Convergent Realms

V

Some part of Sandra had left just as the sun rose, just as she began to drift off, making plans of escape of adventure. It was common, albeit unrealistic, to have dreams and aspirations in the middle of the night, and then have those same aspirations torn to shreds by the morning. Sandra was sure that this was one of those times.

She had a headache, and she could tell she'd been asleep too long. It had to be past noon already, yet she considered going back to bed still. It was as if life was a bad dream, and the only solution was drifting off for a nap.

She didn't. Sandra, reluctantly enough, dressed herself and left the house, moving with purpose, yet a small sense of foreboding lay in her thoughts. Her house lay in one of the taller parts of the Orvish land, so it took a while to get down to a more manageable level. The area itself was a town built in the mountains, so travel was especially difficult, but they made use of ladders, which while breaking often, got the job done for most.

The wind was probably the worst part of living there. Small children had been known to simply drift off in the ever-powerful winds and never come back. Not to mention reconstructing entire houses that had been decimated. Most didn't have support, which made them viable targets, but the few who did were safe.

Sandra's hands grew cold and strained as she climbed down the third ladder, the final one that would allow her to get to what could only be considered "ground level" for the Orves. Her hands were large, and while they rarely bruised, she could still feel the pain as she descended rung after rung without pause.

Once she was at ground level, she could look up at the huge city-like settlement above her. On top of gigantic pillars made solely of rough stone lay houses, balanced precariously as children's toys would. Many things had been considered each time a house was reconstructed to make it stay. Some said that with the Orves' powerful magic, they could balance the whole town on a splinter of wood, but The Council refused this, making a comment to the public with bemused expressions.

"That would merely be a demonstration of power, which is something any strong-minded person in a relationship with two other kingdoms would frown upon."

As a result of that comment, it was no longer a serious matter. The Council decided what happened and what didn't, but only when the town wasn't able to agree on something solid. The Council themselves were a group of four, and they essentially ruled the kingdom, or at the very least when it was absolutely necessary.

No one really knew who the Council members were, but everyone knew that when one of them passed, one of the commoners was expected to take their place. The ceremony itself was rather straightforward: one would be kidnapped and indoctrinated into possibly the most powerful group in the Steps. It wasn't something anyone refused, or at least it was unknown if you really could refuse it.

It was quite a complicated subject in Sandra's mind, but she knew that all she really needed to know was that they were in trouble. Relations had been bad enough with the Elves and Humans, and this foreign object showing up out of nowhere was exactly the kind of thing that could spark a war.

Now she simply strolled through the many gates of pillars and admired the workers in the quarry, mining stone to be traded to the other Races for supplies and food. There was very little foliage to admire here, as most of what could be a forest was stone, but if she found the right place, she could get the second-best view in all of the Steps. It started with once again climbing a ladder, this time to the tallest point of existence, where a public monastery had been built.

She walked through the many rooms and winding pathways to get to the back of it, where there was the view, front and center. Now at the point farthest away from the base of the Steps, she could see what very little other people could. The Forest wasn't just at the base of the Steps, that's just where it was accessible. From her she could see endless forest, stretching across all of the lands, completely untouched, as it had been for centuries.

Sure, parts of The Forest could be seen by everyone on the Steps, as it was all around them at all times, but Sandra could see most of The Forest at one time. The Forest itself was more like a canopy of leaves, with no space for sun, so it was thought that no life could live there. But Sandra knew there had to be something out there. Big or small, she didn't care, but she knew that they couldn't be the only people in the entire world. There would be others, it just took time.

For now, though, Sandra felt entirely alone, as if she was a drop of water, falling onto some dry land where she would come back to the sky, just to fall again, and again, and again. That's why she went up here alone. It was a perfect view, but she really admired the peace and quiet of it.

As long as she was here, she was confident that she could never be disturbed. Never. And yet, the peace was gone. As hard as she tried she couldn't bring it back. Her concentration was interrupted by the disturbance of the peace. He was a man about her age, maybe a little older. He sat down next to her, and as soon as she thought that he was just ignoring her, he spoke.

"Do you think we could ever go out there?"

"We?"

He seemed flushed for a moment but regained his posture and gave her a smile.

"Orves, that is. Do you think we'll ever stop being afraid of it, and instead admire it?"

Sandra thought for a moment. She knew her answer would have a large impact on his thought process, and she didn't even know his name, but she still somehow trusted him with her true thoughts. She whispered her answer softly, making sure to nurture and spread the new kind of peace the man had brought with him.

"I'm not sure, but I'd like to."