Chapter 4: Waterlings
The next morning, Dawn awoke refreshed and renewed. Volos did not try the illusion again and the relaxant had completely worn off. She awoke to find Tito’s head fast asleep on the side of her bed. She smiled. Despite just starting to get to know him, he always seemed to want to protect her. Dawn snickered and gently stroked his soft red hair. He moaned slightly but didn’t wake. Quietly, Dawn slid out of her bed then quietly snuck into the bathroom with a change of clothes.
When she returned, clean and dressed, Tito had awaken and brought Dawn fresh breakfast. Once again it was fruit and bread. After the illusion she had been in, Dawn was really hoping for bacon and eggs.
“Don’t do that.” Tito said sternly.
Dawn looked up, half way through eating her bread slice. Was she eating her bread wrong? Was there actually a certain way to EAT bread as a Flyer?
“Don’t think back on Volos’s illusions. Do not think of them as a better life. It was just an illusion…one that was designed to keep you away from whatever they don’t want you near. You’re a threat to them.”
“Me? B-but…” Dawn began.
“You’re just a normal girl? You didn’t want this? Why were you chosen?” Tito finished.
“Y-yeah.” Dawn replied sheepishly.
Those were the exact questions running through her head. She felt like one of those characters from those books where they were thrown into an unwanted adventure. Next, Tito would be telling her she has some sort of huge destiny to save the world.
“Look, this may sound cliché but it’s your destiny.”
Yup, there it was.
“A female Earthling, with the name of the rising sun, shall rise to the skies and defeat the Darkness.” Tito recited.
His voice seemed to fade a bit at the end. That was it? Tito said no more and Dawn felt like saying nothing. It was nearly ten in the morning when Tito took Dawn down to the bottom of the castle. Unlike Earthling castles, the bottoms of the Flyers’ castle were large hangars but not filled with planes. They were filled with various strange gears. Tito walked over to the wall and pulled a thick, long yellow lever which was followed by a loud screaming cry from the machine.
The hangar shook slightly as half the hangar began to tilt downwards. The wind suddenly slapped Dawn across the face. They were flying quite fast over the ocean. Dawn cautiously peaked over the edge, looking out into the sea which they had just passed over. Tito appeared by her side smiling. In his hand he held a rubber skin tight suit, a pair of thick goggles, a heavy belt and flippers. They were going swimming.
But, there was only one set. Where was the other?
“Get changed then meet me back here.” Tito instructed.
Dawn nodded then hid behind a large tank thing. She quickly changed into her new suit then gazed at her reflection in the wall. The skin tight suit really brought her tall, thin figure. A normal teenage girl in a normal teenage body on a not-so-normal adventure. She clicked the belt around her waist then moved her hips around adjusting to the new weight. She knew the weights were to keep her down but not enough to drown her. Buoyancy. Dawn combed her hair with her fingers before slipping the goggles over her head. She strapped the goggles to her forehead, for now, to see where she was going and look slightly less ridiculous. At that moment, Dawn thought she looked like a thin, blue seal with a thick belt.
Sighing, Dawn stepped out from behind the tank only to find that in place of Tito, stood a tall red scaled boy. Reddish-yellow fins rippled from his elbows and the back of his calves. His feet were large and webbed, similar to frog feet as well as his hands. Gills breathed along the sides of his stomach and neck. And a large, wavy, yellow dorsal fin rippled down his spine. He looked like a giant half man-half coy thing.
“Hi Dawn!” The fish spoke.
If Dawn had been holding something, this would have been the part she would have dropped it. The boy standing before her didn’t REPLACE Tito, he WAS Tito. He had traded his wings for the fish form.
“It’s another Flyers’ power. We can trade our wings for any species form, except for Earthlings since they have nothing really special to trade for.” Tito explained, reading Dawn’s mind once more.
With that a power too? To read the minds of other species? Dawn hoped not.
“Don’t worry, I can only read your mind sometimes. You’re just thinking too loudly at the moment.” Tito said, doing it again.
Note to self: Don’t think too loud the thoughts you don’t want read. Tito walked over to a large, maroon box on the wall. He twisted some sort of knob and suddenly a ball of disgusting gloop plopped into his hand with a gut wrenching squish. It was green with black blobs and Dawn could have sworn it was moving. Tito unexpectedly appeared in front of her and shoved the green blob into her mouth.
Not only did it look revolting, it tasted revolting. But no matter how hard Dawn tried, she couldn’t throw it back up. It tasted like a bad combination of raw fish, liver and vinegar all in a slimy little green package with chunks.
“Guts of Breather Fish. Eat one and you’re set for a few days of under water breathing.” Tito smiled licking the little bit off his fin (hand).
He actually seemed to like it. Dawn didn’t. Her stomach twisted into a hundred knots and growled loudly in disgusted protest. And unfortunately, being in a Hangar, there was nothing to wash the horrible taste down with. She finally managed to force herself to throw up but no such goo came out.
“Yeah… once it’s in, it’s in.” Tito said, slightly grossed out by the clear puke on the floor.
Dawn glared at Tito. For two reasons: 1. for making her eat that stuff and 2. Because he made her eat that disgusting stuff without telling her she couldn’t throw it up. Once calming down a bit and getting most of the taste out of her mouth, Dawn joined Tito’s side clutching her stomach. Tito only snickered.
“Let’s just get this over with.” Dawn growled slightly, glaring at Tito.
Tito shrugged and walked closer to the edge of the tilted platform with Dawn behind him. They were moving quite fast still. Dawn now wondered how they were gonna get down. Surely not jump. The fall would kill them. She looked around hoping to see some sort of craft or ship beside them. No such luck. It was just her and Tito. Dawn gulped. Tito stepped behind her as if sensing she was about to turn and run. Or not.
“Keep your legs straight when you hit the water!” Tito shouted above the howling wind.
“Wait what?!” Dawn screeched.
But it was too late. Tito suddenly pushed her forwards into the drag wind. The wind carried her for a bit till gravity took hold and began pulling her down. She seemed to fall for eternity then for only a few brief seconds. She quickly slapped her legs together, plugged her nose and straightened her body for impact. The first thing that came to mind on impact was…was she alive?
For a brief second of shock, Dawn floated below the surface staring at the distorted light sky. Slowly reality began returning as the weights dragged her down a little more. She then realized she was under water…and breathing. It was like breathing normal air yet she was underwater. Everything seemed strange underwater…and even stranger once she got her goggles on. This underwater world was both beautiful and mysterious.
Dawn pressed a button on the side of her goggles and a small light suddenly came on illuminating this haunting sea bed. She floated up right and moved her head slowly, “soaking” up every detail. She caught a glimpse of her shadow from the light above and giggled at the sight of her hair dancing up and down with the currents. Tito appeared next to her. For a second, he almost looked like a large fish. Well…he was a large fish but for a brief moment he looked more fish than half man, half fish…thing.
“Follow me.” He said normally as if talking on land.
There was no distortion in his voice. It seemed the water had no effect on it. Dawn was a little afraid of speaking. Even breathing for that matter. She held her breath as if, well she were underwater. Her whole body told her, she was underwater. She could feel it on her skin. She could see it through her goggles. She could feel it in her weight. Dawn was underwater. Tito swam up to her and placed his “hands” on her shoulders.
“Dawn, relax. Just breathe normally. Nothing will happen, you won’t breathe in water.” Tito reassured calmly with a smile.
Here goes nothing. Dawn took in a deep breath and found she was actually breathing in air or some form of air. Whatever it was, it defiantly wasn’t water, which was good. Now for talking.
“Wow.” Dawn gasped, once again not breathing in water.
Tito smiled. He always loved watching people underwater when they discovered they could breathe normally. Dawn relaxed a lot and began spinning around admiring her surroundings much better. Spinning was interesting. Usually whenever Dawn would spin underwater she would be forced to swim back up for air. Not now.
“I bet this is how astronauts feel!” Dawn exclaimed jumping weightlessly (and carefully) from solid coral rock to solid coral rock.
“Oh yes. Spacelings live in very similar conditions to Waterlings.” Tito responded swimming casually on his back.
Dawn stopped jumping. “Wait, there’s more species?!”
“Yup, five to be exact. You know of Flyers and Earthlings and now of Waterlings. Well there’s two more. Spacelings whom, from the name you’ve probably figured out, they live in space. Then Underlings.” Tito clarified still swimming around Dawn like it wasn’t such big news.
“You mean Australians?”
“No, further down then that. Try a few miles in the Earth’s Crust. A small group of humans who have developed advance ways to live comfortably underground. Sort of like moles.”
“Wow.”
“Now come on. We have quite a ways to go before night fall and believe me, the ocean is the last place you want to be in at night.” Tito said swimming away into an Easterly direction.
Dawn shrugged and followed. There was so much to see. Large, shiny schools of fishes swam by, beautifully deadly coral and the dancing seaweed. Dawn had completely forgotten she was breathing without a mask underwater. There were much stranger things about. She had seen many HD movies about undersea life but actually experiencing it was a different story. Dawn looked at her hands and realized they weren’t pruning like normal.
“Another Breather Fish gift. The oils hydrate your skin. That will last as long as the breathing.” Tito explained.
Dawn looked at him swimming beside her. She almost forgot he was there. He looked so different without his wings. Dawn avoided staring at his scales; they freaked her out a bit. So she focussed on his silver eyes. They were deep and sensitive with a hint of playfulness left. He was still a child. Dawn figured he had to be at least nineteen then again he could be in his forties for all she knew. She was only just beginning to explore the world of Flyers and now she learned their were many other human species.
Waterlings, Underlings, Spacelings…it was all…new to her.
“There’s one more specie.” Tito responded, reading Dawn’s mind again. “The Dark.”
“The…Dark?”
“Dark creatures. Humans whom have fallen into darkness. They change into Dark Beasts. Half of them usually do anyways. Some are destroyed others are powerful enough to maintain their forms such as Volos and the Dark Lord.”
Tito’s expression grew dark. Dawn could tell those names brought him pain. He was so up beat and happy it was hard to tell that he probably lost so much to them. They didn’t say anymore and kept quietly swimming. Suddenly the beautiful deep blue didn’t seem so beautiful. Its beauty had been stripped by sadness. But Tito bounced back fast. Especially when they were half way up the underwater volcano.
“We’re almost there!” He exclaimed, kicking his legs harder.
They had been swimming for over three hours. Dawn had hoped they’d be close because she was getting really tired. With a new energy from excitement, Dawn kicked her legs harder and swam up next to Tito. They weightlessly stood on the edge of the volcano and looked down into….nothingness. It was pitch black. Tito’s mouth opened in horror. Were they…too late?
Breathing heavily, Tito swam down hoping to find something that proved him wrong. From the ruins, Dawn could see that this was a huge underwater city like those cartoon pictures of Atlantis. But now, it was all ash. A city graveyard. Although, Dawn did not see many bones which hopefully meant the Waterlings had escaped. Then another thought occurred to her.
