I watched the ashen sunset as the dull orb settled on a horizon blurred with hazy smoke. The path before me, formerly graced by the presence of wise kings and noble queens, was now littered with dirt and flecks of stone from the crumbled castle walls. The once vibrant flowers that had dotted the landscape had become grey and bent; as if unable to handle memories of the past that were now such a shameful burden to them. Trees too were crippled and aged, weak with the weight of sorrow that fed their starving roots. My world was washed of color. Through the rubble, all that was left of a mighty and powerful kingdom, I could see the thrones. They sat stately amongst the debris, dull and damaged, waiting. They waited for a luster that was never to return, not to this forsaken land.
The cheerful melodies of birds racing through the sky were replaced by the gruesome rumblings of savage beasts prowling the ravaged forest. The rotten stench of decay was suffocating. I felt as if the lies that had slowly ensnared the kingdom for the past decades had suddenly become a very physical, very potent reminder of our descent into ruin. Yet here I stood, untouched by the destruction that had left every other living thing in despair. The people, where were they?
It was only three days ago that I rushed out of the mayhem. I may not have witnessed the final hours that ended the slowly corrupted descent of such a formidable empire, but I had felt it slipping past repair. It was slow, like a virus that gradually consumed the minds of its victims. The symptoms started out small; a few burglaries here, discontent between neighbors there. These things escalated, calling for greater and greater authority. Soon the nobles became greedy. They developed a lust for control. The last rulers barely escaped the beast's clutches. Few people remained free from the disease that had moved from the mind to devour the soul. The king and queen sensed something was amiss, but they were far from perfect. What little difference they could make by that point had only allowed the people of their kingdom to see the end coming. They detected their doom like the weakest prey detects a lurking predator, with wild fright and reckless fits of panic. Unfortunately, it was much too late. Whenever loneliness set in upon me, I recalled my journey since the Last Day. My eyes slid shut, and I drifted into the memory of that moment...
Chaos consuming all that surrounded me, I had sped off on my horse. At the outskirts of the village, I felt myself losing touch with the distorted reality of my world. I was lifted into a blinding brightness, encompassed by a white that was pure and true. The frenzied sounds faded to a blissful silence like I had never experienced before, and then the light slowly shifted to darkness. I was comfortably embraced by this black, which was also pure and bright. Suspended in this state, I rested, feeling a warmth wash over me like a gentle summer breeze. Before long, or maybe a long time later, I became aware of the outside world once more, and with one last rush of warmth, my lungs were filled with fresh air and my eyes felt open and clear. A new strength coursed through my veins, filling me with a desire to protect someone as I had been protected in that secure world of eternal dusk. Like a whisper, the last echo of silence whisked past my ear and I found myself on a path, pointed towards the sunrise. I was filled with one thought, “Walk.” So I did, and I reached the castle which now rests before me like a giant tombstone for a perished land.
