First Wing

Chapter Three

Tilting the simple, blue watering can, Everly watched as the water flowed easily into the bed of flowers she was tending to, and the soft patter of the leaves leaning under the temporary weight became the only sound in the courtyard. The other gardeners had packed up, heading off to other chores, but Everly didn't mind. She felt so awkward around people, not wanting to look at them or anything. Sometimes, she felt like she held too many secrets.

Everly sighed. The heat was starting to get to her, and slow her down. She couldn't wait until she could get out of the hot, stuffy castle grounds, and maybe find some secluded corner where she could feel the wind in her face, wiping her hair away from her face and out of the hot, greasy black bun she had to wear now.

As soon as she thought it, Everly dismissed the sinful thought from her mind. She wasn't allowed to do that anymore. She was grown up, and her parents would be expecting her tonight. Why, Everly couldn't fathom. They rarely called on her. Usually, at fifteen years old, she would be staying at one of the maids' boarding houses, and on rare occasions her parents decided that they needed to see her. Usually it was just to stay in her good graces, and being extremely fearful of the people with the power, they were well aware that she was sworn to serve the Lord of the Manor. Well, the daughter of the Lord of the Manor.

She tilted her can upwards, shuttering the flow of water, and shifting it quickly to another plant. The courtyard Everly was tending to today was beautiful, large and open.

Beautiful, she thought, but not breathtakingly so. She was thinking of the small, hidden courtyard by the kitchens. She loved that place, it was like its own little world. In fact, it very nearly was. It was permeated, down to the very last root, with the most wonderful magic that can be found in all of Regala. Those little gold mines of beauty were extremely hard to find, mostly because they concealed themselves. When Everly was helping in the kitchens, she would watch sadly as the many bodies bustled around, and as their eyes moved from one shelf to the next, looking for the perfect spice. They never noticed how all the shelves abruptly ended and began again, never noticed the blank space on the wall, never even glanced at it. It was one of the many mysteries of the world.

Generally, as Everly had come to see, there were two types of magic in the world. There was the type in the courtyard, that made the rarest and most beautiful flowers grow in the strangest ways, growing fuller and with sweeter scents and with longer lives that sometimes lasted straight through winter: the good, reclusive type. It did many other things, too, sometimes even entering people and granting them amazing abilities. Entirely new, rare races had been started that way, a Everly well knew.

Then, there was the terrible sort of dark magic. It came randomly, and instead of staying and hiding - preferring to quietly grow and cleanse the world on its own terms - this dark energy attacked and moved freely and ferociously. It came everywhere. Witches and wizards would put up boundaries that prevented the worst of this magic coming through, but often around and sometimes even in the castle they would have incidents of various kinds. Most recently, giant chasms had been appearing in the garden, the after affects of some stray energy that was small enough to bypass the many magic-wielders of the land. But even for such a small force, the losses they were responsible for were often times devastating. Over half of the gardens had had to be revamped and altered, to at least resemble its former glory, after all the mass of destruction.

The water in Everly's can trickled and stopped. Looking down, she realized how light the can had become again.

Suddenly, loud footsteps caught Everly's ear. She looked up, confused. As the Lady advanced towards her, she became more and more confused. What could she possibly want with me? Sylvia looked smoked in her large, extravagant skirts, weighted down by sashes and jewels. Though it was less than her usual splendor, it came nowhere near Everly's simple blue frock. How Sylvia could even walk, Everly had no idea.

Sylvia hurried along the path sporting a fan, which she used most vigorously. Her heels clicked satisfyingly on the pavement. Finally, she stopped in front of Everly, who wore a bewildered expression.

"Erm, My Lady!" Everly gasped finally, curtsying. This was peculiar, even for the peculiar daughter of the even more peculiar Lord.

"Hello, you've Everly, right?" Sylvia asked politely, peering into Everly's piercing violet eyes. Wow. Put her in a proper dress, comb her hair, and she would blow any man off his feet.

"Yes, My Lady. What can I do for you?" Feeling awkward, Everly curtsied again.

"No, don't curtsy, its too hot out. Actually, its much worse in the castle, you're lucky you get to work out here. I just came out to thank you for picking the rose." Sylvia talked as though they were bosom friends, and though Everly had never personally met Sylvia before now, she had heard many stories of her Lady's friendliness. Sometimes bordering on rude. And improper. But it made a nice change, she thought.

"Oh, well, your welcome," Everly said, eyebrows raised slightly. She was about to swoop into a curtsy, but, remembering herself, settled for grabbing the head of the watering can to prevent it from dripping.

"Its not often I get presents, not from anyone really. Its most odd, being an extremely important person you'd expect more! But really, I guess, well, if you won't tell anyone, castle life can be a bit of a bore sometimes. You're lucky, you can go wherever you like!" Sylvia said confidently. Everly may have thought she was mocking her, except for the dreamy expression on her face.

Oh, trust me, you don't want to look for adventure.

As though someone had read her thoughts, the ground of the empty courtyard, save for a maid and a Lady, began to rumble.

The ground shook under their feet, upsetting pots of delicate flowers ready for planting, and countless abandoned watering cans. Oh, skies! Sinkhole! Everly dropped her watering can in horror.

The ground began to split, like a giant mouth opening wide in a great yawn, and all the accumulated dirt and flowers sunk in the black hole. Sylvia watched in horror as the strange chasm widened precariously, realizing they were far from safety. The ground tilted beneath her feet, and she fell backwards. Her mouth opened to scream, and she felt it rip from her throat as the ground opened to engulf her, and bury her forever in its depths. Hands reaching out at the little bit of land, Sylvia caught a thin root, still screaming, when the ground lurched. The chasm opened even wider, snapping Syliva's root as she watched in horrified slow motion. The ground slowly closed up around her as she tumbled deeper and deeper into the belly of the beast, swallowing her, to finally claim its prize...