The port beneath the Songbird constellation was as pretentious and self-sufficient as Umi remembered. Workers hauled ashore cages of feathered game and trunks of malachite ore, lined in synchronized, silent pairs. It was untoward to speak during daily work—for the Árai, clear communication was rarely encumbered by words.
The mosaiced dock was caked in dust from the hooves of horses and the feet of couriers, but tiled designs of blue luminescence still shown through. They were cool to step on, and blessed under the same constellation as Umi’s heat-defying swords—they stayed the same temperature, under any weather. Blissfully cold patches of air rose with the breeze as Umi led his warriors out of the harbor.
-The Stars Went Out
“Because I said so” is my go-to fantasy world aesthetic. The preferred Árai material for sculpture is malachite, which has been floating around my head since this 6-Word Story Challenge by G. Edward Smith. Check him out! (Only one more day of Camp Nano. Rally your troops!)
Thanks for the mention! I’m so ready for camp NaNoWriMo to be finished. I think I bit off more than I could chew. However, the daily writing habit it has instilled has been wonderful.
Ha ha, it’s something you learn habits for, like any kind of writing. But it definitely puts you through the wringer. Congratulations on making it this far!
I’m not really into fantasy but I love your rich vocabulary
Thank you very much–I try not to spill my dictionary when I’m at the keyboard, since that tends to get in the way of a reading experience, but I do love me some fine words! (Excepting possibly “Gorgonzola,” which has never sat right on the tongue.)