Iridis

Chapter 1

They woke with the sun each and every morning, the Stones. It was their way of living, their way of life. Every morning they would work from sunrise until sunset on their farm and Katalia Stone knew nothing else. This was the life of a Mudbourne, to work the land. They never received an education, this was a right only reserved from Greens upwards. The other option was to work as a servant at the palace of The Peak for the Vervain family of the Lavenders, the rulers of Casia and the descendants of the eldest daughter of the Rainbow Queen. Though most don't even believe the Rainbow Queen and her powers ever existed because the tale of her demise has been told so often and the story was told to Katalia and many others as a child's bedtime story. So on her sixteenth birthday, nothing was different for Katalia, or Lia, to her friends and family.

"Lia", her mother, Fay, called from the small kitchen/living area of their small farm house, "it's time for breakfast."

Lia trudged down the passage still half-asleep even after her cold shower. She grabbed the slop reserved for their eye colour. Typical that the people growing the food are not the ones who get to eat it. Her mother looked up at her and smiled,"your father and I have decided that since today is your birthday, happy birthday by the way, we don't need you to help out on the farm, but we still need you to run to the Main Street in town and grab a few supplies."

"That's fine, I'll see if Jack can come with and maybe then we can celebrate my birthday for once."

Her mother just sighed,"you know that's not how things are done for people like us, we aren't meant to celebrate our existence, only work for those above us."

Lia just nodded and said nothing else. She had never understood why her Mud eyes were so lowly compared to that of Greens or Jets. The only true powers came from Lavenders, Blues and Golds and they were only useful now to oppress those that didn't have their powers. Although Golds weren't as bad, they did not have a kingdom like the Blues or the Lavenders, only a prison where they tortured the different or evil and they hardly ever left. The Spiked Prison was not a place where anyone wanted to end up. They say that the spikes are never cleaned and are filled with the remains of those who jumped from the walkways above.

As she finished her food and almost ran to the front door to leave the now tense atmosphere, Lia said a quiet goodbye to her mother and told her to say hi to her father because she knew that he was already out working. That man, she believes, will work himself to his early death if he doesn't stop trying so hard to beat the new quota set every new season.

Walking through the farms of the Mudplaines was no exciting trip, everything looked the same. Brown lands with brown houses, filled with Mudbournes with no expression but oppression on their faces. It was the same throughout the plaines, you were taught as soon as you could that you never speak to anyone and never look at anyone in public, especially not the few Jets who had the unfortunate job of patrolling the poor Muds and would shock you with their electronic whips every time they could. So Lia walked with her head down and straight towards the farm next door to her own. Jack was the one exception to the rules and he had been ever since he had gone to the Stones with his father to complain how Lia's father's crops were crossing the property line. They had hit it off straight away even though both were only six at the time and ever since, they spent every free second together, telling each other their every thought.

She knocked on their front door and Jack answered almost straight away."I was just coming to find you, I've been sent into town to fetch some things and I wanted to see if you had been allowed to escape for the day since you are finally sixteen today, I mean it took you long enough," he said with a huge grin on his face.

Lia just rolled her eyes, his birthday was one week before hers and for that entire week he would constantly remind her of how 'young' she was."Lucky for you, that's just what I was coming to fetch you for, so come on." She said this with her first smile of the day, Jack could always do that for her: bring her out of her dull and depressing moods.

They walked together in silence, but just his presence there made her feel better at walking past the Jets now grouped together in the Main Street. They walked from shop to shop in silence, the same as everyone else. You never heard a sound except for the occasional whip noises and laughter of the Jets. Their eye colour really suited their personalities, black for their despicable hearts. As they were leaving the main road, however, there was the sound of the electronic whip of a Jet followed by a shrill scream of excruciating pain. Someone had looked at a Jet.

Lia and Jack turned back at the same time and saw the scene in front of them. An old lady of almost what looked around eighty, which was unheard of in the plaines because of the conditions they lived in, was cowering on the floor beneath the glare of a relatively young Jet. She has a large burn on her shoulder from the whip and was surrounded by her dropped shopping items."Next time stay out of my way, you old hag. You should be dead by now anyway."

The lady just looked away and tried, but failed, to pick up her groceries because of her arm. The Jet jut smirked and turned away. At that moment, Lia did not know what overcame her and what caused her to do the most idiotic thing she had ever done. She ran up to the old lady and tried to help her with her groceries and get back on her feet again. Before she knew it though, she felt an excruciating pain shoot up her back and she fell face-first in the mud. The only thought that went through her head was I wish that Jet was dead and she felt this strange feeling in her stomach. Lia looked back when she heard a thump from behind. The Jet was lying on the floor, not breathing. Jack ran over and started to help her up, but when she looked up at him he froze.

"Lia, your eyes..."

He didn't have time to finish his sentence as more Jets came to haul her away. She just went limp as if all the energy had been sucked out of her as she watched her friend stare at her like he didn't recognise her. Then her vision went black.

~

Hi again everyone. So this is my first proper chapter of Iridis. Please tell me what you think and remember constructive criticism is always welcome. I will always accept help.

Thanks guys and hopefully I'll update again soon :)

- Devinebewitched