Conversations in the Shroud died in a smothering black. Listen, though, and you might find one.
""I told you so."
Conversations in the dark are strange things. They hum and hiss. Â
"Yez did. Yez did."
Conversations in dim firelight flit and flutter, making ghosts of the speakers.
"And?"
One just a dim reflections of fire outlined in gold and shining orange. This one has a pipe. It has a bottle. It's facing east towards a clear horizon. There were a few high points in the Shroud. Only a few, if you knew where to look.
"Got whit I wiz owed."
The other bright, and clear. Circling in the shadows. Reflecting in the open doors of a small brass lantern.
"Mmm. I bet you even believe that."
One sounding like a landslide's lullaby to the children of the earth as it rushed forward.
"I do. Dun leave debts outstandin where I kin."
The other a breath on the back of the neck. the comforting embrace of shelter against the colds, liquid warmth poured over the ears like honey, bright and pure.
"And you're not worried about what happens next?"
One with a red eye scanning the east for some sign.
"No."
One with sparks dancing in their brassy depths.Â
"Do you believe that?"
One drawing slow, careful pulls of smoke. Drawing the taste of the incense infused air over tongue and palette.
"No."
One near breathless as it laughed.
"So now what?"
One grinning wide in the dark.
"I wait."
The other leering in the firelight.
"You know they'll call for that blood."
One shaking it's head.
"Good. I wanna see em nod t'ae how much it cost."
One nodding in the reflections and flashes of embers dancing around the lantern in the fire's depths.
"And then what? You owe more? Not sure you can afford to keep paying if it means you keep getting kissed  by fire."
The other sighing a cloud of sparks and ashen white.
"Don't intend to pay."
One fading into the dark, frowning.
"Is that why we're up here?"
One leaning forward, pointing at the east.
"No. We're here to watch that."
Out in the shroud, on a rock with a small fire and a smaller lantern, the morning's first rays washed away the conversation, the ghost faces, the soft words and darker promises.
Out in the shroud, the dawn broke over a blanket of swaying green welcoming the honest light of day.
![[Image: tumblr_mjwxnlcz6Q1rl52wjo2_500.gif]](https://33.media.tumblr.com/224cfbd6e79103f0520a30eabfc5085d/tumblr_mjwxnlcz6Q1rl52wjo2_500.gif)
