Shataiki flew through the air and looked down at the tops of the trees below her. She couldn't believe that today was her 16th birthday. She'd finally be allowed to leave Rahdi and explore. Shataiki screeched with delight and dove down into the forest below. As she neared the ground, she pulled up again and, almost for a second, she felt like she was floating. Just levitating inches from the ground. She landed softly on the pine needles underfoot and crouched down, folding her wings over her head. She concentrated and felt power pulse through her wings, and through her body. Slowly her body trandformed. Inch by inch, she turned into a human again. Shataiki slowly and dramatically stood up, fully human, in the middle of the forest. No one was around and it was peacefully quiet. She started walking south, in the direction of her village, Elisien. She looked up at the sun, worried that she was late for the reception. But it was only around noon. She still had plenty of time. She walked down the worn trail through the forest until she got to the Waterfall of Messenth. Legend said that if you stood underneath the waterfall, you could see the future. Even though Shataiki had strolled past that waterfall a million times, she found that she was captivated by it this time around. The realization struck her that she had never stood under the waterfall before. She stepped into the water and and slowly started over to the rushing wall of water. Shataiki stepped under the waterfall and let the cold water engulf her almost completely. She opened her eyes and looked sown, so the stinging from the water in her eyes would lessen. The torrent from the waterfall caused the knee high water to look like it had been brutally attacked. But suddenly, Shataiki swore that she saw a rectangle of light appear in the water infront of her. She shook her head in disbelief and rubbed her eyes, thinking that the image would disappear. But it didn't. The image started to become more vivid and defined. Slowly she could start to make out two heads. They were about a quarter away from each side of the rectangle of light. But when the background started to become black and scaly and the heads became red, Shataiki knew what the picture was really of. Darnerys. The dark dragon. Shataiki gasped when she realized who it was and closed her eyes as the face of the dark dragon erupted into flames. Then everything in her vision went white. When she woke up, she was lying down on the side of the trail, completely dry, remembering only the face of Darnerys bursting into flames. Nothing about the waterfall, or the burning curiosity she had about it. Shataiki just dismissed the thought of the dark dragon and got up. She started walking in the direction of the village again. If she had turned around at that moment, she would have seen the centaur standing on the hill and the blood dripping from it's hands. She would have seen the dying form of a grown man lying beside him. But Shataiki did not turn around. She kept walking until she could no longer hear the sound of crashing water. Or the scream. The scream of the man the centaur was killing. Shataiki was too far away. And too late.
