TRISTAN
I'll come to thee by the moonlight,
though hell should bar the way
S
overeign’s Keep.Tristan had never visited before. He’d never had a reason to, not until now, but inevitably he felt the orbital draw that he could not deny. It tugged at his heartstrings, pulling him closer into its depths, and with only the stars overhead as a witness did he delve into the threshold of the arched open doorways.
Turquoise eyes passed a wayward glance to the billowing banners of bespeckled black silk, spotting the twisting wolf and moon sigil with a knowing, yet strained smile. Interesting.
With writhing trepidation in his breast did he walk the white stone halls. The scabbard of the Genesis blade bounced along his hip with every step, it’s familiar weight a profound comfort, the length of his mantle and cloak brushing against his legs as he wandered. The paths before him seemed to have been built without purpose, without guidance, intersecting paths with divulging exits… Yet never once did he fear the possibility of growing lost. Even as the concern rose to mind, the very atmosphere of these winding halls seemed to soothe the thought away from his mind altogether.
So, he walked. To every door he came to, he paused, admiring the interior of the rooms all together. It seemed that this place held a magic all its own; a room of forest trees and open windows, a spring of fresh water in the interior of an otherwise immaculate chamber… Tristan pressed on, yet tucked away the location of the latter in his mind for use later on.
It was one room, however, that truly gave him pause. The open archway leading in consisted of a framework of twisting masonry of moonstone and azure agate, a faint glow permeating from the archway itself and illuminating the threshold. With a curious sound Tristan stepped inside, and what awaited him was true beauty.
The sound of trickling water was the first to meet his ears as he scanned the low lit chamber. Nearby a small spring babbled, the water clean and crisp. Tall stalks of curious, crystal-like bamboo crested into the skies in the chamber around him, their stalks protruding thin, glass-blown leaves, but the most curious, and beautiful thing of all were the large pillars of faintly glowing crystal that seemed to grow and protrude from the soil itself. They were sporadically placed as though formed naturally, some larger than others, but each jagged edge was a true thing of beauty.
With a great deal of hesitance did Tristan step further into the chamber, the sound of the water lulling him into a sense of ease the further he went. The soil was soft beneath his hooves, the scent of vegetation prominent in the air, but it was peaceful. Tranquil, if you would, and slowly did the knight’s shoulders relax as the tension seeped from his form. A quick glance around confirmed that he was alone, and so in a brazen mood, the battlemage removed his mantle and pulled the cloak from his shoulders, and even did he meticulously remove the fastenings of the belts that held the Genesis blade to his hip. Carefully did he fold and pile everything up, and once tucked away did Tristan risk a drink from the spring.
The water was clean, refreshing, and cool upon his tongue. It was there that he stood, quiet, lost in the maze of his own wayward thoughts, letting the stresses of his mind slowly rise to the surface only to float away on the current of a magical spring. He was troubled. That much was obvious, even more so now than he had been weeks prior.
Things were different, now, and Tristan worried. He thought of Ira, recalling their conversation in the past, how shame had warped his handsome features when he had divulged that he was simply ‘a hunter’. A soft sound, perhaps a mournful attempt at a chuckle, pulled at the knight’s lips. A hunter indeed, but no longer. No… Now, Ira was Sovereign, and it would be a lie to say that Tristan wasn’t concerned for the changes such a shift would bring.
Perhaps he had grown too attached. Perhaps he had been foolish. Perhaps…
With a shake of his head, the knight stood in the quiet crystal chamber and thought, hoping that his doubts and reservations could finally be put to rest.
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