Somewhere in Shadow (tm)

Amid the trailing vines and heavy scented flowers of the mist-clad jungle stood the crumbling remains of some past glory. Fluted pillars and filigreed shutters melting and flaking under the jungle's steady onslaught. Small creatures scurried about with furred and scaled purposefulness while a profusion of small, biting insects clouded the already thick atmosphere.

Edward approached the ruins with little in the way of caution. He was hot, itchy, wet and at that particular moment in time was too tired to give a damn if he was ambushed or not. His soft leather boots, quite sodden and bearing holes, gave him silent passage over the wet vegetation and the softened stone. As he stepped into an archway, he lifted aside the dangling vines, his red leather gauntlet picking up yet more moisture from the action. He squinted into the relatively cool gloom within the ruins.

"Hello?"

The only reply was the skitter of startled rodentia and the awful, endless whining buzz of insects. Pushing past the overgrowth, Edward headed further into the ruin, slapping a mosquito on his cheek as he did so. His sweat mingled with the ubiquitous moisture and trickled down lank black hair to sting his eyes. He wiped a hand across his face, which didn't seem to help at all. Stepping over blocks of porous stone tied up with greenery he began to feel a poignant longing for the simplest of things. Being dry. Having something under his feet that did not give way like a sponge. Insect repellent.

As his eyes adjusted to the lower light levels inside the ruin he looked around again. "I'm here now."

Nothing. Nada. Just vines, shadow-strewn stone and lurking jungle critters. Greenish light struggled past the vegetation over the windows and dappled the interior with confusing patches of brightness and served only to make the shadows even more inky black that they'd been to begin with.

"Probably the wrong bloody place." muttered Edward bitterly to himself, "Always dragging me all over the blasted worlds for hours and hours - asshole. He's probably gone somewhere else and hasn't bothered to tell ..."

"I have been waiting for you."

The voice, deep and powerful for all its softness, came from behind him and Edward narrowed his eyes and turned that way slowly. A few fresh trickles of sweat wend their way down his temples. 'Oh crap.' he thought, 'Did he hear everything I said? Of course he heard everything I said ...'

As he took another few steps in the direction the voice had come from he could just about make out some ancient, crumbling stone throne upon which a shadowy figure sat. Edward suppressed the urge to roll his eyes as he halted before the throne, his gaze angled upwards in an attempt to make eye-contact with the shadows. The voice came again,

"You took your own sweet time getting here."

Edward sighed and this time did roll his eyes, "I was right over near Chaos. It was a long way to go, what did you expect?"

A hand was waved dismissively coming to rest in a small patch of light on the arm of the throne. "That doesn't matter now." A pause, "You will go to Amber."

Edward started slightly, he hadn't been there for years. "Amber?! Oh, c'mon ... you don't want me to go there - you've already hauled me half-way and more across Shadow as it is ..."

The only response was a meaningful silence. Edward pondered the significance of it then decided perhaps he was being allowed to plead a case and so pressed on. "Besides, I don't really get on there. What would I do? Tell you what, I'll move to the Shadows nearer Amber in a few months, a year or two. Be on hand for you."

More silence. Slightly more oppressive this time around.

"I've got things on the boil, see." said Edward, feeling an ever increasing urge to fill the gaps. "Projects and the like."

The hand that was in the patch of light - 'The planned patch of light?' - tensed against the arm of the stone throne and small cracks started to appear in the stonework. Little shards of the arm fractured off and pattered to the floor. Very quiet now. Smooth. "You will go to Amber."

Edward didn't reply for what felt like a very long time. He looked up into the shadows and thought of many different ways of responding and turned over in his mind the possible repercussions of each. 'Perhaps I'm just paranoid?' He mused. 'Maybe if I said, "Sorry, man. No can do." He'd be reasonable about it? ... Shyeah. Right. Anyway you cut it,' Edward decided, 'No is not an option.' Even having come to this conclusion, the correct way to gracefully cave in and still retain a modicum of dignity eluded him. Somewhere in the rear of the ruin water plinked steadily into a puddle. Each plink marked off time in an entirely irritating and pressurising way.

After the perceived eternity, Edward turned his face, then his body away from the throne and the shrouded figure upon it. His words came much quieter than he intended. "Fine."

And so, in Amber ©...

Despite his reluctance, after further hours of travel and a brief stop over to get himself somewhere near rested and clean, Edward was actually pleased when he reached Amber. 'At least now I can put my feet up and get stunningly drunk.' And this thought had indeed sustained him fairly well along the journey. See what all my folks have been up to this long while.

As he entered the courtyard of the Castle, after having his identity checked at the gate which only went to convince him further that perhaps he had been away too long, he saw that many of the servants seemed to be in process of re-arranging the furniture. Random had come out to meet him and Edward considered this also a little odd. Unless they just didn't trust him. Which wouldn't have surprised Edward in the slightest. The smile Random directed at him was strikingly unnerving and didn't bode well at all.

While Edward dismounted, Random approached with a Trump in his hand. "Hello Edward. Long time no see."

"Yes." said Edward, unable to keep the caution out of his voice. "It's been a fair while. What's happening?"

"Oh nothing much," smiled Random, "You're going to Chaos."

Edward quickly suppressed the urge to commit regicide.

BACK to front page!

BACK to Amber page!

BACK to Edward's page!