Chapter 1: Falling

The world collapses around me, groaning and shrieking. A massive heat and pressure bear down on me, crushing me, breaking me. Pain roars across my skin. I gasp for air but find none. Red flashes behind my eyes. I try desperately to scream. The pain roars around me, a ring of red, a ring of black.

This is… death...?

No, I can't...! I h…ave to…

To…

It… the pressure. It's gone.

A breath of wind caresses my face and billows through my hair, soft clothing waves around me. I feel the sun... I take a deep breath: fresh, cool air fills my lungs. I slowly open my eyes to the sunlight.

White clouds gleam against a bright eternity of blue sky, an expanse that welcomes me from wherever I look. Everywhere, everywhere, there is only sky. I find myself smiling.

A dream, I must be dreaming…

An exhilarating freedom buoys my heart, like a red balloon soaring skyward. I turn and run, a smooth wooden deck beneath my feet. The playful zephyr tugs at my pajamas, encouraging me to run faster—the tempo of my beating footsteps races to keep up. I laugh, so free, so weightless.

The clouds drift so close above my head. I jump, trying to catch the glowing mist in my outstretched arms, but come back down with nothing. Almost… The wind rushes around me, stronger now. With its eager encouragement at my back I run again, faster, pushing off the boards with my toes at each step. Energy courses through my veins as I crouch, leap, fly! The air parts around me, cool moisture enveloping me in weightlessness. Mist trails from my fingertips as I drop lightly back down, and for a moment I hold my own little cloud before it fades with the breeze.

Suddenly something catches at me, a distant Power drawing at my edges like a faint call of my name. I turn my head to find it, following the gentle tug at my core to the edge of the worn deck, marked only by a thin railing. The feeling urges me forward again, to the very edge, the boundary between me and the open sky. I glide to the railing, my hands unconsciously running over the smooth wood of the runner. A railing…?

I look around once more, suddenly recognizing where I've been all along: a ship. I turn and gaze across the misty deck, the railing on the other side vague through the clouds and the blue expanse beyond. My eyes follow the boundary into the distance, catching on a point just off the center of the ship's length. There, from each side of the ship unfold massive wings, each a gleaming white that dissipates into bright green-tinted feather-tips. I turn away from the railing and step toward the beating wings, but the feeling tugs again, insistent, reminding me of its presence. It's gentle still, but stronger—urging me to go beyond the railing.

What… is this feeling, this Power? Where is it coming from?

I look out into the sky, trying to locate the source. Where are you...?

The Power draws my head down in answer.

My breath catches in my throat and my chest tightens with fear. There… all the way… down there… Shivers race along my body, a force as tangible as the touch of freezing fingertips. I tighten my hold on the railing until my hands ache. I can't stop, I look down… and down… and down…

A nightmare!

The wind gusts, gaining a sharpness that raises goose bumps on my arms. The world below, beneath the clouds… so far that my wide eyes blur the colors and shapes in a dizzying haze of vertigo. The pull gets stronger, no longer gentle. It calls achingly for me, a siren's wail, its intent to throw me down.

I stumble back from the edge but it drags me forward again – a chain tight around my waist, anchored somewhere deep in my chest. Thick black clouds rise from the world below, rushing up past the ship. The dark mass spreads across the open blue, dousing the sun in an instant. A dark shape expands within the storm, a blurred malignant presence. Buried and heavy among the clouds, it looms across the sky, endless...

The world goes black. My blood runs cold. My body tenses, emotions rushing through me. My pulse thunders in my ears, screaming at me to run, but my limbs are frozen in place. Biting winds rise to grip and shove me. The Power from below restrains itself no longer, dragging my feet from the rough deck. My hair whips across my face. I wrap my arms around the railing, the only solid thing in my blind world. The rain hisses across the deck a split second before it pounds into me, drenching and instant. Stinging hail welts bruises on my uncovered arms, clattering from the sky. A jagged crackle of electricity roars through the air, so close, right at me...!

