The trio marched down the mountain in silence. The sky was darkening ominously, and storm clouds rolled in like tumble weeds. They continued to troop down the mountain in silence, only making noise with the sounds of their feet. At last, they came to an uplifting site.
"Hey! Look! It's the Chaos Gate!" Kuro said aloud his voice almost back to its normal, happy tone. He quickened his pace, and he was soon standing face-to-face with a swirling blue gate of plasma, kept in place by an engraved golden rim. It rotated slowly, making a slow, droning sound as it did.
Lark caught up with him, his face reflecting shock and confusion. "What in Fianna is a Chaos Gate?" He surveyed the area looking for some clue as to why the gate was there. He walked up to the gate and began to touch it before a sharp tone cut him off.
"Don't touch it!" Shiro said, in a concerned but relatively apathetic voice. "You wouldn't want to lose a hand would you?"
"Yeah, Lark. Touching that would be a very, very, very stupid thing to do. As an answer to your question, the Chaos Gate keeps the chaos out, in brief. Ever wonder why no monsters ever show up on Dun Loireag's mountain side? This little contraption keeps 'em out. Some arcane magic set up by The Founder. I here they're in other cities, too. Like Mac Anu and Carmina Gadelica. Anyway, anything that touches it loses whatever comes in contact with it. It also forms a protective barrier around the mountain to keep flying monstrosities out. It also works in the way that you can't fall off the mountain and anything on the inside can't get out without a magical incantation, not limited to sprites of course."
Lark looked dumbfounded at the pure display of knowledge. "Where did you learn all that? Books? School?"
"Nah, my pig-headed father took me on a trip to a small village outside of the ring of mountains that surrounds Dun Loireag. He said that it would help me understand the geography of the surrounding areas and familiarize me with the landscape. And, as much as I hate to say this, he was kinda' right. Anyway, watch this." Kuro nodded to his sis who cleared the way near the gate and ushered Lark backwards.
"This is some stupid stunt he made up. I've never been brave enough to try it, but he seems to have a blast doing it." Shiro whispered to Lark as Kuro put on a very heroic face.
"Lady and Gentleman! You will now witness, the one, the only, Flying Kuron-Ball!" He took off like a flash, aiming about 15 feet to the gate's right. As he neared his target he leaped forward and curled into a ball. The ball sped forward and collided with thin air. Kuro's curled up body went flying 10 feet backwards as a loud, stretching-like sound echoed through the air. "Woah," He said, incredibly disoriented, "That was fun." His head swayed from side to side a bit as he tried to get up. He drifted to the side a bit and grabbed onto Lark for support. "Ok, we can go now. But draw your spear as soon as we get on the other side. Who knows what kind of monsters could be out there." The only possession Lark had brought with him was a hunting spear, one with which he wielded with immense skill.
"Ok. I'll keep that in mind." He then watched as Shiro approached the gate and uttered the words,
"Enomine Porta Caerculeum, adapeiro." She melted out of sight and reappeared on the other side of the wall. Kuro follow suit, and Lark tripled the motion. This was the first time Lark had ever been outside of Dun Loireag's borders, so he noticed a few key changes. Everything seemed sharper, crisper, than the haziness he often saw outlining the citizens of Dun Loireag. Another notice was it was incredibly colder than inside. He suspected that the barrier might have caused it, but he couldn't really be sure.
With a hand motion from Kuro, they began to march off towards the southwest. They walked for a good hour, and when it was time to set up camp, something occurred to Lark.
"Hey Kuro. Where exactly are we going?"
"To Mac Anu, of course. The Golden Land of Opportunity and The Aqua Capital. If you wanna' find employment, Mac Anu's the place to be." Kuro than drifted off into sleep, Shiro and Lark following suit a few second later.
The next morning they were woken up by the sounds of a muffled struggle. Lark awoke with a start and drew his spear. He shook Kuro and Shiro into reallity and pointed towards the struggle. About a half mile away, fighting behind a beautiful sunrise, were a man in his late 40s and a strange winged beast. Not like a sprite's wings, but like the wings of a bird: stark white and full of ill-managed plumage. The man in his 40s was a sprite, and he barely holding of the thing's assault. He fought brilliantly with magic, though, and it was awe-inspiring yet gruesome to watch.
Lark began to run towards the battle, throwing caution to the wind. The two sprites followed after him, shouting the occasional curse and shaking sleep from their eyes. He arrived at the battle in time for the winged creature to land a solid blow on the sprite's staff, sending it spiraling away. The sprites caught up with him and as Lark tried to attract his attention, he turned and stared at the twins. They fell unconscious in their tracks.
"What have you done?" Lark cried, as he began to charge towards the creature. He swung his spear around with incredible speed. There's no way he could dodge this. And he was partly right. The spear stopped in mid-strike. The beast looked down upon him, for he was incredibly tall, and murmured something incoherent. Lark's arms and legs locked in an out stretched position and he fell to the ground with a thud.
"Such a shame, "The monster said with a grace and haughtiness he didn't think wasn't possible. "That you, for interfering with the plans that will change the world, will die here, right now, and right where you lie. Do you have any last words?"
Lark struggled against the tremendous force holding him to no avail. He felt an incredible tiredness growing over him, and as he fought it, the giant sword of the beast, more like an Angel of Death, hung over him, preparing the killing blow. He prayed to Fianna for safety and his sight faded into nothingness.