How could fire destroy an underwater city?
“Boiling water.” Tito answered.
Dawn was getting used to Tito reading her mind. She was sad though. She knew how dangerous boiling water was. The poor Waterlings who got trapped must have suffered a great deal of pain. Dawn now wondered had all the people in her city died. Tito and she left in such a hurry she didn’t get to see the full extent of the damage. Maybe that was for the best.
“Jud, bring a boat over. The Waterling City has been destroyed. I will discuss it more when you pick us up.” Tito ordered into his crystal.
Dawn sighed then stared sorrowfully at the extreme damage. The warm water suddenly felt very cold against her suit.
“Waterlings have back up cities. Empty cities where if something like this were to happen, they could go there secretly. We have to find them.” Tito said. “We’ll swim to the surface then wait for Jud to come pick us up.”
Dawn nodded then followed Tito to the surface. There they floated silently till a half an hour later Jud appeared on a really fast speed boat. It was much faster than Earthling speed boats. Jud was really tall and well built. Unlike most of the Flyers he wore a simple black tank top and black trousers with thick, brown combat boots. He had fairly dark skin with dirty blonde hair and dirty blonde wings.
Tito and Dawn climbed aboard once Jud stopped the boat. They were both handed fuzzy warm towels to dry off. Now on board, Jud appeared to be at least seven feet tall and very muscular. But also very friendly. He had a warm smile and a hearty laugh. However, he appeared very strong and not someone you want to be an enemy of. He probably could snap Dawn’s weak spine in half without breaking a sweat.
Dawn looked to Tito who had changed back to his normal Flyer self. Lucky. Dawn was gonna be stuck in her wet bathing suit till they got back to the castle.
“So, you’re the Earthling whose been roaming the castle. Hi, I’m Jud. Tito’s best “friend” coughbuttsavercough.” Jud greeted wrapping his arm tightly around Tito’s shoulder.
“You are not my butt saver!” Tito playfully retorted struggling to get out of Jud’s strong grip.
“Look, don’t believe a word he says, I’ve saved his butt countless times.” Jud joked to Dawn.
Tito finally wriggled out of his friend’s grip, glared at him then burst out laughing. Jud shared the same hearty laugh. The two of them reminded Dawn of Elva and her. Elva was always looking out for Dawn. She really missed her now. Seeing her saddened expression, Tito stopped laughing and his expression grew grave. He explained to Jud how most likely the city must have evacuated to their hidden city. Problem was finding it. Jud grew serious too. Play time was over.
Tito took Dawn below deck. There was a small bed, a sink, a very small kitchen and a small door leading to the bathroom. Dawn had a feeling they’d be there for a while. The boys spent all night gazing over tons of maps trying to configure where the Waterlings could have gone.
It would have to be somewhere close enough to the original city for fast escapes but also secret enough for no one to look. At the break of dawn, Tito came back to Dawn’s room and woke her up.
“We leave to find the Waterlings’ city at noon.” He said.
Monday, 25 January 2010
Monday, 18 January 2010
Chapter 3: School
Chapter 3: School
“Dawn. Daaawn…” Sang a sweet motherly voice softly.
“Mom…five more minutes…” Dawn mumbled half asleep. “I couldn’t sleep last night…I had a bad dream…”
“It’s okay dear. The night is over.” Dawn’s mother whispered.
Dawn sat up and stared her mother’s face. She was alive! The whole thing had just been a bad dream! And as an extra confirmation, Elva suddenly burst through Dawn’s bedroom door and flew unto her bed.
“GOOD MORNING!!!” She shouted. “Come on! We’re gonna be late for school if you don’t get your lazy butt out of bed!”
Dawn glared at her best friend for a moment. The two remained froze like that; Dawn glaring and Elva smiling with mischief behind her eyes. Then both girls burst out laughing randomly. Elva slid off her friend’s bed and began throwing Dawn’s uniform onto her head. Then Elva skipped out of the room leaving Dawn to get dressed. Dawn’s mother seemed to have disappeared but Dawn just figured she slipped out when Elva pounced her. After a quick shower, Dawn stared at her reflection in the mirror. Had everything….just been a bad dream? Maybe. Elva was there and her parents were alive. She had woken up inside her own house which she saw burned to the ground. Everything was where it was supposed to be. But what about Tito and the other Flyers? Was that just a dream too?
Of course it was. Why would a Flyer actually approach her? She was just like everyone who wanted to sprout wings and soar. Dawn sighed. It was just one of her crazy dreams…that just felt so real. She moped down the stairs to find her mother cooking a delicious large breakfast of bacon, eggs, sausage and toast. That was strange. Dawn’s mother usually never made a large breakfast. Maybe, she got up early this morning. Dawn shrugged it off and enjoyed her large breakfast with Elva. Well at least that was normal. Elva would usually come over and “steal” their food. She was a morning person. Dawn wasn’t. The two girls finished quickly then sped off to school. It was the normal routine except they left a little bit earlier than usual so they decided to walk.
Walk along the trail through the dark forest where both girls would try to scare each other, stroll along the warm coast then up the grassy bank to the gothic looking building known as Saint Bridget’s School for Girls. The day seemed to move unusually fast and before she knew it, Dawn was in the last lesson before lunch: Period 4. The day had been pretty normal and boring….except for one thing. Not once during a single lesson did one of the girls jump up and exclaim, “Look there’s a Flyer!” That was odd. Flyers always passed over during school hours and always one girl would at least catch a glimpse.
But not today. No, not even were any of them staring out the window hoping to catch a glance. They were all focussed on their work! Dawn shrugged that off too, but something was tugging at the back of her mind that something was wrong. No, maybe Flyers just didn’t feel like flying today. Or the girls who sat by the window were too tired to scan the skies hopelessly. Whenever something seemed off, Dawn always managed to convince herself otherwise. Lunch was normal. Dawn and Elva made their way to their favourite spot and stared at the sky while enjoying lunch together. As Dawn was in the middle of Elva’s special cookies, a glimmer of red in the sky caught her eyes. Could it be?
Dawn stood to her feet with a huge smile on her face.
“Tito! TITO!” Dawn shouted at the sky waving her hand. “Down here!!!”
Suddenly she felt a harsh hand yank her back down to the ground. Elva?
“What are you doing?” She hissed.
“What? That’s Tito, a Fire Flyer.” Dawn exclaimed.
“Um, no. That’s a red glider.” Elva corrected, slightly confused.
A second look confirmed that. It was just a man in a red glider. Dawn sighed.
“Where are the Flyers today? I haven’t sensed a single one.” Dawn asked.
“Flyers? You mean birds?” Elva asked really confused now.
“Huh? No, I mean Flyers. You know the humans with colourful wings? Don’t you remember? We saw one yesterday.” Dawn frantically answered puzzled by her friend.
Dawn didn’t understand it. How could it be? Didn’t they see a Flyer a few days ago? Or was that a dream too? If that was the case then what parts was the dream? Had the whole history of Flyers been made up in her mind too? What about Xander, Tito’s Great Grandfather who saved her twelve years ago? Too many questions buzzed around in Dawn’s head. Then Elva spoke up.
“You must of fallen asleep drawing again. You always did have quite the imagination.”
“Hmm…..yeah…” Dawn whispered.
But it still felt wrong. Something was wrong but something was also telling her it was right. Dawn stared at the lapping green water. Green? Wait, last time she saw the water it was blue. Eh, maybe it was just her mind playing tricks on her. Her eyes must have been a bit blurry. The rest of the day moved along quickly then it started to rain as the two girls walked home. They unbuttoned their blazers and sat them on their heads in a desperate attempt to keep dry. The thunder cracked the dark sky which seemed to whip the rain down harder and the lightning zigzagged its way through the clouds. Dawn and Elva made haste through the dense forest back home. Neither spoke to save time.
They quickly said goodbye under a thick tree which provided brief dryness then went their separate ways back home. Dawn scurried home. She was pretty much already soaked so she lowered her blazer and scampered home darkening her white socks even more. Dawn shoved her key into the door and pushed the door open quickly, glad to be out of the cold rain.
“Mom. Mom, I’m home!” Dawn shouted kicking her muddy school shoes off.
No answer.
“Mom?”
Dawn walked out into the living room only to find it empty. That was strange. Her mother was always sitting at home awaiting her on the couch with a warm smile always willing to listen.
“This has only been a taste of what this world could be like.”
A dark voice suddenly said from behind startling Dawn. The whole room suddenly went pitch black. Dawn breathed heavily, terrified. She slowly turned, her heart nearly pounding out of her chest. It seemed to echo through this strange dark place. She turned and faced the dark voice. It was a man. A tall man shroud in shadow. Despite the rooming being pure darkness, Dawn easily made his shape out. He had to be at least six and a half feet tall in a medium built body but something told Dawn he was strong. The man then removed his black, sharp helmet. He had long black hair and glowing orange eyes with tan skin. Dawn’s heart beat faster.
“Stay asleep. Remain here where Flyers don’t exist and you never have to face the darkness.” The man tempted.
Dawn almost wanted to say yes. While the whole world might have been an illusion, her friends and family were alive. Everything was normal except for there weren’t any Flyers. Maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing…
The man moved closer.
“Here, you’re safe. Stay here with your friends and family who love you and care about you and will never leave you.”
A step closer.
Dawn couldn’t move…or maybe she didn’t want to. The idea was sounding better and better. Suddenly Tito appeared far behind the figure. He seemed to be trapped behind some sort of blurry glass. Dawn could just make out his mouth screaming her name but couldn’t hear him. He pounded his fist against the “glass”.
“Look at me.” The figure commanded, roughly grabbing Dawn’s arm.
She was forced to stare into his deep eyes. She could feel her body and mind letting go; giving into unconsciousness. He was winning. She was about to be eternally trapped is that wonderful illusion. No.
“Ti-” Dawn breathed.
“No! Forget everything. Forget the Flyers. Forget your destiny.” The man growled growing desperate.
“Ti-Ti…TITO!!!” Dawn screamed.
The glass suddenly broke allowing Tito to fly in. He wrapped his arms tightly around the man’s waist and tackled him to the ground. The man struggled angrily.
“Dawn! Wake up! Get out of here!” Tito desperately shouted struggling to hold on.
The man abruptly caught Tito in the nose with his elbow then once free, threw him into the “wall”. Dawn backed away, terrified. She would have run to Tito’s if only for what happened next. The man began to change. Dawn thought there was something horrifyingly familiar about those eyes. A Dark Creature. His bones cracked into place and a sickening black liquid began squirting from his pores.
The thick, syrupy substance climbed along his body until it formed the leathery black skin belonging to Dark Creatures. Unlike the others Dawn had seen this Dark Creature was shaped more like a black panther than a bulky, raging beast. His body movement was smooth as he stared at Dawn.
“RUN!” Tito shouted again.
