Shade

The air was heavy with rain, the promise of cleansing, but she knew it wouldn’t come. It never did. After all, since the government took control of the weather, they would teach the communities the value of obedience. There hadn’t been rain in Shade since before the Summoning, when the great beasts were called forth to do battle. The beasts lost and died and the people of Shade paid for their arrogance with no rain, only the promise of it, taunting the people and the thirsty, arid land.

Anna looked up to the dark sky and wished, not for the first time and definitely not for the last, that her application had gone through. She had applied for a transfer to Arrow, the land of plenty, the land of rain and waterfalls and lush landscapes of green. Yet, being a member of the house of DuLoc, she was doomed to be bound to Shade forever. Though the entire realm had mutinied against the rising tide of power of the government, the House of DuLoc was considered the leaders. This had given her family power in Shade and had marred them forever anywhere else.

But Anna was determined. She would escape the desolate land of Shade. She would feel the kiss of rain upon her face. She would know the joy of abundant life in the fragrant lands she read about in books. She would, not matter the cost.

And the cost, it seemed to her, was to take her place in the Assassin Guild. Only then would she be free. Only then would she leave Shade behind forever.

- June 13, 2013