Their walk to the shimmer factory every night was the same. Three steps, one cracked, into busted up pavement that passed for a sidewalk. Lightposts, once bright and evenly spaced, paid for by some richer-than-average do-gooder, lay broken across the sidewalk, with a few survivors struggling to stand. It was a dim walk even when the sun was up, and only their familiarity with the area got them from home to the factory with relative ease in the dark. The only difference between one night and the next were the missing posters pasted to the remaining lightposts. They were the closest thing to news they got in this neighborhood. Every morning, as the light fought its way down into the Lanes, they checked to see which neighbor, which friend, which enemy had vanished overnight. Missing posters were never removed, only covered up with more, till the lightposts were thick with people long forgotten. Their own parents were some of those people. It was the closest they got to a proper burial. Three steps, avoiding the crack, to the busted up pavement. They froze on the last one, foot hovering in midair. Something was different. The lightposts had been replaced. The light, brighter than that of the sun, cast eerie shadows between the cracked pavement. Stepping out of the shadows felt wrong; they were exposed, vulnerable to whom—or what—ever might pass by. Most upsetting were the missing posters. Like a graveyard paved over, every single one has been removed. The last pictures of their parents, gone. In their place were heavy, blue posters with gold writing. They couldn’t read, but even they could recognize the ancient insignia at the top of each poster: Two ornate keys, locked in an eternal duel.
The Chembaron Caitlyn Letters
5- Unnamed Zaunites
Written by Mags
ao3: cinderoni (archiveofourown.org/users/cinder...)
bsky: cinderoni (bsky.app/profile/cind...)
Read all of the letters here: archiveofourown.org/works/681114...
#arcane #chembaroncaitlynweek
