Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Shattered Tower ❯ Chapter 1

This is my own imagination at work. Please do not steal this. Utilize your own imagination and you may surprise yourself. For Everyone else: Please enjoy.

 

 

 

Shattered Tower

By Rhianikki

 

 

"Samuel, slow down. My legs aren't as long as yours. I can't bound through the snow like a leaping stag." Anna teased as she snuggled deeper into her cloak.

 

Samuel paused to leer at her as he waited for her to catch up. "A stag, am I? That's a bit of a title to live up to Anna, but I'll do my best." With a chuckle he caught her up in his arms and nuzzled the side of her neck. "We're almost there. Just a short while longer and I'll see if I can live up to your visions of me."

 

"Where are you leading me anyway? I've never been out this far into the forest. You know I have to get home by sundown to help serve the meals at the inn or father will strangle me. Of course, if he knew I was out here with you, he would strangle me anyway!" Anna giggled at the thought of her father's reaction to her stepping out with any boy of the village, let alone a stranger.

 

"What are you laughing at?" Samuel struggled to keep an offended expression on his face seeing the sparkle in her eyes and the rosy blush on her cheeks. He slowly lowered her feet to the ground and began to pull her along again.

 

"My father."

 

Samuel snorted in disgust. "That pompous idiot! Don't bring him with you, even in thought. He'll ruin the mood." Pushing a low branch aside Samuel swore as it dusted cold white flakes down onto his head. He stopped to shake the snow from his hair just as they broke through a barrier of trees into an open field.

 

Anna stumbled to a halt as she came into the clearing. She looked up at the dark stone shape spearing up into the sky ahead of them. Wind howled around it and spears of ice clung to the lip of a large window, like fangs on a yawning mouth. She shrieked and turned to run back into the forest.

 

Samuel swore and dove after her, catching her around the waist and flinging them both into the snow. "It's just an abandoned pile of rubble, Anna. You're not afraid of a pile of stone are you?" Samuel teased her as he ran a soothing hand over her hair.

 

"Samuel, you know what they say about that tower. It's haunted, cursed, and evil. People go in and never come out! The old Sorcerer who built the place used to torture people there. They say you could hear the screams all the way back to the village. We've all heard the tales. Why would you bring me here?" Anna's racing heartbeat slowed as he calmed her.

 

"They're only old tales told to keep people from wandering in there. If they didn't make us afraid of it, every child in the village would be out here climbing on loose rocks and getting lost or hurt. They only tell those tales to entertain each other and put the fear of the gods into all of the young ones. You don't really believe in curses, ghosts, or even magic do you? Have you even seen a wizard?" Samuel dropped a quick kiss onto her brow. "Come on Anna, it'll be fun."

 

"Well, what if…"

 

"You don't have to worry about a thing. I'll protect you from anything that might hurt you. Besides, it's been hundreds of years since all of those things happened. I have something important to ask you inside. Please come with me. It will be an adventure!" Samuel jumped to his feet and held out his hand to her.

 

"This had better be what I think it is, Samuel!" Anna reached up and caught his hand, allowing him to draw her to her feet. She paused to draw a deep breath and brush at the snow caked to her skirts, before allowing herself to be led across the clearing to the tower.

 

Samuel stopped just outside of a dark open doorway where a splintered gray plank swayed in the chilly wind. He patted her lightly on the arm. "Don't move. I have a light here. Let me get it. There's a lot of debris and I don't want you to fall." He stepped into the blackness. Anna could hear the rustle and clatter as he moved around inside. Suddenly the wind rose, blowing a swirl of snow around her. It howled eerily as it whipped across her body.

 

"Samuel!" Terrified, Anna dashed through the open doorway. Two steps into the room something hooked around her ankle. She turned to run back outside, letting out a cry of fear when arms wrapped around her out of the darkness.

 

"Shh... It's just me. I've got you. It's just some old furniture. It can't hurt you."

 

Anna balled up her fist and hit him in the arm. "Don't leave me alone here."

 

"I won't." Samuel picked her up and carried her further into a large room where a small fire flickered invitingly in the far corner. He laid her down before the fire, stripping off her wet cape and rubbing his hands briskly up and down her arms to warm her.

 

Anna felt the soft brush of fur along her fingers. Surprised, she ran her hand over it feeling the soft pile of furs beneath her. Letting out a sigh at the warmth seeping back into her bones, she looked up to find him. "When did you bring all of this here?"

