chapter 3: shadows

Serving under the god Bol, supreme ruler of shadows was not easy. from the moment you were born you were snached and placed into a training camp, and stayed there for years. you were not admitted to the outside world until you passed the final test. in the final test you had to be victorious in a battle with another student in the dead of night. if the losing student lived to see dawn, he had to repeat his entire career at the training camp. Glade was the most brilliant student to ever graduate the training camp. most people didnt graduate until they were at least 24, but Glade made it at 16. The final test was one of the most amazing the elders had ever seen. Glade had silently tracked his best friend, and defeated him before midnight. The elders didnt realize Glade had done it until dawn when they saw the unconcious body of his friend, Victor. Victor hadnt even had a chance to scream, when glade silently came up behind him and slammed his palms on both sides of his head. the elders immediately graduated Glade, and he prepared for his duties. Glade was selected for the top tier of bols operations, E & A, espionage and assassination. his first duty was to kill Loranze, one of the supreme elders of Ki.
All the supreme elders of Ki were housed in Fronir, a hidden castle in one of the deserts of Ki.

Glade knew how he would kill Loranze, a great threat to Bol. He was the only one of the supreme elders who opposed the invasion of Bol. Loranze hoped that opposing this move would grant him safe entry into Bol. the elders decided he would be killed for his insolence.

After only a day of tracking Glade located Fronir, the Supreme castle. Glade knew the only way in was an almost impossible feat. He would only have 2 hours to scale the wall to the top of the castle. The 700 meter climb would take all of his strength. He began to climb. He grabbed on to the lowest window and swung his body on to the ledge. Glade was very thin and an excellant gymnast, the result of both being an able contortionist and the required gymnastics courses in Bol. He was very tall, over 2 meters tall. he balanced delicately on the thin ledge. One false move would cause him to fall. The sand below him would not be merciful. He reached and grabbed the next ledge. Now the most dangerous part yet. He pushed off with his ankles, and propelled his body to the next window. He had already wasted a whole minute. He knew he would have to be faster. He slowly stood up on the second ledge and he began to sweat. Unknown to everyone but himself Glade was deathly afraid of heights. but he knew that his salvation lay at the top of this treacherous climb. He grabbed the next ledge and began to swing.

Halfway up his muscles were all screaming in pain. he could not last much longer. He had to reach the top. He had to.

He was two ledges away and knew he could make it. He flipped up to the next ledge and new that as soon as he flipped up again he could walk right onto the roof. On the roof was the bunkers that held most of the soldiers. The roof had easiest access as there were ladders that could lead down to any floor. Oh how Glade wished he could have used these ladders. However he knew that guards were there and they would have spotted him.

He prepared to flip up for the final time.he grabbed the ledge. He felt something strange. As soon an he pushed off with his ankles he knew that something was wrong. The Wax! The wax that coated the building to stop people from climbing the castle. The sun would melt the wax on the very top of the castle. The melted wax must have smothered this wooden ledge. As he was perfectly horizontal, in the middle of the swing, his hands began to slip. in the nanoseconds before his plunge to death he thought. How? After all this work he couldnt be thwarted be some melted wax!

And suddenly he knew what to do.