We circled for a short while, enjoying the warm updrafts from the sun up the sides of the cliff face. Soon I noticed a devilish look in my dark elf’s eyes; and with a challenging smirk, she tilted down into a dive. Caught up in the moment, and not about to let her have all the fun, I dived right after her, hugging the cliff face as we dropped. Dodging the posts sticking out of the cliff face, we accelerated all the way down to the valley floor, and at the last minute reshaped our wings and re-extended for maximum lift. Our momentum pushed us smoothly out over the river, all the while laughing like hysterical children. A large herd of wild goats drinking at the river spread out in panic as we passed overhead. Finally, we slowed and beat our wings to gain altitude once more. In a few minutes, we were back high above the keep, enjoying the warm sun on our feathers.
Maya flew up next to me. “This is wonderful! I never knew life could be so free!” She took my hands and pulled us closer still as we hung in the air, wrapping her arms around me. “I love you.” The sunlight was captured by her wings and face as if she was literally glowing.
“I love you, too; even if we didn’t quite make it to sea slugs,” I said as we kissed hundreds of feet in the air. Our kiss slowly turned into a form of dance in the sky that got more and more complicated and passionate as time went on. Separate, then flap to gain altitude and re-join for our dancing embrace. We were up there for a good long time before a familiar voice showed up.
“Really? Air dancing a mile in the air and you haven’t tested out of Level One yet? You two are absolutely horrible students!” We could see she was pulling our legs, as she was smiling and seemed happy.
Maya chuckled. “Oh, really? Are we doing this wrong? Tell me, how do pixies dance, then?”
Her face contorted a bit as a wave of embarrassment washed over her. “We…um, we dance on leaves. Ok, fine, we dance like you guys did. Only our wings are meant to let us do this; hover, I mean. Besides, you’re giving the entire school whiplash with your up and down, up and down!”
“The entire school?” Maya asked, puzzled. Then she whipped around and focused on the student body assembled in the courtyard, on the walls, standing on steps, sitting on rooftops…all watching us intently! My dark elf flushed and shot me a deeply embarrassed look.
“Oops, I guess we didn’t think they would notice,” I said.
“How could they not? You two are radiating like a second sun in the sky!”
“Huh?”
She slapped her forehead. “You’re both glowing! Like a lot.” We both shrugged again. “Really, you didn’t notice? What, do you picture each other with the sun constantly behind the other? Never mind, stupid question. But we really need to get you two back to the keep. You may be on a romance high right now, but you’re approaching your flight endurance limits, so scoot.”
Laughing, we blew past her on the way back to the training area. It wasn’t very hard to believe that we were faster than the pixie. But even though we weren’t really out there very long, I could feel myself starting to tire out. Flying at speed takes a lot more energy than just riding thermals.
My mother was waiting for us when we landed, and we watched her eyes glow for a bit as she smiled at us. “Congratulations! Your wings are now fully mature.”
“Does this mean we can learn to hide them now?” asked Maya impatiently.
Mother chuckled, “Yes, and it appears that’s not the only thing.”
“Meaning?” we asked in unison.
She reached over and put an arm around Maya and gave her a gentle hug. “As I told you a few days ago, dear; these are wondrous enhancements. While you aren’t Nova, you appear to have gained some variations of traits formerly only nebulia were granted. You both are a bit stronger now. Maya, you gained far more proportionately than you, Alex, as you already had magically enhanced strength. Of course, the wings and eyes are unique to you, but you are now both immune to sickness, poison, and disease. Your rate of healing is also much faster; a broken arm will heal in a few days instead of a month. And lastly, but most impressively, is that glow of yours.”
“Ok, so we actually glow now? What does that even mean?” Maya asked.
“Well, it looks really cool,” Nia commented, “and it draws a crowd, for sure.”
“That glow isn’t just for show; mind you, the nebulia do use it at ceremonies all the time. It’s a holy light, you could say; with the ability to burn, if not kill, demons and undead. But it is a skill that only the most seasoned nebulia can achieve and is a great honor for you two.”
“Ok, note to self, no dancing around Bel,” Maya grinned, and I nodded in tacit agreement.
“Now,” Mother continued, “I believe that all you would need to do to retract your wings is to picture yourself without them.”
Picture myself without them, huh? Ok. It took a minute to really get a good image in my mind, but once I did, I instantly felt them shrink and retract into my body, almost moving under my skin. I reached around with my free hand and felt my back, and for the most part it was normal. No extra wings or a humpback or anything, just a tightening of the skin back there. Still not satisfied, I pulled off my shirt and used my mage sight to scan my back. It looked mostly normal, the only indication of wings were two lines of small downy feathers that ran behind my shoulder blades where the wings would normally attach.
I was smiling as I looked over at Maya and found her struggling with this one. She shot me a look of disgust. “Oh, laugh it up, why don’t you? Let me guess, you think this is funny because I got flight so easy and now I’m having trouble? Well, too bad! Winya, a little help here?”
Winya’s laughter filled my head. “No problem!” And just like that, her wings vanished as easily as mine did. Maya inspected herself before turning back to me. “See?”
