Crack in the sky - Prologue.
A group of five people slumped on a ledge high above the clouds, the little ledge seemed to be a pathway to the place that they struggled to reach further up.
“We are... almost... there...” they gasped together as they rested, bitterly laughing to themselves that they, people of such status and power were nothing in the face of this god forbidden place.
Of the five, there were three men and two women, the cloaks shielded their bodies from the wind that bashed and howled around them. They huddled close to back of the ledge, not daring to take any chances.
Time passed on and the wind that howled around them finally let up slightly, allowing them to continue their journey up the mountain.
“Let us carry on, we can’t afford to stay here any longer, it’s too dangerous.” One of the five urged, he was one of the men in the group, he clutched his cloak close to his body as he stood.
The others soon followed suit and stuck close to the wall as they followed the pathway ledge that led them up to the peak.
“Ahhh!”
Suddenly, a scream sounded out from behind the leading man and his facial expressions turned grave, he turned his head and saw one of his companions heads roll off it’s body.
She was the one at the back of the group and behind her stood a black shadow which seemed to be shaped in the form of a human. In its right hand it clutched a sword made from the same black shadow it’s body was made out of.
“Shadow stalkers!” The man leading the group yelled, the three remaining suddenly shot forwards behind the leading man and set up a formation. Each of their hands glowed beautifully and weapons appeared, the leading man held a giant red hammer in his hands and the remaining female of the group held a bow which glowed blue. A glowing blue arrow appeared within the bowstring of the bow instantly shooting out towards the shadow stalker who was currently devouring their companion’s corpse by using its shadow energy to engulf the body.
As the arrow flew out at an impossible speed, the shadow stalker fully devoured the corpse and disappeared, dodging the arrow by a hairs breath.
“Fuck! It’s using one of it’s abilities!” A rough voice sounded out from within the formation, it was one of the other males within the group. The glowing green book in his hand suddenly floating in front of him and the pages opened to one particular page as he chanted whilst drawing characters with his other hand. A stream of green energy flowed into the bodies of the other three within the formation, instantly increasing their capabilities by a certain amount.
“Ha..haha..hahaha..” a foul voice cackled, this laugh was like the laugh of the dead and the four felt a shiver go up their spines.
From the direction of the cackle the shadow stalker appeared once more but this time there were multiple shadow stalkers.This was one of the most frightful abilities of a shadow stalker, shadow clone.
There were, in total, eight clones. The leading man, seeing this yelled, “Take them out!”
Three of them attacked with their weapons, the leading man swung his giant hammer, smashing into three of the clones and instantly destroying them. The red energy that hued from the hammer seemed to be able to smash through anything.
Nevertheless, the others weren’t slow either. The woman wielding the bow shot out two bright blue arrows at once and they dispersed both of the clones she aimed for.
The man with the floating book didn’t attack but backed up the others with his support abilities, green light flowing into all three of his companions.
Next to attack was the next man in the group, a quiet man with a slim build, his black cloak was stuck to his body and made him blend into the dark walls of the mountain. He wielded a black blade, with the flick of his cloak he disappeared and appeared next to the remaining shadow stalkers. He was like a ghost and as he brandished his quiet blade, instantly ridding of the rest of the enemies.
As this happened the shadow clones reverted back to the original body as the main body crumbled away into the air.
Seeing this the four of them inwardly cheered however, as they remembered how the shadow stalker had killed their companion the happy feeling sunk into sadness.
“Shit, we lost another one of our Sisters,” the leading man cursed as he balled his hand into a fist, seemingly full of anger.
Still, anger was futile in this place, and he knew it too. He inwardly tried to calm himself as he signaled his companions to walk onwards towards their destination.
______
The group did not rest or stop until they came to the end of the pathway that led up the mountain, caution and the constant reminder of the ambush prevented them from doing so.
The pathway eventually led into the summit of the mountain where the massive slabs of earth interlinked with each other, providing shelter from the weather, however, the wind still howled through the gaps, battering against the earth.
