(Picture- Old sketch of the dreamfield)
"Are you sure this is safe?" Isildilia asked from the outcrop, looking down on Valin standing below. This was the third night now of flight training Valin had tried to put her though, and she had barely made any progress. They'd decided to discontinue the descent down the mountain as this was the best area to practice. She had tried many different ways, but this was the first time he had her standing up this high. It had taken two nights on rigorous practice to even try and get her wings to move, but most attempts so far failed.
"When a bird learns to leave the nest they have to jump from a great height to learn. Some mothers even throw them out of the nest," he shouted up from below.
"And how many of those learn how to fly then?"
"Some do. Some don't."
"That's not very convincing." He didn't respond. "Well come up here and help me then," she demanded. "I'm not jumping off here by myself."
"Can't you learn to do things on your own?"' he asked, suddenly appearing behind her. "I've even made it easier; I've picked a small cliff with water at the bottom, so landing won't hurt as much."
"How did you learn then?"
"I was thrown off a hundred-foot cliff," he said, ending that argument. She leant slightly over the edge, peering down. The sight made her dizzy.
"No, I can't do it!" she said. Valin rolled his eyes.
"Don't make me push you," he threatened. She spun around.
"You wouldn't dar..." The rocks just under her foot suddenly crumbled under her weight. She only had a few seconds to scream, before she hit the water. She surfaced, spluttering, feeling the wind knocked out of her. Valin leant over the top, shaking his head.
"That is not how you do it." She realised what he'd done .
"You did that on purpose!" Valin leapt off and floated down, turning over to land nimbly on his feet. Show off, she thought. 'I know that...and throwing me off a cliff wouldn't help me at all." She hauled herself out of the waters, trying her best to wring the water out.
"I agree," said Dakelo, looking up from a scroll he was staring at, although Isildilia knew that Dakelo couldn't read.
"We have to start somewhere. Get back up again." Isildilia scrabbled up again, taking as long as possible. When she finally climbed back up, Valin was already up there flying around.
"You're not helping," she called out to him.
"Just because you can't do it. It's sad really. It's one of the only things that remain of your origins and you insult it." Isildilia glared at him. This wasn't like him. He did a loop over and continued to insult. "You're supposed to become master of the elements, the sovereign of our kind, and you can't even manage the power of flight." Isildilia crouched and leapt for him. For a brief second, a look of surprise was upon his face, before he managed to shoot up, out of her way. She couldn't move her wings strongly enough to chase him. She ended up gliding for a short distance, before crashing into the tree tops.
She found herself wedged upside down in the fork of a large oak covered in dislodged branches, when Valin flew down in front of her.
"Good, but not good enough," he chuckled.
"I'd rather it be that you do not use insults to try to provoke me," she growled. Valin smiled, reach out and helped her out of the tree.
"Just be lucky that you are no longer wearing a dress," Dakelo told her from below. She blushed.
"Let's try again," he sighed. "Without insults."
She hovered on the very tip of the edge. She kept telling herself not to look down, but each time she did so she couldn't help but steal a glance, making her stomach knot. She tried to distract herself and looked at Valin flying around, monitoring his wing movements, how he changed direction with ease. She thought about the birds' minds she had entered during her teachings; their thrill of being in the skies, diving and weaving. She tried to make those feelings her own. Before she knew it, she had closed her eyes and leapt.
She didn't want to open her eyes, but she would have to, else she would crash again. In seconds she saw an approaching tree top, then black sky as she pulled up. She had such a shock that she nearly lost control and crashed again.
"Keep in control of the wind. Don't let it control you," his voice came from above her. She tried to regain those feelings she'd felt before, and her wings finally started to move. In a few short flaps she had climbed an incredible height. It took a moment for her to distinguish the feeling, for it felt like she was trying to flap her arms, so she kept her arms by her side in order to tell the difference. Valin caught up to her. He had a wide grin on his face.
"You're getting the hang of it," he told her.
"Be quiet, you're breaking my concentration," she shouted at him. There was a sudden strong gust; she was blown backwards, tossed about in the wind like a leaf. Valin grabbed her hands to pull her back.
"Are you ok?" he asked.
"I was just caught by surprise," she admitted, trying to force her wings to move again.
