Town, mine.

[guobin2]

Info: Another short set in town.

The rain came, falling thick and fast as the booming sounds of thunder rolled across the landscape, tearing into the town below with amazing ferocity.

The town was entirely empty. Loneliness and melancholy permeated the atmosphere, exemplified by the greyish tinge the rain had imparted to the area. The window panes rattled in their housings, while countless droplets ran down blood-stained, dirt-impacted walls. Howling gusts of wind screeched their way through the town, bellowing and screaming into every alley, every street corner. Every single lamp along the pavement had had its glass panes smashed in or broken in some manner, some having been ripped out of the ground in their entirety and left abandoned in the middle of the street, rusting away in knee-deep puddles of water. The clock tower had long ceased to fulfill its original purpose, and was now nothing more than a shattered ruin of its former self; the upper third of it now existed merely as a twisted, crumpled mass of sheet metal and stone. Water ran down its twisted faces and corners in thick rivulets, feeding the rivers of rainwater that coursed through the cobblestone pathways below.

In the wet, howling darkness, a single lantern had been placed on top of the wreckage that had once been the clock tower. It gleamed with a pale, yellowish glare that flickered constantly, the flame within convulsing and withering in the harsh gusts of wind that fed it. The pallid glow it cast upon its surroundings was hardly visible, disappearing and re-appearing in an instant.

All of a sudden, the sharp clang of metal shod boots was heard through the rain. Relentless and amplified in its uniformity, the sound drowned out the resounding claps of thunder, echoing through the town as soldiers clad in brown uniforms marched in from the west entrance. Upon their chests were badges embossed with the national crest of Axium, glimmering gently in the pale light from the lantern, while each had a Maxwell rifle slung across his chest. With yet another sharp clang, the troop came to a halt in front of the lantern, utterly motionless even in the pouring rain. A flag was unfurled by the lead soldier, who then stabbed it into the ground with crushing force.

Flapping and swirling around in the screeching wind and heavy downpour, was a flag of rich velvet, black in color and embroidered in a deep crimson with the same crest that adorned the badges of the soldiers- the national crest of the Kingdom of Axium.

This town had been torn from the anarchists by the 51st National Guards formation of the Kingdom. Just one of many to come.

[Ailysa]

I knew that your appearance back in the forums would spark another piece by yourself. I loved how you set the scene instantly and contrasted the bleakness of the town with the fierceness of the Axium solders.

However, it may have been better if you made some reference with the lamp to the story, seeing that it was mentioned for alot of the duration of the piece.


EDIT: Looking forward to a sequel for the piece you wrote in Lost Shrines with the note.

[_Zephyre_]

Uh...

Maxwell tends to produce weaponry for the Republic. It's Walcom Warriors you probably should be looking for.

ysosecks

[Nosedagger]

O SH -

The Empire struck back!