Realm of Wings

Jade, in some sort of large dining room:

“Why are you doing this? Release her!” Kallan ordered towards some male Fae that stood in front of him.

“We can’t do that and you know it.” One of them replied.

“Frost, you better be sure about this, because I’m going to personally kill you if you don’t release her right now!” Kallan continued towards this ‘Frost’ guy.

While looking at this odd spectacle I sighed and let myself sink to the floor of the cage made of roots. Again, the guards had caught me in these stupid natural bindings and dragged me to this room we are in now. Luckily for me, it was the same guard that had went with us to the monastery in Tibet, so he used his magic to make the cage large enough for me to move in. I guess he was a little scared of what I could do but didn’t want to disobey his superiors so he boxed me in more spacious confinement.

Of course, I could have broken out of this thing, especially now that I have room to move, but there are at least twenty powerful Fae standing close to me so it would only take seconds before I would be caged in again. So I sighed, again.

“Kallan, brother, if she is what father proclaims she is, we can’t let her go. You know that these storms are always accompanied by the Aether presence and if they want to have her we’d have leverage over the situation if we have her in custody.” Frost, apparently one of Kallan’s brothers explained.

And what about the Aether Fae? Are they really going to be here?

“She can help us fight them!” Kallan tried, not even arguing with Frost about the arrival of the Aether Fae, even though it was news to me. But I guess he didn’t have the time to tell me about that specific piece of information.

Now the doors to the dining room opened behind me and several other people came in. One was Kallan’s father, dressed in some shielding armour, together with a few guards and one other man. This other man however was different, I don’t know what it was about him but even though he seemed calm on the outside, his inner character was in turmoil.

By looking through the roots I tried reading his mind, focusing on him alone, but it was hard to do. I mean, I’m still new to this and haven’t had that much practice besides using it on Kallan, Trixie and Kallan’s parents, but they weren’t guarding their minds as they couldn’t comprehend the idea of me being able to read anyone else’s.

Suddenly, the man turned his grey-haired face towards me and opened his mouth just the slightest to let out the most annoying sound I have ever heard. It was so high-pitched that it made me want to gnash my teeth and reach for my ears to muffle the sound. But I refrained myself from doing just that, as the colour of his eyes was intoxicating me with curiosity.

His glazed-over whitened eyes were swirling with a silvery shine, looking back at me, straight into my direction. I couldn’t understand how he was able to know where I was or how his gaze was so intruiging as there were no irises I could focus on. Is this guy blind? But how?

But as soon as the King caught his attention he turned around and softly made clicking sounds like a dolphin, to pinpoint where everything stood. So yes, I guess he is blind but he is perfectly capable to know how to find his way around here.

Another lightning strike touched the ground, assumedly close by the palace as the sound was the loudest so far, and the King started to talk after the room became quiet again. “Frost, good job. Kallan, he’s right, she is going to be our point of leverage for this abrupt change of seasons.” He started. “Have you taken the orb, as I asked you, my son?” He then asked Frost and I laughed softly.

I know it has only been half an hour that I’m in here, but besides being able to cage me in these roots, his effort to get my orb had been futile so far. Frost lowered his head in shame, unsuccessful in completing his task.

“Echo, could you get it, please?” The King asked the grey-haired Fae with annoyance.

“Onyx, I’m your friend, not your slave.” He said without using the proper title. Who is this guy? What is he to this realm? “Besides, the orb is hers, and if she wanted to do us harm she could have broken out of her restraints with ease already.” He continued without looking towards me.

I know I’m strong enough to break myself free out of here, but still, as I thought earlier, I couldn’t fight off all these people inside here. So, what is he talking about? Me wanting to do them harm? Yes, I’m quite annoyed and would really like to kick someone’s ass, but besides that, I wouldn’t want to truly hurt anyone right now.

Kallan looked at him with curious eyes, wondering what this Echo is thinking about too.

“This is not your place, young one.” A muffled, yet quite familiar voice sounded from somewhere in this room. Making me look everywhere but nowhere at the same time, as I couldn’t detect where it was coming from.

