Wings Beyond Our Reach

Chapter one

Hey so before you start reading this is a book made by me and a good friend, one of us runs the Wattpad account and the other runs ao3. If you want to read it on there the username is the same as on here. The upload schedule will be every Friday. Enjoy reading!! :D

TW// DEATH

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Once upon a time, gods and goddesses used to roam our world in peace. They helped us, and this was the only time in the world that we truly lived in harmony. Though this peace didn't last long, the gods were pushed back to their world, and the way out was guarded by an evil and terrible dragon. For many years people went to fight the beast, but all failed. Thousands upon thousands of men, women, people, and hybrids lost their lives to the beast. Though after centuries, the reason why was lost. The stories of the great gods were turned into legend, yet still hundreds of lives were lost to this beast. Until one day, a brave young man thought only to end the suffering of those whose families they have lost. He decided to fight the beast. After months of traveling he came upon such a frigid landscape with such sharp air your lungs hurt to breathe it in, yet he went through until he came upon a mountain. At the top he found an entrance to a labyrinth that went deep into the ground. The stairs worn down by thousands before him. After hours of searching, he found the portal which so many had gone through and lost their lives to a beast yet to be described. For a moment he hesitated. He thought of those who have died, and no doubt would he. For those who lost their lives, for their families who had grieved, he thought that even if he had the chance he would risk it. So he entered the portal, the dark deep portal that showed beauty, yet caused so many deaths. He felt as if he was nothing, being reformed as he traveled through time and space. Suddenly he was dropped into an endless void, and all he heard was the roar of a beast so frightening it left a ringing in his ear. Filled with fear he stood up and saw what surrounded him. He stood on a small obsidian platform on the edge of a pale yellow stone island that floated in an inescapable void of black, pillars towered in the sky farther than his eyes could see, and the most terrifying beast flying in circles around the island. The beasts eyes glowed with a purple hue, and breathed venom like fog. Its teeth are sharper than any sword he had ever seen, and its claws stained with blood. The boy stood in fear, believing what he saw was only a nightmare, for this terrifying beast could not exist in a world so beautiful. And then he realized why no one had come back, he realized why there was no description of this beast, and that was because there was no portal.

There was no way back.

Without a choice the man decided that even if he were to die, he'd die with his pride. He charged at the beast, though its scales were too thick to pierce. Three hours of fighting he realized the dragon was regaining its health from the pillars, so he started the climb. With nothing but a pickaxe and sword he scaled the tower, freeing to look down at the ground below him. The dragon roared, though his hearing was muffled already by the loud cry of the beast. Slowly he reached the top, and found a strange orb with a star-like crystal shining inside of it. It had to have been one of the most glorious things his eyes have ever seen. He struck his axe down upon it, creating an explosion that almost led to his doom. Hanging off the tower he felt terrified, yet he slowly let go. Soaring through the sky, gaining speed hoping he would do it in time instead of falling to his death, he placed a bucket of water down right before he hit the dusty stone below, saving his life. After hours upon hours of climbing these pillars of obsidian, with countless situations of certain death, he managed to destroy these crystals. His body was weeping of tiredness, and had cuts all over his body that were no doubt going to leave scars. He finally stood a chance against the creature. The venomous fog seeped into his lungs causing his breathing to stagger, yet he kept on fighting. Feeling as if he were about to collapse from the pain, he didn't give up. Though suddenly the dragon threw him into the sky. Feeling the breath leave his body as his back hit the ground, he heard the crack of his spine and the searing pain throughout his body. Blood spilled from his mouth as he felt himself slipping into deaths grasp. Though he wasn't met with a Skeleton like figure in a cloak like the stories told him how the god of death looks, no, he was faced with the most beautiful woman he has ever laid his eyes on. For she was no sullen reaper who took joy of taking the souls of those who had been lost, she was beautiful. Full of light, and now he understood why they said there was a light at the end of a tunnel, for it was her. She glowed as bright as the moon on a clear beautiful night, and the boy instantly fell in love with the madin of death.

