a writing snippet - an unfinished entry for a prompt

[hagaard]

The light of the sun never reaches the bottom of the Pits. That is not to say that Hell is completely devoid of light, of course; however, all light there is artificial, and it was the Demon Lords’ duty to provide it to their servants. Some had chosen easy solutions, like hanging a huge fireball above their lands and call it a day. Others had preferred the mysterious charm of magical runestones that would lighten up when in the presence of a demon. There were lands where the light came for the ground, somehow made fluorescent; there were places where giant fireflies were allowed to roam free, illuminating the “sky”. Some rulers, either by laziness or greed, decided that their subjects could very well bring torches or light themselves on fire, if they really wanted to see that much. But whatever the solution, it never was quite like the Sun. This fateful night, as dawn arose over the Light Citadel, the newly-promoted cadets of the Dawn Guard were finally able to appreciate the spectacle they had been deprived from the last few weeks.

This hall shouldn’t have been anything special. In essence, it was very similar to most other ceremonial military halls within the Citadel. Cylindrical in shape, with a floor made of white and gray slabs interlaced to form intricate patterns of concentric circles, its otherwise spotless walls were ran over by darker lines, depicting scenes, legends, interpretations of the Texts. The moderate size of the room apparently didn’t stop the architect from following the local trend in hall-building, which resulted in a disproportionately tall dome towering over the location.

Now, usually, the light would be provided by either an ingenuous system of mirrors or a light-bulb of sorts during the night. However, for a number of reasons, none of these solutions could be applied; as a result, it was decided that adequate luminosity would instead be provided by the means of tearing a hole in the wall.

Angels don’t like messes, and disapprove of the unexpected. To look like it was actually planned for during construction, the hole was quickly completed by a balcony, and carved into a rectangle. The job was hastily completed, and anyone that cared would have noticed that immediately. None of the Cadets cared. They were, for the most part, glad to be home and safe, and were waiting around, mindlessly chatting about the mission, the weather, what would come next. One, however, wasn’t part of the celebrations. Perched on the balcony, they were pensively observing the horizon.



i doubt i'll ever finish this