026 - Journey to the East

Lars led them down a twisted path, going this way and that, careful to stay to black rocks. The swamp waters were deeper now, inky blue and still, the whole world seemed to have fallen into a deep silence.

The entered into a sea of endless ruins, black stone pillars, countless walls and enormous stone blocks. Lars never hesitated, always choosing the right way through the ruins. There must have been a huge wall here, maybe the city wall. Each stone was bigger than a house, countless blocks formed a barricade in the swamp. Lars found a foothold and scrambled up a fallen stone block.

On the far side was the city. The dead city. The streets were just above the swamps for the most parts, the stone building collapsed, Puddles of swamp water in every gutter, chunks of city seemed to have simple fallen into the swamp, roof tops and pillars were all that remained visible.

"Right. Magnus? The city. The city, Magnus. I'm sure you'll get on just fine. I'm off to find my Pa." Lars nodded and went off down an avenue.

"Wait! The Witching Road! Where can I find it?" Magnus fell the last few feet down from a stone block.

"That way, east. Keep heading east and you'll hit the road soon enough." Lars looked about anxiously, there was no sign of anyone coming through here, not in the last week.

"But, but . . how will I know when I get there?" Magnus called out.

"By all the witches!" Lars hurried his pace, running down an alley.

The Witching Road has witches. Of course. Bloody obvious that. Lars vanished down a back alley, the sound of his feet against the cobbled streets echoed, then nothing. Silence. Not a single sound of life, not the cry of a bird or the chirp of an insect. The world itself seemed dead, Magnus couldn't help but feel a part of it, a walking dead thing in a dead world.

The wide avenue east, right. It was mostly clear of debris, the buildings at either side collapsed in on themselves. Everything seems to have fallen in on itself, very neat piles of stone making neat little mounds of rubble. Far as he could see, ruins, desolate and lifeless, not even a shrub or a tree or a bird.

The sun hung like a dull copper coin behind a veil of grey clouds. Magnus walked, he'd walked for days and days and weeks, on bloodied blistered feet. And, here be witches. Here is the chance to live.

The witches of the Witching Road. Lars said he'd know them when he saw them, and he did. At a crossroads, a massive fallen stone arch blocking the way, Magnus climbed to the top of the rubble and looked east over the city. There they were. Unmistakeable, witches.

The wide cobbled street heading east was lined with tall black columns, spaced out every fifty paces on either side of the road. On the tops of each column stood a witch. Magnus knew them at once from every fairy tale and story he'd been told before bed. The statues were black and worn almost smooth. Every figure had a pointed wide brimmed hat, wore a long stone skirt. Many held something that looked like a wand, pointing it out across the road.

"HULLLO-ooo0!" Magnus cupped his hands to his mouth and yelled, his voice resounding the length of the street."IS ANYBODY THERE?"

What had Caj said? A secret entrance! Right! There had to be something, someone here. This was the place where those who gathered to fight the Alchemists came, right?

Magnus ran, looking wildly behind every column, searching both sides of the road up and down. "HULLO!" He reached the end of the road, it opened into an open plaza, several smaller streets going off in different directions. Magnus climbed over the ruins of all the buildings he could, searching the entire square for any sign. Maybe there was a trap door, a secret cellar. Maybe there was a signpost to where he oughta go no, some chalk code or writing.

He went back down the wide road to the fallen stone arch, examining every cobblestone and witch along the way, looking for a switch, some writing, some clue . .

The sun fell. Night, impenetrable gloom and cold winds filled the dead city. Magnus sat slumped, his back against a witches column.

"I'm here. The Witching Road. I'm here. Maybe tomorrow . . " Magnus felt every ounce of strength seep out, all the tension and stress he'd built up inside over the weeks of walking melted away. He just wanted to rest, to sleep. Magnus shut his eyes, leaned his neck back and sat, doing nothing, thinking nothing.

Bang!

A huge splintering of stone exploded over the city, a moment later; BOOOM! The ground shook, several columns wobbled and nearly fell.

Magnus shot to his feet. Over to the west the whole city night skyline a raging inferno.