The Dark Creature turned his head and growled at the limp doll like figure on the ground known as Tito giving Dawn enough time to turn and begin running. But not enough to get away. The Dark Creature growled loudly then sprang high over Dawn; its four tails just missing her. The Dark Creature rolled its shoulders which in turn rolled his wings as well. He was in attack mode and Dawn was the weak target. Tito jumped to his feet, drew his large sword and jumped in front of Dawn; placing the sword in front of him like a shield across his chest.
“How do I get out of here?!” Dawn asked anxiously, her brown eyes wide with fear.
“Wake up, Dawn! Just wake up!”
At that moment, the Dark Creature lunged only to be held back by Tito’s sword. The beast crushed Tito’s sword in his mouth then pushed Tito to the ground. Tito struggled to keep the beast’s large mouth off his neck with his hands.
“DAWN!!!” Tito screamed, a bit of terror hinted in his tone.
Dawn didn’t know what to do. She never had to try and wake up from a realistic dream. The stress was building. Tito could die! But this was a dream; would he really die in real life? Dawn suddenly screamed, tears pouring down her face. The whole room shook and cracks of light appeared. Dawn continued to scream.
“Dawn!” Tito shouted as Dawn suddenly bolted awake.
She sat straight up, sweating and panting in fear. Her heartbeat raced dangerously. Tito was kneeled at the side of her bed with his hands on her shoulders.
“Dawn, calm down! Calm down.” Tito said calming down himself.
But Dawn wasn’t calming down. She stared wide eyed at her sheets and still panted dangerously fast. Tito called for a doctor and one arrived within seconds.
“She is in a state of shock.” The Flyer doctor said calmly. “Obviously the work Volos.”
The doctor pulled out a needle and then stuck it into Dawn’s vein. Dawn immediately calmed down. Her eyes glazed slightly and she fell limp slightly. Tito held her up. He picked her up and carried her to the Flyer Council. By that point, Dawn started gaining more life. Her eyes focussed slightly and her heart rate remained down.
“Volos has just confirmed it. The Dark Lord is after Dawn. Why? I do not know but I fear it has something to do with the legend. Volos used a very powerful illusion on Dawn meaning they feel threatened already.” Tito explained to the council. “We have also received word from other Flyers that many other species are in trouble. Many are suffering from similar situation: their families were killed and friends kidnapped but they escaped.”
The council murmured amongst them for a bit. Tito swallowed. He stood alone in a dark room with a single spot light on him. The council could be seen around him but just barely. Most of them were old, wise men that had been in control for many generations. Flyers lived slightly longer than the average Earthling. Their average life span was about 100 years. The oldest member was about 150 years old though he appeared strong and tall. The only hint to his age was his medium long white hair and deep set wrinkles.
The Head Council member stood to his feet easily. Tito pursued his lips. He had power over all decisions below the King.
“So, what do you propose we do?” The eldest member, Lord Eirik, asked.
Tito was hoping Lord Eirik would say this. He began to explain his plan. Go to each land of the four different species and find out what the Dark Lord is up to. He was to take Dawn with him if the legend was true about her. Lord Eirik listened intensely without saying a word until Tito was finished. Tito held his breath awaiting the Head of the Council’s decision. Then he nodded.
“If Dawn is really the Earthling the legend speaks about then it will be useful for her to learn about what lies beneath her understanding.” Lord Eirik answered. “Tomorrow you will take her to see the Waterlings.”
Tito nodded then picked up Dawn once again. She was much more awake but the shot had temporarily killed her nervous system causing her to become doll like. Tito carried her as if she weighed nothing back to her room without a word. He gently laid her back on her bed and pulled the covers over her legs. It would still be some time before the relaxant wore off. Just as Tito stood up, Dawn reached out and grabbed the edge of his tunic.
“Please stay.” She whispered.
Tito weakly smiled then pulled up a chair beside her bed. There he sat through the night watching over her…like a guardian angel. Her Sky Angel.
“Dawn. Daaawn…” Sang a sweet motherly voice softly.
“Mom…five more minutes…” Dawn mumbled half asleep. “I couldn’t sleep last night…I had a bad dream…”
“It’s okay dear. The night is over.” Dawn’s mother whispered.
Dawn sat up and stared her mother’s face. She was alive! The whole thing had just been a bad dream! And as an extra confirmation, Elva suddenly burst through Dawn’s bedroom door and flew unto her bed.
“GOOD MORNING!!!” She shouted. “Come on! We’re gonna be late for school if you don’t get your lazy butt out of bed!”
Dawn glared at her best friend for a moment. The two remained froze like that; Dawn glaring and Elva smiling with mischief behind her eyes. Then both girls burst out laughing randomly. Elva slid off her friend’s bed and began throwing Dawn’s uniform onto her head. Then Elva skipped out of the room leaving Dawn to get dressed. Dawn’s mother seemed to have disappeared but Dawn just figured she slipped out when Elva pounced her. After a quick shower, Dawn stared at her reflection in the mirror. Had everything….just been a bad dream? Maybe. Elva was there and her parents were alive. She had woken up inside her own house which she saw burned to the ground. Everything was where it was supposed to be. But what about Tito and the other Flyers? Was that just a dream too?
Of course it was. Why would a Flyer actually approach her? She was just like everyone who wanted to sprout wings and soar. Dawn sighed. It was just one of her crazy dreams…that just felt so real. She moped down the stairs to find her mother cooking a delicious large breakfast of bacon, eggs, sausage and toast. That was strange. Dawn’s mother usually never made a large breakfast. Maybe, she got up early this morning. Dawn shrugged it off and enjoyed her large breakfast with Elva. Well at least that was normal. Elva would usually come over and “steal” their food. She was a morning person. Dawn wasn’t. The two girls finished quickly then sped off to school. It was the normal routine except they left a little bit earlier than usual so they decided to walk.
Walk along the trail through the dark forest where both girls would try to scare each other, stroll along the warm coast then up the grassy bank to the gothic looking building known as Saint Bridget’s School for Girls. The day seemed to move unusually fast and before she knew it, Dawn was in the last lesson before lunch: Period 4. The day had been pretty normal and boring….except for one thing. Not once during a single lesson did one of the girls jump up and exclaim, “Look there’s a Flyer!” That was odd. Flyers always passed over during school hours and always one girl would at least catch a glimpse.
But not today. No, not even were any of them staring out the window hoping to catch a glance. They were all focussed on their work! Dawn shrugged that off too, but something was tugging at the back of her mind that something was wrong. No, maybe Flyers just didn’t feel like flying today. Or the girls who sat by the window were too tired to scan the skies hopelessly. Whenever something seemed off, Dawn always managed to convince herself otherwise. Lunch was normal. Dawn and Elva made their way to their favourite spot and stared at the sky while enjoying lunch together. As Dawn was in the middle of Elva’s special cookies, a glimmer of red in the sky caught her eyes. Could it be?
Dawn stood to her feet with a huge smile on her face.
“Tito! TITO!” Dawn shouted at the sky waving her hand. “Down here!!!”
Suddenly she felt a harsh hand yank her back down to the ground. Elva?
“What are you doing?” She hissed.
“What? That’s Tito, a Fire Flyer.” Dawn exclaimed.
“Um, no. That’s a red glider.” Elva corrected, slightly confused.
A second look confirmed that. It was just a man in a red glider. Dawn sighed.
“Where are the Flyers today? I haven’t sensed a single one.” Dawn asked.
“Flyers? You mean birds?” Elva asked really confused now.
“Huh? No, I mean Flyers. You know the humans with colourful wings? Don’t you remember? We saw one yesterday.” Dawn frantically answered puzzled by her friend.
Dawn didn’t understand it. How could it be? Didn’t they see a Flyer a few days ago? Or was that a dream too? If that was the case then what parts was the dream? Had the whole history of Flyers been made up in her mind too? What about Xander, Tito’s Great Grandfather who saved her twelve years ago? Too many questions buzzed around in Dawn’s head. Then Elva spoke up.
“You must of fallen asleep drawing again. You always did have quite the imagination.”
“Hmm…..yeah…” Dawn whispered.
But it still felt wrong. Something was wrong but something was also telling her it was right. Dawn stared at the lapping green water. Green? Wait, last time she saw the water it was blue. Eh, maybe it was just her mind playing tricks on her. Her eyes must have been a bit blurry. The rest of the day moved along quickly then it started to rain as the two girls walked home. They unbuttoned their blazers and sat them on their heads in a desperate attempt to keep dry. The thunder cracked the dark sky which seemed to whip the rain down harder and the lightning zigzagged its way through the clouds. Dawn and Elva made haste through the dense forest back home. Neither spoke to save time.
They quickly said goodbye under a thick tree which provided brief dryness then went their separate ways back home. Dawn scurried home. She was pretty much already soaked so she lowered her blazer and scampered home darkening her white socks even more. Dawn shoved her key into the door and pushed the door open quickly, glad to be out of the cold rain.
“Mom. Mom, I’m home!” Dawn shouted kicking her muddy school shoes off.
No answer.
“Mom?”
Dawn walked out into the living room only to find it empty. That was strange. Her mother was always sitting at home awaiting her on the couch with a warm smile always willing to listen.
“This has only been a taste of what this world could be like.”
A dark voice suddenly said from behind startling Dawn. The whole room suddenly went pitch black. Dawn breathed heavily, terrified. She slowly turned, her heart nearly pounding out of her chest. It seemed to echo through this strange dark place. She turned and faced the dark voice. It was a man. A tall man shroud in shadow. Despite the rooming being pure darkness, Dawn easily made his shape out. He had to be at least six and a half feet tall in a medium built body but something told Dawn he was strong. The man then removed his black, sharp helmet. He had long black hair and glowing orange eyes with tan skin. Dawn’s heart beat faster.
“Stay asleep. Remain here where Flyers don’t exist and you never have to face the darkness.” The man tempted.
Dawn almost wanted to say yes. While the whole world might have been an illusion, her friends and family were alive. Everything was normal except for there weren’t any Flyers. Maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing…
The man moved closer.
“Here, you’re safe. Stay here with your friends and family who love you and care about you and will never leave you.”
A step closer.
Dawn couldn’t move…or maybe she didn’t want to. The idea was sounding better and better. Suddenly Tito appeared far behind the figure. He seemed to be trapped behind some sort of blurry glass. Dawn could just make out his mouth screaming her name but couldn’t hear him. He pounded his fist against the “glass”.
“Look at me.” The figure commanded, roughly grabbing Dawn’s arm.
She was forced to stare into his deep eyes. She could feel her body and mind letting go; giving into unconsciousness. He was winning. She was about to be eternally trapped is that wonderful illusion. No.
“Ti-” Dawn breathed.
“No! Forget everything. Forget the Flyers. Forget your destiny.” The man growled growing desperate.
“Ti-Ti…TITO!!!” Dawn screamed.
The glass suddenly broke allowing Tito to fly in. He wrapped his arms tightly around the man’s waist and tackled him to the ground. The man struggled angrily.
