NOVEL NEXT Book 2 Epilogue
A huge city loomed in the distance, its walls rising several climbs into the air, centered within a massive crater—not volcanic in origin. The crater was nearly a perfect circle, stretching for journeys in diameter.
The walls jutted up all around the rim of the crater, adding to the already sheer height of the crater rim. The walls themselves were made of a dark stone that most wouldn't recognize, but the skilled few might catch the telltale swirl of Adamantine—visible only when the sun struck them just right.
Watchtowers jutted into empty space, extending from ten equidistant points along the wall. They were black, rectangular obelisks save for the top spires, which were a bright white stone that seemed to give off a light of its own. White lightning crackled periodically along the towers, flowing down from chains that were anchored to the spires' tips.
However impressive the crater and the walls were, they were dwarfed by the majesty of The Stone. A gigantic fortress of stone hovered directly above the city center—looking like a meteor prevented from striking the earth by some divine hand.
It was shaped like a crystal, ten flat faces occupying most of its surface area before tapering to fine points on both the top and bottom of the structure. Just visible were balconies and railings and exposed staircases chiseled into the many faces of the crystalline shape.
The fortress, made of the same whitestone as the watchtower spires, was suspended from all ten towers by enormous chains of gold, though the chains were slack rather than holding the weight of the floating fortress.
If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
They were anchored to the bottom of the fortress, where they extended out in ten directions to connect all the towers together, lightning crackling along their lengths.
The average person might think the chains made of solid gold and marvel at their expense, while a skilled eye might recognize the material for what it truly was: orichalcum. The expense behind solid chains made of the mythic metal was beyond imagination, lending the city—and The Stone itself—an air of superiority, a sort of divine majesty.
The air of supreme divinity contrasted sharply with the look on the face of a woman approaching one of the many gates. She seemed to be in her late twenties—perhaps early thirties. She had brunette hair and deep brown eyes that seemed to glow faintly red in the sunlight. Her face was crisscrossed with scars, clearly marking an experienced warrior.
She walked slowly toward the city while studying its visage, disliking it more with every step closer.
"Vinren, what the fuck have you done?" she whispered.
A huge battleax strapped to her back clanged as it bumped against steel armor enveloping her large frame. She didn't even notice, so focused on the obscene ostentation of the city before her.
"Haa…" she sighed deeply.
She seemed to have her work cut out for her.