Rain walked across the ashen soil of the Ebony Island.
It was strange. The island looked very much like the Ivory Island, but was also completely different.
There was no emerald grass. No clear lake. No grove of ancient trees, and no bones of a dead dragon, either. Instead, there were ruins of mysterious structures buried in the ash, dark stone, and obsidian berths protruding into the chasm that separated the island from the rest of the Chained Isles.
The pagoda itself was entirely black, as opposed to the pristine white of the Ivory Tower. In fact, it was so lusterless and black that its walls seemed to devour light, like a vertical rift in the fabric of the world.
The seven broken heavenly chains hanging from the stone slopes of the Ivory Island were nowhere to be seen, either. Instead, there were other chains — just as enormous and mighty, but new and shiny as opposed to ancient and weathered.
