Timestamp
72nd of Spring
The sun had just begun only just crawled above the horizon line when Antelokes stumbled into the Tranquility Center, eyes bloodshot and hands trembling.
He had not had a good night. Images flashed through his mind, memories of the vision that had tormented him through most of the night’s darkest hours. He shook his head, striking it as if he could knock all recollection of the vision out of his head. The only purpose this served was to aggravate the pain behind his eyes, forcing the the young man to lean against one of the building’s support beams to keep himself steady.
A few moments later, the pain subsided and Antelokes pulled himself to his feet again, taking a few hesitant steps into the Tranquility Center.
Where was Zayne? The man clearly wasn’t here. There were any number of reasonable places the man could be, but he didn’t care. Zayne should be here. Now, where and when he was needed.
Antelokes cursed as he tripped on the well-sanded wooden floor. Lifting his foot, sunlight glinted off a bit of metal. The young blacksmith shielded his eyes, wincing at the bright light.
He’d been drinking last night before the vision. A lot. Artik had joined him at one point. Maybe that should have given him some clue that he should stop. Slowly, Antelokes crouched down to peer at whatever had tripped him. It was a tiny image of a cat’s head, with fierce predatory eyes and slick rounded ears. As he picked it up and got a closer look at it, Antelokes scowled. It was very similar in style and form to the ‘X’ charm on the bracelet he’d found yesterday.
He still hadn’t found a way to take that bracelet off. Even his knife hadn’t managed to do the trick, although maybe the instrument just needed a good sharpening. Even in his pained, sleep deprived, hung over daze, Antelokes’ curiosity still got the better of him. He slipped the cat charm onto the bracelet, then waited. He sat on his heels for almost a minute, expecting something dramatic to happen as it had with the ‘X.’ Nothing did.
“Figures,” Antelokes muttered. What was he expecting, to come across two magical little bits of metal just lying around Syka? Even if the way they attached to the bracelet was remarkably similar…
Antelokes stood again, slowly. Movements that were too quick triggered his headache. He wasn’t sure if that was from the alcohol or from the lack of sleep. It was probably a bit of both, to be honest.
Where was that petching Zayne? He was always around preaching the wonders of meditation and such, and now in the one time Antelokes needed him he wasn’t here. Wasn’t the man supposed to be a bastion of discipline or something? One would imagine he would be awake by the time the sun rose.
