Boots moving in sync rumbled through the floor. Who knows how long he had ignored the sounds and vibration, treading distant but near at the same time. Steel being drawn and sheathed, voices of men giving and obeying orders hanging in the dry air endlessly until slowly Astral's eyes finally opened. Finding a simple greeting of absolute silence. A dream? No, but the thought crossed his mind a few times since he awoke, but as time passed on the consideration hastily began to fade.

He sat still while watching the white ceiling cloaked in darkness. Letting his blank mind stay unhindered by the heavy thoughts that would inevitably arrive. But before, a new sound slipped through the silence; a page flipping, placed at his left. The boy continued to eye the ceiling, unbothered after noticing the low light also within the direction.

"Your eyes," a voice began. "They've been closed for so long, this morning I mistook you for one of the dead." Astral's head peaked just above the covers, his sight adjusting left where a women laxly sat in a chair, one leg over the other and her cheek resting on a limp fist. Next to her a white candle upon a small table, lit with a blue flame that bloomed a glow across her face as another page flipped by without a guiding hand. The girl was quite focused on the book, hovering just above her lap as her open hand continued rotating within a mug that shared the same space as the flame. Momentarily, her eyes raised, maybe to confirm who she was speaking to was indeed awake. The thought made him chuckle inside, but outside, all that could be found was aching soreness running through his bones. He could move if he needed to, but the thought did nothing to please the mind.

Astral’s sight had wandered since seeing the woman for the first time, and returned to her after another space of quiet. She was still reading. Was it evident that her appearance crossed his mind more then once? He hid it well, but was it well enough? She wore a black sleeveless dress covered in jewels of gold that danced and shined within the calm blue light. They were stunning, almost as much as everything else. Her black hair fell loose and wild, as if only just now she’d gained the opportunity to relax.

"You must like what you see," the woman said, her voice smooth as silk. Astral could feel his body stiffen, but above shoulders, somehow, he held the face of the unfazed.

"What are you reading?" His question caused her eyes to rise again, like the last only momentarily. Another page turned before the flame. "Usually when one finds themselves lost, a self serving sense comes alive, leading them to ask, where am I?"

The book shut forcefully as her attention now openly transitioned to him. Her gold earrings swaying from golden strings as she eyed him. Astral lifted his head off the cloudy white pillow, and as he raised a cold wet cloth fell from his forehead into his lap. "How long have I slept?"

"Seven days." Seven ... That certainly wasn't the number he was expecting, but his body was too tired to react again. Now that he was more or less awake, he scoped his environment, quickly recognizing how easy it was to grow comfort, despite the lack of light. Which was interesting, usually anywhere aside from his favorite spots in Lafeya or others a heavy weight climbed into his bones, leaving him frankly; the opposite of comfortable. Astral blinked, pushing his random thoughts aside and continuing to survey the room. Everything untouched by the blue light hid in darkness, though he did notice outlines of the few paintings hung on the walls here and there. And even with the cover he'd been given for warmth, the air was still a tick below chilly, just the way he liked it.

The familiar sound of silverware clinking pulled his stare back to the woman. He'd heard it while watching the ceiling once or twice before. While reading, she had been stirring absently as the mug waited on the near table, and now roamed through the air until Astral’s fingers were wrapped around each side. "Thank you," the boy said in a weakened voice. He winced at the clarity of his scarred words within the silence, and knew he wouldn’t go without rest for long. With no hesitation Astral took a sip, the liquid’s heat bit the edge of his tongue, but it was good, weaved with a chocolate flavor.

"Do you not care to know how you lived without food or drink for so long?" Astral took another sip of the chocolate, the warmth running down his throat with ease, forcing away the cold. "Not in particular," he replied. The girl’s book lowered in her lap, and she placed the bundle of words on the same table the candle occupied. "Hmm. You seem more comfortable with majik then I expected, but very well, we have other matters to speak on."

"Where are we?" A small curve found her lips. "Elmunan." Dark path? "What does that mean?" The woman vaguely rose a brow before turning to the blue flame at her side. It was small in size, a inch more then a nail, but stood with unshakable light. "So you do not speak any of the old tongues. It is an ancient word, translating roughly into dark path in common language. Fragments of lost worlds, there are not many below, but the few that do exist have a tendency to cause sticky situations politically."

Astral gazed into the mug given to him, at his reflection within the black glass and blue tinted liquid, where a slight twitch on the side of his nose followed. "Fragments of worlds? What does that even mean?"

"A conversation for another day perhaps."

"So I'm not a prisoner?" The woman shook her head, looking away from the candle to the room's shadowed walls. "You are among friends." But of who? Astral wondered in dry tone.

A knock appeared from behind the woman, out of reach from the candle's light. With a shift of her chin, she spoke a single word: "Enter." Beneath the dark, the sound of a door sliding open across wood gave way, Astral struggled after raising his eyes from the mug in search of simply a figure, but nothing would be found, and he was sure not even a hint of a footstep was heard. Though he did get the feeling he was found quickly, and watched for longer then a usual glance. "Staring is impolite," the woman in front of the boy said, sending his eyes back to the insides of his mug. "My apologies, Madam Eden."

"Is it anything dire?"

"Aside from news of Lady Leha and Lord Torn, no, nothing too daring." Eden's eyes leaned to her rear again, and Astral’s to her. Though the second voice spoke much closer then before, still the dark revealed nothing. "Then leave us for tonight. We will speak in the morning."

"As you wish, Madam. Peaceful dreams to you both," the voice said before the door slid shut slowly after. Facing forward, Eden let out a low exhale. Astral fiddled with the smooth glass beneath his thumbs as a somber quiet ran through the room.

"You seem important." The woman laughed before aiming her glance to him then the ceiling. "Do I? Sometimes I wonder ..." Astral’s fingers grew still. For whatever reason her words made him realize how much he was enjoying the company. Even when thoughts of being a prisoner skipped through his mind. Including everything and one in this room. There was something interesting about this place, he could feel it, but ...

A delay took hold as he broke into a blank stare on his curled fingers. Torn? The word appearing again with a new sense of clarity. There was something to that word, something he was missing, not unlike where he laid, but different ...

The boy swallowed as the the feeling of a unwanted rush was preparing to surge within, rubbing around his chest to force a climb in heart rate, and it was working, and obvious by the way the woman eyed him now with a lowered brow. "Something on your mind?" she said as the gold on her chest and ears shined with another level of brightness due to her subtle shift in movements. "Who is T-Torn?" Astral made eye contact when asking the question, and he felt his heart drop when creases formed in her forehead. Now he held a feeling that the one thing he wasn't supposed to ask, he just did. She didn't look upset as she continued to watch him with her gaze, but the feeling within the room, including that ever so easy to reach comfort had changed. It was undeniable. The woman raised to her feet, turning to the darkness where the voice had came from before. But before she moved again, a whisper left his lips. "Where am I?" There was a long moment of silence as her figure left the blue flame's reach.

"Winter Of the Sun Era. 241."

Now rest