Which Opening do you prefer A or B? Don't overthink it there's no wrong answer. Just go with your gut. (Fantasy Opening)

A.

PROLOGUE

Warden Sielle of the Cloudmarch woke before the final dawn, completely unaware that she would be the one to destroy her entire city. Still armored, Sielle rolled upright, wincing at the dried blood on her hands. Just beyond the shattered temple doors she could see the great Anchor Chain in the distance, its iron links groaning under the weight of the dying city of Vethros, where Sielle had been born. The Chain's links were impossibly massive, but Sielle could see the spreading cracks running through them, their glowing fractures a warning of the collapse that would come within hours.

The metal seemed weaker than yesterday. Sielle studied it for a moment, then looked down at her blade. The legendary Anchor Chain was supposed to be eternal, but the elders of Vethros had lied about that for generations. It was unbearable to accept the truth, to understand how everything her people believed had been a desperate fabrication....

Sielle steadied herself, rising to her feet. It was bitterly cold in the ruined sanctuary; she could see her breath clouding as she retrieved her weapon, then checked the bandage wrapped around her ribs, confirming that the wound had finally stopped bleeding.

That was another grim thing. She was afraid—truly afraid. Almost paralyzed. She had never hesitated before any battle, but this morning she found herself unable to move toward the door. Finally, she forced herself to think of those who were counting on her.

"Enough," she whispered to the empty chamber.

There was no courage to be found. Sielle grimaced bitterly at her own cowardice. How could she possibly do this?

Sielle breathed, and as she did, her eyes fell on the Anchor Chain again. Hanging from that single impossibility, Vethros seemed like a condemned prisoner awaiting execution. The Chain. A groaning, fracturing lifeline—not really salvation anymore, just a delay of death. Sielle steadied her grip.

A horn sounded from the city walls.

"They're here," Sielle said, moving forward to step through the broken doorway. Commander Drell stood outside with a contingent of twelve soldiers.

The commander dropped to one knee with a thud, bowing before Sielle's presence even as Sielle gestured for him to rise. Sielle paused, the horn's fading note echoing through the smoke-filled morning sky.

"Warden, it's time," Drell announced, his voice steady and his hand gripping his sword hilt as he rose to meet her gaze.

Sielle nodded, but the commander's expression flickered with something unreadable, shifting into the careful blankness of a man hiding terrible knowledge.

"What?" Sielle asked. Then she saw the army. What had been hidden by the temple's remaining walls was now visible from the crumbling threshold.

B.

PROLOGUE

Ardor was once a great and powerful floating city. The street stones glowed a radiant golden light and many wonderous things came from this place bringing peace prosperity and joy to the other kingdoms. The city remained a place of wonder and might for over six hundred years.

And yet even a city of the gods cannot last forever. Its people grew tired and restless and sin and evil began to creep back into the hearts of the people. Legends passed down from grandfather to son and daughter said that these people had become immortal and had white flowing hair and crystal blue eyes. They had advanced magic and technology that allowed them to heal instantly, and their villages were filled of trees with beautiful white trunks and golden leaves that never fell. Many people from the lower lands were granted limited access to the city and came to learn from their great wisdom bringing with them gifts that would be shared all across the kingdoms. But I’m getting ahead of myself. This is a story of how the darkness of men’s hearts can grow even in such a place as glorious as this.

Ardor would fall tonight and the history and people would become nothing but myth.

CHAPTER 1

1

Ben Winters jolted awake in the early morning, unaware of what happened the night before. Still a bit hungover from last night’s shenanigans at the Raging Rhino Tavern, he sat upright on the edge of his bed and stretched his arms over his head, letting out a yawn. He waved his hand, and the dark lavender curtains swung open at his request. Most of the advanced magical technology in Ardor could grant the wielder almost godlike control over their own house’s functions.

Outside his two large windows, he had a wondrous view of the entire city of Ardor and its shimmering crystal-like architecture blended with different colors of crystals and metals. He tried for just a moment to remember his childhood from the lower levels before he was accepted into Ardor as a Royal Guardsman. This was something he did every morning to remember where he came from and to stay humble, but it was getting harder and harder to remember the home he grew up in. Ben sat there and stretched his neck side to side and then shook the cobwebs out of his mind. He grabbed his comfortable pants and a loose shirt and headed downstairs for breakfast.

He ate a hearty breakfast of eggs, meat, and fruit and then called for his dog Ruben. “Here, boy!” There was no response. “Where the hell are you, boy?”

Ben stood there, and his eyes could not stop staring out at the city of Ardor. Just the sheer magnitude of the glory and size was enough to leave you breathless.

Someone knocked on the door.

“Who the heck could that be this early?” Ben said, wiping the fruit juice from his mouth with his forearm as he opened the front door.

“Is this your mutt?” Old man Oalas stood there holding Ruben by the collar. Ruben was a Springer Spaniel mix with big floppy ears and long wiry legs. He stood there covered in mud and had one of old man Oalas’s socks tightly clenched in his mouth, and it was clear he was not going to give it up anytime soon.