Winged (Aetharian Narratives)

by Sofia Vargas

“Please, Mom,” I said. “I’ll be all right. This is why you brought me here.”

  They shot each other one last look before nodding and dropping the subject.

  “I’ll have all of you shown to your tents,” Father said, walking to the tent’s opening. “It would be a good idea to get some rest. There are long days ahead of us starting tomorrow.”

  We got up and walked toward the entrance of the tent. There was a glowing guide waiting for us.

  “Emmeline,” he said when I passed him.

  I stopped and looked at him.

  “I am very glad you have finally come home,” he said, giving me a hug and another kiss on my forehead.

  “Please,” I said with a smile, “call me Emma.”

  He nodded. I turned to rejoin the group. Mom put her arm around my shoulders and steered me out of the tent.

  The campsite was big enough to be considered a small village instead of a camp. We passed by many people going about their work. It was a bit unsettling to see them stop what they were doing to watch me walk by in our guide’s glow. We walked to the back of the campground where there was a little cul-de-sac of tents before the site ended at the fence.

  “Miss Larnex,” the guide walked to the first tent and held it open for me.

  “Goodnight, honey,” Mom said, kissing me in the same place my father had on my forehead. “Try and get some sleep.”

  “‘Night,” I said. I nodded goodnight to everyone else as I passed them and went into the tent.

  The guide dropped the flap and I watched the light from his body through the tent lead the others onward. The tent was the size of a big room. In the middle was a fire surrounded by a rounded dome. It was smaller than the one in Father’s tent but still big enough to heat every bit of the inside. On the right were a floor length mirror and a table with towels, a bar of soap, and a hair brush on it. A water basin was perched on a lower shelf. In the back was a small wooden closet with various articles of clothing hanging in it and shoes at the bottom. On the left was a twin bed with big blankets, pillows, and nightclothes folded on top of it. Next to it was a chair with clothes I figured I was supposed to wear tomorrow.

  I changed into the nightclothes and got into the surprisingly warm bed. Being in such a strange place made me think it would take a while to fall asleep. I closed my eyes and thought about the events that had taken place that day. I don’t remember the exact point at which my thoughts turned to dreams, but I drifted off to sleep in no time at all.

  * * *

  “Miss Larnex?” a faint voice floated through the fabric of my tent’s entrance.

  I turned over in my warm bed and chuckled to myself sleepily.

  Tent? I thought to myself. Why would I think I was in a tent?

  “Miss Larnex?”

  My eyes sprang open when I heard it again.

  “Y—yes?”

  “Your training starts today,” the person said. “It would be wise to start waking up and preparing yourself.”

  I rolled back over and watched the shadow of a person walk away with his light guide. It felt like I had been asleep for only a couple of minutes. I looked up through my tent’s smoke vent and remembered everything that had happened the previous day. The sky above was lighter than it had been when I closed my eyes. Though it was darker than when I normally liked to wake up. Nonetheless, it was most certainly morning.

  I got up and looked around. Near the entrance to the tent was a steaming pitcher of hot water. I looked at what had to be, cold clothes on the chair. I looked at the dome around the fire. I went to the chair and took the clothes off of it. I spread them over the dome and placed the boots at the bottom.

  I took the chair and pulled it as close to the fire as I could and put the basin on top. I poured the steaming water into it and washed myself. After I put all my warm clothes on I walked over to the clothes rack and found a sizable jacket to wear outside. In hindsight, it probably should have worried me how military-like all the clothes looked. All that was given to me were a couple pairs of pants and button-up, long-sleeve shirts made out of a rough, scratchy material, and thinner underclothes. There was no color to them that wasn’t an earth tone, or black or white. I figured that with the country on the brink of a war, everyone probably wore those kinds of clothes to blend in with each other.

  After I had dressed and put everything in my tent back where I had gotten it, I decided there wasn’t much use waiting around for instruction. I put the jacket on and walked out of the tent. It wasn’t hard finding the center of the campground. It was, however, hard figuring out what I should be doing while trying to ignore the stares that followed me around.

  “Miss Larnex?” a voice said after I had wandered around for a while.

  I looked around and found a large, bar-like food stand with a burly man in a chef’s hat standing behind it.

  “I thought that had to be you,” he said with a smile.

  There was something different about him that set him apart from everyone I had encountered so far. Though his head was shaved, I could still see stubs of blond hair. He had light blue eyes, but his skin was considerably darker than what I had seen so far. It was darkened past the point of being a tan, not to mention the fact that it was the middle of winter and the chance of getting a tan was extremely slim.

  “Yeah, that’s me,” I said, happy that my being lost seemed to come in handy.

  I took a few steps toward him. Whatever he was cooking smelled really good to my empty stomach.

  “How could you tell?” I said.

  The guy looked pleasant enough. He was, after all, the first person to choose to talk to me rather than stare.

  He laughed. It sounded closer to a bear’s growl than a laugh.

  “Lucky guess, I suppose,” he said. “How does breakfast sound to you?”

  I bounced into a seat at the bar. “It sounds great.”

  He laughed again, seeming pleased. With what exactly, I didn’t know. I figured he was just pleased with me in general.