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“Everyone, be vigilant, in the scriptures it described how the pathway on the summit was even more dangerous.” The leading man said in a low voice, wariness deeply imbedded in his tone.
As he carried on walking ahead of the group he felt something was wrong, it was far too quiet, he felt it he didn’t need to look back because his companions were behind him, following him.
However, he couldn’t hear any footsteps but his, warning bells instantly went off in his mind as he turned around to see what the situation was.
His eyes flickered around, he could not see a soul, not one trace of his companions remained.
He paled, a sickening feeling welling up in his stomach and a cold sweat drenched his back, he tried to calm himself but he couldn't,’ how could they just disappear!?’.
“N-No!” he mumbled, fear emerging on his face, In the face of these strange happenings what use was him being able to fight?!
His companions! His sworn Brothers and Sisters! Gone!
As the scriptures suggested, this was indeed the most dangerous place of the journey, he couldn’t stay stopped any longer, he had to bury all his feelings deep within himself if he wanted to make it, he could not afford to dwell on the disappearance of his companions.
Do not stop.
Do not think.
He repeated these two lines to himself like a mantra as he gathered power at his feet, making him able to move faster than before.
…
The man went forwards like he was possessed until finally he gave out and his knees buckled from under him.
*thud*
“Hahaha..Hahahahaha” he laughed insanely as he looked at the structure in front of him.
“I.. Actually made it..!” his eyes lit up, but he didn’t feel as happy as he should, after all, he lost everything to arrive here.
His ‘Destination’ was in front of him, the place he read about in the ancient scriptures.
Suddenly a voice broke the silence.
“Ah, What do we have here~”
A little old man said in a playful tone, the old man was hunched over and leant on a small white cane.
The old man looked like he was about to die at any moment, one could not even see his face due to the amount of wrinkles he had.
However, his eyes were clear and deep, they held a youthful and playful glint within the pits of the deep, dark pupils.
The man slumped on his knees in front of the Spire felt a shiver down his spine, this old man appeared out of nowhere.
“Haha, be calm, I am the gatekeeper of the Spire, you can call me Dos, What is your name child?” he said.
The man wasn’t used to being referred to as a child, he had lived for 50 years now, however, he swallowed his displeasure, “Dos.. I am Pofel, I have come to climb the Spire.” he replied, stuttering his words slightly, seeing this, Dos smiled playfully.
“Hmmm? Climb the Spire.. you?” Dos’s tone suddenly becoming slightly threatening, a hint of anger evident in his tone.
Pofel caught this and paled, coughing he started, “Ah, y-yes? Is that bad?”
“Hmm~ It’s not bad, it’s simply that you will die if you persist.” Dos stated matter of factly.
“I want to enter, I do not care if I die, I’ve already lost everything!” Pofel cursed, remembering the faces of those he had lost on his journey to the Spire, If he couldn’t enter after all that, how could he ever face them in the afterlife?
Pofel stood to his feet and walked forward towards the door where Dos stood, leaning on his cane.
However, as Pofel got closer, Dos slipped his cane from under him and waved it towards Pofel, the result was immediate, Pofel simply disintegrated into dust.
“Ahh, a pity he was not fit to climb, he was the first Human in a few thousand years~” Dos sighed dramatically, grinning to himself.
______
This place was simply referred to as the Spire, it was actually more like a tower, the structure's size couldn’t be put into words, it was simply enormous, no end could be seen if one looked up or across, it seemed to go on forever.
A little door which Dos managed was the only way in from the outside.
To find the Spire one had to face this mountain and reach the peak, the mountain itself was also not to be underestimated, countless dangers filled the paths and trails, the shadow stalkers were but a few of the types of creatures living on the god forsaken mountain.
To make it to the peak required one to lose it all like the man found out.
However they risked it all to reach the Spire, hoping to be able to reach the top, it was said that you could gain anything you wished if you reached the top, power, authority, wealth, love, these were but a few of the temptations that drove those to risk it all.