I've been the leader, I've been the follower I've been the dreamer, I've been the wallower I'll take the high road, I'll take the low road Then right to the top When you hear me coming you can hear a pin drop. - katie miller-heidke - Timestamp: 26 Spring 514 AV It was a picture straight out of his dreams. Colored light puddled and streaked over the floor. It poured in through the series of floor to ceiling windows cutting down two of the stone walls and shimmered due to the musical spill of the waterfall. The cavernous real estate was located on the bottom tier of the falls and boasted of a wide patio with an attached dock more than large enough for four distinct moorings. There were three separate ways in and out, but the main entrance was the only one at once obvious and currently in use. The same stained glass that created sun-cycle patterns in the windows overlooking the water was echoed in paneling at the door that Caelum had propped open with a ballast stone. This was for easy access as he hauled kegs of ale from the Dreamcatcher, Kavala's catamaran, and into the tavern space. The grand opening of Alements was tomorrow. This was the last haul of supplies and once the last pair of kegs were stored behind the bar, Caelum was going to settle into arranging and rearranging everything from wine bottles to glassware to tables and chairs. It wasn't that anything was dirty or not set up. It was, in the end, that not everything was exactly where it had been in a very vivid and foreboding dream when winter was still on the ground. In the dream as well as in today's reality, copper shined to a mirror gloss was behind the curving spill of a marble topped bar. The marble was creamy white and veined with sparks of gold and ivory. Thick rugs of varying designs but connecting color patterns spilled beneath an array of cherry wood tables and chairs as well as several cozy sitting areas outfitted with low divans deep cushioned armchairs. Bright greenery spilled over the heights of the windows from recessed bins, an array of flowering herbs such as those that were ultimately used in many of his concoctions. The air was lit with the scent of green things and salt water and, at the moment, cleaning solution. Shouldering through the swinging door that led out of the well stocked kitchen, Caelum scrubbed long fingers through hair that had lightened to the brass and cornflower hues of spring and paused to catch his breath. Soon, the courier who was a relatively recent addition to the Sanctuary family, was going to arrive with the horse cart and the last crates of wine they would need to unload and store. Caelum was glad for the help with Xira had volunteered, and knew that tomorrow Elise would be here with the sunrise going over everything all over again. For now, however, the tavern was empty save for Caelum and the ghosts that an infant Akontak had tracked with old soul eyes. As a man who wore the skin of the long dead every moon rise, Caelum was not usually uncomfortable with spirits. He'd just rather keep his own history well buried. |