The sun crested the horizon, coating the world in warm rays of golden light. The clouds that slowly drifted high in the air diffused the overwhelming glare. A flock of reptile-like creatures fluttered their way through the sky in strange patterns of flight. Their long tails writhed behind them like snakes. Their small scales, in various colors, reflected the morning sun. Their flight, while sporadic, had a kind of dance-like beauty to it. That is, until a large creature shot through the midst of them clamping three of the small creatures in its maw. The rest scattered with squeals of fright and despair. The jynx, however, wheezed joyfully, her belly now somewhat satiated by a recent meal. The rider on her back laughing in triumph in the wake of a successful hunt.

  Saama had shot off a nearby spire and dove at a blinding speed to capture this prey and she was sharing the thrill of the ride with the rider on her back. Diago and Saama had grown close over the last few weeks. Saama could not speak with human words, but it was as if Diago could understand her like she could. It was more instinctual than verbal, though Diago still spoke to her.

  “Good catch!” He called over the roar of wind that ripped at his hair.

  Saama wheezed, still chewing on her kill. She leveled out to a glide, giving them both a wonderful aerial view of the world below. They were still very high, so that the ground below felt more surreal than impending. A cloud drifted below them, showing their mutual cast shadow on its billowy surface. Diago felt Saama’s delight. She loved being so high up, ready to pounce on any creature below. Diago smiled. He was still trying to figure out what Biesaroch meant, or what it meant to be “connected to life” as Eeshack had put it. However, in this moment, he put the implications from his head and simply enjoyed the moment.

  He would have enjoyed it longer, but just when their shared adrenaline spike had begun to relax, Diago felt a tug in his gut that was confirmed by a new shadow revealing itself on the cloud below. Wordlessly, both he and Saama jerked to the left. Just after they made the movement, a streak of motion flared past them. And by flared I mean it really flared with light and flame. Whatever it was shot below the cloud and disappeared.

  Shaken and on edge, both Saama and Diago glided. Diago could feel a general sense of danger and a creature in pursuit of a meal, but at this moment, his instincts were not more descriptive than that. Ready for anything and weighing their options, they wordlessly decided to dive for the ground. Just when they were about to commit to the action, through the cloud layer shot the creature that had almost ground meat…or air meat as it were.

  The creature was only a few sizes larger than Saama, but its lack of grandeur was made up for in its ferocious appearance. Diago had only heard of sky raptors before, but had never encountered one until now. Two large, triangular wings reached from its torso and flapped in tandem with a third on its back. When I say flapped I really mean rippled as though swimming through sky. The rest of its body resembled that of a serpent writhing in the air. Its head was thin and angular. Its eyelids fitted from the corners of the socket, the iris was a thick slit planted within the raptor’s blood red colored eye. It had a singular stone-like tusk that protruded above its snout, just above the razor-sharp fangs that bent in odd angles. The raptor smelled putrid. The smell was produced by the natural gases that seeped through the pores underneath the beast's tiny scales. When the creature struck its snout with the flint that often grew on the spires near the border of Tunaan, the raptor's natural gases would light and engulf the beast's body in flame. Ferocious offense and aggressive defense were married in the sky raptor.

  Saama was incapable of simply coming to a stop and their flight path was taking them straight for the sky raptor. Diago sensed that this was taken as a threat. He really didn’t mind though. Diago enjoyed this, his adrenaline was pumping and he was ready for a fight. The raptor roared, Saama gave a guttural hiss, and Diago yelled,

  “Come on you smelly oaf!”

  Diago was just about to reach for his Kurigan when a high-pitched subtle whistle entered Diago’s audible periphery. The whistle was followed by the thud of an arrow lodging itself in the center mass of the sky raptor. An instant reaction of pained screeching and thrashing followed. Diago saw the tail coming but unfortunately there was nothing that could be done, so he simply braced for impact. The whipping tail of the raptor caught Diago just underneath the armpit and threw him off of Saama and he began to plummet. Saama collapsed her wings to rush after him.

  The three fell together. The dead or dying raptor, the loyal jynx, and the boy who was just thinking that he might actually kill Aylah this time. Though he couldn’t help but be impressed yet again with her incredible accuracy with that bow of hers. Diago ought to have felt terrified by the oncoming ground and the howl of wind tearing at his hair and clothing, but instead, he felt only perturbed by the sudden inconvenience. Saama, on the other hand, was quite afraid and was diving toward Diago as fast as gravity would allow.

