The next few days of Solaris's trip were uneventful. He was heading through Onis valley on his way to the city of Azidon, the closest city north of the village he came from. Night would be upon him soon for a 4th day in the valley. Solaris looked at the map given to him by Romel.
"Now where the hell am I?" he said to himself. "I've been in this blasted valley for days now".
He kept walking and reading; his eyes intently on the map, letting his feet go where they willed. He looked up occasionally to avoid a tree, missed, hit a rock, and fell face-first into the ground…right through the map.
"WELL FUCK!" he exclaimed, "guess it'll take me a bit longer to get outta here than I thought. And here I was thinking I'd possibly be able to sleep in a bed tonight."
He pieced the map back together and saw that he was in an uncharted area of the valley. He looked at the dark hole on the map, then looked around for a missing piece. He found none and returned to looking at the map. The only clue to this location was the name Razanden Ruins written across the dark space.
"So this place has a name, and is unexplored? That makes no sense."Suddenly, Solaris felt a strangely familiar energy. "What the hell?! Seems like something is almost reaching out to me." The sky grew dark, and a mysterious thick fog fell over the area.
Solaris walked toward the center of the clearing "No ruins here, just a huge clearing, unless the ruins where completely worn away".
The fog grew thicker and thicker. Solaris reached out in front of him and lost sight of his arm. "Uh oh, this can't be good…"
A bright light shined from the center of the clearing, blinding him. He regained sight moments later and looked around. There was fog so think surrounding the clearing that it seemed as though it couldn't be penetrated. In the middle of what was a clearing stood ruins, which were surprisingly intact for ruins.
Solaris gazed in awe at the structure before him. The building was made of a grey stone, and some other much darker rock. Upon closer inspection of the rock, it was discovered to be hardened magma.
"Odd choice of building materials", he thought as he walked into the front of the place. He passed through several chambers and came to a large pair of doors with an image of a sun engraved on them. He pushed against them, but they didn't budge. He tried again, this time with a little effort added to it, again to no avail.
He gave a sigh, stepped back a few meters, and looked at the doors. "Have it your way" he said as he lowered his shoulder and charged at the door. He bounced off like they were made of rubber.
"They don't make them like this anymore." and he took a deep breath. His eyes began to glow as he focused on the door, not noticing the glowing markings around the door. "Let's see what happens if I put something close to full power on this thing". He stepped back and noticed the glowing markings surrounding the door, then prepared to charge again.
"Nice knowin' ya... doors," he said and he charged at it, jumped and let loose a mighty kick. The doors began to shine brilliantly in white and gold, but still didn't move.
"WHAT THE HELL, stupid ass doors!" he yelled as we walked back up to the doors. He touched the markings on it, and they slowly parted ways for him. "Well son of a bitch..."He entered the room slowly, observing everything around him. His eyes came to the center of the chamber, there stood a pedestal.
"All that trouble for a big rock stump" he said with a groan. His eyes had returned to their normal state and suddenly the doors closed behind him as he approached the pedestal. Suddenly, flames roared from the edges of the room, surrounding him. A voice boomed in an angry tone: "Halt intruder, you shall proceed no further!"
Solaris looked behind him at the closed doors, and the wall of flames sitting in front of them. He thought to himself: "I'm starting to see why this area was just a dark spot with a name on that map."
He looked around the room and yelled "I don't suppose you're going to let me out either."
The silhouette of a dragon could be seen though the flames. It circled the entire room and lowered its head above the pedestal. It looked Solaris in the eyes and replied "Nope".
"I am Quasar, Guardian of the Citadel. You shall not pass!"
"Well, a guardian dragon in the final room of a mysterious set of ruins, really original" Solaris said with a smirk.
"INSOLENT FOOL" Quasar roared, "Your death shall be the punishment for your disrespect!"
Solaris put his hand on his sword, "now, now, don't get your panties in a knot, I just want out, but if you're going to be an ass about it, we'll just have to let a battle do the talking for us". He drew his sword as the creature came at him.
