Her head raced with a million thoughts. She could feel her heart beat all throughout her entire body. Her will was strong and she was bound and determined to not be defeated. Minutes passed by without a sign of life echoing from the man. Tears began to drop down from her eyes, splashing down on the dirt under her. "I'm not going to give up..." she said to herself. "I can't give up..."
As her entire focus concentrated upon the soul of a single man, a familiar cloak of jet black stood outside of the building with the thick and tense air. His black as coal eyes gazed upon Moriah. "Moriah," he gently called. "You need to stop. Please."
Her head turned behind her. One glance upon her face revealed a great hysterical mess. Her eyes gazed into Drake's eyes. She shook her head. "I can't..." she replied, facing back to the lifeless man. "These people are all I have left!"
Drake knelled down next to Moriah. "And I know exactly how you feel," he stated. "But if he wants you to live, you HAVE to live!"
Her eyes closed, her whimpers had gone silent. Her hands stop glowing green. "...I'm so sorry..." she silently said to the lifeless man. She recoiled from the wooden structure, leaving behind the man. She stood on her own two feet as her clouded vision opened up. She looked away from the body of the man. Her eyes looked hopeless, emotionally torn.
Drake placed his left hand on Moriah's right shoulder. "You did the right thing." he said.
"I shouldn't have stopped..." she stated. She tightly closed her eyes. "Because of me, everyone is dead...!"
"It's not you who is to blame." corrected Drake. "But the so-called knights of this city."
Her eyes opened up. "The knights?" she riposted, her voice shaken by shock. Her eyes flew over to Drake. A thought ran by her mind. A truly terrible puzzle piece of sense that would fit perfectly to Drake's words. "They didn't tell these people about the blight, did they?"
"Their petty grudges against these people were more important than the duties they swore to uphold."
An angry, furious wave embraced Moriah. Her hands clenched tightly into stern iron fists. "Those cowards..." she growled to herself. Her feet move forward, taking one step into the dirt below her feet. Drake's tightens his grip on Moriah's shoulder. Almost to the point where it was painful. Her footsteps are interrupted, going cold and pausing. She doesn't turn around to look upon Drake or question his intention.
"They want you to live, Moriah," he stated. "Not for a life of revenge, not to be so obsessed by hatred or any kind of indignation. You need to continue their life of peace and kindness. Nothing more and nothing less."
Moriah drew breath deep into her lungs, inflating them like balloons. She releases the air out back into the world, letting out her anger that overcame her. Her lament flooded irises turned over to Drake. "Thank you..." she thanked.
He shook his head. "Of course." he replied, turning his head towards the entrance into the poor district. "C'mon, let's go."
"But..."
"I'll come back and bury them, I promise."
Moriah brushed her right forearm across her face to wipe away the drops of sorrow falling from her face. "Alright..." The two began to walk out of the lost part of the city. Their footsteps almost synchronizing with each others. As they leave behind the blackened memories of the poor district, a sudden uproar of crying caught their attention. Moriah shuffled her head to all corners, looking for the source of the crying.
Her eyes peer down a small alleyway, where she saw a small boy in ragged crying hysterically. The boy was on his hands and knees. He shook the bodies of what appeared to be his parents. Their life taken from them and their child was all that was left. Without hesitation, Moriah rushed off over to the boy.
"Mommy! Daddy!" he hysterically shouted, shaking the inanimate bodies of his parents. Moriah arrived in front of the boy, knelling down in front of him. He fearfully looked up at the young magic user. "Why won't mommy and daddy wake up?"
Moriah's eyes fade away for a bit, her mind plagued by the thoughts at East Ardougne all those years ago. Her vision flashes back when she was a young child going through the same thing as this boy before her. Her young, ignorant eyes gazing upon the bodies of her parents. Among the fires and screams of the utterly panicked city, her cries could not reach anyone. Except two.
One was a male and another a female. Moriah's young eyes gaze upon the face of the young man. His emerald green eyes full of kindness and compassion. A smile overcame his face despite a completely horrible scene all around them. "But don't worry. You'll see them again someday, I promise." he said to the young Moriah.
