At the death of summer, as all things fell, the sun seemed to have lost much of its ferocity. Though of course the masked steed had nothing to compare it to for he had arrived upon the cusp of autumn when Solis’ gaze was turned to the growing Night and the promise of shorter days (even in the desert). Even so, those who called the sun-city home breathed a sigh of relief as the temperature began its steady descent to something more bearable.
Nevertheless, Vidaar found himself basking beneath the sun’s eye, relishing the heat upon a face clad in gold metal until beads of sweat wormed their way between his skin and the mask. Sometimes he could swear the light permeated the darkness of his eyes, that he could see more than endless shadows and the images conjured in his mind. His pride would not allow him to ask Legiana what their new surroundings were like and thus he contented himself with imagining them, the dusty streets beneath his hooves, the markets dressing the air with a pungent aroma of spices, herbs, fruit and wines. But it was a crude substitute for the pleasure of vision or the true sight the Lyx blood had allowed him. Nearly a month had passed since the pair found themselves thrown from the decaying world of Edana to the fiery pits of this desert land but each one dragged like claws across stone for his life had plunged into darkness and he found himself floundering in oblivion.
It was fear that struck at the heart of him each morning, when he opened his eyes and found nothingness staring back at him. But, as it always did and always would, the fear festered into something else, something far darker. Bitterness clung to every part of him, a ghost haunting the impatience of each step, a spectre caressing the words from his tongue. It hung upon him from dawn till dusk and beyond.
Though despair drowned Vidaar each and every waking moment, it would be a lie to consider him invalid. He had worn this mask in all the years he could remember and though it was now more than a century ago he had spent years training without the vision that graced others. Indeed, he was capable of a great many things, no matter how much he mourned that which he had recently lost. In fact, the gold-dusted steed found himself upon the edge of the sun-blaze city where one could find a rare silence. There was a try somewhere to his left, he could hear the soft autumn breeze play through the twisted branches. He felt cool where the shadow of the outlying wall shielded him from the sun, but heat where Solis’ eye broke through the barricade. Bird song permeated that gentle silence, a hardy avian bearing it’s soul to the summer that did not see it perish. In that instance, Vidaar realised he could not remember the last time he’d simply listened to the creatures in and on the earth around him. He’d never had such luxury.
@Legiana