“If no one is going to follow my commands, I will have to do it myself!” The King declared and walked over to me. He summoned his blackened wings and let the colour roam over his skin as well before ordering the guard to release the roots from me.

I instantly summoned my own magic and let it sizzle between my fingers, ready to fight him if I needed to. But right before he let his wings carry him a few feet in the air he was stopped by a booming blast from Echo. It made the King sway sideways and against a wall before he was forced to make his wings disappear again.

What the hell is going on?!

Frost and the men behind him instantly ran over to the King, and the other guards in the room readied themselves to defend him against Echo’s power.

“You’d all be wise to tread carefully. You know what I’m capable of and you know I have been by your side for all these years! I might not approve of how things happened in the past, but up till now I was a true believer of how you, Onyx, ruled these lands, and that’s the only reason for me to be here instead of on the Aether side. But, I will never condone an attack towards the true Queen! Not even from you!” Echo decreed angrily, making his hair swirl aside revealing a facial feature I haven’t seen before yet.

His ears! He has pointy ears!

The King, the guards, even Trixie and Kallan, everyone just looked baffled. I don’t know if it were his ears that they were so astounded by or the fact that he was acting aggressively upon the King, but either way, they confused me.

“We only have little time. Trixie, get her guardian and meet us outside.” Echo commanded and Trixie hesitated to do so. “Go!” Echo shouted, making Trixie flinch on the spot but got moving nonetheless.

“Where are we-

“I’ll explain later, you just got to trust me on this.” Echo interrupted me and started his clicking to find his way outside this room. Just like Trixie, I hesitated for a slight moment but soon Kallan pulled me on my arm to follow him with me.

One last moment I looked back to every single person that was just as confused as me, watching how we left the room. At the last moment, the Queen even entered the room on the other side and was just as curious about whatever just happened as well.

But the most intriguing part was, that this all happened just because of me. If I ever should be the true Queen of Kyalthemar, then where are my relatives, why did no one protect me, why was I alone in a different world for all these years? And why did all these things just happen as soon as I stepped through the portal? How did other people know that I arrived here on Kyalthemar?

And who the hell is Echo? He has pointy ears, so he is no ordinary Fae to even begin with, but other than that, he said to be on this side only because he had been approving the way Onyx was ruling as a King. He said it like he had a choice to be here as if all the Fae had a choice to be on either side. But if there is more magic on the Aether side, which would grant the Fae a stronger, longer and more magical life, then why isn’t everyone on the other side of the rift then?

Kallan pulled me through the hallways, which were now filled with Fae people from outside, seeking shelter from the storm there. They looked at me with quizzical faces and a quick peek into their easy thoughts showed them to be wondering why their Prince and loyal friend of the King would drag a female with them, towards the danger outside.

By now, I had settled to walk on my own feet and pulled my arm out of Kallan’s hold. He looked behind him to see I was alright but quickly noticed I was fully capable to follow the men.

Echo and Kallan guided me towards the entrance of the palace, the front of the majestic building I haven’t even had the time to explore completely. But every hallway just looked the same as the next and everywhere were those same signs of a long-forgotten wealth that once roamed through these walls, floors and columns.

“Echo, this way!” The familiar voice from Kallan’s brother, Zeph, suddenly peeked our attention once we stepped outside and Echo instantly turned his way.

A loud thundering crash of the still roaming storm came awfully close and the men around me all cursed profoundly. Citizens who were still trying to get inside, as soon as they could, jumped up in fear and upped their tempo to get away from the danger faster.

“Where is Trixie?” Echo asked Zeph as soon as another strike from the sky had landed close-by, at which he replied her to be near our transport already. Echo simply nodded and walked his way over to where this transport would be.

I could tell that Kallan was confused to see his brother Zeph helping Echo, I mean I was confused as well as these brothers hadn’t been the nicest towards each other at all. Besides, why is Zeph helping Echo? Had he been in on whatever Echo is planning to do, all this time already?

