Raven Chronicles: Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1: The Depths of Medion Sylver’s eyes blinked open to a desolate planet. Ahead of him, the opening of his tent had been ripped open by the harsh winds tearing across the barren desert covering the entirety of Medion-1. The planet was lifeless, empty, strangely so considering it seemed relatively habitable, save for one thing. Sylver had found strange architecture, deep black stones, shot with red, buried beneath the sands. His tent sat just a stone’s throw away from a gaping doorway into the abyssal depths of the planet. Oddly, the doorway seemed to have been constructed to survive the shifting of the sands, to last through time, unlike anything else he had found. It was perfectly square, and shot hundreds of feet below the sands. Glancing at the doorway, Sylver triggered the binding in his tent, and with a [i]woosh[/i], it compacted into a small charm. Tucking the charm into his cloak, he glided across the sands to the doorway. Looking down in it, he felt reluctant for the first time since touching down on this planet. The depths were foreboding, so dark as to swallow him as easily as the light from above. But he had no choice - not this time. A strange force had caused his craft to shut down as soon as he had touched ground. So here he was, his only hope of a way out. Gathering himself, he jumped. Sylver fell for a scarily long couple of minutes. The entire way, the walls stayed perfectly square, the air perfectly silent save for the sound of him lightly cutting through the air. At last, he hit ground, his agile body only bending gracefully as he struck. Like the shaft above, the room was perfectly square, empty save for the lone doorway on one wall. Sylver gathered his breath and walked forward. The doorway opened into a long hallway, nearly pitch black, and unseeable if not for his abilities. Along the walls were what seemed to be doorways, yet they were all sealed with the same black stone making up the walls. Eventually the hallway ended, or at least the door at its end had been sealed, and he was forced to turn down another. Sylver continued in this way, not but one pathway opened to him, leading through hallways, chambers, stairwells. As he walked, his anxiousness grew. All the previous locations - the ones holding the fragments of the Map, held traps. He hadn’t encountered one so far. Eventually, Sylver came to the end of a hallway that he got the feeling was the center of the complex, or at least led to it. At the end was a huge set of doors, sealed like all the others, save for the bleeding raven emblazoned on it with the handprint in the center. Sylver blew out the breath he was holding and approached the door. He had seen it’s like before, and knew what he had to do. He set his hand against the door, immediately feeling the familiar tug meaning he couldn’t remove it. Soon, a voice rang out in his head, posing the riddle he had been waiting for. Of course, he had been prepared with the answer ahead of time. [i]Shine silver under moonlit night, Feathers dark as backest coals, Soon will come when It takes flight,[/i] “Beware the Raven - King of Souls.” The first words Sylver had spoken in weeks, and they never ceased to give him the chills. Sure enough, though, the two doors grated open, revealing the blackness beyond. He stepped through, waiting for the trap, but none came. Instead, he found an empty room, far larger than need be, considering it only held a single rectangular archway. Inside it sat a starry plain, a portal perhaps, and it hemorrhaged souls. What was this? No guardian? Perhaps it led to a test of strength or wit? Surely the riddle alone did not guard the map. Most baffling of all was the fact that there was, infact, a portal leading to the map. Any prior tests had taken place in the same complex as the map pieces. Did it lead to another planet, a higher plane? He had no way of knowing until he entered. And Sylver had no other choice, so enter he did. Gathering his courage, he stepped forward, the last step turning into a lunge as he forced himself through the portal. Everything went black. [spoiler]The first chapter in the Raven Chronicles, and a particularly long one. It runs a full two pages on the doc, but Chapter 2 is far shorter. Anyone anticipating a bit of background, Chapter 2 is what you're looking for.[/spoiler] [spoiler]All chapters are located here https://www.bungie.net/en/Groups/Post?groupId=3783849&postId=252411339&sort=0&page=0[/spoiler]