Where am I? I looked around at my surroundings, immediately realizing that something was very, very wrong. The room I was in was dimly lit, with only a few thin rays of light shining in from a few narrow cracks between the wood of a boarded-up window. For one, I didn't recognize my surroundings, and two, everything around me looked monolithic in scale. I feel as a mouse compared to the towering desk and bookshelf beside me. I wondered as to whether I was in a world of giants or if I was simply very small.

I ended up deciding that it was most likely the latter case, after I tried to look at myself over only to realize that I didn't actually have a body. I had no feeling of a body, nor could I see anything to indicate that I actually had a body. Despite this, I don't really feel any panic. Perhaps this can be explained by the lack of a body? I'm fairly sure that fear is due to chemicals produced by the brain in the event of a threatening event, so if I didn't have a brain, that would be a reasonable explanation. However, that didn't explain how I could still feel wonder at the feeling of everything seeming so large. Curious.

As I continued to look around, I tried to see if movement was a possibility. To my relief, I found that I could hover around, much like a free roaming camera in a video game. I realize that it is very strange that I can feel relief but not panic or fear. Perhaps I can only feel positive emotions and not the negative ones? I'll have to look into this possibility at a later date. Currently figuring out where I am and what is going on takes a higher priority from me.

The room was... odd, to say the least. It was very clearly a bedroom, but a layer of dust that would take years to accumulate lay upon a bare desk with rotted stacks of paper with no discernable meaning, a bookshelf filled with decayed books, dressers with no drawers, and a bedframe with a tattered mattress. Further adding to the mystery was a doorframe with a brick wall instead of a door. Large paintings with the paints faded till they were unrecognizable hung upon the wall. I don't really know how to make heads or tails of it with the limited information I had.

As I wondered the room, I noticed a very curious development. The dust adhering to the various surfaces would slowly recede when I was close to it. I got closer to the dust. It seemed to recede faster the closer I was to it. As I observed more, I realized that the dust was not merely being displaced but actually disappearing in my presence. I laughed a little bit. Well, I don't really know anything about this world, but I guess I can call myself dust slayer. I investigated further, and found that mold and dirt would also disappear, albeit more slowly than dust. It seemed the more loosely dust or another contaminate was attached to a surface, the easier it was for me to remove. Furthermore, by actively focusing on removing some contaminate from a surface, it would disappear at a much faster rate.

I realized something odd. This had to be a large building. Judging by the craftmanship of the furniture, it was more than likely the kind one would find in a city, yet everything was simply... silent. I moved over to the window. The window was broken, but while the boards covered it fairly thoroughly, I could still see through the cracks. What I saw was... disturbing to say the least. The streets were lined with skeletons. The long dead lined the streets in various positions, with the skeletons of people and animals alike in various positions. Carts filled with skeletons were also a common sight.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

I cautiously slipped between the cracks in the boards, down to the streets below. Everything felt rather eerie, the bright streaming sunlight in stark contrast with the ominous atmosphere. Even the buildings felt dead, with many straw roofs having clearly rotted away long ago, and various vines and other things creeping up the walls. I investigated the skeletons, but there was no evidence of a violent death. It looked as if they had simply died, and a while ago judging by the lichen forming on the bones.

Looking around, I could see evidence that this was once quite a bustling place. The remains of several shops could be seen, but the windows and doors were boarded up. Looking around further, this area came complete with its own towering set of walls. Curious of the nature of what happened here, I wandered the city, until I found a large square. In it I found many deep, rectangular pits, many feet deep, filled with the burnt skeletons. The remains of the massive pyres where they undoubtedly must have been burning the corpses, as well as the carts used to bear the dead to their unceremonious fate littered the square.

I continued to explore and found myself at one of the gates of the city. There was a gap between the wall and the buildings with several skeletons littered between the buildings. Unlike the skeletons found earlier, these ones had quite obviously died a more violent death. Multiple bolts could be found littering the ground, some embedded in various bones in the skeletons. There was a large pile of skeletons piled near the gate, as well as the remains of a large log, with several bolts embedded in the log and the skeletons. The gate looked damaged, as if the people had, in life, attempted to escape by ramming down the gate.

I flew to the top of the wall. Several skeletons covered the tops of the walls as well, these with rusted armor. The remains of crossbows also littered the wall. It seems that they suffered the same fate as those they killed. I decided to fly upwards to get a better vantage point. After reaching several hundred meters in the air, I looked down. The city was comprised of several segments. Each seemed equally dead, the mass graves and pyres were a common theme. Thats when I saw something quite different. A small fire burned outside the city.

I approached the fire, despite my better judgement, and saw a few women sitting by the fire. They appeared to be an adventuring party of sorts. The composition of which was a fighter, a mage, and a ranger. They sat around the fire having a discussion that I couldn't understand. That figures, given that I'm certainly not from around here. What I can understand is that they don't want anything to do with the city I just came from. The campsite is positioned several hundred meters from the walls and judging from the way they view the city, with apprehension and fear, they don't seem like they want anything to do with it. Smart choice. I've been there. Not a great place.

I decide to stick with them that night. They woke up fairly early in the morning and set out fairly quickly down the road. I guess they just want to leave as quickly as possible. I try to listen to their conversations as we go down the road, but I can't understand anything they are talking about. I can understand a few things based on context clues, but not much. Eventually they come upon another, livelier city. This looks much better than where I came from, and hopefully, I can find some answers here.

To be continued....