August Prompts - Ezekiel

Ezekiel was never one to interfere with the silly struggles of the nations he found himself in. At least, not anymore. Perhaps there had been a time, long gone by now, where he had been at the front of the line. Ready to fight for his nation, change others or destroy them if they refused to do as he ordered them to. However that was centuries ago, and Ezekiel rarely bothers with politics anymore. He had lived too long now, to see why he should even bother to care. After all, he could just leave if he needed to, could he not? So really, there was no reason for him to meddle in the affairs of mortal men.

He hadn't cared much when monsters had wrought destruction in Ivras - he had no home he was tied to here, no one to miss if they died. Truly, he had no bonds to anything or anyone, and perhaps that did bore him a little after all this time. So, for the first time in many years, his curiosity made him interfere. Not to help the poor villagers, oh no, but to see what would happen if such a monster as this got a little extra help. He had no intention of killing anyone outright, but he was curious to see what the aftermath would bring. How long would it take for them to end this monster? It was strong, true, but with a little extra aid, how would they cope?

So he meddled, sent sharp splinters flying at those who came near and kept them at bay just a little longer that they otherwise would have been. Injured a few a bit more than they otherwise would have been. And perhaps one or two poor villagers or mages fell as well, but he took no note of that. Besides, it was the monster that had caused the destruction, he had just aided a little. Not that he cared, for he did not know these people and his curiosity at present was caught up with the monster and the destruction it brought the land - he paid little attention to the wails of horror that accompanied the monster's trail of destruction, the pain and suffering it had caused.

He understood little of the worries he heard, when he travelled. The hushed whispers of doubt against the King or the Archon. He made little effort to learn more about them, if he was to be honest. Had he been asked, of the monster and the efforts of the mages in the land, he would have shrugged as if he had not even heard about it. Or as if he didn't care or disagreed. Those mages did all that they could, poor things. Not that his involvement had helped it go any faster.

There was, however, something that caught Ezekiel's attention much more than gossip. In the aftermath of the monster's death, the land surrounding the area of impact had darkened unnaturally. And that was something new and entirely different, from anything that he had ever experienced before. Through all of the scared and hushed voices recounting their own tales of this strange land, Ezekiel dared approach it. He did not enter it at first, no, but he studied it. How people travelled to it and disappeared, how those few who came back out reacted to their surroundings. Were they scared of what had happened within the darkness? What did they tell others, frantically, that none dared believe? With each passing day, his own curiosity grew stronger. He did not enter it, no, but he watched it carefully. He was not a fool. Although a few had survived their encounter most had died. There was no specific pattern yet, that he could track, of who lived and who died.

No, it was much safer to get more information. Perhaps, things in there could be manipulated. Or it could take his powers, kill him if he dared step a foot inside. So he stuck to visiting it frequently, travelling to villages in the area and listening to the rumours they spread, the tales they spun of what might be found in there. One was often dismissed, as if it had been a figment of their imagination, but he took note of it silently. Heartbeats. Easily mistaken for their own, and so most survivors were told as well as fear-ridden their voices were as they tried to convince their friends. Ezekiel, said nothing. Simply listened, noted things down. His curiosity only grew stronger, but he dared not enter yet. There was still much more to know, and he wasn't dumb enough to go in unprepared.