"You're not flying with the wind." He quickly flew ahead to show her. "Use the wind to lift you up, actually move it around you. You will find this a lot easier than me, since my wind magic is poor. Bend the wind to your advantage. I can't teach you the full techniques, but I'm sure once your training continues back in the mountains you'll be assigned a capable teacher."
They flew around the area for hours, Valin teaching her all the methods and tricks to flying, which seemed to be endless. Now she was in considerable pain from the practice. Her chest could barely twitch when she tried to breathe and her wings felt like they were about to seize up, but she wouldn't give up.
'"Do you think you have the hang of it now?" Valin asked.
"Not entir..." She paused as the air suddenly boomed with the sound of approaching thunder. They both looked to the north, where the air crackled and flashed white and a sheet of heavy rain was approaching fast.
"Oh dear," Valin said .
"What shall we do? I don't want to be caught in that!"
"Head back, now!" He dove down and headed back to where Dakelo and Froyza were. Isildilia followed. Valin landed nimbly in the middle. But she was flying in too fast. She landed, legs buckling underneath and smashed into the ground, knocking the last bit of wind out of her.
"What's going on?" exclaimed Dakelo, caught off by surprise. Froyza leapt up ready to fend off another attack.
"We got a valley thunderstorm coming, and it's a big one," Valin told them, running over to help Isildilia up; she was so dazed she couldn't straighten herself.
"What shall we do?" Dakelo asked.
"We must head back up the mountain."
"Back up? Why?"
"The storms can cause huge floods in the swamps of the lower valley. Higher up is a network of caves. We can use them as shelters." Froyza ran over to Isildilia.
"We must get moving," he barked, trying to push her upright. She started to stand up, but tumbled to the side.
"Just give...a moment....to sort my head out," she wheezed. She needed to work on her landing next time.
"We don't have a moment," Valin told her. He hoisted her up and at first she thought he was going to carry her. But she felt the soft fur of Froyza underneath. She couldn't believe that Froyza could hold her weight. But she realised then just how much more he had grown in the last week. When they first met, he was just below her hip. But he now was nearly the size of a small horse.
"Hang on," he barked. Isildilia gripped his fur as tightly as she dared. He raced up the trail at an incredible pace, faster than the horses ever could; he also did it with much more ease.
They could hear the rain before they felt it, approaching through the trees like a great wave. Within seconds they were soaked with icy water. It cascaded like a waterfall along with the sounds and flashes of the storm. Froyza started to whimper in fear.
"Almost there." She could barely hear Valin's voice above the rain behind them.
They suddenly came across a huge gaping hole in the cliff face. The cave looked like it had been melted out of the rock. Evidence of scorch marks stained the rocks black, but she only got a split second's look before Froyza dove inside.
Inside was dryer, but not much warmer. Isildilia slid off Froyza's back and tried to wring out her clothes whilst still wearing them. She ducked out of the way before Froyza shook himself. Valin and Dakelo weren't that far behind. They were even wetter than she was. Dakelo's hair fell in front of his face but Valin had tied his up beforehand in a small ponytail.
"That was horrible," Dakelo moaned, parting his hair so he could see. Suddenly the wind outside picked up to a ferocious pace.
"Just be glad you got in on time," Valin commented. Froyza's ears pricked up as he looked further into the cave.
"Who's there?" Dakelo asked. A line of amber eyes glinted out from the gloom.
"It's you," Isildilia said. The Black Wolf tribe were also soaked through. They stood further down the cave, ears slicked back in distress. "Is there something wrong?" she asked.
"We don't like storms," declared Silvermoon, stepping forwards, her eyes dancing with the same fear as the pack.
"Let's head further in," Valin said. They followed him deep within the cave.
"How long is this cave?" Dakelo asked a few minutes later.
"About a mile or so," his voice boomed down the tunnel. "These caves belonged to the dragons, the mountain ones at least. Although not so many are used now due to their dwindling populations. The few left now live in the north." There was a sad longing tone to his voice. They stopped when stepping any further meant they would be completely in the dark.
"Let's stop here," Isildilia said. Valin walked to the cave wall and scratched a flint piece against it. There were two deep trenches carved into the side of the cave wall. Once the sparks hit, it caught alight, sending a large barriers of flames flowing down the tunnel. The entire cave blazed with a bright orange glow. Dakelo went and stood by the fires, drying out his clothes
"I've never been so drenched before in my life," he shivered.
"Actually, there was that time you fell into a fishmonger's barrel, when the roof collapsed, while we were trying to escape," she reminded him. He shuddered.
