by Noah Michael
In the center of the room were two massive, extraordinary creatures that looked like pterodactyls. They were covered with thousands of bright green feathers which made them seem like moving pieces of carved shrubbery. Their vast, feathered wings were long and pointed at the tip. The only non-feathered parts of their bodies were their stomachs and the bottoms of their wings, which were shiny and scaled like the skin of a lizard. The creatures moved their weight around slowly and carefully. One of them opened its long beak and called out, its voice piercing and magnificent.
“I call them balcons. I wanted to engineer the most powerful, yet peaceful sky-creature nature has ever known. From the top, birds will believe it to be a tree. From below, it cannot be seen, because its bottom is genetically enhanced chameleon skin, which camouflages in flight. When it lands, its entire body camouflages to look like an oddly-sized bush. Because you will be riding on top of them, you will be concealed. They even have genetically enhanced photosynthetic abilities. You will not have to feed them throughout the journey.”
“Can I pet one?” Raiden asked, eager to get closer to the beautiful creature.
“Yes,” Gil replied, “You should let it get to know you. Approach it slowly from the front.”
Raiden stepped cautiously towards the beast on the left. The creature eyed him suspiciously, then cried out and took a step back.
“It’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you,” Raiden said calmly.
The creature cried out again, but this time it didn’t retreat. Raiden slowly extended his hand, stroking its beautiful feathers. The balcon cried out again, but this time it sounded like approval.
“It seems to like you,” Gil said. “You picked the male.”
Maximus approached his balcon, which appeared older and calmer than its counterpart.
“Now that you are all comfortable together, let me explain how to ride them. Use its neck as a handle to pull yourselves up.” Maximus grabbed his balcon’s neck and swung himself onto its back with ease. Raiden had a bit of trouble. His balcon cried out in annoyance and turned its head back, using its long beak to lift Raiden onto its back.
“Put your arms around its neck, and grab onto its neck feathers. They are slightly longer than the rest. Whichever way you pull, it will fly. Are you ready?”
“Yes,” Maximus answered
“Thanks for all your help,” Raiden said.
“Good luck.” Gil pressed a large red button on a touchpad near the door, opening the ceiling. The balcons shrieked with delight and took off. As they flew high into the sky, the balcons cried out with pleasure.
Without warning, Raiden’s balcon spun through a cloud, leaving him momentarily dangling upside-down for dear life. Maximus rode smoothly and with grace. “You must control it!” Maximus shouted.
“Stop!” Raiden commanded. The balcon lifted itself vertically, stomach first, wings spread, in order to slow itself.
Once Raiden had his balcon under control, he directed it to where Maximus and his balcon hovered.
“Do you know how to get to the school?” Raiden asked. “What happens when we get there? Won’t there be Shadows everywhere?”
“I know the general area where the school once stood. The last time I was there, the Shadows had no guards surrounding the area. It’s possible they are so confident in their illusion that they feel no need for guards.”
“What exactly is the school? And why did Gil call it the School of Socrates?”
“The school was founded by Socrates of Athens, thousands of years ago. It was he who waged war against the corrupted Enlai, beginning the movement to protect humans and live in harmony with them. It was he who discovered the stones of eternity and it was in his school that members of the Alliance and the Guardians were trained.”
Raiden looked down at the Earth below. It was more beautiful than looking out of a plane, a surreal and thrilling experience, the wind whirling through his hair. He was free. Raiden turned to watch Maximus fly. He flew straight, not even glancing at the scenery around him. He maintained the same facial expression the whole time, one of determination. It was as if his mind never wandered. He was always focused on the task at hand, and right now that task was saving Sarah. As different as the big man seemed, they did have something in common. Roko had taken both of their fathers from them. Still, he couldn’t shake the feeling that Maximus was still hiding something from him.