Fragments - Sun Book 1 - Draft 1
Table of Contents
An Encounter Ch 2 - Citradel of the Flame Keepers Ch 3 -The City of Azidon Ch 4 - City of Silence Ch 5 - A brush with the Blight Ch 6 - Showdown in the Sanctuary Chapter 7 - The Runaway Guide Ch 8 - Flowers and a Dragon Ch 9 - The Royal Pain Outtake 1 Ch 10 - A Conflict of Elements Ch 11 - You Called Me What?! Ch 12a - The end of a Journey A Small Stack of Bonus Content 12b - The end of a Journey Ch 13 - Rise of the Dark Sun Ch 14 - The Trial of the Solar Eclipse Ch 15 - Beast Mode... ?! Outtake 6 - Ponies! Ch 16 - Torment at Fujima Outtake 7 - You Did What?! Ch 17 - The Binding of Frost and Flame Ch 18 - The Break of Power and Silence Ch 19a - Pages from Their Past Outtake 8 Outtake 9 Ch - 19b - Pages from their Pasts Outtake 10 Ch 20 - Home, Bittersweet Home Ch 22 - The Aftermath Ch 23 - An Unexpected Reunion Ch 24 - The Elven Scholar Ch 25 - The Student-Teacher Ch 30 - Academic Warfare Outtake 13 - And You Are...?Ch 2 - Citradel of the Flame Keepers
Solaris narrowly avoided the beast and took a swing at him as he went by. Quasar laughed, "That toothpick isn't going to hurt me!" he taunted.
Solaris looked at his sword, or what was left of it. "Oh, right, dragon scales are insanely strong."
Quasar circled around and Solaris threw the useless weapon at his face. It was met with a fireball before it reached him.
"Oh great, it breathes fire too! SO CLICHÉ! I gotta admit, if I were writing a story about this, I'd call it lame." He drew his second sword. This one wouldn't break so easily. It was a gift from the village elders before he left on his journey. "Ok, let's dance". He rushed the creature and let loose a flurry of slashes against him.
Quasar roared in pain, and swung at him with his claws, slashing Solaris's left arm. "I see you have a mystical blade. However, you are in need of more than that to defeat me" he said.
"And you are in need of a manicure" Solaris replied as he looked at the slashes on his arm. "Those wouldn't be poisonous claws would they?"
"No, but they can do this" The beast blew fire on his claws and the glowed red hot.
"That's new" said Solaris as the dragon swung at him, knocking him into the wall and destroying what was left of his shirt.
He peeled himself off of the wall and fell to the ground. "I liked that shirt" he said as he staggered to his feet and picked up his sword.
The monster charged again straight for Solaris who jumped up and landed on its neck.
"SEE YA SUCKER!!!" Solaris yelled. Quasar rolled over and Solaris fell to the ground.
"Nice try, I'll end this quickly, I grow weary of your antics". He started shooting fireballs at Solaris who dodged 2 of the 3 and was knocked behind a pillar. He'd need new pants after this fight as well.
If I don't get serious, I'm dead he thought. "VERY WELL THEN, lets end this!" he summoned what was left of his strength and his eyes began to glow again, along with the rest of him. His sword was also consumed by the energy and began to glow red hot. He went for the dragon's neck again and swung with all the power he had left.
It was a thunderous blow and the room shook from the force of it. Solaris looked up to see that the blow was blocked by the dragon's claws, and that his sword was cracked from the force of the blow and the heat. He collapsed to one knee and looked up at the dragon, expecting another strike.
The dragon stopped and looked at him, lowered his claws and said, "You are the last of the Flame Keepers. I will not strike thee."
Solaris stood up, sword in hand. The blazing energy he had was fading fast. "Wait, what? What do you mean?"
"You are charged with an important task, all shall be made clear in time. Until then, you must grow stronger. You have not yet earned what is yours." He circled Solaris and laid his hand on top of his head.
"All shall be made clear in time" he repeated as his hand began to glow, "now, as for your insolence earlier"
"Huh?" Solaris scratched his head in confusion.
The ceiling opened up and the beast picked up Solaris, taking him out of the room. "I did say you would be punished, I just won't kill you".
"Uh oh!" Solaris said as he was tossed into the air. The last thing he saw was the dragon's tail flying towards him. He lay on the road in a crater with his bag and a seemingly ancient book. The mist disappeared and the ruins with them. There was no trace of anything being there, save the pedestal.
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