The Fourth Hand - Preface

Preface:

The rasp of obsidian heels on endless marble echoed with pure silence that could wake the world from an eternal slumber. Her pace quickened as a dense urgency filled the void where air should be. In the distance shone a brilliant topaz-hued orb, suspended in mid-air over a large disk of sepia.

Reality trembled.

She bent down and shifted her velvet robes taking one shoe in each hand and broke into a run. There was no way this could be happening, they had always been so careful before. Surely one little mistake couldn’t have caused all this damage, besides, he was there to ensure that nothing happened to jeopardise their purpose. If he failed then decades of dedication and perseverance would have all been for nothing, and the curtain would finally fall on life itself.

She made it to the dial and cast away her shoes, reaching into a pouch by her side and withdrawing a silver key with a shine like the stars themselves, only this key was as cold as oblivion. She inserted it into an opening on the disk and figures appeared on the dial, warping in and out, speeding and slowing until she had reached the present.

There it was. A glitch.

“Fuck” .

The Fourth Hand is a work in progress piece of fantasy writing, set in a realm of wonder and intrigue. It centres around the life Jain Lightfoot, daughter of the High Commissioner of Imperos as she uncovers dubious plots to topple the natural order, while struggling to find her place in a world of power and deception.