While Raiden was distracted, his balcon flew directly into a thick cloud. Raiden couldn’t see a thing, but he found the moisture refreshing. When they exited the cloud, Raiden decided to practice his flying. He attempted to hit every cloud. He soared through the sky, making sharp turns in all four directions to hit his targets. As he grew bolder, he moved faster and even attempted flips. Raiden was filled with exhilaration, shouting with excitement as he flew through cloud after cloud. His balcon shared in the excitement, shrieking with joy. Maximus glanced at Raiden for a second, then quickly returned to his focus.
As the journey continued, Raiden eventually grew tired of his cloud games, as did his balcon. He realized the creature was flying slower and less smoothly.
“We need to speed up,” Maximus said.
“I think he’s tired,” Raiden answered, “Can we take a short break?”
“There is no time for breaks. We must continue.”
Raiden’s balcon let out a cry of distress.
“If we continue, he’s going to collapse. I need to find a place to land.”
Raiden directed his balcon downwards and they began descending.
Maximus hesitated, then said, “I will scout out the area from above. Try to find a concealed area to land. I will be there shortly. Do not make a fire or do anything which would draw attention.”
Raiden continued downwards towards a thick forest, figuring the balcons would camouflage perfectly among the trees. The ground shook as they landed. Raiden jumped off his balcon and stretched his legs, cramped from sitting in the same position for hours. His balcon let out a cry of exhaustion and lay down, closing its eyes. Within seconds, it was fast asleep.
Raiden rested against a fallen tree trunk. He pulled the book from his bag and began to read. The chapter was titled “Shifters.”
“Summary: Shifters are masters of atomic and molecular structure. They can manipulate the structure of the atoms and molecules in their body in any way they choose. A Shifter can sense the atomic structure of a substance and change his own body’s atoms to match that substance. Shifters are also known for their ability to expand atoms in such a way that they can walk through obstacles. More powerful Shifters sometimes develop the ability to take the form of liquids, and even gases, which allows them to become invisible by taking the form of air.
“History: The first prominent recorded Shifter was Suppiluliuma, in the year 1344 BCE. He was ruler of the Hittites, and a great warrior and conqueror. Suppiluliuma won many strategic battles against the Shadow clan, which reigned in Egypt at the time, using brute strength. His most successful war was against the Mitanni kingdom, which was ruled primarily by members of the Fuser Tribe. Because his tribe was not yet great in numbers or power, his army was made primarily of humans which he ruthlessly sent into the most dangerous of battles, indifferent to the loss of life. Suppiluliuma married Mira, a Babylonian princess, and together they brought wealth and organization to the Tribe of the Shifters. Suppiluliuma is also greatly known for his...”
Raiden found himself nodding off, his eyelids heavy. He was exhausted, and the reading wasn’t helping. Because of the book, he’d hardly slept the night before.
I’ll just take a little nap. Maximus will wake me up when he gets back. Raiden closed the book and returned it to his bag. He closed his eyes and fell asleep.
Raiden woke with a start. His balcon was shrieking. He attempted to calm it. “Come on big guy, we gotta stay quiet,” Raiden said, petting the balcon’s snout. The balcon continued to shriek, looking towards the sky. Raiden looked up as well and realized that the sun w
as going down. He’d slept for a few hours; the day was almost over.
Where is Maximus? What’s taking him so long? And why is my balcon freaking out?
The balcon cried out again. This time, its cry was answered by another cry in the distance. The balcon cried out louder this time. Raiden covered his ears. It was answered again. Raiden looked carefully at the horizon and saw a huge shape blocking out the sun. Maximus was back. Raiden’s balcon continued to cry out, guiding the way for Maximus’s balcon to find them. The ground shook as Maximus’s balcon landed, knocking away some of the surrounding trees. Maximus dismounted.
“What took you so long? Where have you been?” Raiden asked.
Maximus walked over to the front of his balcon and extended his hand. The balcon looked at him and opened its beak, dropping a small, metal object into Maximus’s grasp. Maximus brought it over to Raiden. The object was shaped like a metallic wasp but had been crushed in the beak of the balcon.
“What is that?” Raiden asked.
“It’s one of Roko’s spy drones. It was tracking us. I led it far from our location and then destroyed it.”
“Is it safe to spend the night here then? Do you think there are more we didn’t see?”
