7
April 25, 2017 - 195 words
This crystal sphere gleamed in the candlelight. It reflected the orange points of flame and sent them back into the darkened chamber. WANDERER entered with caution, wary of the traps he’d been warned were set. None had sprung but that just increased his tension. He muttered a disinterested curse and set to work.
WANDERER stepped gingerly over the decayed piles of dusty bones that littered the room like dusty bones. He approached the altar. It was a dark black slab of an altar, smooth and shining and sad, as if remembering the darkness of the ceremony from the night before. Or was that WANDERER remembering? He had a tendency to project, which is why the Council had chosen him for this task in the first place.
He kneeled in front of the altar, his chains coiling around his knees like a dried up serpent and placed his crystal sphere in front of him. He remained silent for a minute or two, contemplating the cosmos and the dank, heavy air that reeked of heartache. WANDERER fell into a mild trance and uttered his repentant words. The Council warned him he had to be sincere this time.