  “What would you like?”

  At that moment my stomach made a loud, embarrassing noise. I could feel my face turn red and I gave a shaky smile at his smirking face.

  “I’m not particularly picky at the moment,” I said.

  “Bacon, eggs, and toast it is,” he said.

  He cracked some eggs over the skillet in front of him and laid out a couple strips of bacon and bread.

  “Coffee or tea?”

  A mug flew onto the table in front of me.

  “Tea, please,” I said.

  A teabag landed in the mug and a kettle of hot water wasn’t far behind to pour over it. I wiped the astonishment off my face and looked at him again.

  “Thank you…”

  “Oak,” he said. “And you’re very welcome, Miss Larnex.”

  “Please call me Emma,” I said. “Being called Miss Larnex kind of freaks me out.”

  “No problem, Emma. I guess I should give you the greeting you didn’t receive last night,” he said, putting down his spatula and holding out his right hand. “Welcome to Aetheria.”

  “Thanks,” I said, shaking it.

  I couldn’t help but watch the bacon flip over on its own.

  “As much as you surprised us, it’s amazing to think that we can surprise you.”

  “I’m sorry,” I said, realizing that I was probably staring too much. “I shouldn’t be. I know everyone here does—stuff.”

  “That we do,” he said. “My ability is pretty common so it’s nice to inspire some awe for a change.”

  “Where I come from—” I said but stopped. “Or thought I came from, something like that is not common at all.”

  He scooped the food onto a plate and put it in front of me with some utensils.

  “Well, things are different here where people have talent.”

  I laughed. “People have talent there. Most of the time they’re just not appreciated for it.”

  I took a bite of toast and watched a rag wip
e off the grill. “But they most certainly don’t do anything like that.”

  Oak looked at me. He seemed not to understand something.

  “You know,” he said, “you are not the person I thought you would be.”

  “And…” I said, not quite knowing what he was getting at. “Is that a good thing?”

  “It is a very good thing,” he said. “See, around here people stick to their position, class, or group.”

  He nodded his head to the people going about their business. I looked around and saw the workers talk to other workers, soldiers walking around with other soldiers.

  “I guess some things never change,” I said to myself. “Why are people like that?”

  “They don’t like what’s unfamiliar,” said Oak.

  I looked back at his sky blue eyes.

  “Which is why they don’t associate with those they’re not completely comfortable with.”

  A group of soldiers looked at us while passing by.

  “But I’m glad you aren’t like that,” he said, louder than his previous comment.

  The soldiers that passed by gave us one more look before continuing on.

  “If there was one person,” he said, “that I would pick not to believe in that crap, it would be you.”

  “Why me?”

  I finished the last of my tea and piled the cup onto my plate.

  Oak smiled and took them from me. “Because of who you are. You are all that matters right now.”

  “Miss Larnex,” a voice behind me said. “We have been looking for you.”

  I turned my head to see a soldier walking up to the stand. I had to grab onto the platform in front of me to keep from falling out of my chair. I thought that Viper was the best-looking guy I’d ever see; I now realized I was very mistaken. I wasn’t sure if he surpassed Viper in the looks department, but he certainly put up a good fight. Eyes of a velvety royal blue locked onto me with a stare beneath neatly trimmed, dark blond hair.

  “I’m sorry,” I said, getting off my stool with as much grace as possible. “I was just having breakfast.”

  “I see that,” he said, looking at the stand. “For future reference you are to have breakfast in the main tent further into the center of the site.”

  “Oh,” I said, looking back at Oak.

  He quickly busied himself with things on the other side of the stand.

  “Sorry, I didn’t know—”

  “Now you do,” he said. “Please come with me.”

  As polite as his request sounded he didn’t wait for an answer. He turned and started walking back in the direction he’d come.

  “Oh, okay,” I said.

  Apparently the request was really a demand. I looked at Oak again.

  “And thank you for the breakfast I wasn’t supposed to have.”

  He smiled and tipped his spatula from his brow. “Anytime, Emma.”

  I couldn’t help but smile back. Shaking my head I turned and followed after the soldier. He was about a foot taller than me and took such long strides that I had to work to keep up with him.

  “In the future,” he said when I had caught up to him, “please refrain from bothering the workers. We like to give them minimal distractions.”

  “Sorry,” I said to the back of his head. “He didn’t seem bothered by me.”

  We approached a large tent.

  “He wouldn’t say that he was, would he?” he said, shooting me a look from the corner of his eye. “That would be quite rude, now wouldn’t it?”

  “Like you’re a proper judge of that,” I said under my breath.

  He stood to the side so I could enter the tent first.

  “Pardon me?”

  “Nothing at all,” I said before entering.

  “Emma.” Mom’s voice carried across the large tent. “Over here.” It was full of people eating at long tables. I walked over and sat in a chair next to her.

  “Would you like some breakfast?” she said, putting a plate in front of me.

  “No, I’m okay,” I said. “Thank you.”

  “Good morning, Emma,” said Father from across the table. “I hope you slept well.”

  “I did, thank you.”

  “Good. We want you refreshed for the start of your training today.”