“Dawn! Wake up! Get out of here!” Tito desperately shouted struggling to hold on.
The man abruptly caught Tito in the nose with his elbow then once free, threw him into the “wall”. Dawn backed away, terrified. She would have run to Tito’s if only for what happened next. The man began to change. Dawn thought there was something horrifyingly familiar about those eyes. A Dark Creature. His bones cracked into place and a sickening black liquid began squirting from his pores.
The thick, syrupy substance climbed along his body until it formed the leathery black skin belonging to Dark Creatures. Unlike the others Dawn had seen this Dark Creature was shaped more like a black panther than a bulky, raging beast. His body movement was smooth as he stared at Dawn.
“RUN!” Tito shouted again.
The Dark Creature turned his head and growled at the limp doll like figure on the ground known as Tito giving Dawn enough time to turn and begin running. But not enough to get away. The Dark Creature growled loudly then sprang high over Dawn; its four tails just missing her. The Dark Creature rolled its shoulders which in turn rolled his wings as well. He was in attack mode and Dawn was the weak target. Tito jumped to his feet, drew his large sword and jumped in front of Dawn; placing the sword in front of him like a shield across his chest.
“How do I get out of here?!” Dawn asked anxiously, her brown eyes wide with fear.
“Wake up, Dawn! Just wake up!”
At that moment, the Dark Creature lunged only to be held back by Tito’s sword. The beast crushed Tito’s sword in his mouth then pushed Tito to the ground. Tito struggled to keep the beast’s large mouth off his neck with his hands.
“DAWN!!!” Tito screamed, a bit of terror hinted in his tone.
Dawn didn’t know what to do. She never had to try and wake up from a realistic dream. The stress was building. Tito could die! But this was a dream; would he really die in real life? Dawn suddenly screamed, tears pouring down her face. The whole room shook and cracks of light appeared. Dawn continued to scream.
“Dawn!” Tito shouted as Dawn suddenly bolted awake.
She sat straight up, sweating and panting in fear. Her heartbeat raced dangerously. Tito was kneeled at the side of her bed with his hands on her shoulders.
“Dawn, calm down! Calm down.” Tito said calming down himself.
But Dawn wasn’t calming down. She stared wide eyed at her sheets and still panted dangerously fast. Tito called for a doctor and one arrived within seconds.
“She is in a state of shock.” The Flyer doctor said calmly. “Obviously the work Volos.”
The doctor pulled out a needle and then stuck it into Dawn’s vein. Dawn immediately calmed down. Her eyes glazed slightly and she fell limp slightly. Tito held her up. He picked her up and carried her to the Flyer Council. By that point, Dawn started gaining more life. Her eyes focussed slightly and her heart rate remained down.
“Volos has just confirmed it. The Dark Lord is after Dawn. Why? I do not know but I fear it has something to do with the legend. Volos used a very powerful illusion on Dawn meaning they feel threatened already.” Tito explained to the council. “We have also received word from other Flyers that many other species are in trouble. Many are suffering from similar situation: their families were killed and friends kidnapped but they escaped.”
The council murmured amongst them for a bit. Tito swallowed. He stood alone in a dark room with a single spot light on him. The council could be seen around him but just barely. Most of them were old, wise men that had been in control for many generations. Flyers lived slightly longer than the average Earthling. Their average life span was about 100 years. The oldest member was about 150 years old though he appeared strong and tall. The only hint to his age was his medium long white hair and deep set wrinkles.
The Head Council member stood to his feet easily. Tito pursued his lips. He had power over all decisions below the King.
“So, what do you propose we do?” The eldest member, Lord Eirik, asked.
Tito was hoping Lord Eirik would say this. He began to explain his plan. Go to each land of the four different species and find out what the Dark Lord is up to. He was to take Dawn with him if the legend was true about her. Lord Eirik listened intensely without saying a word until Tito was finished. Tito held his breath awaiting the Head of the Council’s decision. Then he nodded.
“If Dawn is really the Earthling the legend speaks about then it will be useful for her to learn about what lies beneath her understanding.” Lord Eirik answered. “Tomorrow you will take her to see the Waterlings.”
Tito nodded then picked up Dawn once again. She was much more awake but the shot had temporarily killed her nervous system causing her to become doll like. Tito carried her as if she weighed nothing back to her room without a word. He gently laid her back on her bed and pulled the covers over her legs. It would still be some time before the relaxant wore off. Just as Tito stood up, Dawn reached out and grabbed the edge of his tunic.
“Please stay.” She whispered.
Tito weakly smiled then pulled up a chair beside her bed. There he sat through the night watching over her…like a guardian angel. Her Sky Angel.
Chapter 2: Castles in the Sky
Chapter 2: Castle in the Sky
For days, Dawn sat in a cosy room in the large flying castle. She was depressed about the lost of her family and the kidnapping of her dear friend. Under any other circumstance, Dawn would have been too excited to sit still and be exploring this grand castle. Too much had happened in one day. Upon arriving, Tito took her to the council and explained why she needed to be here. They didn’t quite believe it was the right thing at first so they put her in a nice room while the discussed it. The room was simple: stone walls with wood flooring. The bed was large and comfortable; built for royalty.
It had a silk red sheet on top then a thick white duvet. There were four beams from each corner holding up the tall wood canopy that had thick red curtains hung around it to block out the light during the night. Opposite the bed stood a tall wardrobe in the back left corner and a desk next to it with a small mirror. Along the right wall stood a full size mirror. Dawn sat in the extended window sill staring hazily at the clouds drifting beneath the castle through the tall plain window. A servant came along every few hours with food and drink for Dawn but she barely ever touched her food. It probably wasn’t very smart now that she had no home and probably wouldn’t get another meal if they kicked her out of the castle but she was still too disheartened.
A servant came around and brought Dawn some new clothing so she could blend in slightly more and get out of her dirty school uniform. Out of all the nice outfits, Dawn simply chose a nice white gown that had no details or ribbons; just a plain, yet elegant white dress. Whenever a servant came around, she barely spoke except for a quiet, “thank you.” Three days passed and Tito finally returned. Dawn looked up solemnly.
“Well, they said you could stay. After much arguing we came to the conclusion that the Dark Lord IS in fact after you.” Tito reported with slight happiness laced into his tone.
Dawn nodded, absent-mindedly.
“You should eat something.” Tito said noting the untouched trays of food. “You’re going to need your strength.”
“For what?” Dawn asked, curiosity sparking in her voice.
“You’re training of course. To become a Flyer.”
That caught her attention. She straightened trying to comprehend what she actually heard. Tito smiled then informed her training would begin the next day. Dawn sat dumbfounded, staring at the closed door for a brief second. Was this really happening? Was she really going to learn to become a Flyer? Her? These and other questions raced through her mind.
She just couldn’t believe it! Then she remembered how she swore she would never become a Flyer without Elva. She couldn’t break that now. Then she remembered Elva had been kidnapped. That’s it! She had to become a Flyer to save Elva. She had to become the hero. And as the first step of becoming a Flyer, Dawn got a whiff of herself and decided she needed a bath or shower…desperately.
Dawn wandered into through the bathroom door located on the left side of her bed. The bathroom was very similar to the ones back home. Dawn then looked at the bathtub. It was a normal bathtub except it had no faucets. It only had six different coloured toggles in the middle of the wall above the tub: Red, blue, green, white, yellow then orange. Never seeing such a thing before, Dawn tentatively, leaned over the tub, reached out and pulled the green toggle. Suddenly a hole in the ceiling opened dropping some strange, green, disgusting gloop on her head.
Note to self: avoid the green lever. She figured it must be some sort of solution to clean their wings. This WAS a Flyer’s castle. Then Dawn decided to use logic. The colours…
Red was hot meaning hot water, blue was cold water. Then she put herself in the place of a flyer. The first thing they’d wanna wash would be their wings so green was probably some strange substance for their wings. Next they probably would want to wash their body’s next so white must have been for soap. Then most normal people shampoo their hair then condition so yellow must have been shampoo and orange was conditioner. Now it was time to test her theory.
Not wanting another strange substance to ruin her clothes anymore, despite smelling absolutely rank she didn’t want to give the servants a hard time, Dawn slipped out of her dress and wrapped a long, white fuzzy towel around her chest. Tentatively, Dawn reached out and pulled the red lever then jumped back in case it would spray her with something gross. Nope, her theory was correct. A nozzle appeared from the ceiling and sprayed hot water.
A little too hot after a while. A closer look at the blue lever showed you didn’t pull it, you twist it. Avoiding the boiling water, Dawn began to slowly twist the blue lever and found that the water began cooling down to a comfortable temperature. Before she hopped in the shower, Dawn tested the last two levers. Shampoo was shot out of pipe to where she would be standing followed another pipe for conditioner.
Dawn punched the air with excitement. After a thirty minute relaxing shower, Dawn stepped out of the steamy bathroom wrapped in a warm fuzzy white robe. She wandered over to her wardrobe and picked out a nice, simple long sleeve, blue dress with golden swirls. It looked like blue fire. It felt soft like silk too. Dawn combed her long brown hair till it was nearly as soft as her dress.
She felt very refreshed and ready to explore. Dawn had found her goal to strive for and it gave her energy. No longer could she hide behind her friend. It was time she rose to the challenge…of course there was still those fears. She had no idea what she was going up against. Would she have to fight a Dark Creature? Or worse? Dawn breathed in then breathed out all her worries.
Elva stood up for her most of Dawn’s young life. It was her turn now. Tito said training would begin in the morning. She had some time to explore. Now that her depression had been shaken off, Dawn felt like exploring. Elva would want a full account of the castle. Dawn pushed the heavy, thick wood door and stepped out…and gasped. The hall was amazing! It was tall and narrow. The top arched very much like a cathedral.
A few Flyers roamed the hall. None of them flew around. That quite surprised Dawn. If this was a Flyer’s castle shouldn’t the halls be nice and wide for Flyers to fly through? Or maybe it was designed so Flyers could exercise their legs. Or maybe it was to prevent air traffic. Whatever the reason, Flyers were forced to walk the narrow halls. So many colours. Dawn stood out without wings.
She got a few strange stares from Flyers. She guessed most of them had never seen an Earthling up so close. Then again, if a Flyer were to walk amongst Earthlings, they’d be stared at as well. Probably worse with people wanting to touch their wings. Dawn was half tempted to feel the softness of their feathers but then remembered that would be really rude and embarrassing. Through the tall, glass windows Dawn could see Flyers whizzing around the castle either playing games or on patrol. At least, that’s what crossed Dawn’s mind. Could have been something completely different.
The halls snaked left and right leading Dawn deeper into amazement of this strange yet wonderful place. The walls and floor were made of smooth stone. But the castle was not bland or simple. Tall paintings and windows lined these astonishing halls. It was the ancient history of Flyers. Some were paintings of great battles, others tall, proud men or woman with large wings. Dawn couldn’t figure out if these were kings and queens of the past or just great heroes who got commemorated with a painting. Did Flyers even have Kings?