"Uh...miss?" a voice called to Moriah. She returns to reality, in front of the boy that was completely scared and terrified about the condition of his loved ones. "What's the matter with mommy and daddy?"
Her eyes return their focus on the boy. She grinned happily, placing her left hand on top of the boy's head. "Your mommy and daddy...are in a different place now." she replied. "But don't worry. You'll see them again someday, I promise."
"A-are you sure?" he shuddered.
She confidently shook her head to the boy. She dropped her hand down from the boy's head and moved it out towards him. "C'mon," she said to the boy. "It's not safe here. I'll take you to someplace that is safe." The boy looked at Moriah for a bit, shuffling his eyes back and forth from her face to her hand. He was uncertain about the stranger. "Don't worry," she said. "I won't hurt you."
The boy slowly clenched his right hand into Moriah's hand. Her grin turned into a great smile. Moriah stood on her feet, the warmth of her hand wrapped around the cold but lively hands of the boy. They walked together, side-by-side and hand-in-hand. Moriah looked down upon the little boy. "So, what's your name?" she asked, kindly. "I'm Moriah."
"I'm...Paul..." he answered, his voice slowly and soft.
"Nice to meet you, Paul."
Drake watched the two come closer to him and chat along the way. As soon as the boy took a single second of a glance upon the hooded Drake, he ran behind Moriah. He clenched onto her left leg and did not take another gaze upon Drake.
Drake looked at the young boy, his eyes apathetic and cold. "Fear me, huh?" he said. "You should."
Moriah looked down at Paul. "It's okay," she assured. "He's a good guy." After the reassurance by Moriah, the boy lets go of her leg and comes out from hiding. Though he stood as far as he could from Drake. Paul had his hand held tightly in Moriah's left hand. He still looked up at Drake with fear.
The hooded man gazes out towards the distance, his eyes coming away from Paul. "We should get going." he suggested.
Moriah shook her head. "Yeah." she agreed. The three start to walk together, side by side. They left behind the darkness that engulfed the poor district. They emerged from the blight's death grip upon that part of the world, out from the gates of hell behind them.
Moriah's eyes turn over to Drake. "Thanks again." she thanked.
Drake happily smirked. "It's no problem," he replied. "Really."
"Yeah, but I hardly even know you." she stated. "You're basically a complete stranger with a label."
Drake turned his head towards Moriah. "Are you saying you wouldn't do the same if you were in my place?" he asked.
"No, I would."
"Then you have an understanding of why I did what I did."
"Yeah, but usually those kind of people wouldn't follow the person they helped."
"Well, maybe I'm just not that kind of person." he stated, turning his head back towards the pathway before him. "Maybe I'm somebody different."
"Somebody different, huh?" she thought, turning her head away from the hooded man.
Drake had an intense look written on his face. "It's a shame when anyone has to go through something like that."
Moriah inhaled air into her lungs, bursting it out into a sigh. "Yeah..." she replied, her voice low and soft. After a couple of minutes, the three had made it to Moriah's home of limestone and wood. As they approached the door, they both noticed a man by the door - Richard.
His back was leaning against the hard limestone wall that surrounded Moriah's home. His arms were crossing in a knot, his head down and his eyes closed. Moriah didn't seem surprised by Richard being there. She turned to the children still in her hand, getting down onto her knees and staring upon the face of the frightened boy.
"Could you go inside for me, please?" she asked. The innocent Paul shook his head like a lever. A smile glowed on the face of the young magic user, growing back onto her feet. She turned to face her door and latched her right hand onto the doorknob. Moriah rotated the doorknob like a key and she pulled the door open wide.
Young Paul hasted into the household. Her face turns turns to the boy as he looked back at her. "Don't worry," she said, her tone a balloon of confidence and assurance. "You won't be alone anymore." Once she spoke those words, she slowly closed the door. The door softly closed shut without a single sound.
Moriah turned her eye's glance upon the narcissistic Richard, who stood seemingly unaware of the two's presence. "What are you still doing here, Richard?" harshly asked the young magic user.
