HavenGuarde

Chapter 7 - Criminal

Chapter 7

Criminal

- And justice walked upon the earth, dealing death to the wayward -

The knife dripped with blood. And the pale dead eyes stared at the sky. Limp and cold. Flies covered the body and tiny maggots were already crawling all over...

Thonavar bolted upright. His arms showed a thick sheen of sweat. Cold sweat. He shivered and wiped himself with his blankets. It was dark and he was in bed. It was a dream, he thought to himself. Just a dream. He sighed in relief and stared out his small bedroom window. The dwelling was quiet and the streets rang with silence. After all, it was early in the morning and no one was about on the streets yet. Even from his room, Thonavar smelled the familiar smell of wet earth and stale air.

Outside, the winds were whistling throughout the cold and damp streets, and it was drizzling slightly. The rain and clouds were in no way naturally formed, but were entirely generated by the giant reactors of the weatherstorm machines. Rain fell from a construct sky and artificial clouds but only within the protective domed-shaped energy shield enveloping the city of HavenGuarde known as the curtain. While real destructive electric storms did rage outside the curtain that surrounded HavenGuarde, the Scientists had developed a wonderful piece of technology in the weatherstorm machine; a machine that could create all kinds of weather by controlling the speed of movement of water particles in the atmosphere. In doing so, they could formulate any type of weather pattern conducive to HavenGuarde.

Thonavar Ironhand groaned. It was about an hour and a half left before college began and he dared not return to sleep for fear of oversleeping and being late for college as a result. Thonavar proceeded to wash himself clean by dunking several buckets of water, prepared by his mother the night before, over his head, before breaking his fast with a thin gruel-like meal made from eggs and rice which he wolfed down hungrily. He then moved toward the door of the dwelling without careful not to make any noise. Jesse was already gone. He had left the dwelling minutes before Thonavar had woken up. Thonavar jumped down the steps and hurried down the street. As always, Mirya watched from her window until Thonavar turned the corner and disappeared into the next street. Thonavar knew his mother watched him but pretended not to notice.

He had plenty of time to make it to the college now and what was more uplifting was that the sun was coming up. As he walked, his spirits lifted when he saw the sun, emerging from behind a real cloud in the skies outside HavenGuarde, beyond the curtain, shining gloriously. Its rays had pierced the curtain's translucent surface and fell into the streets below City Above, illuminating the streets with a soft golden light. The effect was mesmerisingly beautiful. Instantly, the streets were bathed in a golden light and Thonavar felt as though transported to another place. Gone were the dark and damp streets. Gone was the smell of stale air. Now was the time of the sun. There was light and there was hope.

What enchantment is this? thought Thonavar, his breath caught in the golden beauty created by the sun's majestic rays. The sun, a golden coin, suspended in the heavens above, whispered Thonavar, to himself. Someone behind him laughed. The sun's glory disappeared behind a cloud, along with the warmth and comfort it had provided moments ago and the streets were once more plunged into shadow.

"Hello demon", a familiar voice called out. And Thonavar's heart skipped a beat. It was the unmistakable voice of Alexis! Curse him, thought Thonavar. What does he want now? Had he been waiting to ambush me?