Light as a Feather

As Jack opened up the double glass-paned doors to the balcony overlooking the city, he saw it was raining feathers. The feathers were all symmetrical in size but varied in color. Some were black with spots of white throughout and others were the opposite. In the distance, Jack could make out other feathers that seemed to represent every color of the rainbow, giving the dark sky a glimmer of brightness. At times the feathers fell so fast and dense he couldn’t see past 3 feet in front of him, blocking the view. It was a fluffy and impenetrable wall, falling from the sky. He reached out with his palm up and let an all white feather slowly dance its way onto it. The barbs tickled his skin. With his other hand, he picked it up by the quill and watched the whole feather dissolve from the bottom up. The front door opens behind him, held with a Family Guard, as the Lady of House strides in, followed by 2 more Guard. Her gold dress drapes the floor, adorned with bright, glistening crystals from top to bottom. The Royal Diadem matched the dress, with the Family emblem of 2 crossed feathers notched in the middle, keeping her fair hair back from, her pale grim face. With a solemn tone she spoke, “My son, are you prepared?” Jack takes another look at the falling feathers, wishing he could float in the air with them. But he had to face reality. He couldn’t just run from his duties. He is Prince of Chamenos after all, 2nd in Command. But his mother had a valid question, was he prepared? The Prince, only 15 years of age, had a huge role to fill. Jack did not see the death of the 1st Chair, his Father, coming. There was so much he had wanted to learn from him. Baer, Father, taught Jack had to fight, how to hunt, even how to sweet talk the Lady of House in order to spar without armor, despite her wishes. Father said it makes you tougher, stronger and more courageous to not rely on aids. He says it sharpens the senses to a new level because of the higher risk involved. But some things the 1st Chair did not teach the Prince, and one of them was how to rule a people. A people Jack wasn’t sure he wanted to rule in the first place.

Jack closed the doors to the balcony and turned to his mother. With his hand on the hilt of his blade, Baer’s blade, he answers, “As prepared as I’ll ever be.”  

2

The death of 1st Chair spelled trouble for the Lady of House and her son, now the new holder of 1st Chair. Lady Altai and Baer together made enemies throughout the land of Chamenos, making it unsafe for Jack and herself to stay in the city. Threats were already making their way known in the palace and it was getting harder knowing who to trust.  

The Lady and Prince were escorted to the front yard, where their horses were waiting, outfitted for the journey ahead. There will be no Guard accompanying them. Where they must travel to, only Royal Blood will be permitted. Jack looked back at the towering structure he called home, feeling unsure if he will ever lay eyes on it again. Lady, looking forward towards the gate, “No time to dwell on the things that may or may not be, but only for what you Can control, and that is the present, dear Prince.” He shifts his gaze forward, regaining focus, nods in agreement with his mother. “You’re right.” He presses his boots in the sides of his steed with urgency, kicking up dust as he takes the lead.

They rode on throughout the night without stopping or slowing down. They had to make it out of the forest and into the open field to the East before daybreak. They needed to perform the ritual before the light touches it. Finally, they saw the edge where the forest ended and the field began. The sky was already brightening with a blueish tint. They dismounted their horses and approached the field on foot. There was no grass; it was a field of dirt and rocks, all sides surrounded by more forest. In the middle of the field stood a large, stone carving of a winged beast. Twice the tallness of a grown man, just as equal in length. Legend has it that the Family emblem derived from this same creature. It’s bald head and prolonged beak gazed skyward, as if in any moment it would take off soaring for the heavens. Its talons were sharp and large enough to grasp a full sized horse.  

