Ascending Light

Guidance

The day he was supposed to meet his dance instructor went by slowly. Crysen found himself counting the hours in the day from sun up to when he would get to meet his dancing instructor. He couldn't quell the nervous and excited energy that coursed through him whenever he thought of learning how to dance with his wings. His teacher was a retired dancer, famous for her pristine form and fluid movement. She was excited to meet the younger, newly discovered, prince. She'd once been an acquaintance of his mother's. He was so excited to meet his new instructor that he washed up and dressed in a rush.

They were to meet in the practice ballroom and Crysen was there roughly thirty minutes before time to meet. He was bouncing on the balls of his feet in anticipation whenever he heard footsteps approaching the large double doors. Three times a servant went down the hallway while he waited. When his father finally led her in, Crysen bounced over to her, holding out his hand. "Hi, I'm Crysen," He beamed.

"Adriana," the dancer replied, shaking Crysen's hand. "I understand you need to be retrained."

Crysen nodded. "Yeah, I've just gotten my powers recently so I don't know how to use my wings very well. I need to be retrained with them."

She nodded but otherwise had no expression. "Let's start by you showing me what you can do without wings."

Crysen felt a thrill go through him as well as a twinge of doubt. What if he was horrible and she refused to teach him? He pushed his negative thoughts away and willed away his wings. He let his body move as it was used to, feeling each tug and pull of muscle. He had always loved to dance, even when he was wingless. It was harder on his feet than it was the other fairies but he'd still worked to keep up with them. Now maybe, they wouldn't look down on him so much. Though, if he was honest, he'd never cared about them or their ideas.

He didn't notice his cousin come in or even Shimmer and Bright. They'd been at some meeting for temple defense and security. He danced until he grew tired and then he sat down and smiled at Adriana. She was watching him with a soft expression. "That was very graceful. I think we should start small. First, we'll get you used to moving with your wings out, then we'll worry about using them, okay?"

Crysen nodded.

They trained for hours and Crysen found joy in this part of him which had always been lost to him. He was very unsteady and uncoordinated with his wings but as the days went by they grew stronger and he grew more confident both in dancing and in training. The physical training he went through every day was difficult but he approached it with a steadfast determination that his father seemed to be very proud of. He soon found his own balance between dancing and training.

At nights he would practice with his light and relearn all there was to know about his special ability. It was Bright and Emery who taught him the rest of the prayers. Bright helped him learn how to pray while the light flowed through him and around him. She had trained Gleam as a child and was happy to help Crysen whenever Emery was out of his depth. He prayed with her for hours at night and then went to bed tired from the day.

Every morning he woke and Bright took him back into the temple to recite the prayers for morning for an hour before they went to breakfast. After breakfast his father took him down to the training grounds at the bottom of the temple and below. The guardians were housed between the training grounds and the servant, staff, and priest's lodgings. Above them, were the lower warriors who weren't guardians of the realm but were the temple warriors. Above them were guests and then, below the actual temple were the royals. Emery was place in a room not far from Crysen's.

The training ground smelled of sweat and mud. They were lit by crystals and filled with the sounds of struggle and, often, frustration. Crysen would fly with his father watching for a while as he coached him through better flight techniques and ways to use his wings to his advantage in battle. There was even a way for Crysen to stop his wing trail from showing when he flew. Emery took pride in training Crysen to fly and also to fight. Since he had raised Crysen alone he knew how best to teach his son. He was gentle but firm and always encouraged Crysen to try things he wasn't sure he could do. Emery believed Crysen could do anything and that made Crysen determined to prove he could.