~ This is a Land of the Sky fan fiction. Land of the Sky is a manga by my good friend Erika, also known as Iniphineas on DeviantART. You can Google 'Iniphineas Land of the Sky' to see her beautiful artwork and read her brilliant manga! Iskah Ashcroft and Armand Russo are © to Iniphineas. ~

The Land of Endless Nights




The darkness in the sky seemed interminable from any viewpoint at the castle. It engulfed the entirety of the sky, extinguishing almost all of the celestial lights. The crescent moon produced only the faintest bit of light. Even the distant horizon was swallowed by the impenetrable blackness.

Anyone who visited the Purgatory from foreign lands could easily be confused by the endless night. Hours were just numbers on the clock, and days nothing more than dates on a calendar. The only change in the sky was the moon's cycles, but even those felt more insignificant when seen from Purgatory.

Iskah Ashcroft had spent much of his life in the shadows of the Purgatory; the darkness was as normal to him as the sun was to other members of royalty. As the Prince of the land of darkness, it was only natural for him to feel more at home where only the moon shone. His expression was blank, though is thoughts were as distant as the pitch black horizon.

A gentle breeze disturbed the evening's stillness, rustling the leaves of the plants and trees in the courtyard below. A black feather danced in the air, carried by the wind. It went spiraling upward for several feet before being blown away from the castle. Footsteps clicked against the marble floor that lead toward the balcony.

"Your highness," a woman in servant's attire began with a polite bow. "The information has been confirmed. Roo the Ripper is currently with a young woman; we can't be sure of her identity. They seem to be traveling together, but she might be a hostage. Both scenarios are only assumptions though."

"Right," Iskah said coldly, as he turned away from the balcony and walked past the servant.

Hmph. That fool is running around with women instead of running for his life, as usual…

"You shall be departing, then?" the maid asked, her tone unsurprised.

"Of course, that bastard can't be trusted with anyone's life," he retorted stubbornly.

"Don't be too rash, you are the heir to this land, after all," she replied sternly, though he was already halfway down the hallway.

He disappeared into the dark corridor without another word. He frowned disapprovingly, inwardly cursing the infamous murderer. There was little doubt that he would only create more trouble; his shadow, darkened by all the lives he had taken, was great enough to stand out in any land.

I will be the one to kill him…I have to…