“Let us begin.” Altai took off her crown and placed it on the head of the giant bird. She then unsheathed a dagger hidden in the inside of her riding boot, the family blade glistening in the near light approaching. She made a small cut onto her left hand and smeared the blood onto the beak. Eyes closed, she recited in her mind words of an foreign language. Jack was never privy to these things in person. He only knew of this from the stories his parents told him when he was younger. He had no idea that it could be true but seeing his own mother mutilate herself in front of a random statue in the middle of nowhere started to undermine his doubts. After what seemed like an eternity, Altai opened her eyes and stared at the carving, as if she was expecting something. Nothing happened. A frown on her face, she looked to her son, her eyes wide in fear, “I don’t understand. It’s not working.” Just then, a twig snapped from in the forest where they came from. They both turned their heads towards the sound but saw nothing. The air was noticeably still. It couldn’t have been the wind. Jack’s heart rate elevated. He sensed a presence his eyes couldn’t detect. “Something’s out there.” He whispers, still staring into the forest. There, 100 yards through the trees, he sees a figure zig zagging through, concealing itself from tree to tree, as it bounded closer to the field. A human form all in black with what looked like a cape flowing from its back, draping the forest floor, swirling up the dried leaves behind its movements. “What do you see?!” His mother could sense he saw something in him mind, something that they both couldn’t see with their own eyes. Baer’s Gift of sight passed on through his son. Altai did not have the Gift, but she had other ones’s that she did know passed on to her son. “It’s gliding through the trees.” “A Grader”! Altai shouts. She quickly pulls Jack by the shoulders, facing his gaze onto her own. Desperation plagued her face, a look he never the Lady wore. “There is no time. I know why the ritual isn’t working. The cut I made wasn’t sufficient; it has to be more significant. It has to be a sacrifice!” She takes her dagger and places it into her sons hand, “You have to drive it into my heart!” Jack didn’t understand. What was his mother saying? She couldn’t be serious, could she? And why is the Grader coming after them, scaring both of them to death? “No! I cannot!” But the expression on his mother’s face was not a request that could be denied. This couldn’t be happening! “My dear Prince, I wished there was another way.” She pulled him in close, “We will meet again, I promise. Your father and I will be waiting.” She kisses him on the cheek, damp from his tears, as well as her own. “Now do it!” She steps back, closes her eyes and looks upward. Jack could hear the Grader getting closer as the crackling of leaves started to invade his ears. He brings the dagger up, pointing the blade at his mother’s chest. The Grader enters the field and slides to a halt, watching the event unfold in front of it. It was too late for it to stop Jack, as he plunged the dagger into Altai, screaming coming from the son as his mother slumped into the bird carving. Her blood dripped onto the talons of the bird, flowing like living veins traveling up around the bird till it reached it’s beak. The statues’ eyes blinked shut and then reopened, revealing a deep blue tint to them. Jack, still holding the dagger, watched in bewilderment as the bird slowly reanimated to life, unfolding it’s gigantic wings, causing Jack to step back. It’s stone color soon turned to an all-white, bright as snow, with dark patches in it’s feathers. It’s talons closed and reopened, digging at the dirt beneath it. The giant bird flapped its wings in three slow movements, rising into the air a few feet above the ground. It released a shriek so loud that Jack dropped the dagger and placed his palms to his ears. Then it turned its gaze towards the Grader. The Grader turned on its heels, bounding back towards the forest. Before it made it back, the bird, with a laser like swoosh, met the dark caped figure and grabbed it with it’s left talon, squeezing shut. The Grader let out a gasp as its insides left through its eyes, mouth and ears, finally going limp. The bird drops the lifeless body. It returns to Jack who was now holding the body of his mother close to him. The bird softly lands beside him and nudges his back with its beak, as if caressing him with sympathy for his loss. Jack turned, and looked into the blue eyes of the winged creature, that not even 5 minutes before, was just a still stone carving without a trace of life. He saw something familiar in the eyes but couldn’t make out what. He felt connected to this creature. As if it was family. Before he could rationalize what he did next, he found himself mounting the bird onto its back and gripping its neck. The bird took flight, taking a hold of Lady Altai into its talon. The bird rose higher, revealing the sun as it rose from the horizon. Jack stared down into the forest, watching the feathers danced their way to the bottom.