Chapters "Ten bits says he passes out before he dies" the voice spoke deep and full of satisfaction.
My 20th birthday was not one that passed by quietly. Usually flashing lights and loudness accompany a well hosted party. If the lights were not just red and blue and the siren was a tad bit louder I wouldn't have had a complaint in the world. A flashlight gently tapped my window before shining into my eyes. I rolled it down.
I felt as if I was falling and standing at the same time. I’m not sure why but the sensation was rather enjoyable before I realized what was happening. I swear my eyes were open but all I saw was black. Had I gone blind? That strange bright light earlier hadn't hurt my eyes yet it left me with the feeling it had something to do with why I couldn't see anything.
I was awoken by droplets splashing against my face. I began to moan in pain due to what felt like my ribcage being torn open. I tried to open my eyes and was blinded by bright light
The forest was humid. It wasn't all too much different from hiking back home. I looked from the trees to the griffon. It was a little disappointing knowing that a creature that was mythological and described as graceful and beautiful was standing before me and most likely hated my very existence.
Hours earlier
The first thing I noticed when I walked into the rock made shelter was that the whole ground was covered in fresh leaves yet the place itself smelled like pine. It was mostly empty except for some blankets bundled up in the back corner sitting next to which was a pile of books, a pit in the center which was half filled with ashes, and a mound of dirt that was waist high and had a slab of rock laying on it covered in parchments of paper and an inkwell with a quill in it..
"So how have you been Derek?" my girlfriend’s voice said over the phone.
My eyes shot open wide as I gasped for air. I didn't feel any force from the water though I felt wet. I looked around a dark room and saw nothing. The pain was gone but I quickly reached for my back to make sure. The wings were gone too.
Gilda and I didn't speak much for the rest of the afternoon. I was sure she was just as ready for a fresh start in the morning as I was. I figured that if I was stuck in the middle of nowhere it would be nice to have company for better or worse. Gilda had, at a point when my back was turned, lit a candle near her bundle of blankets I saw she now used as a bed. It looked like a cross between a large nest and a huge makeshift dog bed. Gilda had turned her back to me but the edge of a book was visible poking out from under her wing.
Gilda and I didn't speak much for the rest of the afternoon. I was sure she was just as ready for a fresh start in the morning as I was. I figured that if I was stuck in the middle of nowhere it would be nice to have company for better or worse. Gilda had, at a point when my back was turned, lit a candle near her bundle of blankets I saw she now used as a bed. It looked like a cross between a large nest and a huge makeshift dog bed. Gilda had turned her back to me but the edge of a book was visible poking out from under her wing.
I woke up the next morning with something tickling my ear. I slowly opened my eyes to see yet again a massive bird head.
"So where is the nearest town from here." I asked pulling the map from the papers on the stone desk. Gilda didn't answer.
Somewhere far north…
A door burst open as a dark small figure entered into a large room that resembled the halls of Valhalla. The figure rushed past the torches and into the light scrambling on claws and paws. The figure revealed in the light was a small gryphon with red streaks painted around its neck and a black line drawn down the center of its head ending at the top of its beak. It quickly made its way towards a throne that sat in the absence of light in the center of the other side of the great room.
"I’m going to tell you one more time you are making a huge mistake." Gilda once again pointed out her dislike of the direction I walked in yet she followed close behind.
Princess Celestia sat in her room at a desk preparing to send off a bundle of letters that were rolled up and tied with various sorts of ribbons. She had planned to spend the day with her sister though it had seemed her star pupil had asked Luna away to help her with a project she had been working on. Celestia sat and sighed at the tedious work she had to do.
Someone was poking my face with something dull. Unfortunately that was not the only thing I could feel. Slowly but surely I began to feel pain all over my body coming in waves and pulses. I struggled to crack open my eyes but I could only open one and barely. What I could see was blurry and not well focused. I let out a groan and tried to roll onto my side. I couldn't move as I was physically unable to.
I woke up lying on the same couch as before. A headache that should have been lethal buzzed in my skull.
Somewhere far south...
In the deepest regions of a massive cave in the world’s biggest mountain...
Sat a tripod about the ground...
Upon this tripod sat a silver disk...
Upon the disk sat a cushion...
And upon the cushion sat a crystal...
The crystal was in the shape of a burning flame and it held within it a red glow that grew brighter as if to the beating of a heart. The light was bright enough to illuminate a good portion of the cavern but something in particular shined in the darkness.
Scales... Massive crimson scales...
What the scales belonged to was massive itself standing at a height greater than the tallest of trees. Its leathery wings tucked in to is sides equaled the creature in size. Its tail draped long over the stone ground wrapping itself into a coil around the crystal on the pedestal. Its eyes with its pupils in slants stared intently on the crystal. The cave was all but silent had it not been for the deep breaths of the creature. It squinted its eyes. A forked tongue shot out of its mouth only to retract a split second later.
So you're telling me that the only way across that canyon was across that bridge?" I asked now satisfied I was fully clothed again even if my hoodie and shirt had a big hole in the front and were almost shredded.
"You're serious? You grew to be over 20 stories and went on a rampage motivated by greed?" I asked before continuing to eat from a bowl of popcorn Spike had made earlier.
"Equestria is a land with rich beauty and wonderful civilizations and multitudes of individual kingdoms, villages, cities, and towns. History on the founding of Equestria seems to go back millions of years but most evidence of any historical events dating back past The Rule of Discord was ultimately destroyed by said Rule of Discord. The Princesses seeming to make it through the act of defeating Discord have deemed any history beyond that point completely unnecessary to reestablish and thus after the rule of Discord, Equestria was once a smaller nation..."
In the Grand Mountains past the farthest north Equestrian maps have depicted a structure embedded within an enormous amount of stone that was abnormally large with the peak of it jutting over the clouds themselves. Built of stone warped by magic a massive fortressed kingdom lay silent in stone. Though it had strange features that made it stand out from the other kingdoms that scattered the lands of Equestria and those in the Beyond. Ladders were more commonplace, doors were taller, and strange figures scattered the city standing, sitting, and laying still and silent. It looked as if these creatures were going about their lives casually although they were frozen where they were. Their smooth greyed features revealed that these creature to be encased in stone. Their odd figure shown they had two legs which they stood upright on with arms that hung down to its side. These furless, featherless, and slightly haired being held items and objects with hands, that bore opposable thumbs, at the ends of the arms. The faces were flatter than most every other race in the lands with a small protruding nose in the center of the face. Clothes waved in an eternal state of frozen movement not fluttering in the wind but rather directing it as most stone would. In the castle that peaked the mountain a large statue of one of these creatures sat on a throne.
Then suddenly on the stone upon this creature's chest... a small fissure appeared.
Okay, yeah I haven’t posted in a while… That’s my bad and I apologize But that’s only because I had hit a massive writer’s block at a bad time. The scale of what I’m undertaking is a little intimidating because now I have a billion Ideas’ and now I have to arrange them. I’m fairly certain it’s a project that’s sharing time with my other stories I’m developing with one of them being a five man writer team which only I’m contributing anything too. But after getting so many recent requests to continue I gave in and sat down so I could give you guys some more wings. please feel free to leave a comment or send a message to tell me what you think. I hope you enjoyed xAncient
