Luke Swan and the Laistrynians: The Flood

Chapter 10

Chapter 10

~Laistrynia~

Wow, I'm stupid. Surely being mobbed wasn't this dangerous.

I was falling so fast, I felt my eyes were going to fall out of their sockets. I screamed, but it was quickly lost in the wind. I looked up and caught an image of Zyra circling above me. Suddenly, she dived past me. The ground was coming up way too fast.

I hit something hard and the air whooshed out of me. It was Zyra, and now she was zooming away with me on her back.

"I told you to keep your arms out!" she chastised me.

I was really sick of being given out to. I wasn't really a little kid. Well, compared to a billion-and-more year old goddess, I suppose I hadn't gone as far in life as her. But still: I spread out my huge wings, and they caught the wind and I was pulled off Zyra's back.

I beat my wings to stay in one spot. Either Zyra didn't realise I was gone, or she was just trying to be mean. I had a sneaking suspicion that the second guess was correct.

I beat them faster and rose a few feet. Hey, this was actually kind of fun! I leaned forward and flew after Zyra.

Zyra got the surprise of her life when I flew past her. She was just flying at a leisurely speed, not bothering to look behind her and check that I wasn't a feathery spot on the ground. Well, I zoomed past her left side and she shrieked indignantly. I expected her to be fuming, but she just flew up beside be and called my name. When I looked over at her, she flew higher.

Was she praising me? All this time I was scolded like a little kid, so now had I proved myself that I could leave the nest? I smiled at that thought, and I realised that it was the first time I had smiled in a long time. And it didn't feel fake, like smiling usually did for me.

I looked down: we were flying across one of the grassy plains I had seen from the window in Zyra's palace, but this one was an unnatural gold colour. I looked forward: a castle that was the same gold colour as the ground rose to an immense height. I looked up: Zyra was falling, back in human form, and she was right above me. Then I noticed that my wings and feathers were gone, too.

I free-falled for what seemed to be an age. Zyra was beside me, her arms outstretched and her eyes closed in pleasure. Was she not afraid about how fast the ground was coming to meet us? But then I thought: this was her domain. I decided to trust her not to let us get smashed against the golden ground.

I felt a tug in my gut and found my fall slowing. I still landed hard in the ground with a face full of dirt. Zyra landed gently on her feet beside me.

"That was fun!" She sounded genuinely happy. She didn't help me to my feet, though, which I didn't appreciate. She just walked away, so I hastily got to my feet and followed.

Where was she going? She didn't head towards the golden palace. I wondered if a person like King Midas lived there, if everything inside was gold. I wanted to find out, but Zyra didn't satisfy my curiosity. Instead, she walked to the edge of a precipice and waited for me to catch up.

"What you saw was the Elements' Corner of Laistrynia from my window," she began.

"Whoa, time out." I said. "I only saw a small part of Laistrynia? Then where's the rest?"

"This," she said, "is Laistrynia."

I could probably take up this whole chapter talking about what I saw. Fortunately for you, I'll try and get in the best bits.

Below us was a valley the size of a whole country. Mountains thrice as tall as normal ones rose on either side, stretching right to the horizon. A meandering river snaked around hundreds of small cities, gleaming in the midday sun. A lake was nestled between two forests and, even though it was hard to tell from this distance, those trees were ten times taller than the redwoods I saw back at home. I spotted a park the size of one of the cities. There was another stretch of grassy land, but this one could have housed all the meadows and grasslands I saw before and still have room for more. I looked farther out and saw something that looked like the ocean, with a white sand beach and a boardwalk with amusement park rides.

"That's where the world's rain comes from," Zyra said, pointing at the sea. I guess there was plenty of water to spare in there.

It didn't end there, though. I saw what looked like an industrial development, but instead of things like processed food or cheap plastic toys, animals were coming out in cages on conveyor belts. And not just any animals: things like dragons, phoenixes, pegasi, gryphons and some giant birds that looked like the world's largest eagles, in beautiful metallic colours like bronze, gold and silver.

"Seriously?" I pointed at the monsters.

"Our comrades around the world need supplies," she explained.

"Yeah, but giant eagles?"

"My sacred animals make excellent taxis."

But in the middle of it all, something terrible was happening: something like a black hole was slowly sucking in everything around it. Even though the valley was hundreds of miles wide, I was sure that the monstrous thing was going to devour the whole of Laistrynia in a matter of days.

As if reading my thoughts, Zyra said, "Selenos is playing a little game with me. He threatens to destroy my kingdom if I don't let it die anyway by giving him the Halo. He thinks his plan is foolproof, but I have a counterplan. That is for another day, though. Now, you must get settled into your new habitation."

I was confused. "I thought I was staying with you."

"You cannot stay in my sacred living space!" she said indignantly.

"I can't get sucked in to that black hole," I said. "It looks like a one-way trip."

"You can," she said, "You just don't want to. I don't want you too either. Besides, we have an important matter to discuss: who you might actually be."