Wucaii

Chapter Two

Aelana stood in the field, whacking dried purple stocks with a stick. They swished and crunched. Leld stood on the edge, a breeze rustling the white stripes in his waist-length beard.

"There are only two guarantees in life," Leld said.

Aelana stopped swinging the stick and stared at him.

"The first one is that you will die, and the second is that nothing stays the same."

Aelana blinked slowly, trying to understand what the wizard meant. At six cycles, she was used to his random outbursts of wisdom but was never sure how they applied to her. Leld assured her she'd understand one day, but that seemed forever away.

Leld stared past her into the horizon, his eyes narrowed with thought. "You can't fight death, and there's nothing you can do to prepare. But you can be ready for change, and you have to learn the skills to survive."

Aelana's forehead wrinkled with worry. Was Leld suggesting she'd have to learn something?

"But that's what the amulet is for, right?"

Leld chuckled and grabbed the gold eye hanging from the chain around his neck. His fingertips brushed the flames that extended from the top and bottom before he dropped his hand to his side.

"The amulet will fill you with more knowledge than you can ever imagine, but there are some things you have to learn on your own."

Aelana's shoulders slumped as disappointment forced her lips into a frown. Sitting at the table and reading scroll after scroll was boring. Running around the Great Hall watching the dignitaries arrive was fun. She wanted to stand guard with her parents, not be stuck in a stuffy old room.

Leld smiled and held out his hand. "Come, child. We should head back. We don't want your parents to worry."

Aelana tossed her stick to the ground and approached the older man, her feet dragging along the ground, her head hanging low.

"Not all of your knowledge will come from reading." Leld seemed to read her mind. "You will get some hands-on experience. You will get to go outside."

Aelana perked up. "Really?"

"Of course. Magic has to be practiced." He looked down at her seriously. "But you will have to read some things."

Her head nodding enthusiastically, a skip was added to her step. A little reading was fine as long as being outside the classroom followed. It didn't take much to convince her grandfather to let her go wherever she wanted.

***

Storm clouds formed in the evening sky, a black wall that crackled and sparked with lightning. It built upon itself, seeming to touch ground and sky, and hovered. In the center, in an internal flash of lightning, five creatures entered the atmosphere. Shrouded in vapor and protected by electricity, the creatures went unnoticed by the inhabitants of the planet.

Aelana sucked in a sharp breath, her lungs quickly adapting to the oxygen-rich environment. Her eyes flew open. Still curled in the fetal position, gravity pulled her toward the earth. Delicately, she stretched out her legs, rolling onto her stomach. Her wings opened, sending her gliding through the air that rushed across her wing membranes, gaining altitude until the night sky shrouded her in darkness. Her gaze drifted over her shoulder. Four dragons slipped off in different directions, seen only as shadows, each ready to fulfill their mission.

She faced forward. On the horizon, Aelana noticed a vast expanse of twinkling lights. Heading for it, her stomach fluttered with nervousness and anticipation. The lights grew brighter; sounds got louder. A hill sat on the outskirts of the city, the perfect vantage point, so she lighted on a tree. Wrapping her talons around the branch, her eyes widened in disbelief.