Rounding a corner we found ourselves to be at the stables where gorgeously-looking, winged, white and blue horses stood in their paddocks, ready to be taken whenever it was deemed necessary. A few were restless from the storm, but others were watching us approaching, carefully guiding their ears to focus on any danger as we weren’t the calmest persons right now.

“We’ll use Poseidon.” Echo said, at which Kallan immediately shouted a ‘no’ towards that statement. “Kallan, you know he’s the only one who can carry both Neil and her.”

Kallan wanted to argue with Echo about the creature he had named Poseidon, but he got interrupted by a loud whistle from him at which a thundering neigh sounded from behind the stables. A sudden spurt in the speed of galloping feet rushed the creature around the wooden horse-house and showed itself even before it had fully rounded the corner as his head peaked far above that of the other horses present with us.

Upon seeing Echo, it graciously bowed and spread its magnificent dark-blue wings where the tips touched the ground. And even though I know Echo to be blind, he waited for the horse to return to its normal pose to return the gesture in gratitude.

I was astounded by how creatures could be so graceful and fully aware of who was standing in front of them. I know horses to be more sentient and empathically build than most other land creatures on Earth, but to see him acknowledging a person like this, was really amazing to see.

“This is Poseidon, one of the strongest and biggest Pegasi that are rarely alive these years.” Echo explained while caressing the creature’s blue flanks.

Poseidon had near to black manes, marine-black shiny skin and dark wings. And as his head reaches above that of the other Pegasi here, so did the height of his withers. He is one amazingly large creature and I wouldn’t want to be on the bad side of him as his hooves are twice the size of both my hands next to each other.

“Yes, the strongest but also the most unreliable and stubborn animal there is to find!” Kallan spoke up, and Neil flinched by hearing that as he had just stepped closer towards Poseidon, curiously wanting to pet it, which he didn’t want to do anymore.

And as if on cue, Poseidon snorted, tilting his head towards Kallan and stomping his hoof on the muddy ground. It almost seemed like he was disagreeing with Kallan’s statement, showing more of that empathic ability like he had shown to Echo with his bow. I chuckled softly, finding it somewhat funny for a horse to respond to humans, or Fae, talking. But as soon as Poseidon noticed me he took a few steady steps and nudged his head forward.

“Watch out!” Trixie said, being on the same side as Kallan upon believing Poseidon to be a wild animal.

But as they believe him to be half-feral, I thought he was showing something different. I know it is raining hard which might cloud my sight to look properly at this creature, and I know I have never met any Pegasi before, let alone one of the biggest ones there is to find, but somehow I know him to not want to be hurting me.

Don’t ask me why, but there was no fear in reaching out to this creature.

Kallan, fearing the worst when Poseidon went over to Jade:

Jade just stood still, not wavering from her spot, fearless when the large creature strode straight for her, and when he was close she reached out to Poseidon’s snout with both her hands and the Pegasus just brushed his soft nostrils inside her palms!

“You are not that feral, right?” She cooed the stubborn creature in a gentle voice, at which he laid himself on the ground for her, to be able to get on his back.

“You coming, Neil?” She asked him casually, and just like me, he was astounded as to what the hell she just did!

One of the runes on her arm read ‘animal’, but what that would include is still yet to be known. Poseidon could either be an animal that she can interact with, or he just recognises her to be a future Queen, as most Pegasi are empathic creatures on their own.

A sudden hand landed on my shoulder and with a mocking voice, my brother said, “She is quite something, isn’t she?” all the whilst he chuckled and slapped me on the back.

I turned around to face Zeph and Echo while Neil hesitantly jumped behind Jade on Poseidon. Echo smiled reassuringly but didn’t show the will to explain anything further right now. Besides, another lightning strike just touched down and Echo told us to take our wings and fly low to the ground and leave the palace grounds.

And so we did. I looked towards the entrance of the palace and saw that my parents were coming out, but there was nothing I had to say to these people. Even though Jade and I still have plenty of questions, my father still wanted to keep her captured and even tried to fight her for the orb. I have no understanding for them at all anymore so we just have to find the answers for my questions elsewhere.