The Crimson King

Chapter 4 | The City of Jade

Hi guys,

Here is Chapter Four, a day late sorry <3 It's a little bit boring, but I hope you enjoy it anyway! Thanks to all of you who have offered ideas for the APK fanfic extra's I'm writing. I hope to have another batch for you on Wednesday - they'll be tagged onto the end of 'A Dragon's Heart' (Resurrections).

Next Chapter update for CK is this Sunday <3

Love Daisy x

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Chapter Four | The City of Jade

*

'I do not know you yet
d a r l i n g ,
but I will
soon enough.'

- unknown

*

Gazing in undisguised wonder at the sight before her, Iris thought that she had never imagined the world could be so breathtakingly beautiful.

She had emerged out of the forest to stand near the edge of a rock face over-looking a lush gorge. The wind that swept through her hair brought with it the sound of the river that roared through the valley below, and Iris wondered if this was the origin of the river she had spent many lazy sun filled days in at home. The thought of it warmed her heart. Perhaps she hadn't left everything behind after all.

Across the divide a mountain range towered higher than she could have ever imagined and set against this awe-inspiring sight, almost as though it had carved straight out the rock, was Aether, the City of Jade.

Suddenly the last rays of the dying sun burst through a blanket of low cloud and streamed into the valley before her, illuminating the city in a faltering golden light. Iris found the palace immediately, the colossal structure rising magnificently against the mountain, its towers ascending into the sky. The surrounding city rose to meet it at the base, the closest buildings darkening in its shadow.

And everything was covered in green. Iris could see what had given Aether it's other name. She was at a loss to imagine from such a distance, what it was that coated the city and the castle to give it such a beautiful colour. She imagined briefly what Arlo had taught her about the Elven Palaces that were grown and formed from gargantuan trees, but this did not seem to be the case with Aether.

Aether itself, sat on a plateau against the backdrop of a thunderous waterfall that streamed like an unbroken sheet of glass down the mountain, disappearing somewhere behind the rise of the palace. It took Iris a moment to realise that the silvery mass that curled around the outskirts of the city like a fat snake, was actually a river, created as a by-product of the waterfall. The evening light illuminated the river, making it glimmer and dance as though it were alive.

The river encircled the whole plateau, overflowing in places and creating the illusion that the city placed within, was sitting on top of a titanic waterfall. The water that streamed over the edge of the plateau thundered down to feed the river in the gorge below where Iris currently stood.

She felt Arlo approach behind her and looked to him in exhilaration. "Is that how we get there?" She asked excitedly, pointing to the colossal stone bridge she had noticed while admiring the lower waterfall.

The bridge began out of sight, but as the stone path she currently stood upon curved around to the side, she assumed the structure began just beyond.
The bridge was laid upon thick stone archways that stood solidly in the rushing water and the main structure stretched across both the lower river in the gorge, and the upper river on the plateau.
The arches below were mimicked above, stretching over the top of the bridge like a pale cage. Green decorated this structure too and Iris ached to get closer.