BETRAYAL

Father

Captain Westfall ran up the sides of the large rocks and then jumped up to the rock above him, and climbed up, keeping a steady pace as he continued to climb up the large

jagged rocks that surrounded the extremely tall temple-like building that Dovaa claimed her father stayed.

Since the rocks had separated him and Shae and Iris, he'd fallowed Dovaa towards the tower, then she ditched him to go and see her "lost brother."

Whatever that meant.

The rain pounded down on him, making it hard to get a grip on the rooks.

Finally, once he reached the top of the rocks, he tilted his head back to see the enormous tower that still loomed above him.

He sighed, and with a burst of determination, he squared his shoulders and began the long climb up to the top of the tower.

****

When he finally reached the platform next the top of the building, which Westfall thought was really stupid - to not have an entrance at the bottom of a building, but then to have one at the very top.

He was exhausted by the time he finally reached the top, and his arms especially, ached from the effort of scaling a nearly-vertical building. But he pushed onwards, running towards the entrance.

Inside, the building was incredible. he'd never seen anything like it in Candara before.

There was a long straight platform in the centre of the grand hall of the building that lead to the other side of the large room. When he looked down, he saw nothing but darkness below him. there were no stairs, or any floors, at least nine that he could see. Across the room, there was a large throne-like chair made of stone and on one side of the throne there was a stone statue of a woman with large wings that he guessed was an angel, and on the other side there was a man with dragon like wings and red eyes. Westfall guessed that was a dark version of the beautiful angel on the other side of the throne, that seemed to look slightly like Dovaa.

He scanned his surroundings,

Noticing the tall ceiling with no lights, and the many hallways branching off from the long platform that lead to the throne of stone. The platform was made of stone also, but the perimeter was outlined with bright blue lights, that illuminated the entire room. there were also lights that formed large circles all the way up to the throne in the centre of the path.

The entire building appeared to be made of stone, but it the walls and floors seemed to be as smooth as steal.

Curious, Westfall walked down the long platform, looking around him cautiously.

The building appeared to have no one in it, but as he approached the throne, he noticed a man sitting on it.

He approached him, and has he did, he noticed the man had his eyes closed, and his hands on his knees, as if meditating.

He stood right in front of him, and waved his hand in front of his face, but the man in the throne didn't even flinch.

The man on the throne looked rather old, but he also looked young at the same time.

He was wearing a long, light grey tunic with darker grey pants underneath. Strangely, he wasn't wearing any shoes, and he had long, white hair.
Westfall reached out with his left hand to tap him on the shoulder, but when the tip of his finger made contact with his shoulder an immense amount of pain raced up is am hand and wrist, like a long line of bee stings. Then the pain turned into a burning sensation
And he yelped as he saw that his hand had been disintegrated.
Then the man in the throne opened his eyes, and Westfall was surprised to see that they were a bright yellow.
He thought about turning tail and running away, but he wanted answers.
but before he could say anything, the man spoke."greetings, my friend," his voice was deep and soft, but almost raspy.
"friend?" Westfall asked, not quite knowing what else to say to a guy who'd just fried his hand.
"You needn't be worried, Westfall," the man said. "you shall find your friends and get your hand back eventually."
"It's not just that," Westfall snapped. "I want answers. who are you, and how do know my name, and how'd you cut of my hand?"
The man lifted his hand off his knee. "calm down, son. you will get answers soon enough. but for now, you must rest. I sense you shall face a great struggle ahead."
Confused, Westfall glared at him. "listen, old man," he said, "cut the mysterious act and the riddles, okay? Just tell me who you are and I'll leave."
The man chuckled "its cute how you attempt to negotiate with me, Westfall. but by now you should now that I always get my way. So now, my guards will escort you to your rooms." Suddenly winged men dressed in blue armour and wearing sleek helmets swooped on from the entrance of the building and landed right behind him. strangely, they weren't carrying any weapons that he could see, and he could have elbowed them in the face and knocked them out, but before he could make a move, to guards grabbed his arms and took off, flying out of the temple.
Westfall almost screamed as the powerful winds and rain whipped past him, his legs dangling wildly behind him.
He felt like he was spiralling downwards, but he could barely see anything.
Then the guards began to hover above what looked like a balcony, and they let go of his arms, letting him fall.