Chapter Two: Adventure

Lyla splashed through the stream and over the rocks, picking handfuls of flower petals on the way and throwing them before her like a grand procession. It could have been a scene in any little girl's life, except that the stream looked like liquid silver, and the flower petals were little bursts of flame. She was standing on a large, most magnificent cloud.

The castle behind her was as strange as the landscape. Her father was inside alone, her twin sister Lia hadn't wanted to come along. Lyla played by herself until she was exhausted and she settled on the edge of the cloud, letting her feet swing freely over the starry water below.

On and off, Lyla had been having an uneasy feeling, as if someone was watching her.

Perhaps it was her father, watching from a window. Where was he? Lyla twisted around to look at the cluster of single towers behind her.

For a moment, she saw a face watching from a near window. Lyla blinked, and the face was gone. Her uneasy feeling grew. It hadn't been her father's face; of that much she was sure.

Just then Lyla's father stepped through the door of the main tower, heading down the arching bridge that led down to the cloud. As he approached, Lyla decided she must have imagined the face, and she greeted her father with a smile.

"Having fun?" He asked, settling down beside her. Lyla nodded.

There was a swish of waves, and both of them looked down. A boat was moving swiftly across the waters below with a slender, elegant woman seated inside. She tilted her head back, spotting Lyla and her father on the cloud.

"Should we go say hello?" Father asked.

"Yes!" Lyla said emphatically.

The piece of cloud they sat upon suddenly came off, drifting away and separating from the cloud island. The boat stopped and waited as their little piece of cloud floated down lower and lower until it rested on the water beside the boat. Lyla jumped onto the boat, rocking it slightly, and her father followed more carefully. The cloud piece drifted away.

"Serenity," Father said in greeting.

"Hell Eyes," She responded. "All is well at the castle?" It seemed to Lyla that there was some hidden meaning to this, since nothing at the castle ever really changed, but she couldn't fathom what it was.

Father nodded, and Serenity turned to smile at Lyla. "Hello Lyla."

Lyla was used to everyone knowing her name, and smiled back. "Hi!"

"Do you want to go for a boat ride?"

"Yes, thank you!"

"Maybe we can visit an old friend," Father suggested, and Serenity nodded.

The boat went into motion, smoothly and silently, and Lyla couldn't help reaching over the edge to tip her fingers into the water. Her fingers dragged in the current, and Lyla immediately felt something a jolt of surprise. The water felt alive. There was something down there, below the stillness, something very wild and unrestrained.

It called to her, so Lyla left her fingers in the water.

They passed several glowing people who were floating on the water; Lyla thought it was a little odd to be taking a swim. Also, they were completely black and white with no color. They reminded Lyla of the faces she had seen through the window of her grandfather's room.

Lyla thought Lia was silly for staying home. The Pit was boring. Where her father went, things were interesting. Stars had faces, the water was alive, flowers burned and clouds gave you rides. She got to visit her favorite grandmothers, and Grandpa was sometimes there too. This boat ride was also exciting.

The boat began to slow, and it finally came to a stop beside one of the glowing people. The glowing man sat up, and father reached out and gripped hands with him, to help him step into the boat. It was an old man with white hair that seemed somewhat unaffected by gravity.

"Harry," the old man greeted Lyla's father. "Or should I call you Hell Eyes?"

Father grinned. "Just Harry, Aadon."

Aadon turned to look at Lyla, and he smiled. "Who's this?"

"This is Lyla," Father told him.

"One of the twins," Aadon said, and Lyla frowned. "Surely the prettier one," he added.

Lyla liked him.

They spent almost an hour with Aadon, who wanted Lyla to tell him all about her and her life. He also had a more serious conversation which Lyla mostly ignored, something about a planet called Fraizha.

"Have you ever been to Fraizha, Lyla?" Aadon asked.

Lyla shook her head.

Aadon looked at Father, who shrugged. "I suppose I could make a trip."

"They would love her," Aadon said. "They're very curious about her."

"Of course," Father agreed. "What do you think, Lyla?"

"Yes!" Lyla jumped up in the boat. "Let's go right now!" She gave Aadon a big hug. "Bye Aadon!"

Aadon laughed. "Well I see you're in a hurry, I'll let you be on your way." He hugged her back, nodded in a respectful way to Father, and then turned to Serenity. To her, be bowed. Serenity smiled her mysterious smile, and Aadon climbed back over the edge of the boat. The water held his weight. He stood, bobbing slightly, so that he could wave as they began to sail away. When he was just a figure in the distance, Lyla saw him lie down. She turned to look ahead.

They didn't go back to the castle; Lyla didn't see it even though she looked. She searched by peering up at the clouds above but couldn't determine which one had the castle on the upper side. Maybe it had drifted away. Father always found it again, by porting there directly.