  Diago leveled himself out to let the wind catch him and he slowed enough for Saama to catch up. As soon as she had him in her front pair of legs she snapped her gliding limbs. Incredible amounts of forced pulled on her joints and webbing, but thankfully she was quite recovered from her previous injury at the hand of the Firstborn. Returned to a glide and only a short distance from camp, Saama descended toward a small clearing with a tree that had a little red ribbon tied to one of its branches. In a moment, they landed and were treated with much pleasantry.

  “Are you absolutely brainless?!” Came a cry from a nearby tree top.

  “Good morning to you too, sweet Aylah” Diago said with a sarcastic bellow as he dismounted.

  “Shut up Sunburn!”

  Aylah jumped from the tree she was perched in, bow still in hand. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, accentuating her striking features and her unique skin markings. Diago always thought it was an interesting tradition to use sun tanning from infancy to create permanent markings on the skin. He so affectionately expressed his fascination with this tradition by calling her-

  “Make me Tantoos!”

  “That’s enough you too!” Thatch yelled from behind Aylah and then more calmly said, “Diago I did warn you that it could be dangerous to hunt here”

  Diago rolled his eyes, “Oh come on it wasn’t THAT dangerous”

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  Just then, only a hundred feet from Diago, the body of a sky raptor met the ground with a loud crash, leaving a fiery corpse smoldering in a crater. Diago flinched and saw the body and turned back to see both Aylah and Thatch looking at him with arms crossed. Aylah seemed both mad and annoyed, while Thatch just seemed concerned and worried, though there was a look of relief in his eyes that Diago was alright. Diago appreciated that about Thatch. There was a lot of friendly paternal instincts underneath that mustache of his, though his mustache was looking more like a beard with each passing day.

  Diago was about to go off and defend himself, claiming that he had everything under control until Aylah shot the raptor. He was also about to say it was all her fault, which would have inevitably made the conversation as lengthy as it was loud. However, he didn’t get the words out because Saama, knowing the argument he was about to make, came up from behind and nudged him while hissing. A clear and understood warning. Diago’s shoulder slumped in the wake of a fiery argument doused by the water of reason. To appease Saama and bring this heat to a cool, Diago said,

  “Alright, you win! I’m sorry, okay?”

  Aylah shook her head in frustration and stalked away. Thatch looked slightly disappointed, but no more than he often was after an antic of Diago’s. He too turned back to camp.

  “…‘welcome back’, ‘are you hurt?’, ‘Glad you are safe’” Diago muttered to himself, then to Saama he said, “Some people just have no manners.” Saama snorted in reply, just before Diago let out a belch. She recoiled and Diago laughed. Saama recovered from her reaction and then proceeded to do her version of a laugh, which was like a wheeze broken up by shuddering breath joined with a rumble in her chest. They walked back to camp together.

  The group had been on the run for the last few weeks. They had ducked and dodged and hidden themselves in various woods and villages to evade the men who were after them. They were pretty certain that they had lost their pursuers after the second village, but they didn’t take the chance on comfort, so they continued to run as though the band of soldiers was right behind them. It was only these last few days that they had decided that they could relax a bit.

  Over the long and arduous road of the last few weeks, the group had recovered from injuries incurred during the fight with the Firstborn. Sore was the worst of physical injuries at present, all except for Thatch, who was much worse for wear. Whatever the Firstborn did to him left him subdued and weary. It was common for him to wake up yelling. When asked what was wrong he would merely shake his head and take the night watch. Both Aylah and Diago were worried about their weaver, but both were at a loss as to how to help.

  “Were you able to get the Helm to work for you?” Diago asked Aylah as he approached the surly onterrin.

  “I can’t even get it to change its shape.” Said Aylah the a scornful look at the plane looking circlet in her hands. She tossed it to Diago like one would toss a wasted bit of material. She sat at the base of a tree and took to oiling the joint in the middle of her foldable bow with a frown.

