Demons & Angels

The light coming from the fire seemed to skitter out through the rumble littering the floor of the collapsed tenement,snaking its way through the debris until it finally began to flicker  and then eventually reach it limit at the final edge some meters from the source itself, casting long shadows out into the darkness. Around it sat 3 huddled shapes, clothed in a myriad of clothes and cloaks they joked and drank with one another in their little shelter to pass the time they spent there, small bundles of equipment and salvage sat to one side out of the way by a trio of bed rolls, each figures simple rest spot for when they finally retired from the conscious world to rise again the following morn. Under the cloak each wore whatever clothes they wished though in different way each wore bits and pieces that would mark them as belonging to the same people, sashes, bandoleers and long coats over old mining harnesses. One went bare headed whilst another wore a bandana that draped itself over one eye whilst the final wore a simple 3 pointed hat, each spoke with an accent both familiar and not as their words were carried away by the airs that surrounded them, the smoke from their source of warmth gently swirling into the world around them as the night seemed still. To them right then the world consisted of the company of their compatriots around the warming blaze of their fire in the still eve, all the things that creeped and preyed on the people that made their lives in the ruins forgotten about for one simple night as the human spirit sought to comfort its own amongst its friends.

Far off on a rockcrete shelf of a half collapsed tower, in a room that would have once been a kitchen that now stood open to the elements of the acid rain, alley winds and rust blizzards of the ruins lay Ryk looking through a monocular that had at one point been a set of binoculars before one lens had been snapped off at the folding joint. Swaddled in his own cloak made of scraps materials and patched so much it was hard to tell where any original material had once been he lay still watching the 3 distance figures sitting around their small fire as he had been for the last 2 hours since he first spotted them as he waiting for his kin-brother who was busy searching through the nearby ruins for anything of interest amongst the ancient spoils. The thoughts of a warm fire made him smile happily as he kept watching, he always wanted to go down there and talk to the people he spotted but the urge he had felt since being a child was met by his mother’s scolding words “We do not meddle in the affairs of others beyond the blood”, they rattled about in his head as they always did as he sighed. He had never understood why his mother saw them as dangerous, they were just people living their lives like they were, and they had so many different kinds of clothes and funny accents, from the clipped tones of the puzzle clothes people with the big guns to the sing song talk of the rust movers. The hats of the tunnel dwellers always made him chuckle, why did they need hats if they lived underground it didn’t make sense but he liked the way the 3 pointed hats looked, he thought they were fancy despite his kin-brother telling him otherwise near constantly. Putting the monocular down for a minute Ryk looked around him as the half demolished room he lay in, the remains had once been homely almost in their prestige but now lay silent and forgotten by most, a sad end for what once must have been some-ones’ home that they took pride in he thought as he gazed around him. He sighed as he sat up and positioned himself so that he was sat cross legged on the floor with the edge of the building falling away from him, “how did we come to all this?” he asked quietly “How did humanity lose so badly to eek out such a meagre existence in the bones of the past” Ryk closed his eyes and tried to imagine the place as it once had been, filled with families and children running around the rooms playing whilst their parents sat patiently watching their young as the days went past and the stars turned another cycle. He stopped after a moment as his feelings began to get the better of him as something gnawed at the back of his mind, he felt a flush of anger and regret that he clenched his fists at in reflex as he concentrated on the emotions as they attempted to take control, pressing down on them with his own mind until they began to slip away once more leaving just the silent calm once again.

He sat for a few minutes just breathing as he let his mind clear from the red haze that had slipped into it before opening them again and looking towards the tiny fire he had seen before, letting the spark of light settle his emotions once more like it always did when the haze over took him. The sound of boots behind him made him turn around, drawing the blade he kept at his side in a single motion as he flipped around to see who was there, only to be met by the form of his kin-brother Mer carrying a pack loaded with different pieces, his own blade hanging from his belt as a look of partially curiosity crossed his face before being replaced with a  smirk at his younger. “Day dreaming again” Mer teased Ryk as he saw the monocular “No, just watching the fire light” Ryk said standing up straight and picking up the monocular “You know what mother would say to you watching them again” Mer spoke as he spied the fire light in the distance “Don’t remind me Mer” Ryk growled through pointed teeth as he walked over to his brother, “The Humans see us no better than the damned kind they battle” Mer shook his head at his kin-brothers naivety “Doesn’t mean we can’t act better though does it, we may not be human anymore but that doesn’t mean we’ve lost our humanity” Ryk muttered grumpily as Mer patted him softly on the back...

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