As Dawn walked along the red and gold carpet, one painting caught her eye. A tall figure wearing dark blue robes his stern face staring away from the painter. In his hand he clutched a huge broadsword. He stood against a snowy yard in which, Dawn could make out a small child playing between the feathers. But the most noticeable feature…was his silver wings and hair.
“That’s Xander, my Great Grandfather.” Tito informed startling Dawn a bit.
“Xander…that’s…that’s the Flyer who saved my life twelve years ago.” Dawn whispered in awe.
“Really? Huh, unfortunately though he died twelve years ago. After that picture was painted the painter said he keeled over.” Tito responded staring at the painting.
“Aw I’m sorry.” Dawn whispered.
Tito shrugged. “It’s fine. He was a great man. I only hope to one day be like him. Now, you’ve gotten around pretty well on your own. Would you like the grand tour?”
Dawn shook her head. “I’d like to explore this place on my own for a bit. If I get lost or need help, I’ll holler.”
Tito nervously gritted his teeth. “Um, I wouldn’t do that, Flyers have slightly enhanced hearing. Here, where this.”
Tito slipped a small necklace around Dawn’s neck. On the thin metal chain hung a blue, crystal tear drop. There seemed to be a small glowing light inside. Tito walked around to the front of Dawn and held up a matching red necklace around his neck.
“Its how Flyers communicate while flying.” Tito explained. We can’t always hear with the wind blowing over our ears. Plus when we’re really far away from the castle, it’s nearly impossible to hear or when we’re on missions.”
Dawn examined the crystal. It felt warm, like it was alive.
“Call me if you need me.” Tito said walking away in the opposite direction.
Dawn waited till Tito disappeared around the corner then continued her exploring. She walked around for nearly two hours before coming to a strange room. Unlike the rest of the rooms, it was completely dark. No windows to allow the sunlight in. For building a flying castle, the Flyers had no electricity. It was rather primitive but unique. But this room was different. It was pitch black; no colour, no warmth, no light.
Except for a single, stone blue ball sitting on top of a stone triangle.
The ball gave off some strange energy in the form of dim white light. Dawn closed the door behind her, keeping her eyes fixed upon the strange glowing orb. It seemed to be drawing her in with a strange, hypnotic humming. Dawn still had some control but her she was too curious. She approached the orb slowly; hand out in front of her.
Dawn glanced back at the closed door in case someone was to wander in and catch her. But Dawn felt she needed to touch it. So, taking a deep breath, Dawn placed her hand on top of the orb. The orb suddenly came to life in glorious blue light. Dawn quickly backed off terrified. The lights danced around the room very similar to the Northern Lights just faster and blue. Suddenly the door disappeared.
The walls became paved in images; images of Flyers soaring across the walls, dazzling Dawn. Slowly her shock died down. She stood up and slowly spun around. It was like a planetarium. As she turned, the orb seemed to brighten behind her. Dawn turned only to find a ghost of her self standing in front of the strange orb. The only thing was the ghost had a pair of large blue wings. That made no sense. All the Flyers Dawn had seen had matching hair and wings, colour wise.
The ghost nodded as if sensing Dawn’s presence. Dawn froze, breathing softly still slightly spooked by seeing herself appear as a Flyer. The ghost raised her hand and dramatically began walking towards her. Dawn screamed and ran to the wall. The ghost kept walking close; her glazed silver eyes piercing Dawn’s soul.
“Tito!” Dawn screamed into her crystal which was now burning blue.
Tito suddenly burst through the door a few feet away from Dawn. He gasped and stared at the glowing blue orb. The ghost was inches away from Dawn. She panicked and couldn’t move. She was like a deer in front of headlights. Tito didn’t seem to know what was going on either. He quickly slammed his hand down on the orb causing it to go red but then die down and gently float back down to the top of the triangle.
The room stilled but Dawn and Tito remained froze for a few minutes completely shocked.
“I think…I’ll be staying in my room tonight.” Dawn whispered.
Tito nodded slowly in response. He tenderly grabbed her arm and led her back to her room. They didn’t say a word the entire trip. Tito lead her back to her room then left. He had to inform the council. Dawn didn’t mind. She sat on her bed for an hour trying to comprehend what happened again. After a filling dinner, Dawn figured it was best to get some sleep.
Her mind was full of question making it nearly impossible to drift away into dreamland but she had to try. Tito said training would begin early the next morning. But after a few minutes, Dawn was out like a light dreaming of that strange ghost.
For days, Dawn sat in a cosy room in the large flying castle. She was depressed about the lost of her family and the kidnapping of her dear friend. Under any other circumstance, Dawn would have been too excited to sit still and be exploring this grand castle. Too much had happened in one day. Upon arriving, Tito took her to the council and explained why she needed to be here. They didn’t quite believe it was the right thing at first so they put her in a nice room while the discussed it. The room was simple: stone walls with wood flooring. The bed was large and comfortable; built for royalty.
It had a silk red sheet on top then a thick white duvet. There were four beams from each corner holding up the tall wood canopy that had thick red curtains hung around it to block out the light during the night. Opposite the bed stood a tall wardrobe in the back left corner and a desk next to it with a small mirror. Along the right wall stood a full size mirror. Dawn sat in the extended window sill staring hazily at the clouds drifting beneath the castle through the tall plain window. A servant came along every few hours with food and drink for Dawn but she barely ever touched her food. It probably wasn’t very smart now that she had no home and probably wouldn’t get another meal if they kicked her out of the castle but she was still too disheartened.
A servant came around and brought Dawn some new clothing so she could blend in slightly more and get out of her dirty school uniform. Out of all the nice outfits, Dawn simply chose a nice white gown that had no details or ribbons; just a plain, yet elegant white dress. Whenever a servant came around, she barely spoke except for a quiet, “thank you.” Three days passed and Tito finally returned. Dawn looked up solemnly.
“Well, they said you could stay. After much arguing we came to the conclusion that the Dark Lord IS in fact after you.” Tito reported with slight happiness laced into his tone.
Dawn nodded, absent-mindedly.
“You should eat something.” Tito said noting the untouched trays of food. “You’re going to need your strength.”
“For what?” Dawn asked, curiosity sparking in her voice.
“You’re training of course. To become a Flyer.”
That caught her attention. She straightened trying to comprehend what she actually heard. Tito smiled then informed her training would begin the next day. Dawn sat dumbfounded, staring at the closed door for a brief second. Was this really happening? Was she really going to learn to become a Flyer? Her? These and other questions raced through her mind.
She just couldn’t believe it! Then she remembered how she swore she would never become a Flyer without Elva. She couldn’t break that now. Then she remembered Elva had been kidnapped. That’s it! She had to become a Flyer to save Elva. She had to become the hero. And as the first step of becoming a Flyer, Dawn got a whiff of herself and decided she needed a bath or shower…desperately.
Dawn wandered into through the bathroom door located on the left side of her bed. The bathroom was very similar to the ones back home. Dawn then looked at the bathtub. It was a normal bathtub except it had no faucets. It only had six different coloured toggles in the middle of the wall above the tub: Red, blue, green, white, yellow then orange. Never seeing such a thing before, Dawn tentatively, leaned over the tub, reached out and pulled the green toggle. Suddenly a hole in the ceiling opened dropping some strange, green, disgusting gloop on her head.
Note to self: avoid the green lever. She figured it must be some sort of solution to clean their wings. This WAS a Flyer’s castle. Then Dawn decided to use logic. The colours…
Red was hot meaning hot water, blue was cold water. Then she put herself in the place of a flyer. The first thing they’d wanna wash would be their wings so green was probably some strange substance for their wings. Next they probably would want to wash their body’s next so white must have been for soap. Then most normal people shampoo their hair then condition so yellow must have been shampoo and orange was conditioner. Now it was time to test her theory.
Not wanting another strange substance to ruin her clothes anymore, despite smelling absolutely rank she didn’t want to give the servants a hard time, Dawn slipped out of her dress and wrapped a long, white fuzzy towel around her chest. Tentatively, Dawn reached out and pulled the red lever then jumped back in case it would spray her with something gross. Nope, her theory was correct. A nozzle appeared from the ceiling and sprayed hot water.
A little too hot after a while. A closer look at the blue lever showed you didn’t pull it, you twist it. Avoiding the boiling water, Dawn began to slowly twist the blue lever and found that the water began cooling down to a comfortable temperature. Before she hopped in the shower, Dawn tested the last two levers. Shampoo was shot out of pipe to where she would be standing followed another pipe for conditioner.
Dawn punched the air with excitement. After a thirty minute relaxing shower, Dawn stepped out of the steamy bathroom wrapped in a warm fuzzy white robe. She wandered over to her wardrobe and picked out a nice, simple long sleeve, blue dress with golden swirls. It looked like blue fire. It felt soft like silk too. Dawn combed her long brown hair till it was nearly as soft as her dress.
She felt very refreshed and ready to explore. Dawn had found her goal to strive for and it gave her energy. No longer could she hide behind her friend. It was time she rose to the challenge…of course there was still those fears. She had no idea what she was going up against. Would she have to fight a Dark Creature? Or worse? Dawn breathed in then breathed out all her worries.
Elva stood up for her most of Dawn’s young life. It was her turn now. Tito said training would begin in the morning. She had some time to explore. Now that her depression had been shaken off, Dawn felt like exploring. Elva would want a full account of the castle. Dawn pushed the heavy, thick wood door and stepped out…and gasped. The hall was amazing! It was tall and narrow. The top arched very much like a cathedral.
A few Flyers roamed the hall. None of them flew around. That quite surprised Dawn. If this was a Flyer’s castle shouldn’t the halls be nice and wide for Flyers to fly through? Or maybe it was designed so Flyers could exercise their legs. Or maybe it was to prevent air traffic. Whatever the reason, Flyers were forced to walk the narrow halls. So many colours. Dawn stood out without wings.
She got a few strange stares from Flyers. She guessed most of them had never seen an Earthling up so close. Then again, if a Flyer were to walk amongst Earthlings, they’d be stared at as well. Probably worse with people wanting to touch their wings. Dawn was half tempted to feel the softness of their feathers but then remembered that would be really rude and embarrassing. Through the tall, glass windows Dawn could see Flyers whizzing around the castle either playing games or on patrol. At least, that’s what crossed Dawn’s mind. Could have been something completely different.
The halls snaked left and right leading Dawn deeper into amazement of this strange yet wonderful place. The walls and floor were made of smooth stone. But the castle was not bland or simple. Tall paintings and windows lined these astonishing halls. It was the ancient history of Flyers. Some were paintings of great battles, others tall, proud men or woman with large wings. Dawn couldn’t figure out if these were kings and queens of the past or just great heroes who got commemorated with a painting. Did Flyers even have Kings?