 

Samuel was digging through a sack. Pulling out odds and ends and placing them on what appeared to be a broken tabletop that he had balanced on a questionable pile of debris.

 

"I came up yesterday in the early morning. I wanted to surprise you." He gave her a quick almost smug look, handed her a cloth wrapped bundle and a small pan, then turned toward the fire, feeding it a few more logs. He sat down at her side and grabbed the pan from her hand. "Are you going to open that?"

 

She pulled back the cloth to find a loaf of soft bread and a wedge of cheese. "Thought of everything did you?"

 

"Of course. If I am to prove what a stag I am. I will need my strength." He looked up and winked. Then burst out laughing at the bright red blush that crept visibly over her face even in the low lighting.

 

"You're impossible, one slip of the tongue and you run with it."

 

Setting the food aside, he crept over her on his hands and knees, running his hands under the folds of her skirts. He pushed them up above her knees, then higher. His head dipped down, feathering whisper soft kisses up the inside of her leg, then thigh. "I like slips of the tongue, don't you?" His tongue flicked lightly across her inner thigh.

 

"Wh-what about the food?"

 

"I think I've found something tastier."

 

******

 

Anna gave a small moan as Samuel pulled her to her feet. "I think you've earned your title. I've never felt so exhausted. I have no idea how I'm supposed to go home and work this evening. I swear everyone will know what I've been doing." She gave Samuel a stern look as he burst out laughing.

 

"Come on. Since we're here, we might as well have a look around." He held her dress out to her, a smug grin on his face.

 

She glared at him for a moment, then sighed and reached for her clothes.

 

By the time she had finished dressing, Samuel was already peering up a tall staircase that wound up to the next floor, a small lantern from his supplies held high to aid him. "Let's go see."

 

The stairs were dark and cold, but firm beneath their feet. Occasionally, one of the boards let out a strained creak that caused her to freeze, but Samuel continued on. After a short climb, the stairs opened up into a small bedroom. The rotten frame of a large bed was a crumbled ruin against the far wall. At its side a wooden wardrobe leaned drunkenly, as if a light breeze would cause it to collapse. They circled the room, looking at the ruin of what had once been a haven inside the otherwise sparse building.

 

A large stone fireplace covered the wall near the wardrobe. As Samuel brought the lamp closer to it, Anna caught the flash of the light reflecting off of something in its corner.

 

"Samuel, bring the light over here." She crouched at the edge of the mantle and pointed down to where she had seen the flash.

 

"Did you find something?" Samuel swung the lantern into the fireplace and swore in amazement. "You did. You found a hidden room.” He reached out and pushed on the back wall of the fireplace, catching a good sized mirror where the frame had wedged the door open. “This must have reflected my light." He handed the mirror back to her as he stepped through the opening.

 

Anna followed him, her own curiosity beginning to outweigh her fear. Inside was a small crescent shaped room full of cupboards and tables. Their surfaces were littered with glass bowls, cups, and vials in varying shapes and sizes. Glass shards covered the floor where things had fallen at some time in the past.

 

In the center of the room a large statue reared. Its wings splayed out around the basin of a fountain built into its base and its large curved beak gaped open in a silent scream of defiance. Anna stepped up to it as Samuel circled the room. "I've never seen anything like this creature. Do you know what it is, Samuel? A Lions lower body and Eagles upper body. It seems like I've heard of it in one of those tales the traveling bards sing about sometimes at my father's inn. I can't remember what they called it though."

 

"Huh? Oh that." Samuel moved up to get a better look. "It's a griffin. Let me see if I can remember the legends as I was taught them." Samuel paced around the griffin statue mumbling under her breath. "How did the story start?"

 

"The legends say that the wizard Cardis came here to drive an evil sorcerer from our lands under orders of the King. But the sorcerer was more powerful than the King, or Cardis, could have guessed and instead of easily driving the Sorcerer out, they battled for days, hurling spell after spell at each other. Over those days without rest or the chance to eat, they slowly weakened until the protections of both mages wore down and failed. In the end, they killed each other leaving the battle with no obvious victor."

 

"But even if it cost the life of Cardis, he did manage to destroy the Sorcerer. So the kingdom won, even if the Cardis did not. At least that is what the King and Council thought, but in truth, the fallen Wizard was the last High Mage of the land and when he died, our Kingdom was left without a champion of magic. We were defenseless against even the minor magic of the Roshmen, so when they came our country fell into a bloody war."

