Children Of The Solstice & Equinox [ Wattys 2016 ]

Chapter Seven • Simon

The ringing in my ears finally subsided as the blinding light faded away, it took a couple moment for me to regain my sight. But when I did, I was an awe.

The five of us stood on a grassy cliff top. A couple feet behind us was just clean green grass and then slowly melted into a forest, teeming with life. Just from here, I could see so many unknown flora and fauna, that I was eager to explore. Over the cliff's edge, it was straight down drop for a couple hundred feet.

I jump away from the edge, almost toppling backwards, but Fawn caught me just in time.

"Whoa! You okay there?" She asked, concerned for a moment. Then anger flashed before her eyes. "You told Jack about me not having an accompanist, didn't you?"

I feel a sly grin creep it's way onto my face. "I've got no idea what you're talking about." I stated, and stood up straight, brushing myself off.

"I swear, if you pull something like that again, I'll-"

She was cut off my the sound of someone clearing their throat.

"If you two would stop bickering, we could continue." Mother Nature Superior said, glaring at the two of us.

Fawn immediately apologized and I just gave a curt nod and turned my attention back towards the scenery.

In the not too far distance, I could see what looked like a castle. Four towers made of glittering glass of different hues and regal stone structures below it, almost completely hidden by the forest below.

"Welcome to your new home," Mother Nature stated, gesturing to the magical world around us. "And the kingdom you will someday rule over."

She called it Sidarra earlier, right? So we're supposed to rule over this entire place? I gazed at the mountains almost invisible in a haze. Who knows what lies beyond that....

"What now?" I asked, still looking at the castle-like structure below. The sun above sparkling off the glass towers.

"This."

I felt a tremble in the ground and heard a horrible cracking sound. The ground began to slide forward, breaking apart and threatening to tumble to the forest below.

I heard Kai scream and saw her scrambling to get a grip on the cliff and not go down with the tip. Fawn is doing the same, attempting to make her way onto solid ground with the help of Jack.

But it was too late. The dirt of cliff broke free, and we started to tumble down with it. The last thing I saw before I fell into a falling spiral, was Mother Nature's smiling face.

§ § §

"Simon! Wake up, blondie!"

I sat up too quickly, making myself even more dizzy than I was. I started coughing, hacking up water from my lungs. Why was a wet?

It appeared everyone else was too. Fawn kneeled in front of me, her pale scarlet hair darker than usual, heavy with water. Her clothes were too soaking wet.

There was Kai not too far away, trying to wring the water out of her clothes. And Jack was to my left, leaning against a tree, hoping the sun would dry him off.

"What happened?" I questioned, finally done coughing up water.

"You don't remember? The cliff collapsed and we fell into the lake here." Fawn explained and I finally noticed.

To our right was a sparkling blue lake, a waterfall flowing into it, letting off a cool mist. Everything here seemed too pure, too perfect. The grass was always green, the water was a perfect blue, and everything was alive.

I heaved myself up standing, Fawn's helping hand on my arm. I dusted the sand off my palms, shrugging off her assistance.

"Okay, now what?" I ask yet again.

"Oh look! You survived!"

I jumped at the sound of damn Mother Nature Superior's voice. Sometimes I questioned why she's superior.

She stood before us, blending in perfectly with the nature around us. She had the most annoying smirk on her face as she started to walk away with out another word.

"What is your problem? You throw us off a cliff and hope we survive? What kind of leader are you?" I yelled after her and she stopped in her tracks.

"If you couldn't survive that, then there's no chance you can survive the academy. Consider yourself lucky." The blonde sneered and continued walking.

I scoffed and followed, because I really had no choice.