As Dawn walked along the red and gold carpet, one painting caught her eye. A tall figure wearing dark blue robes his stern face staring away from the painter. In his hand he clutched a huge broadsword. He stood against a snowy yard in which, Dawn could make out a small child playing between the feathers. But the most noticeable feature…was his silver wings and hair.
“That’s Xander, my Great Grandfather.” Tito informed startling Dawn a bit.
“Xander…that’s…that’s the Flyer who saved my life twelve years ago.” Dawn whispered in awe.
“Really? Huh, unfortunately though he died twelve years ago. After that picture was painted the painter said he keeled over.” Tito responded staring at the painting.
“Aw I’m sorry.” Dawn whispered.
Tito shrugged. “It’s fine. He was a great man. I only hope to one day be like him. Now, you’ve gotten around pretty well on your own. Would you like the grand tour?”
Dawn shook her head. “I’d like to explore this place on my own for a bit. If I get lost or need help, I’ll holler.”
Tito nervously gritted his teeth. “Um, I wouldn’t do that, Flyers have slightly enhanced hearing. Here, where this.”
Tito slipped a small necklace around Dawn’s neck. On the thin metal chain hung a blue, crystal tear drop. There seemed to be a small glowing light inside. Tito walked around to the front of Dawn and held up a matching red necklace around his neck.
“Its how Flyers communicate while flying.” Tito explained. We can’t always hear with the wind blowing over our ears. Plus when we’re really far away from the castle, it’s nearly impossible to hear or when we’re on missions.”
Dawn examined the crystal. It felt warm, like it was alive.
“Call me if you need me.” Tito said walking away in the opposite direction.
Dawn waited till Tito disappeared around the corner then continued her exploring. She walked around for nearly two hours before coming to a strange room. Unlike the rest of the rooms, it was completely dark. No windows to allow the sunlight in. For building a flying castle, the Flyers had no electricity. It was rather primitive but unique. But this room was different. It was pitch black; no colour, no warmth, no light.
Except for a single, stone blue ball sitting on top of a stone triangle.
The ball gave off some strange energy in the form of dim white light. Dawn closed the door behind her, keeping her eyes fixed upon the strange glowing orb. It seemed to be drawing her in with a strange, hypnotic humming. Dawn still had some control but her she was too curious. She approached the orb slowly; hand out in front of her.
Dawn glanced back at the closed door in case someone was to wander in and catch her. But Dawn felt she needed to touch it. So, taking a deep breath, Dawn placed her hand on top of the orb. The orb suddenly came to life in glorious blue light. Dawn quickly backed off terrified. The lights danced around the room very similar to the Northern Lights just faster and blue. Suddenly the door disappeared.
The walls became paved in images; images of Flyers soaring across the walls, dazzling Dawn. Slowly her shock died down. She stood up and slowly spun around. It was like a planetarium. As she turned, the orb seemed to brighten behind her. Dawn turned only to find a ghost of her self standing in front of the strange orb. The only thing was the ghost had a pair of large blue wings. That made no sense. All the Flyers Dawn had seen had matching hair and wings, colour wise.
The ghost nodded as if sensing Dawn’s presence. Dawn froze, breathing softly still slightly spooked by seeing herself appear as a Flyer. The ghost raised her hand and dramatically began walking towards her. Dawn screamed and ran to the wall. The ghost kept walking close; her glazed silver eyes piercing Dawn’s soul.
“Tito!” Dawn screamed into her crystal which was now burning blue.
Tito suddenly burst through the door a few feet away from Dawn. He gasped and stared at the glowing blue orb. The ghost was inches away from Dawn. She panicked and couldn’t move. She was like a deer in front of headlights. Tito didn’t seem to know what was going on either. He quickly slammed his hand down on the orb causing it to go red but then die down and gently float back down to the top of the triangle.
The room stilled but Dawn and Tito remained froze for a few minutes completely shocked.
“I think…I’ll be staying in my room tonight.” Dawn whispered.
Tito nodded slowly in response. He tenderly grabbed her arm and led her back to her room. They didn’t say a word the entire trip. Tito lead her back to her room then left. He had to inform the council. Dawn didn’t mind. She sat on her bed for an hour trying to comprehend what happened again. After a filling dinner, Dawn figured it was best to get some sleep.
Her mind was full of question making it nearly impossible to drift away into dreamland but she had to try. Tito said training would begin early the next morning. But after a few minutes, Dawn was out like a light dreaming of that strange ghost.
Chapter 1: The Fire Flyer Visit
Chapter 1: The Fire Flyer Visit
“Look! Flyers!” A young girl gasped rushing to the large window next to her desk.
All the other school girls gathered around, gasping, desperate to catch a glimpse of sunlight glittering off their wings. That was the nature of these girls or such is the nature of humans. To be desperate over the impossible. Most humans dream of flying so when a race of humans can without engines, everyone dreams. That is the nature of this world; a modern day Earth with a race of human beings born with large beautiful wings who have existed since the beginning of time. But, you could come back and say that there is no such thing as people with wings save angels but you can’t see them usually. But that is the beauty of fantasy and dreams. Anything can happen. Two girls remained sitting. Young, seventeen year old Dawn and her best friend. Unlike the other girls, Dawn was not interested in trying to catch a glimpse of their wings. She met one:
Dawn was only five years old but the memory had been engraved forever. She was playing in the snow with her family in their back yard. It was getting dark…she remembered seeing the snow change to blue…then red. Any time this memory came up, Dawn would wince at what happened next. She started walking back to her house when a dark beast suddenly sprang from the forest behind them and cut young Dawn off from the house.
Dark Creatures is what they called them. They had wild burning orange eyes and dark leathery skin. These creatures looked like huge black dogs with four tails and five toes like humans. But the most noticeable feature had to be their large black, bat wings known as Dark Wings. Slobber dripped from its mouth as it stared at its victim.
Dawn’s family were afraid to move; not for their own sakes but for Dawn’s. Dark Beasts were smart and it didn’t take much to set them off. The beast began to circle quickly its prey. Young Dawn could only tremble as its taunting continued. It was alluring her to run for its own game. It crouched low and just as it was about to pounce, a glint of silver appeared and the next thing Dawn knew, the beast was on its back flailing like a turtle.
Her saviour floated down. Yes, floated. He had long silver hair and bright silver eyes…and a pair of large silver angel wings. A Flyer. In his hand he clutched a long, heavy broadsword. The next few seconds were a blur. She remembered hearing inhuman cries then seeing blood splatter in the snow. But before she could thank him, he was gone.
“Alright, sit down. Sit down. There are Flyers going by every day. We can’t afford to lose precious seconds each lesson running to the window.” Their teacher, Miss. Heckle scolded. “Your exams are around the corner.”
The annoying, old sharp voice broke Dawn’s memory. She sighed. Ever since that day, Dawn always dreamed of becoming a Flyer, along with everyone else on the ground. To have wings and soar through the skies without limits; without heavy shackles. However, like I said before, everyone on the ground dream of that. Those on the ground were simply known as Earthlings. Flyers and Earthlings lived in harmony. The Flyers would protect the Earthlings and the Earthlings would provide food and gears for the Flyers. Or so says the Media, as Dawn soon learns. The Flyers lived in the sky in flying castles above the ground. They mostly floated over oceans or uninhabited areas of the globe in fear of invasions from the evil Earthlings….and Dark Creatures. If you were lucky, like their wings, you’d catch a glimpse of these magnificent castles.
“Hey Dawn!” One of the girls sneered. “Didn’t you say you were once saved by a Flyer?”
Needless to say, no one believed Dawn’s story. They all mocked and jeered as if nearly being killed was funny.
“Hey Anjy, didn’t you say once you kissed the Prince?” A brunette retorted.
“But I did!” Anjy whined.
Everyone laughed. She actually did kiss the Prince but like Dawn’s true story, no one believed it. The young brunette’s name was Elva; Dawn’s only friend. From a far away glance, both girls looked like identical sisters. They both had beautiful, wavy, thick brown hair and bright green eyes. The only difference was Elva was slightly taller and thinner. She had the body of a basketball player; tall and slim. Elva was basically Dawn’s body guard in a way. Dawn was often too shy to stand up for herself so Elva was always right there beside her. Elva could have been the star of the basketball team or the most popular girl in school next to Anjy, but she chose to be beside Dawn. The rest of the day moved along slowly as most school days do thus once again re-establishing the norm. No more sightings of Flyers till lunch.
The warm spring sun drew all the girls of Saint Bridget’s School for Girls onto the warm green grass. The school was not that large, about 1000 girls. The school was located on the cliffs of Nol, on looking the beautiful crystal blue seas below. The town lay only a few kilometres away along the coast; the city of Nol which was surrounded by a breathtaking ancient forest that no one dared cut down, where most of the city folk lived. Saint Bridget’s School was one of the top schools in the whole country. Many girls came from all over just to attend. Elva and Dawn had the luxury of being able to go home for the night whilst most of the others had to remain in the dorms. Dawn and Elva sat down in their favourite spot for lunch; under a tall oak tree looking out into the sea with the school within hearing distances of the bell. The other girls never came out that far because they were just too tired or lazy or didn’t want to ruin their boring, gray school uniforms.
“You were remembering again.” Elva said as she set up their favourite blue picnic blanket. “I could see it when all the girls ran to the window.”
Dawn blushed. Was it really that noticeable? With a slight giggle, Dawn laid out their lunches. Both girls sat down and began eating when suddenly Dawn snapped her neck up and breathed in deeply.
“Look up, a Flyer’s coming.” Dawn said pointing to the sky.
And sure enough, a Flyer burst through the clouds. He had bright red wings like a parrot with matching red hair. Elva and Dawn watched in amazement and awe as the Flyer streamed across the sky and back into another cloud. Dawn couldn’t explain how she knew but she many-a-times believed she shared some sort of connection with Flyers thus allowing her to sense their presence. So she and Elva usually got more than a glimpse of their just their wings. From what they could see on the ground, the Flyers were beautiful. They were well built and wore the most salient clothes. Their hair was another feature.
Unlike normal human hair, their hair ranged from normal colours such as blonde and brunette to blues and greens and every colour under the sun. And their wings matched their hair. Or it could have been the other way around. At times, Dawn thought that maybe their hair colour changed when they got their wings to match. Elva turned her eyes from the blue sky to Dawn whom remained staring into space.
“While I believe you, Dawn, your story…is a bit unbelievable.” Elva admitted.
“I get it, why would a Flyer want to save a girl like me?” Dawn responded gloomily looking at her friend darkly. She hated when people didn’t believe her, especially her best friend.
“Huh, NO I DIDN’T MEAN IT LIKE THAT!!!” Elva frantically exclaimed. “Um, cookie?”
With a nervous smile, Elva held up a bag of her mother’s famous fresh baked chocolate chip cookies. Dawn couldn’t help but smile. She found Elva cute when she was flustered.
“You think a couple of your mother’s delicious cookies are going to win me back?” Dawn asked with a hidden smile. “…you know me so well.”
