New Book: Chapter One

Kai set the letter back onto the burned table and took a look inside another room. Everything was black. He had a grim look on his face and had to hold a handkerchief to his nose to keep from inhaling the smoke. He continued down the dark corridor until he reached a big wooden door. He recognized it to be similar to the doors in the castle where he grew up. It was approximately 20 feet tall. Its handles were made of pure steel that hadn’t been touched by the fire, and the engraving of an imperial helmet could still be seen. He reached his glove-covered hand out to feel the smoothness of the fine steel, and gripped it tightly. He gave it a slight yank, but the door was too heavy. He set the brightly burning torch on the cement floor and used his, now free hand, as leverage. He gave the door another pull, this time with all of his force. He heard an abrupt squeaking noise, and gave the handle another tug. He could feel something within the door loosen, and heard another creak.

Just then the handle of the door snapped, and Kai lost his balance, falling to the ground. He accidentally loosened his grip, and the handle bounced onto the floor. Clank, Clank, Clank. The noise was loud and echoed through the small corridor. He cringed, and hoped no one would have heard it.

After a few minutes of pure silence, he was convinced that his presence was still unnoticed. He glanced up at the big wooden door, it was still unmoved. He did not understand why he was not able to budge it; but for the sake of time, he picked up the torch and moved on. He turned right, and moved silently down what seemed to be an opening in the wall. He had never been here, and before the fire had only noticed a painting of the emperor when he look this way. What he found was a steep corridor that continued deep into darkness.

“What is being hidden here?” he muttered to himself.

He lifted one of his legs over and into the hole, and then the other. The torch he held illuminated the hallway within seconds. He couldn’t see the whole way down, but could see about 10 feet in front of him; which was enough to know where he was going.

It seemed to be about 5 minutes by the time Kai finally reached the end, or what he hoped was the end. It was a small wooden door that was worn by mold and erosion. He opened it with an easy push and slowly stepped into a small room, about twice the size of the corridor he had just come to. What he saw took his breath away.

Across the enclosed room, about seven feet away from where he stood, hung a black flag. It was parallel to the wall, and bore the symbol of Syl, the shamed warrior.

When he was younger, his uncle had told him stories of a great warrior who roamed the lands as a mercenary, fighting for money. His uncle had said that the warrior had worked for so many races of the world that he had made a thousand enemies. He was exiled from the lands of Sirvia by the divine council; the high elves of the east, the men of the west, and the gnomes of the north. He vowed revenge on the Sirvians, and was never heard from again.

Kai caught his breath, and his eyes showed fear as he looked around the room. It held an empty space, with a few broken shelves, and a broken window. It appeared that this room had been ravaged by flames.

He walked over and examined the window. It was about three feet off the ground, and was approximately seven feet tall. There was no glass left attached to it, indicating it had been busted out. Kai peered over the edge of the window, and what he saw made him dizzy: rushing water, 200 feet below him, smashing against the base of the castle walls. He felt the wind blowing into his face, and a slight sprinkle fall from the dark clouds above.

The window faced south, and in the distance he saw smoke from campfires; lots of campfires. It seemed to be an assembly of some kind.

“You there, step away from the window.”

He heard a deep voice come from behind him; he turned slowly, and was face to face with two heavily armored ogres. Each had a spear pointed at his chest, and one held a tin lamp. He grabbed his purple colored sash and covered his face.

“You do not belong here.” One said.
“You’re coming with us.” The other grunted.

The beings were very well equipped and the only way out was that which he had come, for the depths of the window would surely end in death.

He reached into his left pocket and produced a handful of, what appeared to be ash. He raised it above his head, and threw it to the ground. With a loud “Pop”, the room filled with smoke. The Ogres covered their eyes, and within seconds and smoke had been filtered out the window and into the air. The young human they had been arresting had now disappeared into the darkness.