Dasque's Ascension Part 1 or 5


A Land of Light and Lonely
Dasque awoke, and her eyes flooded with white, blinding brilliance. She closed them tight, but the light seeped through. She moaned and muttered a soft curse, rolling onto her belly. Scrunching up like an inch worm, she moved her knees forward, causing her hips to rise. Her elbows pushed into the ice cold ground, and shoved her torso up so that she was in a kneeling position. Still dizzy, the daughter of Baz’Auran a few moments for her surroundings to become clear.

She looked behind her, then to either side. A cold chill crept up her spine, a chill that had nothing to do with the biting wind. Dasque was alone, and for endless leagues all around was ice, shining bright under a white sun. It was said that white was the light where all colors came together. Yet this place was so very, very alone.

Dasque put a cupped hand over her brow and looked up towards the sun. It blinded her, and for a moment she lost all her senses, but she kept her eyes lingering a bit longer, as if to challenge it, or maybe because she was too tired to turn away quickly. When her eyes blinked away the brightness, she was once again faced with a shimmering sea of ice. The bottom of her feet were cold, and the top of her scalp was beginning to feel the rays beating on it. It was a cruel place indeed, this Disc.

Spinning around once more, it seemed as if the ice ended at horizon, though there was one spot, one single spot where the blue met the white that seemed hazier than the rest. Her eyes might have been playing tricks on her, but looking more intently something was different. It was almost as if it called to her. At least that’s what she wanted to believe. Doubt ate into. This was not the White City where she could summon a spirit to do her chores, where she could eat whatever she desired, and could learn and grow at her discretion. This land was just the elements, and her. She was not special in this new world, and she could not depend on her gut. However, there was nothing else for her, no other sign, no other way. She took a step forward.

Shirvan.

Was he dead? Was he hurt? The disc was large, so large that one could wander a mortal lifetime and but see a small fraction of it. She did not know whether to mourn for him or not. Maybe they would see another someday, maybe they’d both wander this disc never finding each other. Maybe he was already dead, maybe she would be soon.

The others, what had befallen the others? Twenty-one in number they were, yet how many had avoided the Shadow? It was possible that all of them had made it, but even so there were monsters and natural disasters and even the mortals themselves who threatened them. There were some who were weak with sword and bow, but at least they were cautious. Dasque hoped they were lucky too. No, the ones she was concerned for were the fighters, the warriors amongst them. Her arms felt weak, and her body rigid, and not only because of the impact of her landing. She was not as blessed as she had been within the White City. Perhaps she was mortal. She ran her hand through her hair, feeling dried blood. Yes, she most likely was mortal now.

As her feet took a step, and then another, and then another, she could only wonder where the others were, what fate had befallen them. She tried to think the best, but this frozen wonderland stripped her of her optimism. She glanced towards the sun again, though she did not look directly at it this time. Something about the sun’s position did not seem right. It was… off. She did not know the movements of the skies outside the White City, but how far in the distance it seemed foreboding. Dasque could only hope that hear fear was unfounded, and that the sun would go down, and this land would have a night. It might very well mean death from the cold, but more than anything she wanted the lights to turn off.