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The air was silent, still. The sun was a distant ray of light, barely reaching down into the bottom of the deep crater. The Liao Crater, proud house of the Liao Crater monastery. Or rather, what was left of it. The monastery itself was still intact, but the monks that lived within were long gone. The plants were drooping, depressed from the lack of care and light. Luedeth Dwin’ndare stood in front of this monastery, observing the remnants of the Zen garden that the area had once been home to.
A ruin of rocks. For rocks were scattered across the entire area, as if they had been purposefully disrupted from their resting places. The path was strewn with the small black and white pebbles, and the rest of the area was an uneven sea of chaos. The small fountain situated to her left was cracked and on its side. To her right rested a bird feeder, probably more of a decoration than anything else, as birds would never venture down here. It was lying on the ground with birdseed strewn all around it. Short hedges surrounded the ruined Zen garden. Luedeth supposed that at one point they must have been well groomed, clipped and square all the way around. But now they were sticking out at all sorts of strange angles, adding to the unruliness of the scene.
Luedeth stepped forward into the mess. Her long, silver hair barely moved from its place against her body as she did so. There was no wind down here. Not even a whisper of a breeze. The stillness was…suffocating.
Her feet barely made a sound as they made their way across the pebbled pathway. Her step was always very light, as if she were the wind itself. Soon, she was at the foot of the stairs leading to the monastery. She dared not go further into that now cursed place. She could feel it overflowing with sorrow and anger, the feelings of the now dead monks. And all the blood. She could smell it clinging to every surface of the place. To enter the monastery would be to enter a nightmare.
So she sat down upon the first step, gazing out upon the crater. Even in its unkempt state, it was still kind of beautiful. She brought her smooth, chocolate colored legs up to her chest, and gripped them with her hands. She wasn’t quite sure why she was here, but she was. It was as if the place had been calling out to her. Perhaps it knew of her quest for power? She looked out across the garden to the wall of the crater. She could barely make it out; as there was not much light down here. The crater was merely earth, but it was so alive. All earth was, but only those who listened could hear it.
And this earth wanted her here for something.
Crunch…
Luedeth looked up, startled, at the sound of approaching footsteps. She stood up, and drew the long, wooden staff she kept slung across her back. She didn’t know if the person approaching was friend or foe, but what kind of fool wasn’t ready for the worst?
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