Drake crossed his arms under the shadow of his cloak. He turned his head over to Moriah. "Who is this?" asked Drake.
Moriah turned her head to Drake. "This is the glorious Richard." she sarcastically answered, spinning her head back over to the man they spoke of. "He betrayed Avdima for his precious 'god', Zin."
Richard opened his left eye and he turns it over to Moriah. "I told you Zin has me under his finger." he angrily replied.
"Whatever," said Moriah, brushing away their conversation. "What are you doing here?"
"I told you I would be helping you," he calmly answered. "Didn't I?"
"You said you wanted revenge," she stated, remembering his words like an open book. "Helping the city you betrayed is your idea of vengeance?"
"Yes." he answered.
"Sounds kind of like an insult to me."
Drake gazes upon Richard, his glare upon him was of apathy and gelidness. "Regardless of this fool's intention," he said. "If he can help, he'll provide us with information to better ourselves against the god of resentment."
Richard's glance turned into the black as the abyss eyes of Drake. Richard seemed taken back as soon as he stared into the eyes of Drake, like as if his entire body froze into an undeniable quiver of fear. "You...!" he gasped, his voice completely froze solid like a block of ice.
Drake raised an eyebrow, utterly puzzled. "Richard, what bothers you?" he curiously questioned. "You seem like you've seen a ghost."
Moriah shuffled her head back and forth from Richard to Drake. "Eh?" she confusingly spoke, her left index finger switching it's point between the two like a broken clock. "Do you two know each other?"
Drake shook his head. "No," he calmly answered. "I've never met the man."
Richard drew breath into his lungs and blow it out from under his lips. He released all the fear and uncertainty that overcame his body, turning his body against him. He closed his opened eye and returned to his calm, collected self. "Moriah, listen to me," he said. "Earlier, when I saw you. You were looking for a way to bring Modello back, yes?"
"I need you to meet with someone," he replied. "This man will give you all the answers you've scoured for."
"This man you speak of..." she curiously spoke. "He can tell me how to get Modello back?"
"If Modello is truly the descendant of the god Zion, then yes."
Moriah grew a very serious look on her face. "Who is this man and where is he?"
"His name is Uzal Babak Mercer," he answered. "And he should live among the people of this city. A small wooden cabin in the east part of the city that should have a star of Saradomin beside the door way."
"That name seems very familiar," she mumbled to herself, crossing her arms as she began to think. Then she realized why that name felt like she had a general knowledge of it. Then it was as if an exclamation mark went off in her head. "Uzal wrote all those books about Zion and Zin."
"Uzal has kept his research and name arcane for the past forty years."
"Guess that's the only reason you haven't gotten the pleasure of killing him."
"I don't take pleasure in taking the life of innocent people."
"Of course you don't."
Drake looked at Moriah. "Mind if I accompany you?" he asked.
Moriah walking away from the two. She heard Drake speak and turned her head behind her and looked upon the hooded man. "I don't see why not." she answered.
Richard looks toward the door into Moriah's house. "And what about the little brat inside?" he questioned.
Moriah smiled. "That's your problem, Richard." she replied as she continued walking. Drake ran after Moriah to catch up to her. The warmth of the sun passed away into the covers of the shadowy cloak of the night. The stars breathed and danced with the darkness, glittering the night with it's radiance.
Moriah and Drake walked side-by-side in this darkest of nights with all acknowledgment of the stalking danger on their back. Drake's black cloak made him seem like a phantom in the shadows of the night. His pale skinned face gazed up at the night sky, the bright stars gazing down upon him.
Moriah looked up at the waltzing heavenly bodies that filled the nights luminously. "It feels like forever since I've seen the stars like this," she stated. "So bright, so beautiful..."
"They are quite delightful, aren't they?" he calmly replied. He pulled his head down towards the brick by brick pathway below their feet. His eyes closed silently with a smile of joy rising on his face. "I remember how my siblings and I would always look up at the stars and always hope to see a shooting star."
Moriah turned her glance onto the hooded Drake. "Where are your siblings now?" she curiously asked.