"You promised me you wouldn't mention the eels again." Isildilia laughed at a funny memory only the two of them would understand. The wolves all took to lying down as a large group. Froyza sat separate, with Isildilia. He stared longingly at the pack.
"Do you miss them?" she asked him. He didn't move, but his eye rolled around to look back at her.
"The pack? All the time," he whined. "It's a feeling that starts gnawing away, like a bad illness." He nudged up closer. "But you, Dakelo and His Lordship are my new pack." Isildilia leant against him. He was just as brave as she was, leaving his family like that. Valin grabbed his torch and lit a small fire in the centre of the cave, which he then sat next to.
"How about a song?" Valin asked.
"I'm not the singing type," said Isildilia.
"Nor am I," said Dakelo. Silvermoon giggled.
"Come on then human, just join in.' Dakelo glared at her, and then crossed his arms, declaring his stance. Valin removed his flute.
"Will you provide the lyrics?" he asked Silvermoon. She flashed her teeth and bowed.
"Our pleasure, My Lord." Valin started to play a tune, while Silvermoon started to dance around. She then started to sing;
Oh lonely I wander, though the mountains of old
I stumbled upon a pool that shone pure bright gold
Upon that there water, was a bloody red rose
And I waded up to it, with the water to my nose....
By this time, all the wolves started to howl to the song, like a huge choir of voices. Dakelo started to clap to the tune, keeping in time with Silvermoon's movements. Isildilia picked up on the tune and started to hum along with them. Silvermoon danced over to Dakelo and indicated for him to get up. She did the same to Isildilia. Isildilia had no intention of making a fool of herself, but was reluctantly pulled onto her feet. She turned and found herself face to face with Dakelo. He held out a hand to her, which she grasped as he pulled her upright.
Isildilia felt embarrassed; she had no idea how to dance. Her mother had tried to teach her once but she refused to learn. Dakelo led her around in circles around the fire, twirling and keeping lightly on his toes.
"Since when did you learn how to dance?" she said, with an impressed tone.
"I don't know a thing," he said, "I'm making it up as I go along." They quickened their pace as Valin picked up the tempo and Silvermoon continued singing.
...I strained far forward for that bloody red rose
But how can I pick you when I cannot hold?
For my paw are nothing, but pads, hair and claws,
And you shall be crushed in my powerful maw.
But the scent so sweet made me swim to you
My nose above the water I struggled to move.
Forever chasing but never reaching
I shall die chasing you my sweet bloody rose.
For such a grim sounding song, the beat of it keeps it lively and exciting, she thought.
The song finally ended on a long howling note from all the wolves, which rocked the walls of the cave. The three of them applauded when they finished. Then it descended into silence, where the only sound was the walls of fire crackling.
A sudden crack of thunder reminded them off the storm outside. It came so suddenly that everyone jumped from their position. The wolves flinched much more violently, with their more sensitive ears. Froyza ducked behind Isildilia, ears back in distress. It brought the cheerful mood to a sudden close. Valin stored his flute and pulled out a very large piece of parchment. Isildilia went over to see what it was.
He held a map; it had to be of this land, for it contained no cities or villages. The map was covered in illustrations of mountains, forests, rivers. The descriptions were written too small for her to read without getting closer.
"What are those places?" she asked, crouching down next to him.
"This is our Kingdom." He pointed to the most prominent mountain in the north, which was twice the height of the others. "That is our destination. The Crystal Mountain."
"Then, where are we now?" He pointed to the opposite end, on the south west of the circle of mountains that formed the entire border of the kingdom. Isildilia groaned.
"That's still a lot of walking." Valin smiled in reassurance.
"We won't be walking all of it. Right here-" he pointed to a lake in the very centre- "we shall get a boat and paddle up river."
"Isn't that more strenuous than walking?" Dakelo asked. "What about Froyza? How will he fit in the boat? He's not exactly small framed." Valin gave him an exhausted look.
"He obviously won't be in the canoes with us. He will run along the bank and join us when we stop to camp. He is the fastest of us all, so he will have no problems." Silvermoon uttered a quick burst of laughter that almost sounded like a bark, but he ignored it.
"So where do we go from here?" Dakelo asked. Valin traced a route along the parchment.
"We'll head down the valley, out of the forest and across the salt river. There we will sail up the fresh river from the lake to the mountains," he simply explained.
