Okay, before I start this story, I'm going to give you guys a little lesson in Wing culture first. Their culture is pretty different in some ways to human culture in general, so I'm just telling you all now so there's no culture shock. I don't want to have readers freaking out on me. :)
-Sky Traveller
***
Oh, hey, my name is Felicity. No, I'm not the main character, I'm just here to explain some culture stuff to you. (Why are you making me do this, Lo? You're the main character, it should be your job!)
Well, anyway, the first thing I should explain is that we are not angels, though we certainly look like them. We are called Wings, because we have wings, and there are six different kinds; Cloud Wings, Sky Wings, Sun Wings, Fire Wings, Ice Wings, and Earth Wings. The first three are known as Altheans; they live in Althea and their main mission is to protect the other realms and the humans in particular from outside forces that mean them harm. I'm a Sun Wing, so I'm an Althean, one of the good guys. The other three are known as Elementals. They're unpredictable and often outright unfriendly. Sometimes they help guard the realms, but sometimes they're part of the problem. They tend to have more potent powers and they occupy most of the planet Althea is situated on (Althea is the city the Altheans live in, by the way). The zone the Elementals live in is known as Jairhelm, and us Altheans tend to avoid it. Our planet exists in a different universe from Earth, and the two places are connected through a great portal, whose ends can be shifted so it can deposit one anywhere on the planets. However, the portal can only be accessed by those who know how to call on it. Oh, and some powerful individuals can simply teleport and bypass the portal, but it takes a great deal of effort.
I'm not getting into the magic now, since Lo can explain that better, but each type of Wing can be identified by the kind of wings they have. Sky Wings have invisible wings, Sun Wings have wings that shine really brightly, Fire Wings have feathers that look like individual flames, etc. Wing feathers have magical properties and can be used to make runed weapons, which can be used to bypass enchantments on people or items, depending on what the runes are. Feathers can also give some interesting qualities to the weapon or object they're made into, depending on who the feathers are from.
Also, Wings don't have marriage the same way humans do. Instead, we have bondmates. A bondmate is the Wing you are officially 'with', but oftentimes it's a political gesture, especially since there are six different species and a lot of enmity between some of them (especially between Fire Wings and Ice Wings). It's not uncommon for a Wing to have multiple relationships at a time (I'm looking at you, Lo) and it's not uncommon for a Wing to have children with many different partners. Yes, even the women do this, though it is less common since we have been contaminated by the humans and have a patriarchal society. Honestly, though, having multiple partners doesn't mean you love any of them any less. You simply love them in different ways. I certainly found that out, but only because my bondmate abandoned me (Ord, you asshole!) and I like having sex. So shoot me. Though lately human culture has been contaminating certain Wings, so sexual promiscuity is now being frowned upon in certain quarters, but that won't stop anyone. It's kind of like trying to stop someone from eating chocolate ever again, or just dessert in general. It's not going to happen, guys, so forget it.
On the other hand, certain things are definitely not okay - gender-changing for one thing. Lo is the major offender in that area. It's stricter among the Altheans because we actually have a civilization (Okay, I'm being a little unfair to the Elementals, but they're still a tribal people. Come on, guys! It's the 21st century!) but Lo gets away with it because we're used to her. Oh, and her Trueform is female. If her Trueform were male, we'd definitely be less forgiving. Patriarchal society, remember? Of course, Lo also basically tricked us all into thinking she was male, so we ended up bonding her to another woman, so when we finally found out the truth, things got interesting. I'm still not sure why Selena puts up with Lo and her... issues. Drama. Whatever you want to call it. Maybe Selena finds Lo intriguing or something.
Oh, yeah, and we're basically immortal since Irene, another Sun Wing like myself, created some apples with extraordinary healing powers. If you're thinking this sounds familiar to some human mythology, you're right. The humans learned of us long ago, because some idiot (Thom) blabbed and told them a lot of things. But the humans got a lot of the names mixed up and confused over time since they only spread the story by word of mouth. They also got a bunch of other things mixed up as well, but it's surprising how accurate some of it is. Well, the original mythology that is. Some of the spin-offs of that mythology bear no resemblance whatsoever to the original source, which is us.
In all honesty, I'd love to tell you more, but I think I'd be spoiling Lo's story for you. So, sit tight, relax, and enjoy!
Oh, and if anyone asks, I didn't write this.
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Wings
Fantasy*Wings Book 1 If you are expecting a nice main character who does as she's told and is the picture of virtue... you're reading the wrong book. But if you're expecting someone like me... mischievous, clever, and rather bad, you've come to the right...
