The Cold Light Fades - Book 1 of the Crystal Chronicles

Chapter One - History Lessons

Prince Alesson Scorch gazed out of the classroom window and surveyed the cold city of Scorvain, the city he was destined to rule one day.

It was late wintertime and snowy clouds were coiling turbulently above the city. Scorvain was nestled back against the base of a sheer white cliff face that rose menacingly behind it. The rock face climbed upwards, its top jutting forward over Scorvain like a hood, protecting the city from the elements and hiding some of the sky from the citizens below. Luckily, the city faced the deep red sun, which cast its faint crimson light across the landscape, red beams glancing through the cloud cover sporadically. From the very top of the cliff, it was possible to see the edge of the planets multi-coloured rings in the distance once the sun had set.

Scorvain's outer wall seemed to emerge straight out of the cliff face and run around the city in a rough semi-circle. The walls were made of giant grey stone blocks that were constantly being battered by the strong icy winds, which aged the moss-covered bricks and made the city look ancient.

There was only a single entrance into Scorvain, through the great gate in the centre of the gigantic seemingly impregnable barricade. The gate was made from a huge block of grey granite; the slab of rock was on runners, so that it could be shifted forward and backwards to seal the city's entrance. On the front of the stone gate was a chiselled image of a man in sleek armour, he was carrying a round shield with the image of a rearing horse on it. Around the man's armoured head was a crown with beams of light shooting out in every direction from a jewel that was surmounted upon it.

Within the outer wall was the homes of the citizens of Scorvain, the houses were characterless boxes, but they were also part of the city's defences. The houses were huddled together in rows, and they acted as additional barriers within Scorvain's walls funnelling trespassers to security courtyards. Beyond the civilian dwellings, was the city's inner wall, rising higher than the outer wall, making the city look like two great steps climbing up the cliff face. At different points along the wall, were turrets where soldiers kept watch above the twisting city streets below.

Poking up above the inner wall were four of the five great towers of Scorvain. Each tower faced towards a different region of Pentatha, while the fifth tower was situated at the top of the cliff so that it could watch over the Anectar Ice Fields to the North. Each tower was topped with a great chunk of crystal, which seemed to glow no matter what time of day it was. Therefore, during the night the city was bathed in varying shades of red, green, silver, and purple and above it all, on the top tower was the glowing blue sapphire beacon that guided travellers back home.

Between the four lower towers was the great domed roof of the palace, it was made from a steel girder frame and covered in glass of all colours. When the light shone down inside the palace, it gave its inhabitants the feeling that they were living inside a rainbow. The palace was said to have been built shortly after humanity came to Clanesta, using building techniques that had long since been forgotten. The same could be said for the great sliding stone gate at the entrance to the city.

Inside the palace, in the eastern wing, Prince Alesson sat staring out of the window towards the south-eastern tower. Alesson was fourteen years old, and he was carefully listening to his morning lecture. He was sat twiddling his charcoal writing stick round his long thick fingers and nodding his head to show he was paying attention. However, he nodded his head a bit too vigorously and a few strands of his coarse black hair fell across his pale green eyes. Alesson reached up to push the wayward hair back into place and accidently drew a line over his face, which started at bridge of his sharp nose and went across the right side of his short forehead. When Alesson realised what he had done, he quickly licked his hand with his tongue and began to rub his head to try to remove the offending line. Alesson used the glass window to see his reflection and saw that the line was gone. Then he looked around with sheepish eyes to see if the other occupants in the room had noticed his folly. Deltain the Sage still had his head in the book he was reading aloud, and his sister Linta looked like she was still avidly paying attention, but a small smirk tugged at the corner of her mouth to show that she had seen it all.