TCI: Book 1 Part 1: (N. L .A.) The Fire Stone. Book 1 Part 2 Continuing

The Chronicles of Ishmirban; The Fire Stone: Part 2 Chapter 1: Ishmirban

The Chronicles of Ishmirban, The Fire Stone. Part Two.

Chapter One

Ishmirban.

Wednesday 13th June 2001 (Earth)

The Year of The Winged Keppet. Ishmirban (Tak'heynie)

It was huge and black. As its wings unfolded Chase lost his grip on the animals thick mane and fell; catching sight of the creatures dark underbelly as he turned in the air in slow motion, he could see blood. The creature was bleeding. Suddenly seeing brilliant sky, the two suns blinded him for a moment and he covered his face just as a dark shadow of the creature's hind leg came crashing towards him! He called out expecting pain from the creatures flailing hoof or the jagged cliff face below as he hurled towards it. But there was no sound. No pain.

And then he woke up... still clutching the sheets as though to save himself from falling, but suddenly filled with excitement, his heart beating hard against his chest. Holy Shit! Surely that wasn't a bloody Keppet?

He'd fallen into a restless sleep thinking about this. What did this creature he'd have to 'bond' with look like? Would he make a fool of himself trying to ride it? If he couldn't ride it, he wouldn't be able to go on the hunt.

Chase quickly looked over at Amy, glad to see she was still asleep. He smiled, relieved she hadn't seen his sudden panic or hear him call out. She was holding tightly to the little toy panda just as he was still gripping the sheets. Breathing calmly, he quickly slipped from the bed and quietly made his way around to the bathroom.

As he ran his finger over the embossed circle in the wall, the window appeared and as soon as it opened the sweet heady scent of the village filled the room, quickly followed by music and other strange sounds. What was going on?

Outside was hot. The sky and the sea were still the bluest of blues and appeared hazy and merged together as one. Chase wondered if he and Amy were missing the night time and sleeping through it somehow. These thoughts soon left him as he gazed over the roof tops of the Shellacs below, towards The Park.

It must have been at least ten times the size it had been! Somehow it had grown! It looked as if the biggest circus, the biggest fair and the biggest regatta had come to the village.

Strange boats littered the shore line. Richly decorated marquees edged The Park, flags and banners waved in the breeze.

Chase grinned, "Oh wow, this is great!"

Narrowing his eyes a little he scanned The Park. Up until now, he'd never realised how good his eyesight was. He wanted to take in everything.  He blinked again and suddenly everything was clear and close enough to see every detail. Embossing in body armour, sparkling beads braided into hair, detailed tattoos, body paint, jewellery, even the strange rigging on the ships. He could taste and smell the excitement in the atmosphere and felt he could reach out and touch the softness of the coats of the strange little furry creatures that yapped around at everyone's ankles or even touch the gold embossing most of the larger animals were wearing on their bridles and saddles.

"They must be keppets! Thank God for that!" He laughed to himself, looking again at the animals and was pleased to see they looked nothing like the monstrous winged creature he'd partially seen in his dream and more like a small horse.

Chase quickly stripped off and stepped into the shower allowing the warm water to wash over him but then, this time was very curious to see what happened to his clothing. How was it always clean every time he took something off? Did some tiny creature steal it away and return it spotless in seconds? He never found out because suddenly he was startled by a scream!