White Wings

Chapter Four

Asher backs off, a defeated look on his face.

Rilind explains readily, "The clouds are manmade." I look up at the sky. What?

"There's a field just a few miles outside of the town line surrounded by a high fence. Hundreds of pillars of some kind of thick black smoke stretch all the way to the sky. That must be what's causing it."

"Why is there a fence?" I ask.

"The field belongs to Nellaf," Asher says. "And if Rilind's right, he's polluting the sky and making those clouds."

"Nellaf is using these toxic, artificial clouds to block out the Light," Rilind adds.

"You think he's doing this on purpose?"

"Of course he's doing it on purpose! He's the one who embraces the Darkness, remember?" Asher grips my shoulders, becoming excited. I stare at him for a long time, shrinking back.

"Asher...you're scaring me."

His face falls and he releases my shoulders. "I'm sorry."

Everything comes crashing down, then. Cole's words...what my brother and I have been taught to believe...the blasphemy we've already committed. I'm scared.

"It's all just a myth, Ash. There is no Light, no color, and no conspiracy!"
"Rae, you know that's not true," Asher says, looking disappointed in me. I give a frustrated cry.

"No I don't! I want to believe it, but it just feels wrong!" I point at Rilind, my hand shaking. "Why did you have to come here?"

"Rae..." Asher reaches out for me, but I shake him off.

"I need a break," I say suddenly. I need time to think. They watch me leave in silence. I can almost feel their stares boring holes through my feathers.

Either Light exists, or it doesn't. Why such secrecy? Why all the lies? Who cares who believes what? Why does it matter?

I open my wings and take to the air, angling towards the center of town. I need to talk to Cole. He's always been obedient to the laws of Darkness. If he can't extinguish that nagging little doubt still pressing in the back of my mind then I know something must be out there.

I rap my knuckles once, twice, on the gray door to his house. It's not Cole, but his grandmother, his only living family member, who answers.

"Hello, Gran," I say with a faint smile. She doesn't smile back, but her eyes—silver like mine—twinkle.

"Cole's not home right now," she says in her old, kind voice. "Are you hungry?" I nod, and start to relax. I love it here. Always quiet, peaceful. I follow her into the tiny kitchen area.

"So, Cole told me that you've been interested in Light," Gran says. Completely unprepared for so blunt of a statement, I stop in my tracks to gape at her.

"Light does exist, you know," she continues, ignoring my open mouth.

"Excuse me?" I stutter. Gran snatches a candle from the table and holds it up in front of me.

"What do you see?" she asks. I lift my eyebrows.

"A candle?" I guess.

"Yes, and what else?"

What else? "Um...fire?"

"Closer."

I start to feel frustrated by the game. She gives another hint. "And what does fire give off?"

"Heat and—" I stop, realizing my own answer. I stare at her as I finish. "...light."

She nods, pleased. "There, you see? This is all Light is. It does nothing more than to help you see, keep you warm, and burn trash."

I gnaw at my bottom lip, uncomfortable. "But...what about color, white wings, and life that Light is rumored to bring?" I ask, barely above a whisper. Gran's expression turns solemn and serious, her voice not nearly as kind.

"That's where people get it wrong. There is nothing special about Light that you can't get anywhere else. It simply exists because it must. Nothing more," she says. "When I hold the flame next to the wall the color of the wall turns from black shadows to the gray shade that it really is. Light doesn't create color, it just shows the color that's already there. You see?" I acknowledge that I do. Her tone only grows harsher after that.

"Those stories about wings white and bringing life—those are nothing more than a bunch of lies. You must get those blasphemous thoughts out of your head, child. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, ma'am," I murmur. After all, getting those doubts out of my head is the reason I came, isn't it?

Then why do they feel stronger?

<><><>

End of chapter