After twenty minutes or so of hiking upwards on the trail and deep in thought, Winston heard an earsplitting horrific echoing bang and then another. Startled, he turned back looking towards the stream which a short while ago had appeared so tranquil. That tranquil stream now resembled a raging ocean. Waves were violently smashing against its banks. The sky darkened and powerful winds seemed to come at him from every direction.
“What in the world’s going on?” he shouted aloud. “This is so weird. I’ve never seen or heard of anything like this ever happening anyplace on Luminatia,” he nervously thought as he instinctually headed towards the caves to find cover.
As he ran for shelter, the winds blew so fiercely that he was knocked off his feet several times. Winston tried holding on to whatever he could find to keep himself upright. He tried ducking between some large boulders along the trail for protection. It was no use; the winds ripped him away. Loud sounds of howling began to fill the air. The entrance to one of the caves was now in sight. He gathered all of his strength and made a dash for it.
Once inside Winston collapsed against the cave wall. Bruised and shaking profusely, he had never experienced anything like this. “What’s happening?” he yelled. Fear permeated through his entire being as the howling took on an eerie unworldly quality. “Maybe I’ll be safer at the back of the cave,” he thought.
He took out the small torchlight he always carried with him, lit it and slowly began to move further into the cave. Once more he felt something brush by him. Turning quickly again there was nothing. The howling turned to high a pitched shrieking.
Dark shadowy forms appeared and began taunting Winston. “Who are you? What are you and what do you want from me?” the young boy screamed, his body trembling. There was no answer. “Oh, what’s that smell?” he cringed, looking around to find the source of the putrid stench which was now filling his nostrils. He saw nothing.
Winston was under attack; by what or who he had no idea. These shadowy black figures were coming at him from every direction. There were hundreds of them. They had no particular shape as they brushed by him emitting a slight stinging sensation, which sent chills down his spine. Terrified and screaming, “Get away! Get away!” Winston began swatting at these shadows with his arms.
“Winston, Winston,” his sister Willow called out. “Wake up! Wake up!” You’re having a bad dream.
“Huh! I was dreaming? Wow! It felt so real,” he said sitting up and still trembling.
“Winston you never have bad dreams. Are you ok?” she asked concerned about her brother.
“Yeah I’m good,” he said sounding a little disoriented. “This is gonna sound crazy, but it feels like it was a warning of some kind,” he said rubbing his eyes and beginning to relax.
“A warning!” his sister repeated feeling a little uneasy. “A warning about what?
“I don’t know, I can’t remember anything about the dream now. I just have this feeling, I can’t explain it,” he replied.
“You must have eaten one too many cookies last night. Winston you’ve got a real vivid imagination.” Willow chuckled.
“Speaking of eating, I’m starving, I need some breakfast.”
“You’re always starving,” Willow said with a smile as the two headed down to the kitchen.
CHAPTER TWO
Willow watched from the rooftop balcony of their townhouse as her older brother, older by eleven minutes practiced for the Ring of Splendor Race. Winston sat atop Bracer as they soared across the clear blue sky appearing to head directly into the sun. But then they made a rapid turn into a severe dive, an abrupt twist, and a backward loop. Next it was straight down towards the ground and another quick turn across the horizon. She studied her brother as he practiced in earnest.
Seeing malgrids fly so gracefully in the sky always fascinated Willow. As Bracer, Winston’s white dove bodied malgrid with its golden beak glided above her, she could see the purple, green and gold markings on its white transparent butterfly shaped wings. Malgrid’s wings were deceiving. Giving the impression they were ever so delicate, when in fact they were powerful enough to break a large branch off a tree with one flap of their wing. She had seen malgrids fly while carrying the weight of heavy men on their backs with such seeming ease.
Like all children in the idyllic world of Luminatia, on the day the twins turned five, their young malgrids flew into their lives. No one is sure how the malgrids know when appear into a child’s life, but it is always on their exact fifth birthday. It is one of the mysteries of the ages. Because a child is able to communicate with their malgrid telepathically, some people think there might be a psychokinetic connection that ignites once a child reaches the age of five.
Others are more philosophical and believe in the legend of Vidad. He is the young hero from ancient tales who is purported to have discovered the species of malgrids, also known as aeropaths, on a remote island and tamed the first one. When his younger brother Morlen saw Vidad flying on the malgrid he yearned to fly with him. Vidad’s love for his brother was so great he tamed a second malgrid and presented it to Morlen on his fifth birthday. A powerful lifelong bond was formed between the aeropath and the young boy. From that day forward legend says when a child on Luminatia turns five a malgrid arrives specifically for that child and they immediately bond for life.
As Willow continued to watch her brother perform some of the difficult maneuvers, she wondered how they could share the same DNA. Although they were twins, they were not identical. Both had light brown hair and hazel eyes but the similarities stopped there. She was serious in nature; Winston on the other hand was a bit of a jokester who loved making up stories for their adventure games. Willow was slender and petite with long wavy hair, while Winston, about two inches taller than his twin was slightly on the stocky side, but not fat, kept his hair short. She loved art and music. Winston could not be less interested in either. If it did not involve an adventure or solving a mystery, if it could not be taken apart, examined, explored, reconstructed or flown across the sky, to her brother it was not worth knowing or doing.
After an intense practice session, before landing, Winston decided to take a quieting flight on Bracer to unwind. As he flew over his home in the City of Manadir, the capital and largest of the cities in Luminatia, Winston began to take deep breaths releasing the remnants of his pent-up energy from his long practice session.
He guided Bracer, flying low as they passed over the white limestone tri-level home he shared with his family on the outskirts of the city overlooking Lake Mornea. Winston knew concentrating his attention on these tranquil sights always helped him to relax.
Focusing on Manadir he caught sight of the copper dome of the Royal Museum of Natural History where his father, Simon, had been the assistant curator. He smiled remembering the many times he had accompanied his father to the museum when it was closed and the adventures they created together in the many exhibits. Those adventures still sparked his imagination.
Bracer flew him high above verdant Great Forest with its stately evergreens. Even at this height, their fragrant scent tickled Winston’s nostrils. At the forest’s edge, Winston caught a glimpse of the Ancient One’s castle overlooking the Shevac Sea.
Continuing to concentrate on the visions below he felt the tension in his body begin to leave. Fusions of color framed the gardens breaking up the vastness of the monochromatic lawns as the sunlight danced off the golden doors of the majestic white marble castle. North, at the far end of the castle grounds he spotted the Royal Aquarium with its unique and colorful underwater life forms. From above, he could make out the carvings of fish on the three bluish-green marble columns at the entrance to the white stone building housing the aquarium.
And then he saw it,