The reaper then began to speak

"For all I have seen pass through the portal, I have never seen a man so brave, for thee brings me hope, and I bestow upon you life, for it is not your time yet. You have yet to accomplish the most amazing things, so please take this, and free us from this cage. Free us." Suddenly he heard the voice slip into echoes, and he was back in the dragons realm. Though he felt more alive than ever, he did not know if the goddess he saw was real. But he was alive, and he must kill this beast. And so he fought, he fought unlike anything you had ever seen, until he struck a final blow to the beast. The cry it let out left him deaf for many moments after, as its lifeless corpse was lifted into the air. Though suddenly a blinding light fell throughout the land, and the beast evaporated into thin air. Stunned that he had actually beat the unkillable monster, he began to weep. He sobbed until his tears ran dry, and yet he still sat there, thanking the gods for letting him live. He then noticed that a portal had formed in the center of the realm, and without a word he entered. He didn't pay attention to the feeling of the portal, not the beauty of it, he simply wished to be free of this horrible place. Yet once he realized he was once again in the stone portal room where he had been many, many hours ago, he saw the Goddess. She stood there as if awaiting his return.

"I see I was right to grant you another chance, young knight, for you have freed our realm, and we can't thank you enough. So we bestow upon you these wings of power, for you use them for only good." Her beautiful voice spoke, and suddenly the boy felt a pain shoot through his back, as he something was growing on it. Though when he looked behind, he saw dark black wings that stretched six feet on either side. In awe he looked at the goddess, and he finally realized what he had accomplished. the legends of the gods roaming with the people were true, and he was standing in front of the most gorgeous one to exist.

Though it did not make sense to the young man why the goddess stayed, she tried to explain that she was sent to protect the portal to make sure no man could ever walk through it again. The boy simply could not care, since he was now in the presence of the love of his life. What the goddess said was true, and she continued to live there. For months the boy stayed, and not long after the goddess started to fall for the man. Life was beautiful for the two, but something neither of them expected came to the mountain. People had heard of what the man had accomplished, and thought they would protect them, so they started to travel. They built villages, then towns, and soon an empire had formed, stretching across this snowy tundra, and the people claimed the man as their emperor. A palace was built for the couple, and the arctic empire continued to grow. It became the most powerful kingdom in the world. It was a place of safety and freedom. They believed everyone was equal. Soon those who were oppressed had found a home. Yet one faithful day years after the hero had freed the end, he found two little orphans. Because both of them were of piglin blood, it meant they were looked down upon in the world. He took pity on the twins, and took them home, not thinking anything of it besides giving them a place to stay for the night. That night turned to days, to weeks, to months, and then years. He and the goddess then officially adopted the two boys. The princes turned out to be something beautiful, one had natural pastel pink hair that hung long against his back. He had a talent for fighting, and out skilled most of the guards by the age of nine. The other had short curly brown hair that he dyed himself. Unlike his twin he took interest in music. He also tended to collect bits of everything from wherever he went. The couple couldn't be more proud of their sons. Though one year the Goddess had found that she was pregnant, something none of them thought possible. Stricken with fear and joy, they welcomed the child, after nine months of waiting a child was born. The new child was found to be half god, half mortal, with a small pair of tiny scarlet and gold wings on his back. Both baffled by the child, they failed to realize the power and danger that followed the newborn. But not a year after the child was born did a demon escape the portal, summoned by an unknown source as punishment to the goddess of death who was charged with the responsibility to guard the gateway. They sealed the portal up. The goddess was ripped out of her family's grasp and forced away for an unknown time, trapped in the very thing she was trying to conceal.

To hide that their son was indeed half god they told everyone, and even their own sons, that she had passed away. Though stricken by grief, the family pushed forward for two years, until one night, where everything went horribly wrong.