" He then left the room, closing the
door with a powerful thud, after which I heard a small metallic click
and his strong, commanding footsteps fading down the long stairway. As
soon as the sound had died away and he was no more to be heard, I ran
down to the door and tried to open it, but to no avail, for it was
locked. There was no way to escape: I was a prisoner of the Zards.
Chapter 9: Mutually Assured Deception
The light of the newborn sun rose that instant far enough above the
horizon to shine directly into the tower's upper dome-like room, and I
was awe struck by the texture that the lights created on the glass of
the walls, for when it shone through at just the right height, a
previously invisible picture came to view. It was of a towering clipper
ship with sails that stretched across their masts like skin over the
bones of a pleasantly plump fellow, the wind billowing them about at a
leisurely rate. Waves broke gently upon the ship's side as the crew
rested peacefully on the various cables and nets, all except for the
one-legged captain who was busy looking at the map and accompanying
charts. It was a quaint and beautiful scene, though it soon passed away
as the sun moved upwards in the sky, and I wouldn't have mentioned it,
except that as it disappeared, I found myself looking at where it had
been, but instead of the ship, I saw directly through the glass the
inhabitants of Nunami arising and beginning their daily business, a
scene which I might have missed since I was previously wholly absorbed
by the picturesqueness of the sky.
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