The End of Eternity

The SkyRock Castle

Claw felt motion, he opened his eyes and found out to be tied to a stretcher, one end sliding on the ground, the other pulled by a figure in a black armor. He heard a buzzing conversation around him, elves swarming around him. He recognized Elienor among them. He wanted to ask how long he had been unconscious, but suddenly, everyone's attention was diverted to an object he could not see from his stretcher.

"What is that? Have you ever seem anything like it?"

"No it looks like a city, a floating city." Elienor responded to the question. Whatever it was, it was causing quite a commotion and Claw wanted to see it too. He recognized Mei in the slim figure pulling him.

"Mei, what is going on?"

"Honestly, we have no idea." Mei stopped and scratched her head, turning to face him. "There appears to be a city floating in the air."

"Perfect and I thought nothing could surprise me anymore." He lifted his body from the stretcher and looked in the direction they were going. He really saw a gigantic chunk of floating rock with a city built on it. He noticed the shape of the rock in the air was missing from the ground.

"Odd. "

"I see you are awake, we have to thank you for your efforts to sove us." Elienor's voice sounded from behind.

"Ah, you mean the demons. We were just heading the same way. Do you plan to visit that floating city?"

"Yes, we decided to send a delegation. We have been observing the creatures coming back and forth and the city appears to be peaceful, using its elevation as defense."

"Cool, are we going too?" Claw turned to face Mei.

"Why not, the city looks peaceful, to the point I doubt they will let us in. Do not tell me you can walk already." Instead of an answer, Claw stood up and walked on its own.

"Hey, why do I have a feeling you have just been enjoying the ride half the way?" Wrinkles appeared on her forehead.

"Oh come on Mei, smile. We are just about to visit a wonderful city. I will go ask others." Claw disappeared.

Coming closer, they saw the floating platform is not a single piece of rock. In fact, the city had been built upon many chunks of floating rocks, the central one being the largest, there were many other platforms in different elevation and distance. By building the city this way, the city 's security was enhanced, the connections between platforms were not numerous and the access routes could be easily regulated. The central platform had no access directly to the ground and everyone had to go through several smaller platforms first.

Their delegation consisting of Tig, Haim, five elven hunters, Davena, Mei, Alexius and Claw stared at the first platform before them.

"Let"s go, it looks close, but we have still a few thousand feet of walk ahead of us." They decided to leave the others in a reasonable distance. With Haim's group, which had returned safely, they did not worry about the camp's security.

"There is a rope-ladder hanging from the platform." Alexius said. "I can't say, I am looking forward to using it."

"There is some kind of a crain, maybe they can lift us using that." Davena said.

"For free? I doubt it." One of the elves added. "There were some creatures disappearing over there, there is some kind of a portal."

"We should wait for someone to pass by and ask. I do not think they will let us use it."

They waited for several minutes and stopped a group which was leaving the city. Before they could realize it, Alexius had been talking to them.