Eventually they came to a dock with a lone door at the end. The boat came to a stop and Father stepped out, taking her hand.

"Thank you Serenity," Father said. Serenity nodded, letting her hand rest momentarily on Lyla's dark curling hair. The glow around her hand tingled Lyla's scalp like cool mint on her tongue.

Father opened the door, and Lyla immediately recognized where they were. She had never come through this way before, but she knew the round room that connected her Grandparent's homes.

"Are we going to go see Grandma?" Lyla asked.

"Yes," Father said. Lyla skipped along beside him across the room to the lavender door, holding his hand. The door opened before they got there, as always.

"Grandma!" Lyla yelled, letting go of her Father's hand and running down the hallway into her Grandmother's favorite room.

"Lyla," Grandma said, coming forward to hug Lyla. "I didn't know you two were coming. Lia's not here?"

"Nope," Lyla said with a shrug.

"What's this about?" Grandma asked. She had loopy curls like Lyla, but they were red, not black. She didn't look much like a normal grandma, but none of Lyla's grandmothers did.

"We're going to Fraizha," Father told her.

"But the only way to Fraizha is through the Void… are you going to make a portal?"

"No. I think Lyla will find it exhilarating, actually."

Grandma looked worried, and went into another room. She was back a moment later with a thick cloak, and she wrapped it around Lyla, fussing with the ends until they were tucked away and her arms were wrapped up. Her expression was of concern, and Lyla giggled. This was looking to be more and more exciting.

"I don't like this. Enna wouldn't like this, neither would Aeyris. Isn't she too young?"

"Lyla's a Portal Guide, Mother, she'll be fine. She's basically a Fraizhan, she should see her planet at some point."

Father picked up Lyla, holding her securely to his chest. She giggled again, wriggling in the long oversized cloak. Father pulled the hood up over her head and tucked it under his chin. For a moment, Lyla couldn't see.

There was a jolt. Her hood was ripped away, her eyes were blasted with wind and for a brief moment she was looking into an endless distance before she squeezed them shut. Her skin burned with cold and she was immediately shivering so hard her teeth were clacking against each other. Her father held her securely, his large black wings beating a steady rhythm.

Then the coldness eased. It was still cold, but it was a mild, comfortable coolness. Lyla opened her eyes, and was astounded by what she saw.

High around her were tall icy mountains; around and below green valleys spread out like cracks in the terrain. They were on a large platform, on which several Silents were perched like predatory hawks. Lyla's eyes were wide. She had never seen so many Portal Guides in one place before. They all had oversized signature black wings, and they looked at her with the same surprise she peered at them with.

Father strode into a large cave opening ahead of them, setting Lyla down and unraveling her from the cloak. The inside was carved with pictures of people and places that swirled around her like a canvas, statues that seemed to be moving and familiar faces. Much of it Lyla recognized, she had been raised with stories of the liberation of the Portal Guides and the Ice Lizard War.

"How was that?" Father asked.

"Dark," Lyla breathed.

They had been followed, and a whole crowd of Portal Guides were watching them in fascination. Lyla stared back boldly.

"This is Fraizha," Father told her. "Planet of the Portal Guides."

"Ooh," she breathed, looking around, "I'm a Portal Guide."

"Yes. These are your people."

There was a commotion, and the Portal Guides parted to allow through a man that was younger than the rest of them. In his arms, something was moving.

"Welcome Lyla!" he said with an easy, open grin.

"Olen," Father greeted. "What have you got there?" he asked suspiciously.

"A gift for your daughter," he said, and held out his offering. "Every little girl should have a kitten."

It was flecked white and pale grey, fuzzy and blinking, hanging from the scruff of its neck. Tiny fangs peeked out over it's upper lip, and it wriggled uncomfortably in the unrelenting grip of the Fraizhan holding her.

"A present!" Lyla squeaked. The kitten stopped wriggling and looked at her inquisitively pale blue eyes.

Father's hand was firm on her shoulder. "Olen…" he shook his head, "Where did you get a baby saber tooth snow tiger?"

"Caught it," Olen said smugly. "I had a… tip you were coming, and went straightaway."

"And you thought this was appropriate?"

"She's not any normal little girl. She's our kind of little girl. Of course it's appropriate."

"So you really do hear Aadon sometimes?"

Olen nodded and turned his attention back to Lyla. "It's a girl too," he said, taking a step closer and releasing the kitten into Lyla's arms.

Lyla hugged the squirming kitten, grinning so wide that her face hurt.

"Lia doesn't have a kitten!" she pointed out.

"Somehow I doubt she wants one," Father murmured.

"I will call her Snow Princess!"

Father rolled his eyes. "Alright, we'll just see what your grandmother has to say about this. Come, everyone wants to meet you."

Lyla looked into her kitten's blue eyes and hugged it to her chest.