“Roko has a whole nest of wasps constantly spying on the world for him. Nevertheless, we must spend the night here, because the balcons receive their energy from the sunlight. They need to rest. Let us hope we weren’t spotted by any more wasps.”
Maximus walked over to one of the fallen trees and pulled off clumps of leaves from its branches. He piled them on the floor and lay down, using the leaves as a pillow.
“We will take guard shifts. Did you manage to sleep?”
“Yeah, but-”
“Good. You have the first half of the night.” Maximus said. He closed his eyes.
Raiden went back to his spot by the fallen log and continued to read. He turned back to the table of contents, scrolling through the list of all the tribes. There were so many, and the only ones he had actually met so far were Readers, Shadows, Coders, and Surgers. He scanned the list, trying to decide which one to read about this time. He turned to the section about the Alliance and began reading.
“The Alliance: Since the beginning of time, the Enlai were highly advanced relative to mankind. With their powers, they became the natural leaders of the human world. Many ruled with cruelty. The different tribes of Enlai battled constantly, sending humans into bloody combat, conquering and enslaving one another for land and power. This bloody chapter in the history of the Enlai ended with the formation of the Alliance in the fifth century BCE. The Alliance was born when the legendary Absorber Socrates of Athens began his great revolution. For the first time, Socrates called for unity. He preached of the end of barbarism and imperialism, of perfection of the world and its inhabitants. Socrates was loved by many, but despised by a powerful few.
Socrates’s greatest adversary was Xerxes, the Persian emperor and one of the mightiest Burners in history. He was so powerful, the Zoroastrian religion was heavily influenced by him, as many believed he was a god. He believed the humans were lesser creations, born to serve the Enlai, and considered Socrates’s ideals a threat. After assassination of Socrates failed, Xerxes waged war on Greece itself in order to reach Socrates. His strategy may have succeeded, if not for Socrates’s greatest ally, the mighty Leonidas of Sparta.
Leonidas was the most powerful Surger in recorded history. The youngest warrior to ever graduate the Spartan Academy of War, he quickly became known and respected as a leader, and eventually King. Socrates shared his mission with Leonidas and they became close allies, completing each other, Socrates the pen and Leonidas the sword.
They were consolidating support for a campaign against their most powerful enemy, but Xerxes moved first. With an army of two hundred thousand human soldiers and one thousand elite Enlai, infamously known as the Yurokai, or “The Deathless,” he advanced on Greece.
Socrates urged Leonidas to flee Greece together and keep the struggle alive, but Leonidas refused to abandon his people. He also rejected recruiting humans to fight the Yurokai, knowing that a human did not stand a chance against an Enlai. Therefore, with the Enlai under his command numbering only three hundred, he faced Xerxes in battle, leading his men straight into the jaws of The Deathless. They fought valiantly, killing 20,000 of Xerxes’s human troops in the first four days of battle, only losing twelve men themselves. Xerxes used the humans to whittle them down day by day, and by the tenth day, Leonidas and his men had taken forty-two casualties. On the eleventh day, Xerxes deployed the entire remainder of his human troops, and the Greeks barely pulled through. 136,000 humans were killed, the rest fled. Twenty Greeks remained, the mightiest of the army. On the twelfth day, Xerxes himself went into battle, finally unleashing the infamous Yurokai. On the thirteenth day, Leonidas had four men remaining, and he was nearing his end. He hadn’t eaten for fourteen days and multiple wounds spread infection throughout his body. Knowing it was their last stand, Leonidas and his men charged into the remaining Yurokai, making for Xerxes, who sat atop his throne in the back of the army. As his men were cut down, Leonidas made it to the throne, limping and nearing death. Xerxes brought him quickly to his knees. Rather than let Xerxes deliver the final blow, Leonidas plunged a sword into his own chest, ending his life.
Leonidas’s bravery gave Socrates time to discover the stones which were key in defeating what remained of Xerxes’ forces. Leonidas became a legend and a hero of the Alliance. The most powerful of the fourth-generation Guardians, Legasus, is said to be a blood descendent of the legendary Spartan king.”