  Diago could guess what was bothering her. She was adamant that the Ariochmar was meant for her and that Diago and Thatch were sent by the Fades to aid her in her search. Logically, that would make sense from her perspective. She was the first to be called. Diago recalled a conversation with her wherein she expressed confusion as to his being called. Thatch was a mind weaver, a rare skill among an even rarer people. Diago was just some boy from Tunaan.

  At least as far as Aylah knew. Diago was far more than that. A fact that he struggled with to his roots. Diago was the rightful prince of Eldaren and had a claim to its throne. More than that, Diago was Biesaroch. Eeshack, the last Great Weaver, told him that the name Biesaroch comes from an old language. Bies, meant beast or wild, depending on the context. Aroch meant ruler or king. So

  Diago was “Beast King” or another translation that Diago liked, “King of the Wild”.

  He had decided that all of this was best kept to himself.

  “Something I am unsure is a good idea” said a familiar voice in Diago’s head the moment he put the circlet on his brow. The smoky image of The Great Weaver appeared in Diago’s view wearing the same plain clothing and haggard walk, married to a familiar warmth and kindness.

  Eeshack’s gaze on Diago was as warm as his tone, “to struggle is a battle, to struggle alone is a war.”

  “Who says I’m struggling? Besides, I have you don’t I?” Said Diago with his thoughts to the Weaver.

  “Only when I have the strength to appear, which is not often, and will run out in time my dear boy.”

  To that, Diago had no reply, so he diverted, “Thatch do you want to try the Helm?”

  A sigh came from the Weaver, “The Helm will only work for you son of Eton.”Thatch looked up with an expression of weariness and was about to reply, but something must have caught his attention, because his words were stopped by a curious stare. It was like he saw something inexplicable. The look lasted a moment, but then Thatch came to himself and replied, “I have a feeling I won't have more luck than Aylah. So the burden of the helm falls to your shoulders…or head more accurately”

  “…Thatch…was that a joke? Are you coming back to life?” Diago said with a smirk.

  Aylah looked appalled that he would be so tactless, but Thatch just smiled, “little by little. Time is quite the healer.”

  “And mint a refresher” rang the voice of Eeshack. Diago shot him a curious glance and the Great Weaver smiled, “It was something your father used to say”

  Diago might’ve said something to that, but he remembered that no one else could see or hear the ancient man.

  Thatch continued, “I’m glad you are safe and that Saama got something to eat-” A belch came from Saama at that very moment. She looked full and satisfied. “However,” Thatch said, “We are nearer to the border now and that means we are close to Phelgan as well. So, we should stay close together and keep to hunting on the ground.”

  Diago had noticed that the ground was growing less dry, the air cooler, and the atmosphere tense. It was like those beastly and wild instincts of his were ramping up in light of potential danger rising from all sides. Phelgan was the wild country that grew in the center of the divided kingdoms. It separated them and was neutral territory, save for the mountains of Onterrin that grew within the deadly forests.

  “If we are close to the border, then we should be near the Giant's Garden right?”

  Asked Aylah, while putting her bow into the special sheath she had on her hip. It was a recent gift from a leather worker in a village they passed through. Aylah unintentionally saved his Talard by putting a few arrows between the quill-like scales of a Kolid while hunting one day. A story for another time.

  “Yes,” Said Thatch in reply, “we will have to pass over Giant’s Garden if we are to make it to Marien.

  “Over? What do you mean? How do you pass OVER the tallest spires in Tunaan?” Asked a confused Diago.

  He half expected Eeshack to explain, but the ancient man was content to let the reply come from another. However, Aylah rolled her eyes and set to finishing packing. Thatch was similarly unforthcoming and contented himself with a smirk and a, “You’ll understand soon enough”

  And with that, the conversation turned to work effort. Everyone was packing what was theirs. Aylah had finished the quickest and climbed to the top of the tree to remove the red ribbon from the tallest branch. Thatch finished by rolling up some canvas that he used for a tent. Eeshack bade Diago a fond farewell with a cryptic, “We will speak again soon”.

  Diago put a blanket and bedroll into a bag on a saddle that was modified to fit Saama. Preparations complete and traces of a camp removed. The four set offtoward The Giant’s Garden, toward Marien, toward their answer to the Fade’s call.

  They set out toward the Ariochmar.

  Exciting news: Book one is undergoing some final stages of Editing and when that’s done, it will be published on Amazon and Kindle.

  Amazon/kindle or something else?