Nia piped in, “Great, so I guess class is over then, huh? Oh well, thanks for letting me practice on you guys for so long!”
“Wait? Do you mean we were ready sooner?”
She smiled mischievously. “Well, duh. You two are supposed to be a bit smarter than the average newborn pixie, you know. Honestly, I just wanted to see how long I could keep you two on the posts before you jumped off. You lasted a lot longer than your average pixie, too. Most try to fly day one.”
“And how many do?”
“Actually, most of them can fly after the first day, just for very short amounts of time. You two will still need to fly every day to build up your strength.”
“Oh, I think I could agree to that,” I said, scooping my now wingless girlfriend up in my arms.
Later that night after another afternoon and evening of flying and resting and flying again, we were finally alone back in our room. Maya was sitting cross-legged on the main bed with her wings partially extended facing away from me. She had her vest open in the back, but still on her shoulders to keep herself covered in the event someone barged in, which sadly, happened quite frequently. Our bedroom had become a favorite meeting spot for friends and family alike. At the moment, I had my wings hidden and I was standing behind Maya trying my best to massage the soreness out of her shoulders and wings.
“Owie!”
“Sorry.”
“No worries, it was a good owie. I had no idea muscles could even get this sore. Are you sure you can’t mix up one of those drinks again?” she asked coyly.
“Believe me, I would love to have one right now, too; but the healers need all the herbs they can stockpile right now. So we are going to have to settle for this.”
“Hmmm, hard choice. Fall asleep and feel great in the morning, or get a great massage out of the deal and actually remember it in the morning. I think I’ll go with option two…ouch; yeah, right there.”
Her shoulders and whatever you call a muscle in the wings were bound up extremely tight. I was actually having a very hard time working them out. The idea of asking Alera up here to take over had even crossed my mind a few times. But Maya said I was doing a good job so why not keep at it. Massages require a lot of han
d strength and we blacksmiths have plenty of that.
“Alex, I’ve been thinking. I think now might be a good time to make a stand, so to speak. We have personally been responsible for many victories against the Lifebane, but his armies are still advancing unchallenged around the world.”
“So what do you have in mind?”
“We need to draw him out of his hideaway and crush him. If this is what our destiny is, then I say we get to it.”
“I agree, and I take it you know of a good piece of bait?”
She smiled at me over her shoulder. “Xarparion. I know it is risky since the portals will be guarded; but if we can free our people, then that would be a big slap in the face for him. And it might be the final push needed to send him over the edge. Now, again, I know it’s risky…”
I silenced her with a finger on her soft lips. “It’s a fine idea and not as risky as you think. Rosa can make the new portal come out anywhere, and I doubt they have the towers themselves too heavily guarded. They will be concentrated on the old portals and the outer walls. With nowhere to go, the students are as trapped in their towers as the undead are kept out. It will take some careful planning, but I think we can pull it off.”
“So you like my idea?”
“Very much. Even if it doesn’t get him to come after us himself, at least our people will be free. I like it, let’s go talk to Rosa and Higs.”
“Uh uh, you can talk to Rosa in your mind while you finish my massage!”
Chapter 11
The next few days were busy. If we weren’t flying, we were in planning meetings for the rescue attempt. The group of us commandeered a small room off the throne chamber and called it our ‘war room’. Rosa brought out her magic maps from the Enchanter’s Hall, and the bunch of us sat around the table critiquing the operation. Those in attendance were usually Alera, Higs, Hons, Rosa, Maya, and me; with Elsa included frequently due to her experience in stealth operations. The course of action that best seemed to fit our situation was something Elsa called a ‘snatch and run’. In other words, get in, grab the tower students, and run for the hills…quickly.
My father and I tinkered with the designs of the armor every evening, late into the night. These modifications were not only to accommodate our new wings, but also to adjust some of the base enchantments in light of our new abilities. One of the things he taught me was how to weave enchantments into items, a process similar to how one would weave cloth. This resulted in much stronger magic being incorporated into the item, but with some restriction on the number of enchantments one could place on a single piece. Out of all the sections of armor, both Maya’s and mine, the item that took the longest and gave us the most trouble was my shield; but we finally achieved something my father was satisfied with.
The day of the operation was sunny and cool; and in the large walled-in paddock that housed Rosa’s new portal apparatus, the various teams were preparing. Maya and I were sitting on top of the wall above the enclosure, watching the beehive of activity below our feet.
We were rather happy to just sit there and watch them. It was actually the first time that they let us out into the general public since we changed. Rosa felt we should mingle with the populace, showing off our wings, so that everyone in Sky Raven would become accustomed to them. Of course, the sight was a big hit with the children, and the questions and requests to touch our feathers were relentless. Maya was self-conscious as always, but after a few minutes, she calmed down and saw the wonder of it all through their eyes and laughed. Rather than viewing us as freaks as she feared, they were even more awestruck by her beauty. After the children finally grew bored and wandered off, we noticed large numbers of adults were finding excuses to amble by where we were sitting, just to get a good look. They just nodded and smiled or performed a slight bow. We were intentionally keeping our wings extended for just this purpose.
