Radiant Wings
After Kermi departed, carrying the warning to Promi, the cloudfield felt different to Jaladay. More empty. And maybe . . . more isolated.
I’m always outside of big events, she mused, never in the middle of them.
Scanning her surroundings, Jaladay noticed one especially intricate flower world. From its center, towers made of purple glass rose from a miniature city. The towers gleamed like a cluster of amethyst crystals, but revealed nothing about the tiny creatures who had built them. Other than vague, shadowy movements she glimpsed within the buildings, she was cut off from the world and its people. What were their struggles? Their toughest choices? Their highest ideals?
“I’ll never know,” she said glumly to herself. “All I can do is watch from a distance.”
She sighed. The life of a Seer. She could see what others could not, but she couldn’t really join in the action. For if she did, her presence alone would disrupt any visions she might have to offer. Always one step removed—that was her lot.
A sound of beating wings made her look skyward. A family of turquoise-scaled dragons was flying right above her head! She watched them—one adult and two young ones, with golden eyes shaped like diamonds, jagged wings, and enormous claws.
Their flashing turquoise wings, she realized, were the same color as her headband. She had removed it to look her parents directly in the eyes—a ploy that hadn’t worked—and she now held the headband in her hand.
Watching the dragons fly overhead, she locked gazes with the largest one. The dragon, a female, regarded Jaladay with the same curiosity as the young woman was feeling about this creature. For a timeless moment, they observed each other.
To the dragon, Jaladay sent a simple thought: Wish I were as big as you and could fly with such radiant wings.
The dragon’s wings slowed for a beat, gleaming in the misty light. In a rich, melodic voice, she spoke into Jaladay’s mind. And I wish, young woman, that I werrrrre as small as you arrrrre . . . so I could nestle among those flowerrrrr worrrrrlds without crrrrrushing them.
My name is Jaladay.
And mine, young flowerrrrr watcherrrrr, is Ulanoma.
Jaladay smiled. The dragon and her family soared into a mountainous cloud, disappearing from view.
Suddenly, from right behind her, Jaladay heard a new sound—an ominous crackling she recognized instantly. Her blood froze.
Mistwraiths! Two of them were rising directly out of the cloud, their shadowy forms crackling with black sparks.
She leaped to her feet and started to jump into the sky. Pushing hard with her legs, she told herself desperately, Fly now! Fly!
Too late! The mistwraiths released a cloak of black sparks that completely covered Jaladay. The more she struggled, the more the cloak tightened around her. In seconds, she could hardly breathe, let alone escape.
The mistwraiths crackled triumphantly as they floated over to their helpless prey. More black sparks sprayed from their shadowy folds. Each flower that happened to be struck by one of those sparks perished instantly in a blaze of black fire, leaving only a sizzling stem where there had once been an entire world. The luminous purple bridge between the two flowers that Sammelvar had so admired vanished in black flames.
Hovering over Jaladay, the mistwraiths shuddered with pleasure, their dark folds rippling. More black sparks flew, destroying dozens more flower worlds.
But the mistwraiths didn’t care. They felt only satisfaction, for they knew their master would be pleased.
Quite pleased.