Fantastical Tales

Goddess Wings

They all stopped.

"Woah!" Brant exclaimed. "That, my dear friend, is cool!" A few moments of silence. "What is it?"

"That," Kyan said, "is my camera. I must've dropped it while running from the Tarrog."

Brant squinted at the huge apparatus. "Okay... What does it do?"

Kyan sighed. "Right. It takes pictures. Like a painting, but more... realistic."

"Amazing! I want a picture!" Brant scurried up to it, and pulled a ladder out of his bag. He leaned the ladder up against the camera. After climbing it, he peered into the lens. Lily huffed, and leaned against the nearest flower stem.

"That's not how you do it." Kyan pointed to the ground on the other side. "Stand over there. I'll take the picture." Lily sighed as they continued, Brant sliding back and forth at the suggestions of Kyan. Finally they got him in place, but then had to adjust the settings.

Lily tried to move her wings, only for them to shudder a little, then go limp again. She folded her arms, trying to be tough, but a tear slid down her cheek. Lily couldn't help but mourn for her wings. She still didn't understand how Kyan's touch could paralyze them. The advisor's words didn't help either.

"Are you okay?"

Lily flinched. Her face came up to see Kyan, his head tilted in concern. His hand hovered over her shoulder. Lily checked for Brant. He was still occupied with the camera, trying to shove it into his bag.

She turned on her heel. "I'm fine."

"Are you sure? I thought I saw-"

Lilly turned to glare at Kyan. "It. Was. Nothing. I don't know what you're talking about."

Kyan raised his eyebrows, but when Lily didn't budge, he sighed, and shrugged his shoulders. "Alright, if you're sure..."

"Yes. Yes, I am." Her words dripped with frost. She couldn't let Kyan figure out that she was still upset. She had lied when she said that it wasn't bothering her. She wanted to fly again. Soar above the flowers, the trees, the clouds. It was painful, walking everywhere. Not just physically, but emotionally.

Kyan turned to Brant, and continued their conversation of how exactly the camera worked. Lily watched him for a while, then sighed. There was something else she didn't want him to find out. Not anybody, for that matter.

The longer Lily spent time around Kyan, the more she grew to like him, and the more she liked him, the harder it was to keep her guard up. If anyone learned of her secret, she would be banished from her people.