Skyward - (NaNoWriMo 2013 Novel)

The Man from Skygate - (Nov 26, Tuesday)

* * *

When the man began to speak again, his tone was distant, resolute, and spoke of regrets that had finally come to be accepted.

"Anyway, what care is it of yours, Architect? As I said, you are now Exile. We find you here, on Ground, down from your Kingdom Above. You are down, you are out. Mother Gravity has once again enfolded you into her arms. It is clear that you have forsaken Skyward. I can see it in your eyes: they are no longer trained on the heavens, ever looking up and stumbling on the unseen below your feet, as happens with so many of the Exiles. Your eyes are level; they seek the horrizon that lies behind all these pilars that hold up the sky."

Benedict thought, then, of the long climb down, of all the things he and Jakob had had to endure. He thought of the frenetic time bomb that was the Ticktock Man and his Greys. And now this Grave; this fresh threat to a Core that already seemed to have gone critical. He felt all the thoughts piling up on his shoulders and crowding in around his ears, and he closed his eyes in an attempt to silence them.

"I just want to get clear of the Core."

A queer look danced in the man's eyes. It was a new one, and when he looked up, Benedict didn't quite know what to make of it. Was it understanding?

"You have seen a great deal..."

Benedict wasn't sure if it was a question or an observation. He looked off, down the nearest canyon-like street, and found the man was right. His eyes sought the horrizon.

When he looked back to the man, the queer look had gone, and it was replaced by his habitual, stony glare.

"If all you seek is escape, Architect, then what concern is it of yours what happens to the residents of the Sky Warren? You have already turned your back on them. Do not now feign concern as a vague attempt to assuage your guilt for having done so. If it helps you sleep at night, know that gears have been in motion for some time. The situation has already moved beyond any one that you could ever hope to influence. Though you've never before crossed paths with The Grave, there are more of us than you think, and we have been busy.

* * *

Despite the clear air of threat coming off the Man from Skygate, Benedict couldn't help feeling a giddy, childish curiosity about the man, about what he had seen and the stories he could tell about what, exactly, had happened at Skygate. But there had been that dark look that had eclipsed the man's face ever so briefly as he'd returned to that place in thought. Benedict didn't expect the man would relish returning to the Blacktower.

Still...

This could well be the last survivor of Skygate, here, before him. Didn't he have a responsibility to stand witness?

# # #

Wrote a great deal more than just this today, having got distracted by the prospect of extricating and polishing up the "Miraculous Shrinking Mayor" section of Skyward for an Other Purpose. I will be posting that soon when I'm fully content with it.

Unfortunate, that distraction, since I'm really falling in love with these mad gravity monks, and I want to strike their story while the iron is hot!