Before You Go

(Swords with Souls)

Cover by Darren Joy

(Adult content)

“Lara, you did it,” her grandmother calls to her as Lara’s horse, Aminah, down the path towards a house constructed of straw and clay. The house is made up of three mushroom shaped abodes connected by external wooden halls and stone and mortar foundations. The entire area around the house was once a mammoth building built of clay and stone. Sections of wall still stand. The floor of the house is made up of broken mosaic flooring that her grandfather leveled and used clay to fill in the gaps and cracks. Her grandparents told her and her sister that large rocks used to dot the grounds.

Behind the house and not visible from where she sits a top Aminah, are two similarly shaped but smaller structures and what was once a ruined dome structure with a round hole for a skylight. The dome was built partially into the hill where her grandmother planted a variety of orchards. The herbal house and weaving house are parallel to each other, creating a court with the domed building in the centre.

Within the dome, originally covered in debris is a spiraling staircase. On the walls are shelves full of ancient books and scrolls. The stone stairs end at a swinging bridge whose ropes and wooden planks are too damaged to trust. Her grandparents believe a battle happened on the bridge.

Before he became ill her grandfather planned to fix the bridge and see where it led. It was task for her and her sister now. A natural heat from the chasm which the bridge is believed to cross protects the books and scrolls from rotting. Within the ruined section of the wall is an alcove in which an anvil as high as her waist sits. Deeper in are faded diagrams on sheep skin and mostly rusted tools. Her grandparents oiled the anvil and it now sits with a canvas tarp over it.

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