"Can we... stop... for a second?" panted Alice, clutching her chest with her free hand.
Thomas was just about to respond when he noticed the approach of some of the mob who had been agile enough to follow them. He hesitated for a moment, weighing up the options, and decided that it really didn’t matter anymore.
"Sorry, we have to keep following them." With that, he raised the mop towards the street behind him.
"Wha-" Alice’s voice was cut off by a large cracking sound.
The people behind them, who had up until this point been running at full pelt, had now frozen in their tracks. This was both figuratively and literally true, as their feet had apparently been frozen to the spot by the sudden appearance of ice reaching up to their ankles. There were a few cries of astonishment and a yell of pain from somebody whose body had still carried itself forward without the legs following.
Alice was watching in amazement.
"Wow, how di-"
"Come on, they won’t stay like that for long!", interrupted Thomas. Still grasping her hand tightly he sprinted off down the street towards the clock towers. In the back of his mind he vaguely wondered how much trouble he was going to be in, but it only came second to trying to keep him and Alice away from the approaching, thought admittedly slower, mob. Even if that did, unfortunately, involve running much faster than she could handle. He’d have to apologise later, if he got the chance.
Making their way through the crowds was somewhat easier than the maze of carts. Most people moved out of the way, partly in fear of colliding with the approaching duo, and partly out of curiosity. After all, it wasn’t often that small children holding sticks and buckets, and dragging along rather attractive woman, ran down the street at full pelt. This didn’t help Thomas too much though, Spring’s scent was getting harder to follow in the many different smells of the people and the markets, but luckily it didn’t seem to deviate much from the path they were following. He rushed along, eyes closed letting his nose find his path.
He stopped when he noticed a change and opened his eyes. The light almost blinded him, even when he tried to cover it up with his arm. In front of him stood one of the great clock towers of Arcor. From below, it looked incredibly tall and they shone a brilliant white. The sunlight reflected off the pure white marble and gold decoration that surrounded the tower. It seemed impossibly high, stretching to the sky and never seeming to stop. The steps that stood in front of them were also made marble and stretched up and into the tower.
Thomas heard Alice gasp in amazement, but unfortunately she didn’t have much time to admire them before he had set off again up the stairs. She was having a hard time, already exhausted by the running beforehand and was only just managing not to fall over. She stumbled and and tripped up the steps . It was only a fraction of the towers height, but still impressively tall and gave an impression of a never ending staircase. She was nearly at the top when her foot caught on a lower step and she stumbled forwards, and, unable to steady herself, fell face first onto the steps.
Thomas was just about to respond when he noticed the approach of some of the mob who had been agile enough to follow them. He hesitated for a moment, weighing up the options, and decided that it really didn’t matter anymore.
"Sorry, we have to keep following them." With that, he raised the mop towards the street behind him.
"Wha-" Alice’s voice was cut off by a large cracking sound.
The people behind them, who had up until this point been running at full pelt, had now frozen in their tracks. This was both figuratively and literally true, as their feet had apparently been frozen to the spot by the sudden appearance of ice reaching up to their ankles. There were a few cries of astonishment and a yell of pain from somebody whose body had still carried itself forward without the legs following.
Alice was watching in amazement.
"Wow, how di-"
"Come on, they won’t stay like that for long!", interrupted Thomas. Still grasping her hand tightly he sprinted off down the street towards the clock towers. In the back of his mind he vaguely wondered how much trouble he was going to be in, but it only came second to trying to keep him and Alice away from the approaching, thought admittedly slower, mob. Even if that did, unfortunately, involve running much faster than she could handle. He’d have to apologise later, if he got the chance.
Making their way through the crowds was somewhat easier than the maze of carts. Most people moved out of the way, partly in fear of colliding with the approaching duo, and partly out of curiosity. After all, it wasn’t often that small children holding sticks and buckets, and dragging along rather attractive woman, ran down the street at full pelt. This didn’t help Thomas too much though, Spring’s scent was getting harder to follow in the many different smells of the people and the markets, but luckily it didn’t seem to deviate much from the path they were following. He rushed along, eyes closed letting his nose find his path.
He stopped when he noticed a change and opened his eyes. The light almost blinded him, even when he tried to cover it up with his arm. In front of him stood one of the great clock towers of Arcor. From below, it looked incredibly tall and they shone a brilliant white. The sunlight reflected off the pure white marble and gold decoration that surrounded the tower. It seemed impossibly high, stretching to the sky and never seeming to stop. The steps that stood in front of them were also made marble and stretched up and into the tower.
Thomas heard Alice gasp in amazement, but unfortunately she didn’t have much time to admire them before he had set off again up the stairs. She was having a hard time, already exhausted by the running beforehand and was only just managing not to fall over. She stumbled and and tripped up the steps . It was only a fraction of the towers height, but still impressively tall and gave an impression of a never ending staircase. She was nearly at the top when her foot caught on a lower step and she stumbled forwards, and, unable to steady herself, fell face first onto the steps.