Every moment they edged nearer, a greater shadow of dread settled over Isildilia. She still wasn't prepared. She didn't know what she would have to do when she got there. Then there was the fear of her parents. Everyone, even herself were refusing to tell her what she really was. Was it something so hideous and frightful that she would never able to cope with the truth?
When Isildilia returned to White Lily's pool that evening she found her dancing alone in her tiny space. She was even humming the same song that Silvermoon had been singing earlier. Isildilia waited until she finished, even then she didn't speak to her. So White Lily decided to speak on her own.
That's one thing I enjoy about being human. It's hard to dance around when on all fours. Isildilia didn't respond. Something troubling you? Are you still mad at me? The question angered her.
"The whole world is troubling me! Everything I see now is still questioning all that I've been taught all my life. I got thrown into deep waters and only just learning how to swim." White Lily sighed, and then her face became serious.
Do you remember that time when you sat underneath the dead tree by the farm? A young sparrow fell down and landed on your lap. Remember that?
"He was young... still had some of its downing feathers," she recalled. She wondered how White Lily knew about that.
Do you remember what happened next? she continued
"Father came out and caught it. It couldn't fly. He put it in a small cage in the kitchen. But I could hear it, even as I slept. It kept crying for its parents. It cried for its freedom. They didn't believe that I could hear it speak to me inside my head. Whenever I was near it, it would call to me."
What did you do? she forced her to recall.
"I snuck into the kitchen one night and took it out. I climbed up the tree and put it back..."
Was that how you were taught by the humans?
"No. Father was very angry with me after."
See, even then you didn't act or think like most humans, despite being raised by them. Even then, you knew what responsibilities you had to your subjects, even with your current memory lost. She knew she was right. She always was, even though she'd hate to admit it.
"How did you know about that?" she asked.
Remember I told you once. When I woke, all you memories flooded into me; in an instant I relieved everything you did. The good and the bad. Even now, when I slumber, more days of your life replay to me. If you think your dreams are irritating, imagine reliving every day of your life. Isildilia shook her head.
"I'll never understand how magic works," she grunted to herself.
Come! White Lily called trying to brighten the mood, let us dance.
"What! Here...now?" White Lily smiled. "But how? You're just a reflection." White Lily's eyebrows lowered. She looked around the well of water, and then put her hands flat up against the water's edge. She pushed slightly and the water bulged. Then, slowly, her hands slipped through. But she was solid, not a ghostly image like she was in the water. She pulled her hands back in and the water stilled.
"How did you do that?" she exclaimed. White Lily rubbed her hand like she was stung.
The closer we join, the weaker this barrier gets, she said. Come here, help me. Isildilia was hesitant. Don't worry I'm quite safe. Isildilia took a few tentative steps towards the pool and again reached down into the water.
White Lily's hand clasped around hers, this time not as an invisible presence, but as an actual figure. Isildilia pulled her up. It felt like removing something trapped in a deep bog. It took some time before she actually stood before her. Her body was drenched and she shook like a like a newborn. Isildilia had little time to react before White Lilly's legs collapsed. It felt odd to be actually holding herself in her arms. The idea stunned her.
"What's wrong?" she asked, concerned for her own wellbeing.
I've just spent the last eighteen or so years suspended in that liquid. Balancing on my own two feet suddenly is unnatural to me. Lend me some of your strength. Isildilia hadn't even given her an answer when she suddenly felt her own strength draining. White Lily pushed herself off her and stood on her own. She started to flex every limb, testing her own balance with tentative steps. She noticed that despite being a solid figure, her lips still didn't move when she spoke, it still came as that ghostly whisper. She also noticed she seemed to have an other-worldly image about her; the edges of her still seemed transparent, she wasn't quite whole.
It's so...odd. I know how to walk and move, like a human, from our shared connection. But to actually do it, feels strange. She seemed to enjoy herself as she tottered about. She even bent down and started to smell the flowers. Once she felt comfortable, she held out a hand to Isildilia, her eyes pulsating in delight.
"What is it?"
Shall we dance now?
"Why?"
You need not feel embarrassed. We are the only ones here. Isildilia pulled away a little. She felt so dulled in comparison to her. Her white hair and clothes shone compared to hers and she appeared to glow with a purer essence. But White Lily grabbed her hand and softly whispered.
Please... A dance for me?