Tower of Lore

Prologue: Liana's Gamble

Princess Liana raced down the halls of the tower. Her high heels went clip-clop as she sprinted. Her breath came in sharp short pants as she pushed her body as fast as she dared. Once more the great tower shook as something slammed into the great wall beside her. Her tower stood up to the assault but for how much longer she couldn’t be certain. The building shuddered around her and cracks of stone rained from the ceiling. She swallowed the fear that bubbled at her lips, this was no time to scream, it was time to run for all she was worth. Another massive hit to the wall and chunks of the ceiling rained down now the size of limes. She zigged and zagged to avoid being pelted and bruised any more.

The long hem of her dress crept up her legs and tangled them causing her to trip and slam into the ground. Iron liquid filled her mouth but she shook her head and forced herself to her feet. Liana didn’t have time to bleed, she didn’t have time to rest not even for a moment. Using her bare hands she tore at the delicate fabric ripping it like so much paper and tossing the bottom half to the side. It wasn’t a perfect job, but the few moments it saved her could save her life.

A ceiling slab up ahead of her rumbled as yet another hit struck the tower. The slab crashed to the ground and showered her with a fine layer of dirt and grit. She grasped onto the pages of the old book in her hands using her body as a shield. Tentatively she glanced up at the ceiling trying to determine if it would hold, or if the attacks would send the entire tower crashing down onto her.

A piercing howl echoed through the air and Liana was forced to slam her hands to her ears in an attempt to muffle the cry. The book she had so painstakingly carried fell to the ground with a thump. She risked her hearing as she grabbed up the ancient spellbook and hugged it close once more. The howl hurt, but she’d have to endure it if she wanted to make a difference.

The slap of boots on the tiled floor caught her attention and Liana risked a glimpse behind her. Her traveling companions were fast catching up. She smirked as they ran into range. “I’m glad to see you guys have caught up.” Her taunt came in pants as she struggled to breathe.

The raven-head in the lead grinned back at her. “We have no time to gloat, Princess, we should be safe inside, just keep going.”

Liana couldn’t help but scowl at his crystal clear speech. Why was she the one that sounded so out of breath? She needed to train with her guards more, this was disgraceful.

He tilted his head to a door a hundred paces away. “We’re almost there, can you keep going?”

Liana blew out a breath in a puff sending her bangs flying. “I have to.”

The wall rumbled beside her jerked her attention away from the guard and a piece of the structure shot out toward her. It was all Liana could do to turn around and protect the book with her life once more. A heavy weight slammed into her back and knocked her to the ground. The piece of the wall whistled as it whizzed by her and smashed into the other side of the hallway. A giant golden eye stared at her from the gaping hole in the wall. Sweat trickled down her cheeks as she stared at it struck into inaction.

“Liana!” The weight rolled off of her and she was shaken until her teeth clicked. She turned towards her assaulter and Sha’Ra stared into her eyes. “Snap out of it, we have to run!”

Liana forced her eyes ahead. Sha’Ra was right. If she stopped to get caught in this thing’s t****l now she would regret it. She hugged the book once more and raced back toward the door to safety. Behind her, a beast roared and goosebumps covered her flesh. Looking back now would mean she’d never be able to move forward again, terror was too paralyzing of a force and from the screams of the beasts behind her, she knew everything would be lost if she even glanced back there.

“Faster,” she whispered and she pushed herself just that little bit more. Almost there, “come on,” she urged as she spared a glance at her feet. She kicked off her shoes and left them as her feet pounded the smooth hard floor. The door was almost within reach. “MOVE!” she roared at herself and with a final burst of speed her hand connected with the handles of the door and she threw it open and rushed inside.

Now she chanced to look behind her. The monster outside pulled away from the wall and the thuds and assault on her home stopped. Liana took a deep breath as she tried to calm her racing heart. Her guards continued toward her but they had stopped running as the threat outside calmed down. A giant black leopard loped down the hall toward her and Liana grit her teeth as she ducked her head to it. It smiled as it entered the room and once inside transformed back into a man. “They’re leaving.” He announced with a nod.

“I know the book said they would give up, but I never expected it to actually happen.” Liana ran her hands over the tattered cover once more. “Kaji, I need you to do whatever it takes to patch up those holes. We can’t leave any possible spots for them to infiltrate the tower.”

“Right away, Princess.” Kaji put a fist to his heart and nodded before he rushed out of the room and back into the hallway.

Liana took another shaky breath and stumbled over to the black altar that jutted from the center of the dark room. As her fingers made contact with the smooth stone power flowed around her and throbbed in time like a giant heartbeat from the tombs that lined the walls. Worrying her bottom lip with her teeth Liana settled the book on its spot on the alter and took a deep breath. “I hope this works,” her whisper was meant to stay a thought but it spilled from her lips.

“It will, Princess.” She didn’t even notice which guard spoke to her. She was staring too intently at the book. Her fingers traced the runes on the cover once more before she flipped through the old pages. Her nose started to tickle as dust motes floated into the air but she held back the instinct to sneeze with all her might. One of those could destroy her only chance to save her people and her world.

Her lips fumbled over the ancient and foreign words at first but as she continued to read she fell into a trance. The world around her faded away as the letters got bolder and the chant got stronger. It was time for her to live up to her role of the princess of this tower and time for her to save her people no matter the personal cost. As her chant ended she swayed and held onto the alter for support. She smiled over at Sha’Ra who was studying her carefully. “I did it, our hero will come,” she whispered before collapsing to her knees.