AN: So I wrote this for a contest for an mmo game in development called Worlds Adrift. A friend turned me onto it and the concepts are very interesting. The only problem with my entry was that there is only a 500 word count limit... So I had to cut it to shreds. :( To make up for it I decided to post the full, uncut version here in case someone wanted the full effect. Sigh... oh well.
Enjoy:
A Heart of Atlas
Stories of old speak of a different world. One not filled with endless skies but of earth and water. Before the Great Disaster everything was connected, whole. No one knows exactly what happened when the planet cracked, splintering into fractions of land, creating islands that hung in the sky and gloating glades with only the Atlas minerals to keep them afloat. Making such materials valuable. The higher the island, the more you can mine.
But here she was. In the foggy abyss no one with half a mind would bother landing on. Aki pulled down her face mask. The levels of oxygen lowering with the island itself. She reminded herself to breathe slowly. Counting to ten between each breath. Pulling out a map from her satchel she sketched the broad shape she had seen while doing recon. Just another twenty marks. She tapped the map before putting it away.
The island was lush with vines and brush. The fog had provided well unlike many others in the lower places bellow. Even a pair of bright colored grazer beetles nestled close to the overgrown entrance to another ruin. No, not just another ruin. This one might be it. It might hold a key to finding a Heart of Atlas. Legend to bringing back technology of the Old World. A fairy tale, told by parents to their children as bedtime stories. But Aki believed. She had seen things. Things not even the Teachers could explain. That was why Aki was a Wolf. She didn't belong to any other profession. Instead she learned as much as she could whenever she could.
The ruins grew dark quickly and she reached for a Light Rod. Snapping the sides she shook the clear tube to life, setting a glow to reveal the round room and pedestal. This is more than a ruin! It's a temple! Temples were few and far between. Almost as fairy tale as the Hearts of Atlas. Except she had found one before. Which was why she was here.
This temple was smaller on the inside. At least from the overgrowth from above could tell. And three hours later it felt even smaller. Still no signs of anything! She wasn't even sure what they had worshiped here. In frustration she kicked a pillar, cursing its existence. This was supposed to be her big break! A way to show everyone she was not a crazy-
Her foot grazed over a stone and she stumped slightly. The rock pattering across the floor. Aki stopped. The ceiling is intact there should be no stones. She counted to ten. The ceiling is intact- Quickly she lifted her Light Rod and fished out a piece of inactive Atlas stone from her bag and unhooked the defuser off. A faint glow bounced of the smooth floor. As she stepped closer it grew. A crack in the wall and floor vibrating lowly with ambient green light becoming ever present. Heart racing Aki reached forward. The curved place between two pillars just slightly off.
Just beyond was enigma; a cavern that suddenly blossomed. Sparkling like fireflies in the night. There was no stone for them to worship. For that was not that lay ahead. The ground beginning to rumble. Low but sure, groaning as its wings began to sprout. And Aki didn't even care how she secured her skyship to the dock. With this I could build thousands of ships! An armada for the Wolves. She had found pay dirt. A whole island rich in Atlas ore. The very walls sprouting hunks of Atlas ore pulsing with life. Unlike Atlas stone that flowed in veins deep in the earth. What was more Aki finally understood. I found it. She would be shaking if the rising island wasn't already doing that exact thing. A Heart of Atlas.