Rise of the Rook

Rise of the Rook

Chapter 1

“I am very sorry Mr Rook, I am afraid that you did not get the part you wanted, you will be welcome to come watch the showi-” I deleted the message before I could hear all of it. No doubt them trying to convince me to go to the showing of the play when it is finally completed. Meaning they want to milk more money out of me.

I ran a hand through my greasy, short brown hair, and looked around my two room apartment, and I realised I was in a very bad situation. With no money for rent coming in, because the role I was aiming for went to some other actor, who probably bribed the director under the table.

But hey, where are my manners? The name is Alexander Rook, born and raised in England, and im also your average college graduate actor who wants to make it big. Im in fairly decent shape, because who would want to hire a unfit actor?

The bad thing about my line of work is that the world of acting isn’t all that it is cut out to be. To get to the good jobs, you have to go through a insane number of shitty jobs. And when there are a hundred other people going for the same role, you are pretty much screwed.

So, I was in a bit of a situation. Not enough money for rent, but still a fair amount. And I knew exactly what I was going to spend it all on.

The name of the local pub was The Rising Sun. It was a nice family run establishment, and there was a roaring fire going in the fireplace. I didn’t really care, because I was to busy getting  as hammered as Thor. I may not have the liver to put up with it, but I am damn well going to try.

I had previously emptied my wallet on to the bar and told the barmaid to keep re-filling my glass until the money ran out. The barmaid, who had a nametag which I just couldn’t read because I was already heavily intoxicated, was wearing sunglasses for some reason, simply nodded.

I decided I might as well ask her about why she was wearing sunglasses indoors.

“Hey, barmaid pershun, why’s you’s wearing dem sunglashes at a time like this?” I managed to mumble in her direction, before proceeding to down the rest of my drink, leaving me a nice Guinness moustache.

She smiled at me and refilled my drink.

“ Well, you ssseee, the thing issss, sssssome people are put off by my eyesss.” She flashed me as smile, showing off her white teeth and are those fangs? I must be more drunk than I thought. Screw it, Im probably just seeing things..

I smiled at her, still very drunk.

“C’mon dearie, they cant be too bad. I bet you I would not be put off!” I gave her a toothy grin of my own in return. She looked at me,in to my bloodshot brown eyes, then walked around from behind the bar. She then proceeded to grab my hand and drag me off the cushioned bar stool I was sitting on, and she led me out of the warm building in to the cold night air.

We were now in a dark alleyway outside , fairly close to the pub. She still hadn’t taken off her shades. The, out of the blue, she gave me an offer.

“Would you like to leave this world for another?” she asked, all playfulness gone from her voice.

“Pfft, sure, my life isn’t going anywhere important right now anyways, what kinda place are we talking about?”

“Well, your life would be certainly more interesssting than thisss and bessst of all? You wont need to pay your rent.”

“Done deal.” I replied, starting to sober up at the prospect of a better world and no rent!

“There may be a few drawbacksss, but im sssure you will enjoy it,”

Drawbacks? What? Why is she taking off her glasses and…

Oh mighty gods above. For a second I saw snake like, reptilian eyes, before feeling my body simply melt away. I saw everything. The stars, the galaxies, all the different realties.My life flashed before my eyes. It was pretty average if im honest. Average childhood, average education, average friends who had a strange taste in cartoons, all of it. But one image stayed in my mind. It was a map, of all things, with no names on it or anything, but there where icons for towns and various other things. The most distinguished feature on the map was a number of red blips. They moving back and forth on the map, sometimes meeting, sometimes missing each other.

And then, as soon as it began , the vision stopped, and I felt a lot heavier than before. Then, it felt like my very soul was being crushed, and I slipped in to the depths of unconsciousness.

I woke up, and had absolutely no idea where I was , looking around, I could barely make out a vast number of statues. There seemed to be a vast number of armoured creatures. Some what I recognised as ponies, but not just ponies. There where what I recognised to be unicorns and pegasi. Not to mention a vast number of other mythological creatures, including minotaur and griffons.

Pulling myself up of the ground , I looked at myself. My arms where made of, what looked like, stone.

What.

The.

FUCK!

I immediately shot up from the ground, noticing how I had changed. It was now blindingly obvious that I was made of stone. Looking down at my legs, I was slightly shocked at what I saw. It seemed to me that instead of feet, I had talons, much like that of a hawk.

My legs where segmented plates of stone leading up to my chest, which was bare, was now a well sculpted representation of what was, quite frankly, the torso of a bodybuilder. Do muscles count if they are made of stone?

My hands, were in a situation like my feet. I still had hands, of a sort. They were just more claw like now then hand like. Flexing them, I found that I still had control. On my ring finger, on my right hand, there was a ring that I definitely did not remember. Upon close inspection, it was made of marble contrasting the material that my hand was made out of.

Overall, I felt a lot stronger. I had absolutely no idea what my face looked like.

“What am I?” I spoke aloud, still too enraptured with my bodily changes to notice that my voice had changed too. Now to a deeper, slightly gravely tone.

"A gargoyle. A very rare creature, oh yesss, very rare.” A lisping voice spoke from behind me. I turned around, my new claws being raised in defence, to be met with a sight that nearly made me scream like a little girl.

It was a humongous snake creature, with onyx covered scales covering its gargantuan body. In its mouth, was a massive forked tongue and a row of incredibly sharp fangs. It looked at with the same eyes from that barmaid from earlier. Thanks to having a fairly good knowledge of mythological creatures, I knew what it was.

Okay, that little part earlier, you know, the not screaming part, I lied.

“BASILISK!”

I then realised the basilisk probably couldn't turn me in to stone, consdiering how I was already made of stone.Before I ,or the basilisk could react, there was a sound of something heavy hitting the floor.

"Statues? Oh noes, Smallfang is most definitley lost, the alpha will be ever so mad at Smallfang."

Something scaly tapped me on my back, turning back around to face the Basilisk, it was now right in my face, and was whispering to me.

"Go, take my gift, feed on that wretched creature,make him in to another ssssssculpture for my collection."

My eyes started to burn.The pain escalated, and all I could do was keep my self from screaming out.I looked back up at the basilisk for guidance.

"Kill now, talk later!" It hissed.

Kill?

Well herp my derp, here it is , the first chapter in Rise of the Rook. This story takes place in the same realm as Rust’s story, The Ballad of Echo the Diamond Dog, and a vastly growing number of others.

Constructive criticism is appreciated!