Fatal Mistake
They were creatures of light and flesh, and their playground stretched from the mountain’s arteries to the giant pools of water in the valley. The pure white mountains to the North held their attention during the days, and the birds often watched the colourful halos of hair race each other downriver, a striking contrast to the white foam and the clusters of gray rocks. Sometimes, after a particularly strenuous race, they would sit on the rocks that littered the valley’s lakes; their webbed limbs sparkling in shades of gold and silver in the sun’s light. The turtles liked the company, since the majority of their predators became wary around the frolicking group.
At night, they go back to their cities in the shallowest pool at one of the mountain’s roots. Made of stone, their walls directed the water’s flow around the city so that they could rest peacefully in their net-like beds.
A particularly adventurous individual, who had until then spent most of her time trying to translate the turtle’s body-language into her own song-like speech, decided to gather a small group of three to explore the uppermost waters of the white mountains.
The ball of light was almost overlooked in the turbulence of the river’s mouth, but she managed to get close enough to touch it, brushing it from its crude shelter of crystal into the wild current. All three swam after it, thinking it to be a brilliant new game; but then the mountain started to tremble. The river became full of dirt, as boulders ground against each other, the smaller ones being swept away by the flow once loosened. Survival instincts overrode their sense of play when the male in their group got squashed between a boulder and a fallen tree crown.
Forgotten by its discoverers, the ball of light eventually smashed against the wall of the city. Even though the orb itself weighed next to nothing, the collision created a great fissure that grew until it ran across the entire wall The river’s current tore through the ancient structure in minutes.
Young and old were swept from their homes without any hope of survival, and even those who considered themselves to be in the best of health met their death as their houses crumbled around them. Plumes of red coloured the now-clouded river, spreading from the city to the pools and smaller streams that surrounded it.
Without its orb, the mountain collapsed onto itself, sending a vast cloud of dust into the air as it gave a final sigh. The relatively sudden change in pressure unbuckled an earthen shelf in the lowlands, the roar of rock sliding against rock made everything shake as it slowly slid into the sea. The noise deafened the creatures nearby who survived, and frightened others to death. The turbulent river that had flowed from its peak became tainted and weak, creeping through the debris to join the flow from the other mountain’s river, where it showed some of its earlier livelihood.
Even the loud-mouthed Winged Ones remained silent long after their world settled once again.
At night, they go back to their cities in the shallowest pool at one of the mountain’s roots. Made of stone, their walls directed the water’s flow around the city so that they could rest peacefully in their net-like beds.
A particularly adventurous individual, who had until then spent most of her time trying to translate the turtle’s body-language into her own song-like speech, decided to gather a small group of three to explore the uppermost waters of the white mountains.
The ball of light was almost overlooked in the turbulence of the river’s mouth, but she managed to get close enough to touch it, brushing it from its crude shelter of crystal into the wild current. All three swam after it, thinking it to be a brilliant new game; but then the mountain started to tremble. The river became full of dirt, as boulders ground against each other, the smaller ones being swept away by the flow once loosened. Survival instincts overrode their sense of play when the male in their group got squashed between a boulder and a fallen tree crown.
Forgotten by its discoverers, the ball of light eventually smashed against the wall of the city. Even though the orb itself weighed next to nothing, the collision created a great fissure that grew until it ran across the entire wall The river’s current tore through the ancient structure in minutes.
Young and old were swept from their homes without any hope of survival, and even those who considered themselves to be in the best of health met their death as their houses crumbled around them. Plumes of red coloured the now-clouded river, spreading from the city to the pools and smaller streams that surrounded it.
Without its orb, the mountain collapsed onto itself, sending a vast cloud of dust into the air as it gave a final sigh. The relatively sudden change in pressure unbuckled an earthen shelf in the lowlands, the roar of rock sliding against rock made everything shake as it slowly slid into the sea. The noise deafened the creatures nearby who survived, and frightened others to death. The turbulent river that had flowed from its peak became tainted and weak, creeping through the debris to join the flow from the other mountain’s river, where it showed some of its earlier livelihood.
Even the loud-mouthed Winged Ones remained silent long after their world settled once again.