Drake drew the intake of oxygen into his lungs. He blew the air straight out from under his lips just as his lungs swelled up with air. "They no longer live amongst us." he sadly spoke.
Moiah twisted her head away from the black cloak, her eyes down by the sadness. "I'm sorry," she apologized. "I didn't mean to bring it up..."
Drake shook his head. "Don't apologize," he said, shaking off the sorrow within him. "You didn't know."
Moriah shook away her regretful feelings, turning her head towards the path in front of her. "If you insist..." she mumbled.
Drake turned his head to the young mage. "I've been meaning to ask," he continued. "How have you been?"
Moriah drew a handful of air into her, pushing it out within a moment's notice. "Alright, I guess." she answered. "I'm standing only on sheer will to be honest."
"Well at least you're standing," he commented. "Right?"
"Haha," she cheerfully giggled. "Yeah, that is true." After about twenty minutes, they arrived at the east side of the city. The houses here were made of strong gray stone and held out gray flags with the emblem of a phoenix in the center of the cloth. They fluttered calmly in the gentle breeze's rush.
Moriah crossed her arms, shuffling her head side-to-side. "A small wooden cabin shouldn't be too hard to find," she said. "Considering all of these houses are made of stone."
Drake pointed his left index finger to the straight in front. "There." he stated. "A small wooden cabin with a Saradomin star at the front."
Moriah turned her head over to where Drake was pointing. "Oh," she mumbled. "Guess that would be it."
Drake darted over to it, hasting in his rushing footsteps. "C'mon!" he yelled to Moriah behind him. Moriah chased after the black cloak of the night, staying basically right behind him. They ran across the open street shaped in a ring. The houses caped the right shoulder of the street while the left shoulder was clear of any buildings.
The two arrived at the front door of the wooden cabin. Moriah approached the door, letting out a small puff of air from her lungs. She raises her right hand towards the door. Her hand was about an inch from the door until the door suddenly swung open extremely fast.
Moriah was taken back quickly, stepping back one step as she wasn't expecting that. Moriah's eyebrows were raised and her right hand slowly sunk back down to her side. She turns to Drake with a puzzled look on her face. "Do we go in?" she asked.
Drake shrugged, unsure how to approach the situation. Moriah sets one foot into the household, peeking her head inside the house and she looks to the right side of the building. She sees an older man, sitting on a chair. Before him was a table with several ancient looking books and several really old looking pieces of paper throning on the top.
His eyes didn't take a second to even focus on Moriah. He was more busy with scrolling his eyes across the golden brown desert of paper before him. On the table, the only space on the wooden plate was a small lantern, dimly lighting the house.
Moriah entered the house slowly and carefully. "Excuse me," she kindly spoke, her voice somewhat hushed. "Are you Uzal?" Drake entered the small house, his head almost hitting the ceiling. There were books stacked like pillars all over the house with papers littering the floor.
The old man remained silent, more focused on his research than the reality before him. The man had mostly gray hair, with the slight exception of a few stripes of blonde. His darkened blue eyes stare blankly at the ancient texts of the book he read with all his concentration.
"There's no point in trying," he angrily replied. "I won't ever speak anything from my research to you imperial dogs."
Moriah crossed her arms and tapped her left foot on the ground. She had a bit of an angry look on her face. "We're not imperial dogs," she riposted. "But you know, you would know that if you actually bothered to look our way."
"Don't be a fool," he quickly said. "I can see you perfectly."
"Right, of course you can." she said, not believing the man for a second.
Drake turned his head over to Moriah. "May I suggest you don't get on his bad side?" he quietly suggested. "Afterall, he may very well be the only one that knows."
The old man smirked. "You may want to take the advice of your friend." he stated.
Drake turned his eye's focus upon the old man. "But could you please assist us?" he kindly asked. "The information that you may be able to provide could very well shape the fate of this world."
"Oh, fine..." he growled, disliking the thought of sharing his knowledge. "What the hell do you want?"
Moriah calmed the brewing storm of anger in her. "How do you bring a descendant of the god Zion back to life?" she questioned.