Raiden’s head spun in disbelief as history was rewritten before his eyes. Enlai had secretly pulled the strings behind some of the most famous events in human history, and the humans didn’t even know of their existence.
Darkness had begun in earnest now, and no matter how much Raiden squinted, it was no use to continue reading. He closed the book. He walked over and gently petted his sleeping balcon’s snout. It slowly opened one of its eyes, letting out a tired yawn, and peered upwards towards the sky. Then, without warning, it began shrieking at the moon. Raiden started to panic, looking around frantically for a way to calm it.
“Quiet your beast, Raiden!” Maximus shouted, wakened by the noise.
Casting around for anything, Raiden had an idea. He grabbed a large branch from one of the fallen trees nearby and, swinging with all his might, launched it into the air. The branch successfully diverted the balcon’s attention and it launched up, caught the branch in its mouth, and dropped the branch at his feet.
“See?” Raiden said to Maximus, “It’s like a dog. A big, green, flying dog.”
“Just make sure its attention isn’t brought back to the moon. These creatures love the sun. Seeing the moon in the sun’s place caused it to panic.” Maximus closed his eyes. Raiden threw the branch back into the air, watching the balcon fly after it. After a few more throws, the balcon grew tired of the game. It dropped the branch and stomped over to Raiden.
“You know, you’re smarter than you look,” Raiden said, “I wonder what’s going on in that head of yours.” The balcon moved its head forward as Raiden put out his hand, petting its feathers. The balcon looked up, gazing at the moon. Raiden braced himself, expecting another scream, but instead it released a soft cry, almost saddening. Raiden put his hand on the balcon’s long neck.
“You miss the sun, don’t you.”
The balcon let out another soft cry.
“The sun is still there, there’s no need cry about it. It’s shining on the moon, see? I mean, worst case scenario, if you need it badly enough, you just fly up there and you can see it again. You know what, with those big wings of yours, I bet you could probably make it.”
The balcon calmed and turned its head towards Raiden. Suddenly, it used its big beak to lift Raiden up and throw him onto its back. It launched into the air with great speed, moving straight upwards. Raiden shouted in surprise and gr
abbed onto the balcon’s neck feathers for dear life.
“You know, the world is really big, and I’m kind’a tired!” Raiden screamed hysterically, “I really think you should rethink this!”
The balcon cried out in excitement and shot itself forward with a massive flap of its wings. Slowly, Raiden’s cries of hysteria began to turn into whoops of excitement as the two of them cut through the night breeze, aiming for the moon. Everywhere around them was pure darkness. It was only Raiden, the balcon, and the night.
After about five minutes, Raiden noticed they were losing speed. The balcon looked exhausted.
Its source of energy is the sun. If it continues like this, we will end up crashing.
Suddenly, the balcon spread its wings, slowing itself down against the air until it came to a complete stop, hovering in place. It took one last look at the moon, crying out in disappointment.
“It’s ok big guy, we’ll make it next time,”
To Raiden’s relief, the balcon began moving downwards. Trees slowly emerged from the darkness below as they dove. Just as it seemed they were about to go for a final landing, the balcon stopped.
“What’s wrong?” Raiden asked.
The balcon did not respond. It was dead quiet. Suddenly, Raiden heard a faint buzzing sound in front of them. He squinted, trying to see where it was coming from. The sound came closer. Raiden’s heart began to race as he saw before him a pair of large, glowing red eyes. The buzzing grew louder.
“Move!” Raiden cried to the balcon.
It was a massive mechanical wasp, this one the size of a balcon. Its eyes glowed red, its stinger served as a turret and in place of legs it had sharp, metal claws. It surged towards them, stinger raised, and shattered the still night with gun fire. Raiden screamed and held on tight as his balcon jolted upright, protecting him from the bullets by taking them in its stomach. It cried out in pain and fell through the sky, Raiden clinging to it with all his strength. He was still screaming for dear life when the balcon spread its wings and regained balance, having repaired itself.