Elva breathed then laughed. Dawn joined her. She couldn’t remain mad at her friend forever besides, Elva didn’t mean anything bad. And plus, without Elva Dawn would never get to enjoy her mom’s cookies ever again. The two girls enjoyed their lunches slowly and talked about other things than Flyers. But it was the same raceme pretty much. It was weird, but Elva seemed to always try and discourage Dawn from her dreams of being a Flyer. When they finished, they headed back just as the bell for last lesson rang. One more hour then they’d go home.
Last lesson was a drag. While English was usually fun, they were doing revision for their exams making it extremely boring and long. Elva and Dawn kept nudging each other to stay awake. And after what seemed like an eternity, the final bell screamed, ‘time to go home!’ waking up all the girls from their semi-conscious states. Even their teacher seemed relieved. Dawn and Elva quickly sped out the doors and to the bike racks where their identical red bikes stood chained to the cold poles. They unchained their bikes then rode down the path towards home. Half way there, Dawn turned her towards Elva and shouted, “Hey, I’m gonna head to my secret spot for a while. I’ll see ya tomorrow!” before riding off in the opposite direction of home.
“Um, bye?!” Elva shouted back a little discouraged.
Dawn did that sometimes. Elva knew her all too well to know that Dawn wanted to be alone. Today, both of Dawn’s parents were out working late so Dawn would usually go to her secret spot and just sit and draw for a few hours. A high cliff on looking the water. It was quite far from the city so many most people didn’t go there. That’s where Dawn would sit with her legs dangling over the edge and her head buried into the detail of her drawings. That was Dawn’s favourite pass time: drawing. Her sketchbook was choc full of drawings of her and Elva as Flyers. They both had large, stunning brown wings.
She wanted to be a Flyer more than anything, but Dawn also wanted her friend right beside her. If she had to choose between becoming a Flyer and Elva, she would choose Elva. As she sat doodling away her fantasies, her senses picked a Flyer…really close. Dawn looked up and came face to face with a young teen…with large red wings.
“Hello.” He greeted with a warm smile.
“Eep!” Dawn squeaked fumbling with her sketchbook. “Oh no!”
Amongst her flustering, Dawn’s sketchbook slipped from her hands. Seeing what he had caused, the boy flew up then swooped down and caught the sketchbook before it hit the water. He flew back up and held the book out towards Dawn; genuine guilt for his mistake in his face. Dawn crawled away from the edge quickly yet keeping her eyes locked on his.
The boy slowly stepped onto the edge, keeping her sketch book out in front of him. Dawn couldn’t understand why she was scared. This was her dream come true! Her mind screamed to buck up but before her confidence had time to rebuild he spoke up.
“I’m sorry, I’ll leave.” The Flyer said cautiously placing the sketchbook down at Dawn’s feet.
Courage suddenly swelled in Dawn’s gut forcing a, “Wait!” to come out. The boy turned and smiled. Dawn stood to her feet then dusted her bland school gray skirt off. Her heart pounded at a million miles an hour. She was actually standing before a Flyer who looked no older than her. Why he chose her to talk to, she had no clue but it was still kind of cool.
“M-my name’s Dawn.” She weakly greeted holding her hand out.
“I’m Tito, a Fire Flyer.” Tito responded, taking Dawn’s hand firmly with an even bigger smile.
Dawn snickered a little. The first thought that came to mind from his title was a picture of him as a firefly. Tito laughed too. He understood what she was thinking and found his title amusing at times as well. She realized she still had his hand in hers and quickly let go. Not before examining how surprisingly soft they were.
“You’re a really good artists. I’ve seen you drawing from time to time.” Tito complimented then quickly added, “Not that I stalk you or anything!”
Dawn laughed again then quickly examined the Flyer standing before her. He had bright red hair and wore a fiery red and yellow tunic with silk black trousers to match and thin black boots. Tito was well built which could easily be seen from the sky with tan skin probably from flying so close to the sun everyday. But the most noticeable feature was his eyes; silver. Like the Flyer who saved Dawn ten years ago, Tito had frighteningly luminescent silver eyes.
“I…see you want to become a Flyer as well.” Tito said noting the drawings in Dawn’s hands.
Dawn blushed but nodded. Fear suddenly took hold of her mind. Would he leave now knowing she was just like other Earthlings? Just like the others who also had the hopeless dream of becoming birds who soared the skies freely?
“You’re different- than the others.”
Dawn looked up with confusion in her face.
“You’re…you can sense us coming right? I look down and can see you looking straight at me as if you knew I was there. You’re special.”
“I’m not…” Dawn started.
Tito took a step closer than sniffed Dawn’s brown hair.
“Interesting…you don’t…smell like an Earthling. In fact you don’t smell like any species…”
Dawn was taken a-back in confusion. She didn’t quite understand what he meant and by the look of his expression, he didn’t either. Before Dawn could say anything, Tito suddenly jerked his head away with fear in his eyes. Then Dawn smelled it: fire. She followed Tito’s gaze towards a tall black pillar of smoke.
Black smoke rising from the direction of Dawn’s house.
“NO!” Dawn screamed suddenly taking off down the hill towards her house.
Tito thrust himself into the air with one powerful flap from his wings then flew along side Dawn. Seeing she wasn’t a fast runner, Tito wrapped his arms around her waist then hoisted her off the ground. Dawn screamed and struggled but as soon as she saw her feet dangling above a twenty foot drop, she stopped and clutched onto Tito’s arms tightly. The atmosphere was thick with smoke making it almost impossible to breathe, none the less see. Tito seemed to see just fine. Dawn pulled her uniform shirt over her nose to breathe slightly easier. The flames had spread rapidly through the forest. Dawn could feel the heat from the fire causing her clothes to dance. Her bare legs burned but right now she didn’t care.
She just kept praying the fire hadn’t gotten to her house.
“Drop me!” Dawn shouted as they neared her house.
Tito didn’t argue. He swooped down lower a bit then released Dawn. The moment her feet touched the ground, Dawn charged towards her house not caring about the thick smoke around her now. She arrived…only to find her large white house completely engulfed in flames. She stood in the drive way looking in pure shock and horror….at their green car parked out front. They were home! They were inside that house! They were burning!
“MOM! DAD!” Dawn cried.
Suddenly a Dark Creature burst through the front window and bounded over Dawn’s head. In its mouth, her mother’s arm lay wedged between its sharp teeth. The creature turned and faced Dawn with its glowing orange eyes. Dawn was trapped; the beast in front of her and the fire behind her growing into a deadly circle.
“Ha!” Tito shouted thrusting his large blade into the Dark Creature’s back.
The creature cried in pain and struggled to get free but Tito had pinned him. With one quick, final turn of the wrist, Tito killed the large beast then pulled his blade out.
“Are you okay?” Tito asked placing his free left hand on Dawn’s shoulder.
Dawn nodded but before she could speak more drama. Dawn heard a loud shrill cry echo from a few houses down. A familiar cry. Elva. The whole street had caught on fire by now but through the opaque smoke, Dawn could make out two large figures dragging her best friend away into some sort of car that had no visible wheels.
“El-!” Dawn nearly screamed, but Tito slapped his hand over her mouth and dragged her away.
“Those are agents of the Dark Lord! He must be after you!” Tito whispered as he continued dragging her.
This was not the time for grieving. Once safe and out of the densest smoke, Tito spread his wings and flew the two of them away. Dawn no longer had a home to return to. So Tito took her to his home…in one of the flying castles of the sky.
“Look! Flyers!” A young girl gasped rushing to the large window next to her desk.
All the other school girls gathered around, gasping, desperate to catch a glimpse of sunlight glittering off their wings. That was the nature of these girls or such is the nature of humans. To be desperate over the impossible. Most humans dream of flying so when a race of humans can without engines, everyone dreams. That is the nature of this world; a modern day Earth with a race of human beings born with large beautiful wings who have existed since the beginning of time. But, you could come back and say that there is no such thing as people with wings save angels but you can’t see them usually. But that is the beauty of fantasy and dreams. Anything can happen. Two girls remained sitting. Young, seventeen year old Dawn and her best friend. Unlike the other girls, Dawn was not interested in trying to catch a glimpse of their wings. She met one:
Dawn was only five years old but the memory had been engraved forever. She was playing in the snow with her family in their back yard. It was getting dark…she remembered seeing the snow change to blue…then red. Any time this memory came up, Dawn would wince at what happened next. She started walking back to her house when a dark beast suddenly sprang from the forest behind them and cut young Dawn off from the house.
Dark Creatures is what they called them. They had wild burning orange eyes and dark leathery skin. These creatures looked like huge black dogs with four tails and five toes like humans. But the most noticeable feature had to be their large black, bat wings known as Dark Wings. Slobber dripped from its mouth as it stared at its victim.
Dawn’s family were afraid to move; not for their own sakes but for Dawn’s. Dark Beasts were smart and it didn’t take much to set them off. The beast began to circle quickly its prey. Young Dawn could only tremble as its taunting continued. It was alluring her to run for its own game. It crouched low and just as it was about to pounce, a glint of silver appeared and the next thing Dawn knew, the beast was on its back flailing like a turtle.
Her saviour floated down. Yes, floated. He had long silver hair and bright silver eyes…and a pair of large silver angel wings. A Flyer. In his hand he clutched a long, heavy broadsword. The next few seconds were a blur. She remembered hearing inhuman cries then seeing blood splatter in the snow. But before she could thank him, he was gone.
“Alright, sit down. Sit down. There are Flyers going by every day. We can’t afford to lose precious seconds each lesson running to the window.” Their teacher, Miss. Heckle scolded. “Your exams are around the corner.”
The annoying, old sharp voice broke Dawn’s memory. She sighed. Ever since that day, Dawn always dreamed of becoming a Flyer, along with everyone else on the ground. To have wings and soar through the skies without limits; without heavy shackles. However, like I said before, everyone on the ground dream of that. Those on the ground were simply known as Earthlings. Flyers and Earthlings lived in harmony. The Flyers would protect the Earthlings and the Earthlings would provide food and gears for the Flyers. Or so says the Media, as Dawn soon learns. The Flyers lived in the sky in flying castles above the ground. They mostly floated over oceans or uninhabited areas of the globe in fear of invasions from the evil Earthlings….and Dark Creatures. If you were lucky, like their wings, you’d catch a glimpse of these magnificent castles.
“Hey Dawn!” One of the girls sneered. “Didn’t you say you were once saved by a Flyer?”
Needless to say, no one believed Dawn’s story. They all mocked and jeered as if nearly being killed was funny.
“Hey Anjy, didn’t you say once you kissed the Prince?” A brunette retorted.
“But I did!” Anjy whined.
