Past the Edge (An Item for Greed Book 1)

prologue

Past the Edge

Prologue

“Everything begins with a story.”

-Joseph Campbell

Rocks shattered and broke away as they tumbled down the seemingly endless slope of the cliff face, only to fall into the abyss, never to be seen again. ‘Twas a barren landscape, containing only the jagged, lifeless mountain summits. They are inaccessible to the world surrounding, only known to those that keep their secret.

It is told that these ghastly cliffs are not the only thing that resides in this world not known to all; for they speak of a place of great power. A power too strong for the human race, of one that must be hidden. If it weren’t, mans greed would become too strong, taking over body, mind and soul, never to resurface again as he once was.

The thing of which they speak, shall remain hidden in the shadow of the gods. It changed hands many times in the wars that were fought over where or even if it should be hidden. The most notable are the Dead Mans war, the Serpent war, and Maladeire’s own civil war.

It is a tiny object, and is not for the faint of heart, for it lies hidden in the shadow of the highest peak of the tallest mountain. It is secured deep within the twisting tunnels, and cavernous dungeons that lurk buried deep in the sorrow filled bowels of its temple. It is said that the sight of the temple is enough to make an army of men go mad with hopeless greed. In the legends, it is told that millennium old elegant carvings crawl their way up the lengths of thirteen granite columns. Together they hold up the non-weathering, arched cathedral styled plafond. It too was decorated strongly with a plethora of carvings. Winding its way around the outermost periphery was a runic, lettering type of scrawl, carved in by hand so many centuries ago. It looked so out of place against the flowing organic sundering that adorned the arches and columns. These runes were sort of block-like, and chopped, not as you would have expected. These runes were the protective enchantments that were said to ward off any potential threats. Threats that came in many forms, such as the many beasts lying in wait deep in the temples dungeons- or like the armies that would wait on the plains of a distant battlefield, a war waging on around them, all fought in the items stead.

Thousands of feet below the roof was a colossal black marble alter. Dark, crusting patches of dried blood adorned its surface, as if its use had ceased many seasons ago. More runes were etched into the edges of the alter, and they also looked out of place. In front of the alter were row upon row of thousands year old, rickety spindle legged chairs. The air was thick with the smell of blood, and the rotting stench of the chairs. Not much else was in the alcove besides a few candle stubs that were so old that they would probably never light again. Many doors branched off of this main room, proving once again that it would defiantly be difficult to get to where the item is hidden.

Ah, yes. Now we are back to the topic of the item hidden for both its own safety and ours. Well, I assume that by now you are wondering what it is if you weren’t already. Well, its name has never been known, as it has always been simply known as the item , for even saying its name can enlist the greed in all of us. Its appearance was never recorded or documented, and since no human alive can recall what it looks like, we shall never know. The last person to have seen the item is said to have gone stark mad in the matter of days, greed coursing through his system. He was imprisoned, raving about unknown powers, before finally being silenced by a dagger being drawn across his throat.

The item is over seven millennium old, and is feared by all that protect it because of its immense power. It would have been simpler to have said that its secrets died with the last man of the original order of protectors. Though that would be a lie. Its secrets have never died, nor will they ever. The knowledge of its power, and legend remain embedded deep within the minds of all those that live within both this realm and others, as a constant vigil of what could happen if the item were to land in the wrong hands.