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[beyond-duology-series]

Hey guys!

I've been working hard to try and get the book somewhere, and I've just recently managed to get started on chapter 4! I have always had a hard time keeping at something when it came to writing books, but I really this idea so the fact that I have been able to reach here after a few months is major progress in the right direction.

[beyond-duology-series]

Chapter Snippet - Forest

I wandered around the small space looking for anything that wasn’t too badly damaged with the years of use to dress up in for the meeting before quickly giving up and deciding on my usual pants and shirt with the hooded robe. It was better that way anyway; not only was I more comfortable in these kinds of clothes, it was better since they were acquired using the money I worked for myself.

Looking to see if there was anyone nearby, I locked the door and headed out the window onto the roof, the clothes in my hand along with the bandages that normally went around my eyes. I checked to see the traffic, but it was either that I’d fallen asleep or I had spent more time questioning life than I thought because it was already evening and there were less people moving around the capital than during the day.

This only works out in my favour, so I’m not complaining. With a chuckle, I descended the building and went to the nearby river that ran alongside the west of the city. Despite being surrounded by forests, most of the cities in the empire managed to thrive and use that to their advantage in case of rebellions. Ambushes were so much easier to set up when you’re covered than when you’re out in the open.

I reached the river without much problem, and I set down my clothes in the river to wet them a bit. After making sure they’re all a bit soaked, I sat on the grass and took out the soap from my pocket, starting with the bandages, and rubbing it on the cloth to clean it. I repeated the process for the remaining pieces of clothing, and before long all of them had been soaked in water and soap.

When I was satisfied with the amount of soaking they had taken, I started to rinse them out in the river, making sure to place them on the vine I’d set up nearby long ago. Pinning them down with some clips I’d scavenged, I heaved a satisfied sigh and sat down on the grass to rest and enjoy the night sky brimming with stars.

Laundry was always tiring no matter how good I’d gotten at it, but the satisfaction of finally finishing and having a clean result was always worth the work. I put my hand up in the air, tracing the patterns the stars made with their twinkling lights, and remembering the name of each constellation without much effort. As I reached the last constellation, a smile tugged at my lips. Though most people would look down upon and shun it, the Scythe was my favourite of them all. Associated with death, people were afraid of it, but no one can ever avoid death, so why bother worrying?

Instead, I spent my days reimagining the life and world beyond the end, something with a new beginning, and had started to associate the meaning of death with rebirth and second life. What I loved most about it is that if you went up to the wall and stared up into the sky, the Scythe constellation always ended on the other side of the wall. The pole was on this side of the wall, but the blade always pointed towards the other side.

I stood up and started to climb the highest tree nearby, placing my hands and feet on familiar branches and nooks in the tree trunk. When I reached as high as I could go, I sat down on the branch, resting one leg along its length and letting the other dangle while the trunk supported my back.

On one side, you could see the tinkling lights of the city, bustling with life even within the darkness. A testament to the distinct ability for humans to adapt to their surroundings and make the best and better of what they find and have been given. On the other side, you could only see trees as far as the horizon, and the large, blocky shadow of the wall that encompassed everything that is the empire.

I’ve always been curious about what was beyond that wall, but there was no way for anyone to go beyond it. The wall was as tall as the heavens themselves, and from end to end it was well built and sturdy. The mountains it was holding on to acted as its guardians, sheer cliffs and steep ground that made it impossible to climb up the mountain and go over the wall that way.

I closed my eyes and imagined myself soaring across the sky, going higher and higher until I’m finally able to see above the wall and beyond. Feeling the air on my skin and in my hair. Breathing the air and flying with the birds.