Equinox (Book One of the Firebird Chronicles) WATTY AWARD HIDDEN GEM WINNER 2015

Chapter Five: Fabian

A/N: Media is-- you guessed it-- Fabian, who you're about to meet. (Squeals)

As soon as my foot left the last rung, my hands hit earth. I clambered onto the grass, bewildered as to how there was grass on a building fifty storeys high. I noticed a trapdoor; I pulled it over, shutting out the light from below, and listening to the chatter of noise.

It was filled with birdsong.

I surveyed the aviary; I could see bright plumes of species of birds I had never seen. In fact, the only birds I had ever seen were blackbirds, and occasionally a travelling troupe would have a parrot or two. But these birds perched on tropical trees, blinking at me with glassy eyes, and feathers sticking from every angle of their head possible. There were tiny birds and huge birds, fanning their feathers in the breeze from the open aviary, to baby birds chirping for their mothers. The aviary was three times the size of my bedroom, some spaces with large tree canopies hiding the sky, and other areas where there were only small shrubs and vines. In the middle was a large pond with a still surface, and lilies growing on the top. An enormous giant bird sat majestically on the water, ruling over its small ecosystem. Even I felt tiny compared to the bird.

As I approached, it made no movement, as if to prove its majesty over me. The bird was a beautiful red, surely the Queen of them all, and had deep amber eyes that stared straight towards me. I bowed my head respectfully.

I could see no sign of a person, so I stepped through the path, careful not to hit a nest.

At the furthest edge of the aviary was an open space that hit the clouds; strands of cloud broke past, like wisps of beard stroking the building. Birds flew in and out of the aviary, tumbling on the air's currents around the clouds. And there, sitting on the cloud, was a man.

He had his back facing out across the land. His back looked large, and warm; he was dressed in an amazing red silk kimono patterned with golden feathers. My mouth fell open; I stared soundlessly at it. The kimono floated in the wind the man lay on, revealing his bare torso beneath. He wore simple, black trousers that were rippling against the air. His hair was so long it was hard to tell where hair began and cloud continued; it was ethereally silver. His hair was far longer than mine, and yet it did not tangle in the wind, as mine would; it fanned out gently despite the hurricane around him. His feet were bare.

I was entranced.

Bursting from his back were strong, silver wings, jutting fiercely at angles to his body. They flickered, as if my presence had adjusted the air.

The man's eyes shot open. He had sensed me.

'Is that you, Scarlett?' he said quietly. His voice was low, but melodic. It brought a rush of feeling over me; I was reddening.

He paused, and closed his eyes briefly again, as if listening to the wind.

'It isn't Scarlett...then...'

He looked back over his shoulder at me, and I saw his blue eyes widen.

I stared at him, certain I had not hidden my shock either; he looked barely older than I did, but so clearly from another world to me. His face was tanned and boyish.

He was also someone I had seen before, sketched and painted perfectly on an easel in my bedroom.

He stood to face me, his eyes never leaving my face. I noticed how his feet stood on the air as if he stood firmly on the ground, his wings not beating, but perched, still and poised.

'Lumina,' he whispered, and there were a thousand layers of emotion in his voice.

'Are you...' my instinct wavered. '...are you Fabian?'