Chaotic
Legend of the SkyWorlders
Book 1: Perim
Writen By: PCShark11
Prologue:
Slinde
The man briskly walked down the corridor, glancing nervously around. The man’s name was Slinde, and he didn’t want anyone to see him in the Grand Council Building. He had made it 5 paces in the corridor when a drop of liquid landed in front of him. He glanced around, wondering if anyone was near him. He looked down to the scarlet carpet flooring that ran the length of the immense hallway, and where the drop hit, was a golden stain. He curiously looked up to see that the ceiling had a huge golden leek.
Something was on the above floor that was seeping through the wooden paneling. Suddenly, going into the Grand Council meeting did not interest Slinde as much anymore. He had a puzzled look on his face as he pondered about what the golden liquid was. He took a step back towards the door he had entered. He then opened the door, and exited the building.
From outside, the Grand Council Building looked like a Mammoth alongside thousands of small insects. Slinde always had wondered why they needed such a large structure for a group of only 5 men.
Slinde reached into his robes to pull out a long rope. He fastened a small hook onto the end, and threw it high into the air. There was a loud scraping noise, and the rope became taunt. He pulled hard on the rope twice, but nothing happened. He then started pulling himself up, hand-over-hand.
He looked down at the small specs of people as he climbed. Some watched as he crept higher. Some ushered their children away from the scene. He saw one alert a guard.
Slinde hurried his slow extent towards the second floor. He saw the guard sprinting towards the building, with his whistle in hand. The guard puckered his small lips, and blew the silver object. The noise pierced the air as guards from all over the streets ran to the building.
Slinde was now swinging on the rope. His arms ached. He knew he would fall, but he was so close to the second floor balcony! He swung violently outwards toward the streets. When the rope was swinging fast enough to produce a loud swishing noise, Slinde let go.
He flipped upwards, and his hand caught hold of the balcony railing. He pulled himself up and over the delicate mahogany rail, and sprinted across the balcony to the door. He saw hooks similar to his latch onto the balcony. He heard the scrapping noise echo around him off the furniture of the terrace.
He then opened the door, and stepped onto the second floor of the Grand Council Building. None had stepped onto this floor except for the Grand Council and the occasional guard and survived. The punishment for infiltrating the building was severe; execution, and if you are lucky, banishment.
As he stepped into the building, he saw the golden splotch that he came for. It was seeping through the ground, but like the first floor, it didn’t start there. He looked up, and saw a pool of golden liquid on the ceiling. He had to go up another floor. The staircases were in the dome shaped building of the Grand Council Court. He sprinted down the lengthy corridor, and passed a slender guard. As he passed, the guard looked shocked, angry, and most of all confused. He shouted at Slinde, but Slinde ignored the man.
The guard started to get up from his chair to chase after Slinde when he noticed one of the golden droplets on the carpet. He reached down and touched the small stain. It was warm to the touch. His fingernail felt as if it were burning. He looked closely at the golden stain.
He then realized his finger was actually burning! The golden liquid was some type of acid that burned flesh. He grabbed the water can next to him and poured some onto his burning tissue. He yelped in pain as the burning sensation increased.
It was starting to reach the rest of his arm when it suddenly stopped. The guard looked at his finger. It was the crisp dark color of burnt skin. His entire hand was the same way. At the very tip of his fingernail was a small golden color.
He stood there for a couple of seconds then realized that Slinde was getting away. He raced down the hallway in the direction that Slinde had run. He made sure to dodge all golden splotches.
Slinde was in front of the Grand Council Room door when the golden liquid fell at his feet. He heard loud shouts from down the hallway, followed by the sound of feet heavily pounding on the floor. Slinde opened the door and found himself on a small catwalk over a fancily furnished room. In the room sat 4 men wearing elegant robes of lavender and tan. Slinde looked around for a fifth person, but saw none.
The men were in deep discussion over something that Slinde could not make out from the distance he was at. He saw the metal staircases that lead to the upper floors. He softly sprinted to them, hoping not to make a sound. A soft echo of boot on metal clanged from the catwalk, but the Council beneath him did not seem to notice.
He reached the staircases when the door he had entered burst open. The guard ran in, wielding a bow and a quiver of arrows. He knocked the arrow, and aimed at Slinde. Slinde moved slightly to the left as the arrow flew by. The sharp metal tip nicked his right arm before sailing into the railing. It permitted a sharp hissing noise.
The Grand Council had heard the ruckus, and were now aware of the trouble on the second floor catwalk.
Another arrow sailed past Slinde. He barely made it away from that one by dodging to the right. Slinde turned around, and bounded up the stairs while pulling a small knife from his inside cloak pocket. An arrow hit the banister in front of Slinde’s right leg.
He reached the curving point in the staircase and turned. He was only partially visible to the archer. The guard reached into his quiver and pulled out a larger arrow, with 3 points formed in a large triangle. A fourth, smaller point rested in the center of the shape. This point looked sharp enough to pierce armor. In this case, 2 banisters and poor vision weren’t going to save Slinde.
To his great surprise, the archer did not aim at the area where Slinde was, but an area a bit lower. Slinde expected a bit higher, as the arrow would fall with all that weight. Still, nonetheless, Slinde took off running up the staircase until he reached the curve. He thought that the archer’s aim could have been a trick to make him come into the open and be hit down with a normal arrow.
Slinde took a quick peek to the guard’s position. He was where he entered the room, and was still aiming at the spot a bit lower than Slinde’s former position. He followed the guard’s gaze and saw what he didn’t want to see.
The guard wasn’t aiming for him.
The guard was aiming at the pillar holding the stairs up.
Slinde crossed the curve, and started running up the flight of stairs. He didn’t care that he was a wide open target for any incoming arrows. All he cared about was reaching the third floor and running until he reached the end of the catwalk.
He took a brief glance to see the archer release his restraint on the string. With a loud ‘twang’ and an even louder splintering noise, the stairs began to give way.
Slinde sprinted the fastest he could as the stairs fell out from underneath him. Another ‘twang’ and a loud crash told him that the other pillar had been destroyed. The staircases tipped to the side, and began to fell.
The last thing Slinde heard was the screaming of the four present Grand Council Members as the staircase landed around them.
Luckily, Slinde wasn’t on that staircase any longer. The reason that it was the last thing he heard was because he had passed out on the catwalk of the third floor from loss of blood. It didn’t matter. They couldn’t reach him.
Not yet anyways.