 

"The lands were swathed in the blood of our people and the Roshmen marched on the walls of the Capitol itself. It was then that Queen Assana remembered a pact made with the creatures of the high realms, in the time of her grandfather. She blew upon the Horn of Samahd and in answer to its call, thousands of creatures emerged from the greatest heights and farthest reaches of the land to aid the one who called. It was with the greatest of these beasts, the King of both land and air that she spoke. Samahd had answered the call. He was a creature with the lower body of a lion, the upper body, head, and wings of an eagle, and the heart and mind of a man. A griffin."

 

"As per the pact she gave herself and her three daughters into Samahd's keeping to save the kingdom from the terrible horde that had descended upon the land. The griffins were masters of air and land, with magic of their own. They drove the Roshmen back, far into the depths of their own lands and sealed our borders against them."

 

"They then returned to the Capital to collect what had been promised. The King refused to give up his family and attempted to kill the Samahd, but the assassin's arrows did not hit and his attackers died quickly.”

 

“The King of the Griffins was enraged. He named the King "Betrayer" and leapt upon him, tearing his head from his body. He cast a spell upon the Prince, forcing him to swear loyalty to the griffins if they ever return to his lands. With a final threat that he would always be wary of the treachery of men he changed the Queen and her daughters into Griffins and led them and his army high into the sky where they vanished. The Prince, out of fear, had the Horn of Samahd destroyed."

 

Samuel sighed as he looked up at the Statue. "At least, that is the legend as I was taught. Who knows if it was real or not?"

 

Anna reached out to touch its curled claws, her finger brushing across a bit of wood wedged between its claws. Clasped loosely in its curled fist was a small, carved piece of wood. Anna managed to get it partially out of its stone claw prison by wiggling it back and forth to work it loose.

 

"Anna, do you remember that I had something I wanted to ask you while we were here?" Samuels' voice whispered softly into her ear from where his chin came down to rest upon her shoulder.

 

Anna turned to look up at him just as the figure came loose in her hand. "Yes."

 

"Will you be with me forever?"

 

"Forever." She agreed as she turned and threw her arms around his neck, dropping the carving to the floor.

 

Samuel hugged her tightly, then bent to retrieve the small piece of wood. He placed it in the center of her palm. "You hold my heart in your hand."

 

Anna looked down at the carved figure of a griffin that rested on her palm. Its gleaming eyes reflected green in the light, the same brilliant green as Samuel's. He stepped away from her as his flesh began to ripple. He fell to his knees and his back arched. Large, black feathered wings erupted through the flesh of his upper back. His clothing fell off of him in pieces as large talon tipped claws wrenched them apart. In moments it ended. Crouching in front of her was Samuel, as she had never seen before. A long, tawny tail swayed behind him as he approached.

 

Anna backed away until she bumped into the statue behind her. A statue that bore a startling resemblance to the beast that was Samuel. Silently he sat down before her, his wings folded down and tail still. His voice echoed with an underlying purr as he began to speak. "The story I told a short time ago was true. We often must travel in human guise when we hunt for our mates, as few of our own kind remain. You have chosen me and I will honor that choice always." A strange roar soared from his body, shifting quickly into the high pitched scream of an eagle.

 

Anna felt a warm vibration wash over her skin as her body began to change. Her hands curled slightly as talons thrust from the ends of her fingers, a searing pain ripped through her as she burst forth out of the shell that had been her body. Brilliant golden blond feathers sprouted over her torso and face. Her jaws stretched and changed, and her human scream of pain turned into the piercing cry of an eagle.

 

The pain faded as quickly as it had come. She looked around her, rearing back at the

reflection gleaming clearly at her from the mirror she had dropped during the change. Her tawny lion's tail lashed with her inner turmoil and her eyes refused to shed tears. Even as she mourned her loss, the sheer power and beauty of her new form was almost overwhelming. She stretched greatly, feeling the pull and flex of unfamiliar muscles and ligaments.

 

A low purring noise echoed from her throat when she caught his scent. Samuel! Her mate! She turned to him feeling wonder overpower any second thoughts she might have had. They had forever together.

 

He leaned forward and rubbed his cheek along the side of her neck, heaved a large sigh of contentment, then turned and led the way from the tower.

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AN: Well, this is the first story I've ever posted on this site, but I saw the rules for the Winter Fantasy Contest the day before the submission deadline and thought it might be fun to challenge myself. Likes or dislikes aside by anyone who reads this, I will carry immense satisfaction at knowing that I finished it…and I liked it.