Hidden Wings

Chapter 2

Bright sunlight peeked through the glistening leaves of the tall trees. Katherine groaned and opened her eyes, sitting up. Yawning, she stretched and quickly looked around, studying her surroundings.

"It's even more beautiful in the morning." She said and walked to the lake. She dipped her hands down and brought them up to her mouth, the tasty water rolling down her chin and onto her shirt.

She slowly stood up and walked back over to the spot she had fallen asleep. She removed her shoes and walked to the edge of the lake. She stuck her feet in and sighed loudly. "This is amazing."

After a few seconds of scanning the water, Katherine noticed a spot that sparkled more. She reached down into the water and touched something hard. Slowly raising her hand, she gazed at a large pink crystal in her hands. Fresh water dripped from the crystal as she lightly brushed her finger over it with amazement.

"H-how...how did this get in here? It's perfectly shaped...no cracks or marks on it."

She quickly dried it off with her shirt and held it tightly in her hand as she made her way deeper and deeper into the forest.

Birds sang, squirrels jumped from tree to tree, butterflies waved. The running of running water tied it all together. It really was a perfect forest.

Then, the wisp appeared right in front of her again.

"Oh! It's you again! Can you show me around this forest?" Katherine asked, clutching the large crystal tightly in her hands.

The wisp floated deeper into the forest. The 16 year old followed quickly behind it. For what seemed like hours they walked, until they reached a large oak tree. It was shorter than the others, yet wider and stronger looking. The roots stretched out far and a clean circle surrounded it.

"Hm? What's this?" She walked around the tree, brushing her hand against it, feeling the rough texture. She looked up and noticed what seemed to be a door. She grabbed onto the first branch and pushed herself upward until she reached the door. It was small with no doorknob.

"This isn't a painting. But why is there a door in the middle of the tree?" She asked, then noticed a small hole. Her eyes widened slightly as she pulled the pink crystal out of her pocket. "Ah...it fits." She placed the crystal in the small hole and pressed it down. The crystal began to glow and a doorknob popped out from the right side of the door. Cautiously, Katherine opened it and crawled inside.

She tumbled through a dark space and landed on something soft. She opened her eyes and looked around. She was sitting on a cloud. It was slightly pink. She slowly stood up and her eyes widened. "W....why am I on a cloud? Where am I? I-is this a joke?" She walked to the end of the cloud and jumped to the other. Her landing was firm yet soft.

Looking out into the distance, she noticed the sky was even more beautiful than then sky in the forest. Also, all of the clouds were dusted with a light pink color. She jumped from cloud to cloud, making a game out of it. Eventually she got tired so she fell backwards onto one of the clouds and sighed.

"This doesn't seem to be a dream...maybe it really is real...."

"Indeed, you're right kiddo!!"

Katherine quickly sat up. "Who said that?"

"Why, it was me!"

"Nobody is there..."

"Down here!"

She looked down and noticed a very tiny creature. He had pointy ears. "It's me! I'm an elf so I'm small!" He gave a warm smile and hopped to her.

"It's not often we have a visitor. What are you doing here?"

"I was in a the forest and found a crystal. I then saw a small door on a large oak tree and I just ended up here. Is this a dream?"

"No! This is a real world! It's called Angel Land. It's a place where unicorns exist. Unicorns, elves, dragons, any magical creature you can think of. But, the most powerful of all creatures live here. They are the Angels. Most of the angles are in the army. They are trained to protect Angel Land. Why, they are very skilled. The others are teachers. They teach Angel philosophy and the history of Angel Land. They also teach reading and writing, since Angel Land has a different written language than the humans or demons." He explained, reaching into his back. Pulling out a golden stopwatch, he checked the time, then jumped.

"It's getting late! It's not safe to be here after dark! Please, follow me to the village. I'm sure Queen Olivia will let you stay tonight." He hummed and jumped from cloud to cloud, occasionally looking back to make sure Katherine was following.

She chuckled slightly and followed behind the small elf.

After a while, about an hour, they arrived at a large white gate.

"Well, here we are. Don't be surprised if you get strange looks from everyone here. They aren't used to seeing a human here. Just ignore them and follow me to the castle where we can speak to Queen Olivia. Alright?" He asked and pulled out a small golden key.

Katherine nodded. "Okay, I got it."

The elf stuck the key in the keyhole and pushed open the gate. He led her through a large cloud.

When out of the cloud, the goblin looked up at her. "Welcome to Angel Land."