The Blade Witch: Songs of Eldrin, Book 0.5

Chapter Seven - Wulfdonria Night Lights

A circus was the last place Estra expected to find herself. Ever since she was a child, she'd looked down from the cliffs at the wondrous display of lights that marked the city's nightly festival. In those times attending the grand spectacle was nothing more than a girlish dream of participating in an event for which she was eternally uninvited. Only now, as she walked amidst through the canopy of streamers and endless oddities, did she come to realize that Wulfdonria was known as the city of no nights for a reason.

After the Wulfdonria's declaration of freedom, an annual festival was decreed to mark the occasion. Over time the parade of troupes and eccentricities became semi-annual, then monthly, until finally the powers that be acknowledged the influx of revenue that the event brought and decided to make it a nightly occurrence.

During the day, the main square swarmed with hordes of people, but at night, it grew even more livid. Beneath the glow of Eldrin's bright moon, the colorful lights of the ocean-side metropolis flickered into life to challenge it. Along with them came the people, now done with their day's work, reveling in entertainment and laughter.

A cyclone of noise assailed Estra's ears from every direction. The giggle of two lovers in each other's arms, the laughter of children running through the crowd, and above everything she could hear the cheers of crowds that stood gaping at one or another of the circuses' many displays.

With the sheer number of people surrounding her, Estra's warning spells were rendered useless, giving her the necessary excuse to take in some of the sights as she hurried behind Lency, trying to keep up with the girl's rapid pace.

There was a crowd cooing as they watched a trio of fire jugglers. One-man spat fire into the air, lighting the ends of a pair of torches. He tossed them to the next man who spun them around, hurling them up into the air and catching them on the tip of his nose for the crowd's enjoyment. Their little exhibition ended with the torches being tossed to a woman who thrust the flaming torches down her throat, waiting for the screams of the onlookers before she pulled them out, coughing up smoke and revealing herself unharmed.

The Blade Witch found herself clapping along with the rabble, despite her best attempt to remain inconspicuous. She was a mage, formally trained and well versed in her craft, but whatever kind of magic these performers were using was beyond even her understanding.

The pair of women continued their winding path through the crowd, making sure to avoid the city guards who made their way through the masses, cudgels searching about for anyone that looked even slightly suspicious. The guard captain's crackdown of late had certainly put a dampening effect on the city's mood of late. Every day they became bolder and their treatment harsher, but it seemed not even that unwelcome addition could stop the party from raging onward once night fell.

Estra and Lency managed to avoid their notice, making their way past a vast number of increasingly extravagant exhibits. There was a woman less than a foot tall that spread at full length in the hand of an insanely huge Issian man. On a stage made of solid glass, a minor mage made a display of balling up sheets of colorful paper and turning them into birds that would fly around the crowd for a moment before coming to rest on the head of whatever pretty woman he chose.

There seemed to be no end to the wonders they could have seen this night, but Estra dragged her eyes away all the same, never forgetful of their goal. They persisted on through the hum towards the grandest display of them all. Standing right in the center of the city square was the second largest structure in Wulfdonria and the only remnant of the Faith left unmarred. The statue of Saint Ciaren stood vibrant, stone hands dangling with a mass of colorful ribbons, soaring into the sky as if it would grasp the stars. An ornate stage had been erected at its base for the use of the show that brought in the most viewers. Actors of great fame played out scenes from The Folly of Dendos, hyping up the crowd that gasped at every line of the great drama.