I gasp, jolting myself from senselessness. The winds tear into me from every direction, each gust screaming as it fights for any piece of me it can grab. I'm falling! My body convulses as I reach for anything solid - anything to stop me, to save me. But there's nothing, nothing, no! I desperately wrap my arms around myself, to hold me in, back, away from here. Through the overpowering rush of air I realize that I'm screaming, a shriek ripping through my throat and from my lips in ragged bursts.

Lightning connects the sky and earth, encircling me with its path. Its energy ripples through my body, blinding, deafening, burning, hurtling me through the sky. I fight to stay conscious, glimpsing in the instant of glaring light the ground as it rushes towards me, closer, closer… so close! My stomach roils with fear and I tense, gripping my head tightly with my hands. Stop! No! It's only a dream!

Wake up! Let me wake up!

No! No! No! The wind tosses me through the air.

Please stop, help me! I can't stop, I can't stop!

I can't close my eyes. The wind forces them open—forces the air into my lungs so hard that I can't breathe, my screams choke in my throat. The barraging needle-sharp sting of hail fades to an encompassing ache as my body grows numb. My tears join the rain, streaming from my eyes and distorting the already dim world. No...!

I can't stop! I'm going to die…!

Another flash lights the sky, but it doesn't fade.

. . .

The Guardian sits lazily on the cool stone steps leading up to a large pyramidal altar. He slowly looks up into the wide sky, stifling a yawn as he idly considers taking a nap in the warmth of the beaming summer sun. 'Perfect weather for it.' He leans back and relaxes on the time-worn steps, closing his eyes and folding his arms behind his head.

A gust of wind steals the sun-given warmth. The Guardian opens his eyes with annoyance to the clear blue sky as it fades to gray. He blinks, brows furrowing as he stands to watch heavy clouds circle out of the heavens, riled by the gusts of wind rushing up from the very ground—out of nowhere. The sky darkens to a sudden dusk. A frown shapes the Guardian's mouth into a heavy line, the hair rising on his arms despite himself. He tears his gaze away from the sky, turning and bounding up the steps to the wide platform at the altar's peak.

The Guardian gazes at his charge, his dark stare unblinking in its glow. Before him a large emerald floats steadily above its stone rest, nearly his height and thrice his width. He disregards the storm as it builds in strength, scarcely noticing the hail and sleet pelting down from the baleful sky. Power shifts in the emerald's faceted depths—it bursts out, a brilliant column of green light into the dark clouds above. The Guardian's gaze follows the beam into the sky, searching the heavens for the source of this disturbance. His frown grows deeper as a shape plummets through the clouds and slowly drifts into the column of light, becoming visible only as a tumbling mass of clothing, hair, and limbs. His fists tighten with distaste.

'Who wants my emerald this time? '

But he pauses, a slight spark of surprise crossing his features. "That looks like a human…"

Lightning crashes through the sky, blinding and instant. He blinks to clear his vision, quickly noting as the human's fall begins to slow. It seems nearly weightless by the time it reaches the altar, settling on emerald's surface with a gentle grace.

"A girl?" The Guardian steps closer, only once, curious despite himself.

After a moment the girl stirs, brushing the emerald beneath her before rubbing her face as she struggles to sit up. She mumbles to herself, too quietly for him to hear. The sharp, panicked emotions fade slowly from her countenance to be replaced by a faint relieved smile.

But the smile dies on her lips. The emerald's light beams up from beneath her, blinding her as she tries to determine her surroundings. The Guardian's dark eyes harden, his irritation growing as this human continues to sit helplessly on his charge, but his frown twitches as tears roll down her face.

Discovering the source of light to be beneath her, the girl stumbles, rising to her knees. Seeming to move almost by some will other than her own, her hands move forward, disembodied, and fall slowly onto the emerald before her, one beside the other. Its glow dims instantly at her touch, and the Guardian jerks forward. Before he can reach it the emerald flares again, brighter than before. The girl screams as the light encompasses her, her figure completely dissipating in a power that knifes up through the storm above.