Sky High

Chapter 4: Kingdom of Armani

I stood up and felt the ground. It was soft and moist but it was not grass. I rubbed my eyes to see if I was dreaming. "Is this...heaven?" I asked myself. I looked over the edge of what I thought was a cliff but to my surprise, I wasn't standing on a cliff, I was standing on a cloud! I looked for Sammy but all I could find was his pilot hat. "You were a good teacher Sammy." I said melancholy and put the cap on my head. I walked around trying to find any inhabitants. Then, I saw this...creature. It had wings like a bird and ears that were long and pointy. They had hair that was as white as snow. "Excuse me? Where am I?" I asked the creature. The creature stared at me with it's piercing blue eyes. I couldn't tell if it was scared at me or if it was going to attack me. I waved at it. The creature stepped back. And then finally it spoke. "A-are you a human?" It stuttered. Confused, I answered, "Uhm.. yes?"as I nodded my head slowly. The winged creature widened its eyes and flew away screaming. I stood there in shock and confusion. I shrugged and went on to find another creature that would actually answer my question. Not long after, the same creature came back with guards. They had the same long pointy ears and the same bird-like wings. They had armour on and a spear in their right hand. They flew towards me with stern cold faces. "How did you get here, human?" The guard interrogated as he pointed his spear at me. "My plane crashed here." I answered pointing at the damaged plane. The guards looked at eachother and whispered something. "Alright, follow me." The two guards grabbed a hold of my hands and flew. "Uh, where are you taking me." I asked as I flailed my legs in the air.

"To the king." The guard answered sternly. "The king? Is that God?" I asked again cluelessly. The guards laughed at me like I was a child asking a stupid question. "Very funny. The king of Armani, not the king of heaven." The guard chuckled. Armani? Wait, so I'm not dead? I thought to myself. I sighed with relief. Sammy got me there after screaming like there was no tomorrow when he said we were going to die if we didn't land the plane. We finally reached the palace. I saw children flying around and many other creatures I had no idea about. The palace was guarded with a large golden gate with many soldiers lined up at the front. The guards opened the gate for us and it revealed the giant silver palace. It had pillars that reached so high up in the sky. It had golden spirals wrapped around the pillars and a red diamond floor. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I shook my head 5 times to make sure my eyes were not lying to me. Was I dreaming? Am I actually dead BUT dreaming? My mind was lost in questions. The guards dropped me off at the door to the palace. "The King will see you soon." They said and flew away. What? What am I supposed to do now?

I just stood there uselessly as I had thousands of questions swirling around in my head. How am I here? How is this not heaven? Who is the king? Will he put me in prison for invading his kingdom? I saw a peep hole in the middle of the door, so as any logical being would do, I peeked through it. I couldn't see much but I think I saw another flying creature. It looked like it was wearing a maids outfit. 

"Excuse me? Could you open the door for me? I'm here to see the King." I asked politely. The maid seemed startled and looked around to see who was talking to her. 

She opened the door for me and said, "The King will see you right away." 

She answered as she looked at me up and down as I was still wearing my clothes from the accident. I stood there, waiting for the king. About ten minutes passed and I was starting to get impatient. Ughh my goodness, how long is this King gonna take? Then, a tall man with wings that spread out so far. He had greyish hair and a golden crown with jewels inside sat on his head. He looked so regal. I had to believe I was in heaven. I saw a young and beautiful girl who stood near the golden doors with black silky hair and eyes that were dark blue. She stared at me, fascinated. And maybe full of questions on how I got here. I bowed awkwardly to the king.

"Hello, human. I haven't gotten your name recorded so I would like you to tell me." 

Usually whenever a king would ask for your name he would sound scary. This one was different. He asked me in a fatherly way. 

"Oh, my name's Kace. Kace Finlay." I stammered while straightening myself up.. Not all kings were good, so I had to be careful with this one. To be fair, I've never met a king so I didn't know how to act. I got the ideas from fictional books from what I read when I was younger. I had no choice but to follow along. " I am King Elias. How did you get here, Kace?". He leaned forward on his throne. I backed up and told him the entire story. The young girl standing near the door looked entertained hearing the story. 

"You humans are so silly!" The young girl laughed as she leaned against the door. King Elias looked at her with an unpleasing face and she wiped off her smile. 

"Besides that, I was just wondering where I was? The guards told me this is Armani, but how can I not be dead after the crash?" I rambled.

 King Elias thought about it for a moment and then answered, "The same thing happened many years ago. What might have happened was the plane couldn't stop so it went higher than the clouds and fell on the edge of one..."

I processed King Elias' answer through my head. So I'm not dead and I'm not dreaming. Hold on, has this happened to someone else before? 

"Did this happen to someone a long time ago?" I asked again. The young girl looked down at the marble floor.

  "Yes... My wife.." King Elias answered.