"What?! Where did you put it, what have you done with it?" asked Sir Keiran.

"The question isn't where is it. The question is when is it." Nyssa said.

"Guards! Guards! I need you!" shouted Sir Keiran.

Nyssa knew what that meant. Time to leave Tranquillis. She walked rather swiftly, but not too quick to arouse suspicion. The guards would come of course but not before she was able to make it out of the front gate.

She continued down the path to Mey, calming herself and reducing her pace to a walk. Nyssa started to sing;

"In the darkened land alone

Near the smallest crystal stone

You shall find what you seek,

The heart shaped time technique

To undo what needs undone,

If thou shall fall; remain shall none"

No flash of light. No roaring sound of thunder. The same as it never was.