A New Horizon (private)

[Llanwyn Siannodel]

Winter of Era II of the Celestine Mandate, Era XIV Post Fractum

It had been too long. Far too long in fact. Llanwyn had arrived months and months ago with Palacrisis and Zim, and while the others had moved on to live their lives, he had done just the opposite. Becoming a recluse, Llanwyn had more or less walled himself up in his stony palace under a blanket and constant alcoholic stupor. Life had simply been moving too fast and his time to crash had come.

Off the back of the great hall was a room that had fitted his needs. It was large enough to wallow in, which wasn't large at all. Llanwyn had come to find that all he needed in life while in that room was a bottle, a blanket, and food casually prepared by a servant he had hired. Their cooking skills were all but absent, but when intoxicated it doesn't really seem to matter. He had been miserable all those months, but when you sink that low, it's doesn't take much to continue thinking miserable equals "just fine."

This brightening would be the first he had stepped outside the gate of the fort since he had arrived. In fact, it was only the tenth or so time he had been in the sun at all. Walking alone at night over the castle grounds had become his only exercise. Combine that with drunken sinking about lost loves and you have his story since his arrival. And so, there he stood, in unfamiliar territory as of late, thinking over his months of uselessness and just how much he hated himself for taking them off from life.

"Sir," said Douglas, his servant.

Llanwyn turned to him, eyes squinting from the reflection of the sun off of fallen winter snow.

"Are you okay?"

Llanwyn nodded in the affirmative. He hadn't told Douglas about him leaving. In fact, he had packed his own bag, not alerting Douglas to his intention whatsoever. He smirked when he realized just how odd he must look right now after being a pathetic ghost for the past long while.

"Yes Douglas," he said, speaking in his long-lost normal, educated tone. "I am actually fine, for the first time in who knows how long."

Douglas grinned and looked at him curiously. "Are you leaving, sir?"

Llanwyn nodded, "Aye, indeed. I'm going to Vortex on business. I'm not sure for how long, I'll send word."

Douglas nodded and Llanwyn took that as his sign to leave. He took a step in front of him and shuffled his pack to his side as his massive feathered wings extended from beneath his robes. They shot out from his back like the morning sun over a mountain range, glimmering frosty white in the winter sun. With a turn of his head, he whistled a melodious tune in the direction of the main building. His call was answered by the song of a bird as Sorrow whisked from a window toward Llanwyn.

"Do you mean to fly there, sir?" asked Douglas, who was ready to fetch Briigo ona moment's notice.

"Not fly, Douglas, Sorrow and I will glide... yes, glide is the appropriate term for what we will be doing."

As Llanwyn took to the sky with a single flap of his wings, Douglas called up to him with a great big grin, "It's good to have you back my lord!"

"It's good to be back."