Chime

[Roger Smith]

A long practiced motion lightly adjusted his glasses, set askew from his rough stumble into the grass. A deep breath, taking in the sudden profusion of scent and the smell of life, so absent in the stark, eye-searing void he had awoken in. A deep exhalation, his eyes turning aside to take in the rest of his immediate surroundings with more focus.

A small field, covered in grasses and growth of plants. Bushes and shrubbery, more sparse growth of larger grasses and weeds here and there. Only the occasional tree or small copse of them, standing few and far between, forming a roughly dotted line that trailed lazily toward distant forests. The gate he had just come through sat at the crest of a small, gently sloping hill, at the center of a ring of huge, standing stone pillars. Ancient and weathered, worn by wind and years, but still strong and sturdy. Even at just a glance, it was evident that there had been quite the scene of chaos here, sometime recently. The ground was torn and blasted apart, scorched grooves burned in the earth. Upturned and left to lie there, as if some great flaming spade had ripped furrows out of it for the amusement of some deranged farmer. The stones, as well, were scorched black in places. Rough, jagged lines played across the surface, spidery cracks spreading from the blackened, burned areas and chips and shards of stone littering the ground. Huge splits, deep cracks and fissures, marred the surface of one stone in particular. It looked as if lightning had struck, if he had to hazard a guess from just his cursory glance.

Of course, he didn't really need to concern himself with that. It was a curiosity, of course, but nothing more. He turned away from the blasted stones and landscape, to look out over the world spreading before him more widely. In the distance there were forests, spreading and sprawling across huge stretches of land. Clear roads here and there cut through them and around them, connecting to various small villages and towns, nothing more than vague blurs at this distance, recognizable only by the smoke curling up from them. Further in the distance, mountains loomed on the horizon, the plains and fields running to meet them and the persistent greenery stopping shortly up their steep sides. The mountains dwindled as they went, occasionally leaping out into the fields and plains with a few stray peaks, much smaller than their range-bound brethren, but standing tall over the grassy expanses around them all the same.

It was on one such outlying mountain, standing tall among even its brethren outside of the range proper, that there rose the unmistakable form of a city. Even hazy and indistinct as it was from this distance, the sign of terraces and layers of pristine white stonework standing one atop the other, smaller and smaller as they rose, was clear enough. With any luck, it was some sort of major city, perhaps even the capital city, if he was lucky. By his rough estimation it would take the work of no small amount of travel to reach it, on foot. The other various towns and villages dotting the fields were much closer, and would make a good intermediate destination. Perhaps there he could see about finding some information, possibly resources to help him on his trip to that distant locale. He was going to be in need of much of both, in the coming days.

With a resolute sigh, the Purifier adjusted his gloves, pulling them taut and secure over his hands, before folding his arms loosely behind his back and leaning forward, into his stride, as he set off down the gentle slop, toward the distant sign of a road. There was no sense in traipsing through wild country, if a road was accessible. And with any luck, there would be others along it, traveling as perhaps he was. Begging a lift to speed his journey was possible, but if it proved inviable, he would settle for directions or begging the answer to a few questions. He could not do with being so lost as he was for very much longer.