HavenGuarde

Chapter 10 - Avenue of Kings

Chapter 10

Avenue of Kings

- Still as stone, silent alone, statues of flesh and bone -

The marketplace was a jumble of shadows. The light from the moon overhead shone down, illuminating all kinds of ware, throwing shadows of all shapes and sizes against the walls. All was still. All was unmoving, save himself. And his own shadow.

Thonavar crept stealthily, darting behind wooden crates filled with rotting fruit and rusting metal butcher tables stained with blood before emerging cautiously, his sharp eyes scanning his surroundings. His breathing was a little ragged. Not from tiredness but from panic mixed with excitement. He had escaped being locked away in a stasis cell and the possibility of torture and a false confession. But there were still so many questions in the air. He did not know what was going to happen next. Thonavar knew Alexis' father was a noble in city above and well established in social circles. His persistence in putting this matter to rest and seeking revenge on behalf of his son would not falter.

He passed a familiar fruit stall, one that he had stolen from when he was but nine years of age. The memory of the incident was as clear as day. He had climbed atop the canvas covering the stall and had hung upside down, quickly snatching an apple and a pear when he saw no one looking. Then he had leapt onto the canvas of another stall, making his way atop a lofty platform above the marketplace. It was his favourite place to go and he would go there often for it was where he could be alone. Sitting up there, he would gaze out at the different city levels of HavenGuarde high above him, dreaming about a time, perhaps in the not too far future, where he would spend his days living and travelling in the dazzling city above.

Thonavar hurtled over a broken wooden crate. A thought crossed his mind and he could not help but try to picture the wardens' faces the moment they opened the doors to the hovercraft and found it empty. He smiled to himself. Now he was a fugitive on the run. Thonavar ran on, his feet barely making any sound, avoiding puddles of dirt and grime, and brightly-lit areas. Taking the small streets behind the marketplace, he headed east just as the dark figure had instructed. It was then that Thonavar realised that he trusted the dark stranger only because he had helped him escape. Why is he helping me? What does he want? Do not let your guard down for a moment, he told himself. Do not be so easily trusting.

He passed through the marketplace and travelled upwards for a little while, avoiding the travelators and choosing instead to ascend the giant slopes of a nearby metal factory. The streets, roads and pavements were becoming noticeably cleaner and more orderly. He was reaching City Middle. Even the building models looked more modern. It then occured to him that he had never been so far away from his home before. He had come to edge of his world. But gritting his teeth, he continued on, moving as fast as his feet could carry him.

Thonavar ran on but a thick cloud of smoke loomed ahead, obscuring his vision. As he watched, the fog seemed to be spread out rapidly, completely engulfing the pathway before him, totally obscuring his vision. The fog continued to grow in height and length, rising up before him. Thonavar entered the fog and proceeded cautiously. After several minutes, he emerged, shaking tendrils of mist still clinging to his body.

Before him stood a massive structure of darkly majestic proportions. Thonavar crouched behind a small heap of collected rubbish and looked up in awe. Turrets and spires grew out of the main building and large fortifications could be seen on each armored side of the building. Magnetically powered elevators moved silently on vertical and horizontal trajectories up and down the side of the structure and across its face, like the outer bloodstream of the living building. A multitude of lights dotted the building from the bottom to the very top, glowing faintly, like a thousand eyes.