First Flight

Chapter 2

(It's changed to first person, told by Layla)

As soon as I turned around, the gate had disappeared. Unlike the sheltered garden, we were standing on a stone path which somehow felt warm underneath my feet (Brendon told me to leave my shoes back on Earth. It was like leaving a part of me behind for new endevors). The sky was absolutely clear, the sun enveloping the land in its gentle warmth. The air was cleaner, that was for sure, and smelled like an orchard: sweet and full of life. For a moment I stood there, breathing the Empyrean air, seeing the bigger and bolder Empyrean flowers but then I noticed Brendon was a few paces ahead of me and all the fairies were walking around with their wings out. They were of different sizes and (despite the insect appearance) colours; it was a sight to behold.

‘It’s pretty nice here isn’t it?’ said Brendon, turning back to me.

‘Nice’ was not the correct word. In fact, I couldn’t think of a word. It was outstandingly beautiful, stunning. I knew that somewhere Empyrean must have its flaws however they didn’t seem to show.

I caught up with him and we walked by side. He even took my by the hand as a precaution.

‘To make sure you to stray off, in awe of Empyrean land’ though he didn’t look at me when he said it. I could see a bit of redness on his cheeks.

He had a responsibility to look after me, though he still refused to explain why since it ‘wasn’t his place’ or ‘not the right time’. I was starting to get sick of those words.

After about what felt like a couple of minutes, we began to walk down a very gentle hill. Beyond was what looked a bit like small shops but with open fronts. Trees were bent over on both sides of the road creating roofs for each individual stall.

As we walked along, I noticed people stealing glances of us, some were even staring. I felt rather uneasy - like a stranger in my own land, like I don’t belong

‘It’s because we look like we have no wings’

‘How did you know what I was thinking?’

Brendon pointed to one of the shops, filled with dresses and shirts. ‘I think we better get us some proper clothes, free our wings’ he said, avoiding my eyes yet again, avoiding the question. It made me feel a little shifty but then again, most of the things going on were very strange so I had to be vigilant.

‘You know how trade works right?’

‘I think so. I heard about silver, gold and...something else and the value of everything is measured against that...so faeries exchange items of similar worth like seeds and gems since seeds are...important and gems are used for...powerful spells’

Brendon smiled like a proud parent. ‘And there’s me thinking you knew nothing about fae’

Inside the little clothes stall was a mature looking woman with gentle folds on her face and grey hair, though it still had lustre.

‘May I assist you?’ she asked, a warm smile emerging on her face.

‘No, but thank you’ replied Brendon.

I searched among the racks of homemade clothing, no two were the same. They were sown amazingly neatly, thousands of times better than some of the ones I’d seen in Primark and with material that ran over my fingers like silk but had the look of cotton. Some had back cut low while others had slits for wings to be let out. I ended up with a lilac, knee high dress that perfectly matched the faint purple veins in my wings. It was light enough for the warm weather and came with a small matching clip shaped as a crescent moon. The clip was made from what seemed to be glass beads that caught the sparkle of the sun. Brendon picked out a shirt that was a sky blue colour which again matched his wings.