  I nodded. “I am.”

  “Excellent.”

  The soldier that came to find me walked up to the table and cleared his throat.

  “In case you two haven’t been formally introduced,” Father said, indicating him, “Emma, this is Dresden Stone. He is the commanding officer of our troops. He will be conducting your training.”

  “Great,” I said. It was all I could do to keep from rolling my eyes and sighing.

  “Are you ready, Miss Larnex?” Dresden said.

  “Sure,” I said, ungluing myself from the chair.

  “Then shall we get started?”

  He gave the table a slight bow and turned to leave.

  “I don’t think he ever learned the art of suggestion,” I said, hugging Mom. “I’ll see you later.”

  “Okay, honey,” she said, kissing me on the cheek. “Take care.”

  I gave my father a wave and followed after Dresden again.

  * * *

  “Okay,” I said, trying to break the silence that loomed over us while we walked. “So what exactly am I going to be learning? How to save people from a burning building? Maybe how to negotiate with terrorists? Oh, or how to take a bullet for the king?”

  “Look,” Dresden said, whipping around to face me.

  I had to throw myself back a bit to keep from colliding with him.

  “This is no time to be joking,” he said. “There are lives on the line at this very moment and if you don’t get your act together those lives will be lost.”

  “Hey,” I said, refusing to take any more crap from him. “Joking is what I do to keep from stressing out. Do you want me to collapse into dry heaves and fall apart at your feet? Because that is exactly what I will do if I don’t try to keep myself calm.”

  He looked surprised by my reply.

  “I’m sorry if you’re not used to the person I am,” I said. “But I don’t like being kept in the dark. I’m trying to figure out what the hell you people are expecting from me, while also trying not to have a nervous breakdown. I don’t have any skills or training or experience in this stuff whatsoever so I’m a bit edgy right now. My bad.”

  He stared at me for a second longer. “Well, if you could show a little restraint and patience you will find out in due time.”

  He turned back around and started walking again.

  I followed after him, having to jog a little to keep up. I tried to be as cooperative as I could. I figured the best way was to keep quiet and try not to annoy him. The thing was I couldn’t be quiet if my life depended on it.

  “Do you not like me or something?” I said after about three minutes of biting my tongue. I could see his shoulders tense at the sound of my voice. But I really didn’t care. “I mean, you can tell me if you don’t,” I said. “Even though I think I’m pretty easy to get along with I am used to people not liking me.”

  “Can you not be quiet at all?” Dresden said, surely dreading the answer.

  “No,” I said. “I’m sure I don’t talk in my sleep or anything, but when I’m awake being quiet is pretty much not an option for me.”

  “I suggest you learn to make it an option very quickly.”

  “I’ll try to do that,” I said, waving to Oak when we passed by his stand.

  He waved his spatula and smiled his big grin. A man sitting at his stand looked at us as we passed. I let a couple more minutes trickle by in silence.

  “It’s my hair isn’t it?” I said, not able to let the quiet last any longer.

  “What?” he said, looking at me very obviously confused.

  “My hair,” I said again as if the repetition clarified everything. “It creeps you out, doesn’t it?”

  He glanced at my head. �
�It’s strange. But I’d imagine it’s something that will become less so over time.”

  “It totally will, I swear,” I said, trying to keep the friendliness going.

  “Emma,” someone called.

  I looked around while we passed through the cul-de-sac of tents toward the back wall.

  “Viper,” I said, not able to keep the smile off my face.

  He walked toward us. “It’s so good to see you.”

  “You, too,” I said. “When did you get here?”

  “Earlier this morning,” he said. “I’m glad everything worked out for you guys getting here. Although I hear it wasn’t without incident.”

  “That’s putting it lightly,” I said, remembering the soldier’s knife arm. I put my hand to my neck.

  Dresden cleared his throat from where he waited a few feet away.

  “He likes to do that,” I said to Viper.

  “Yes, I know,” Viper said. “Hey, Dresden. It’s been a while.”

  “Amest,” he said with a nod. “Sorry to break up the reunion, but this really isn’t the best time to catch up with each other.”

  I frowned. He didn’t look sorry at all.

  “Right, well, I’ll see you later,” Viper said, looking back at me. “Good luck with your first day of training.”

  “Thanks,” I said. “I’ll see you later?”

  “Of course,” he touched my arm.

  I could feel my cheeks prickle so I turned and walked toward Dresden. He walked toward the back gate.

  I saw a small doorway in the gate as we came closer to it. Dresden put his hand on it and pushed it open. He held it open for me to pass through. I did, then stopped and looked around. Other than the guard stationed to the side of the door, all I could see was dense forest and some sort of stone structure rising above the trees in the distance. Dresden closed the door to the gate and walked forward into the forest.

  There wasn’t as much snow on the ground as there was near the lake. The trees still had all of their leaves so I figured they were blocking a good amount of it. I watched the branches sway as a gust of wind blew through the tree tops. It tickled my face.

  “It…” I said with hesitation. I wasn’t sure if what I wanted to say was going to sound strange. “It smells really good here.”

  “Hmm,” Dresden nodded. “It’s the trees.”