Everyone laughed. She actually did kiss the Prince but like Dawn’s true story, no one believed it. The young brunette’s name was Elva; Dawn’s only friend. From a far away glance, both girls looked like identical sisters. They both had beautiful, wavy, thick brown hair and bright green eyes. The only difference was Elva was slightly taller and thinner. She had the body of a basketball player; tall and slim. Elva was basically Dawn’s body guard in a way. Dawn was often too shy to stand up for herself so Elva was always right there beside her. Elva could have been the star of the basketball team or the most popular girl in school next to Anjy, but she chose to be beside Dawn. The rest of the day moved along slowly as most school days do thus once again re-establishing the norm. No more sightings of Flyers till lunch.
The warm spring sun drew all the girls of Saint Bridget’s School for Girls onto the warm green grass. The school was not that large, about 1000 girls. The school was located on the cliffs of Nol, on looking the beautiful crystal blue seas below. The town lay only a few kilometres away along the coast; the city of Nol which was surrounded by a breathtaking ancient forest that no one dared cut down, where most of the city folk lived. Saint Bridget’s School was one of the top schools in the whole country. Many girls came from all over just to attend. Elva and Dawn had the luxury of being able to go home for the night whilst most of the others had to remain in the dorms. Dawn and Elva sat down in their favourite spot for lunch; under a tall oak tree looking out into the sea with the school within hearing distances of the bell. The other girls never came out that far because they were just too tired or lazy or didn’t want to ruin their boring, gray school uniforms.
“You were remembering again.” Elva said as she set up their favourite blue picnic blanket. “I could see it when all the girls ran to the window.”
Dawn blushed. Was it really that noticeable? With a slight giggle, Dawn laid out their lunches. Both girls sat down and began eating when suddenly Dawn snapped her neck up and breathed in deeply.
“Look up, a Flyer’s coming.” Dawn said pointing to the sky.
And sure enough, a Flyer burst through the clouds. He had bright red wings like a parrot with matching red hair. Elva and Dawn watched in amazement and awe as the Flyer streamed across the sky and back into another cloud. Dawn couldn’t explain how she knew but she many-a-times believed she shared some sort of connection with Flyers thus allowing her to sense their presence. So she and Elva usually got more than a glimpse of their just their wings. From what they could see on the ground, the Flyers were beautiful. They were well built and wore the most salient clothes. Their hair was another feature.
Unlike normal human hair, their hair ranged from normal colours such as blonde and brunette to blues and greens and every colour under the sun. And their wings matched their hair. Or it could have been the other way around. At times, Dawn thought that maybe their hair colour changed when they got their wings to match. Elva turned her eyes from the blue sky to Dawn whom remained staring into space.
“While I believe you, Dawn, your story…is a bit unbelievable.” Elva admitted.
“I get it, why would a Flyer want to save a girl like me?” Dawn responded gloomily looking at her friend darkly. She hated when people didn’t believe her, especially her best friend.
“Huh, NO I DIDN’T MEAN IT LIKE THAT!!!” Elva frantically exclaimed. “Um, cookie?”
With a nervous smile, Elva held up a bag of her mother’s famous fresh baked chocolate chip cookies. Dawn couldn’t help but smile. She found Elva cute when she was flustered.
“You think a couple of your mother’s delicious cookies are going to win me back?” Dawn asked with a hidden smile. “…you know me so well.”
Elva breathed then laughed. Dawn joined her. She couldn’t remain mad at her friend forever besides, Elva didn’t mean anything bad. And plus, without Elva Dawn would never get to enjoy her mom’s cookies ever again. The two girls enjoyed their lunches slowly and talked about other things than Flyers. But it was the same raceme pretty much. It was weird, but Elva seemed to always try and discourage Dawn from her dreams of being a Flyer. When they finished, they headed back just as the bell for last lesson rang. One more hour then they’d go home.
Last lesson was a drag. While English was usually fun, they were doing revision for their exams making it extremely boring and long. Elva and Dawn kept nudging each other to stay awake. And after what seemed like an eternity, the final bell screamed, ‘time to go home!’ waking up all the girls from their semi-conscious states. Even their teacher seemed relieved. Dawn and Elva quickly sped out the doors and to the bike racks where their identical red bikes stood chained to the cold poles. They unchained their bikes then rode down the path towards home. Half way there, Dawn turned her towards Elva and shouted, “Hey, I’m gonna head to my secret spot for a while. I’ll see ya tomorrow!” before riding off in the opposite direction of home.
“Um, bye?!” Elva shouted back a little discouraged.
Dawn did that sometimes. Elva knew her all too well to know that Dawn wanted to be alone. Today, both of Dawn’s parents were out working late so Dawn would usually go to her secret spot and just sit and draw for a few hours. A high cliff on looking the water. It was quite far from the city so many most people didn’t go there. That’s where Dawn would sit with her legs dangling over the edge and her head buried into the detail of her drawings. That was Dawn’s favourite pass time: drawing. Her sketchbook was choc full of drawings of her and Elva as Flyers. They both had large, stunning brown wings.
She wanted to be a Flyer more than anything, but Dawn also wanted her friend right beside her. If she had to choose between becoming a Flyer and Elva, she would choose Elva. As she sat doodling away her fantasies, her senses picked a Flyer…really close. Dawn looked up and came face to face with a young teen…with large red wings.
“Hello.” He greeted with a warm smile.
“Eep!” Dawn squeaked fumbling with her sketchbook. “Oh no!”
Amongst her flustering, Dawn’s sketchbook slipped from her hands. Seeing what he had caused, the boy flew up then swooped down and caught the sketchbook before it hit the water. He flew back up and held the book out towards Dawn; genuine guilt for his mistake in his face. Dawn crawled away from the edge quickly yet keeping her eyes locked on his.
The boy slowly stepped onto the edge, keeping her sketch book out in front of him. Dawn couldn’t understand why she was scared. This was her dream come true! Her mind screamed to buck up but before her confidence had time to rebuild he spoke up.
“I’m sorry, I’ll leave.” The Flyer said cautiously placing the sketchbook down at Dawn’s feet.
Courage suddenly swelled in Dawn’s gut forcing a, “Wait!” to come out. The boy turned and smiled. Dawn stood to her feet then dusted her bland school gray skirt off. Her heart pounded at a million miles an hour. She was actually standing before a Flyer who looked no older than her. Why he chose her to talk to, she had no clue but it was still kind of cool.
“M-my name’s Dawn.” She weakly greeted holding her hand out.
“I’m Tito, a Fire Flyer.” Tito responded, taking Dawn’s hand firmly with an even bigger smile.
Dawn snickered a little. The first thought that came to mind from his title was a picture of him as a firefly. Tito laughed too. He understood what she was thinking and found his title amusing at times as well. She realized she still had his hand in hers and quickly let go. Not before examining how surprisingly soft they were.
“You’re a really good artists. I’ve seen you drawing from time to time.” Tito complimented then quickly added, “Not that I stalk you or anything!”
Dawn laughed again then quickly examined the Flyer standing before her. He had bright red hair and wore a fiery red and yellow tunic with silk black trousers to match and thin black boots. Tito was well built which could easily be seen from the sky with tan skin probably from flying so close to the sun everyday. But the most noticeable feature was his eyes; silver. Like the Flyer who saved Dawn ten years ago, Tito had frighteningly luminescent silver eyes.
“I…see you want to become a Flyer as well.” Tito said noting the drawings in Dawn’s hands.
Dawn blushed but nodded. Fear suddenly took hold of her mind. Would he leave now knowing she was just like other Earthlings? Just like the others who also had the hopeless dream of becoming birds who soared the skies freely?
“You’re different- than the others.”
Dawn looked up with confusion in her face.
“You’re…you can sense us coming right? I look down and can see you looking straight at me as if you knew I was there. You’re special.”
“I’m not…” Dawn started.
Tito took a step closer than sniffed Dawn’s brown hair.
“Interesting…you don’t…smell like an Earthling. In fact you don’t smell like any species…”
Dawn was taken a-back in confusion. She didn’t quite understand what he meant and by the look of his expression, he didn’t either. Before Dawn could say anything, Tito suddenly jerked his head away with fear in his eyes. Then Dawn smelled it: fire. She followed Tito’s gaze towards a tall black pillar of smoke.
Black smoke rising from the direction of Dawn’s house.
“NO!” Dawn screamed suddenly taking off down the hill towards her house.
Tito thrust himself into the air with one powerful flap from his wings then flew along side Dawn. Seeing she wasn’t a fast runner, Tito wrapped his arms around her waist then hoisted her off the ground. Dawn screamed and struggled but as soon as she saw her feet dangling above a twenty foot drop, she stopped and clutched onto Tito’s arms tightly. The atmosphere was thick with smoke making it almost impossible to breathe, none the less see. Tito seemed to see just fine. Dawn pulled her uniform shirt over her nose to breathe slightly easier. The flames had spread rapidly through the forest. Dawn could feel the heat from the fire causing her clothes to dance. Her bare legs burned but right now she didn’t care.
She just kept praying the fire hadn’t gotten to her house.
“Drop me!” Dawn shouted as they neared her house.
Tito didn’t argue. He swooped down lower a bit then released Dawn. The moment her feet touched the ground, Dawn charged towards her house not caring about the thick smoke around her now. She arrived…only to find her large white house completely engulfed in flames. She stood in the drive way looking in pure shock and horror….at their green car parked out front. They were home! They were inside that house! They were burning!
“MOM! DAD!” Dawn cried.
Suddenly a Dark Creature burst through the front window and bounded over Dawn’s head. In its mouth, her mother’s arm lay wedged between its sharp teeth. The creature turned and faced Dawn with its glowing orange eyes. Dawn was trapped; the beast in front of her and the fire behind her growing into a deadly circle.
“Ha!” Tito shouted thrusting his large blade into the Dark Creature’s back.
The creature cried in pain and struggled to get free but Tito had pinned him. With one quick, final turn of the wrist, Tito killed the large beast then pulled his blade out.
“Are you okay?” Tito asked placing his free left hand on Dawn’s shoulder.
Dawn nodded but before she could speak more drama. Dawn heard a loud shrill cry echo from a few houses down. A familiar cry. Elva. The whole street had caught on fire by now but through the opaque smoke, Dawn could make out two large figures dragging her best friend away into some sort of car that had no visible wheels.
“El-!” Dawn nearly screamed, but Tito slapped his hand over her mouth and dragged her away.
“Those are agents of the Dark Lord! He must be after you!” Tito whispered as he continued dragging her.
This was not the time for grieving. Once safe and out of the densest smoke, Tito spread his wings and flew the two of them away. Dawn no longer had a home to return to. So Tito took her to his home…in one of the flying castles of the sky.
Introductions
Hello, my name is Tina. I am the author of Sky Angels; my fourth attempt at a novel. Since the novel is almost done, I'll post each chapter then once each chapter is uploaded, I'll post each chapter as they're finished. Please comment and review! I'm open to ideas.
All I ask is you not flame it. If you don't like it then don't read it. Simple as. I'm not here to please everyone.
I do hope you enjoy it! I think this is one my best.
All I ask is you not flame it. If you don't like it then don't read it. Simple as. I'm not here to please everyone.
I do hope you enjoy it! I think this is one my best.
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