Finally, things began to turn serious below us, and we perked up to pay attention.
The plan we concocted required several teams of people to be effective. Captain Higs, with twenty of his men, would secure the ground around the portal in Xarparion. According to Rosa, it would anchor itself in the grassy commons directly between the Air and Water Towers. Thankfully, the towers were next door to each other, with the colossal central building looming as the third leg of the stool.
The druid girls would be coming and bringing Reggie in case of trouble. Lin and Julia had many friends in the Air Tower, so we reasoned they would garner the most support in convincing the air students to leave. Ryliss would be tagging along as well, primarily to provide some physical defense for the other two once they were in the tower proper. Alera had warned us that we could face any range of welcome, from happy to disbelief to downright hostility, based on the situation in the tower and how the morale and command structure fared inside. So we should not necessarily expect the wizards to follow blindly at first, nor a warm welcome.
Rosa made Ryliss and Maya throat scarves that had the same enchantment on them as Maya’s First Day dress so neither of them would appear as dark elves and cause even more distrust.
Maya and I were assigned the Water Tower. The other group preparing below was a late addition to our scheme, a strike team of dwarves led by Elsa. Apparently, when we first started including Elsa in our planning, she cornered Rosa and asked her to open a portal to the dwarf capital so she could grab some of her team. Their job was to find and retrieve the last of the magic supply crates from Warehouse 13. Unfortunately, as the guard force found out that fateful day when the school fell, Warehouse 13 is very close to the front gates, so the chances of encountering undead are pretty much a sure thing. I knew from Rosa’s thoughts that she wanted whatever is in those crates very badly, so she readily agreed to Elsa’s proposal. By coincidence, it seems a much younger Rosa had actually visited the dwarf capital in her youth so she’d had an accurate spot in her mind picked out to place the portal for the trip.
I snickered when I imagined the reaction of the dwarves when a magic portal suddenly appeared in the middle of one of their meeting squares. I suppose if one of your own, and a princess at that, is the first one through, it would salve over the situation. Word has it that she marched into the tavern where most of her ‘boys’ were drinking and slammed a two pound chunk of bacon on the table, shouting, “Who’s with me?” From the report I heard, she had to leave a number of disgruntled volunteers behind.
It looked like most of the preparations were winding down, but it was still another twenty minutes or so before Rosa gathered up the courage to speak to everyone. “Can I have your attention please?” Her voice was barely louder than normal, and I could see her struggling with the discomfort of speaking to a large group. I brushed Nia off my shoulder with a nod toward my mentor, and the clever pixie darted over and cast the amplification spell just as she had in front of another portal not long ago.
“Thank you again, Nia. Alright, could I have your attention, please? Thank you. As you know, in a few minutes, I am going to open a portal to Xarparion between the Wind and Water Towers. Once the portal is open, Nia will fly through and see if it’s clear. Since she is the smallest, she has the most likely chance of avoiding a trap if there is one. Once she is safely back and the coast is clear, we will go into phase two.”
“At this point, Alex and Maya will go through, followed shortly by Captain Higs and his men.” Higs saluted Rosa and the other guards sang out a savage bark of martial spirit. “With the immediate area under our control, Elsa and her dwarves have volunteered to do a surprise run to Warehouse 13 to grab the rest of the gear there. You all understand that even though it’s not that far from the portal, you are on your own, correct?”
Elsa beamed confidently. “Stealth is our business; we won’t be seen unless we want to be.”
Rosa nodded again. “At this point, the trio of young druids will fly to the top of the Wind Tower and try to make contact with the students inside. Having done that, they will hurry them down to the main
lobby area on the first floor for evacuation. Remember, people are limited in what they can bring along; if they can’t run with it, it stays behind. Alex and Maya will do the same for the Water Tower. Any questions?”
One of the dwarves spoke up. “From what I understand, you wizards put up this stone wall around the towers in the first place, right? Why don’t you just take it down and walk through the front door?”
Rosa smiled, seemingly more comfortable with the situation now that she was in the middle of it. “Good question. If the students have followed standard practice, then they would have warded or trapped the entire first floor. Anyone who walked in would be walking into their death. The only ones who can remove the wards quickly enough for our purposes are the ones who placed them in the first place.”
Rosa continued, “With that underway, Hons and his team will then start their work on taking down the walls. Once that is done, the rescued students will be funneled back here by the guardsmen. Any more questions?”
“Yeah, why aren’t we taking the twins, I mean the dragon girls?” a guardsman in the back questioned with a grin.
“Remember this is a stealth operation. The silvers, powerful as they are, are a bit too obvious to use for this operation, the goal here is to not be seen.” The man shrugged, seemingly accepting that answer.
With no other questions, Rosa brought me over to the portal and gave me a crash course in portal operation and travel. She had added a number of new features; depending on the setting, the portal will run autonomously, or it could be customized for time of day, or even passwords. She also made sure only an enchanter could alter the base commands, so that a portal couldn’t be hijacked and used against us like a pirate capturing a ship.
Heir To The Nova (Book 3) Page 18