Slice of (magic) Life

Chapter 14 - Elaine

Pulling her sleeves out and holding her arms close, Elaine tried her best not to complain about the cold wind as they flew through the air. She wasn't just shivering from the cold night air, but also the nervousnes and excitement of finally seeing the floating islands she's heard so much about.

Everytime Elaine saw a little spark of light ahead, she thought they had arrived at the Luminary already, but it turned out to be either a twinkling star or a faraway plane. Giving out a quiet sigh of resignation, she crossed her arms and hugged herself to conserve heat. It seems like they would be flying for longer than Elaine anticipated.

"When we get there, I need you and Axle to follow everything I say, okay?" Elaine looked to her left at Monique and replied, "Okay. Quick question, how big is the island? Is it like as big as a mall or something? Or like a literal island in the sea?"

The leader started doing some stretching as she answered, "Each Luminary is about the size of a city or two." Elaine's jaw hung open, amazed. She hadn't even seen it for herself and she had high expectations already. It took a while before Monique noticed her stunned silence. "What is it?"

"Ho-how did you even get something that huge to float? Let alone way up here." Elaine was trying to distract herself from the long journey, but all she was doing was making herself more excited.

Monique replied, "That enchantment was placed many years ago, long before I was even born. From what our historians and oldest members know, the five Luminary Islands were created to mark the momentous occasion when the Celestial Alliance was formed. The five most powerful Mages in the world came together when another great Mage rose and opposed the peace they had with each other and the rest of the world. After defeating the rogue Magician, they kept their alliance with each other and formed what is now the Celestial Alliance for the purpose of destroying those who dared upset that balance."

Elaine was listening to all of this with giddy wonder. Now this is the kind of history I want to learn. She didn't notice that Axle was also listening to Monique's story. "Wow..." The boy said.

"I know, it's very fascinating. You'll get to learn more about it if you chose to study and practice your magic with us," Monique said. The two of them exchanged glances. I can't leave mom and the boys. Axle already has his dad for training.. Maybe I can be his dad's student too.

Before Elaine could ask anymore questions, she heard a flock of birds flapping their wings and cawing. She turned her head and saw that they were heading in their direction. "Switch course," Monique instructed to the twins and Axle. They evaded the birds in time right before their paths collided.

That was close. Elaine twisted her head to look back at the birds. Wonder where they're headed at this time of night. As soon as they were cleared of the birds, another problem presented itself.

A glimmer of light could be seen again. However it was not the Luminary island yet, but a passing plane, as Elaine would have guessed. It flew uncomfortably close to the path Elaine and the others were taking, and they weren't able to change directions in time. Elaine covered her ears as the plane's engines roared past them.

The wind raged through them as the plane's underside wooshed by the group. Elaine and the others stopped to fight back against it by holding out their arms. Elaine saw Axle's dolphin swim through the air viciously, keeping up with the influx of wind. Roy and Ray had their arms locked together as they formed an invisible force field that countered the strength of the wind. Monique on the other hand had turned her platform into a barricade which stopped the wind from whipping her in the face.

While all this was happening, Elaine hadn't noticed that she was slowly descending lower than the group's altitude. She looked down then up, then back and forth again. Uh oh. Her gaze immediately fell on the twins. He's not focused on keeping me up. I'm gonna fall! When the plane finally passed them by completely, they all relaxed. The one responsible for keeping Elaine up, Ray, had all but forgotten about his passenger who was now falling to her imminent death.