Trial Of The Seers WIP

"Alright, let's see here..." The salesman across from me mumbled. "Leona Arganya, Your island should be just past the X Clouds," He told me as he gave me my key amulet. "I'm sure you'll love it. It has a great view of the area. Thanks for the business, miss."

"No problem, I appreciate your help." I replied. Heading out of the shop, I whistled for Veyron, my sapphire blue Glidewing. His feathers reflected the sunlight as if they were glass. His round head turned in every direction as both his eyes located me. He then walked over to me and bent his head downwards so I could pet him, like I always did when I first got him. I still remember when I received him on my 14th birthday...

It was a bright, sunny day. Every Pera child in our community that turned 14 in the past month were to receive a Glidewing from the community at an honourary ceremony.

"Fellow Perans!" Our chieftain announced. "Today is a special day for our children. Ever since our people settled here, we have travelled amongst our islands on the backs of the glorious creatures called Glidewings. Today, we allow these young adults, full of hopes, dreams, and desires, to roam free past our island bounds without a care in the world." As he was speaking, a large cart was rolled onto the stage, covered by a drape. "Let their lives be full of safety, accomplishment, and of course - adventure! Now come, our aspiring children! Come befriend the beings who will give you the freedom to achieve your goals!" The large drape over the card was taken off as it unveiled a large cage filled with Glidewings.

While everybody attending the ceremony expected all of us to go one by one, in an orderly fashioned line, we all non-verbally decided during the speech to run up there in a loud, overexcited mob. After the staff of the ceremony got us organized, we slowly started to receive our Glidewings.

Each child on the stage got to choose their own. There was a giant array of birds, differing in size and colour. There was an elegant purple bird, a feisty red bird, and just about every other colour on the rainbow.

The one that really stood out to me was Veyron - he was settled in the back of the cage, behind everyone else.

He looked absolutely amazing. I didn't see any other feather colours on any other bird - that's why I wanted him so badly.

As I approached forward and said I wanted him, I noticed he was scared - I mean, I was too, so it probably rubbed off onto him.

The large bird walked forward, its head turning in every direction. It was much larger than I expected, especially for being this young...I'd say it was half the size of a house.

I held up my hand, like every other child is taught to do when expecting to receive a Glidewing. What's supposed to happen next is, if it trusts you enough, it'll bend its neck forward, and place its head onto your hand.

It's just that..it didn't happen. Not immediately, of course. I felt my face turn red in embarassment. Was I doing something wrong? I felt like I was going to faint.

To my relief, the large bird finally bent its head toward me and allowed me to touch it.

His feathers were so soft, and I heard him hum happily as I rubbed his head.

As all the other kids got their Glidewings, I was trying to look for my dad. He said he'd be in the crowd, but I couldn't find him for the life of me.

"Now, is everyone content with the Glidewings they've chosen?" The Chieftain asked. "Great! Now it's time to saddle them up and ride them for the first time!"

Lots of staff came onto the stage and started harnessing up the birds with saddles. Slowly but surely, the stage emptied as the children were bringing their new Glidewings to the flight deck, on the other side of the island.

The streets were full of people congratulating us for getting a Glidewing. Kids were waving to friends younger and older, and even stopped sometimes to see their parents.

I tried looking for my father for the entire walk, but I couldn't spot him. He promised me he would show up to see me, where could he be?

By the time we got to the flight deck, everyone was itching to take to the skies. Of course, since most of us had no idea how to control a Glidewing, we needed to be given a quick demonstration. Duck down to go down, pull up on your bird's reigns to go up, turn left and right to turn to that direction accordingly. There were other things, but it was stuff we all could've figured out on our own (like how to stop.)

I still saw no sign of my dad anywhere. I was disappointed, honestly. I guess I can tell him how it went when I see him again.

I tried not to look upset when it was my turn to take off. I didn't want to ruin the day with my sour attitude.

When I got to the edge of the flight deck, it was hard not to look down and get dizzy. We were told stories of those who fell off the island without their Glidewings - they say they're still falling to this day.

Trying not to faint in front of the entire community, I signalled my bird to spread his wings, and to finally leap off from the deck.

The speed at which we took off was a lot faster than I expected - any faster and my hair would've ripped right off my head.

I yanked the reigns of my Glidewing quickly, just so that it could go a bit slower and I could practice basic maneuverability.

It took a few minutes, but I was able to get comfortable with how controlling it worked.

After picking up speed again, I started doing tricks with all the other kids; rolls, loops, spirals, all the fancy stuff. But after a while I went back to the flight deck since I started feeling a bit sick.

Dismounting my Glidewing, I thought I heard a voice call my name.

I turned my head in all directions, paying attention to the sounds, trying to distinctly locate my name being shouted over everything else.

"Leona!" I finally heard, as a hand grabbed me by my arm and turned me around.

After a quick recovery of my wits from the sudden turn, I was able to realize that it was my dad talking to me. He finally showed up.

"By the Seers - Dad, you scared me!" I laughed slightly, and rubbed my arm a bit. "And don't grab me like that, it hurt.."

"I'm sorry, but I saw you flying with your Glidewing and got here as fast as I could! How was it? Did you like it? Where's your Glidewing?" He was shouting so many questions that I couldn't even focus on which one to answer first.

"It was fun! I liked it a lot, I just took it easy like you told me to. My Glidewing's right there." I pointed to my bird, who was drinking water at the community's local Glidewing water bowl.

"The blue one?" My dad asked, and I nodded in response. "Wow, you chose a nice colour. I bet your mother would be proud."

My mother. I haven't seen her in my entire life. The only thing I know about her is that she was taken by Kloy'Qen bandits when I was only a baby. Thinking about her made my stomach churn. Knowing that she still could be out there, suffering as someone's slave, or even worse, hurt me.

I snapped my head back into reality before I thought of anything else about her. "Yeah, she would be, huh?" I replied.

"I'm sure of it, Leona." My dad sighed. "Have you given your new friend a name yet?"

My mind raced. I was so caught up in the entire moment of the ceremony and flying for the first time that I didn't even think of a name.

"Veyron," I spat out without thinking. "His name is Veyron."

"Veyron? An odd name, but..I like it." My dad put his arm around me and held me close. "I'm sure the both of you are going to grow really close."

And ever since that day, the two of us have been inseparable. There wasn't a waking minute of my life that I wasn't riding Veyron through the clouds.

I would wake up at unreasonable hours just to sneak out and fly in the quiet air on my own. As the years passed, I started becoming more talented with Veyron than I would've ever imagined. Just last year, I was nominated as one of Pera's best Glidewing riders.

Finally bringing my head out of the past and into the present, I noticed that Veyron was still waiting for me to pet him.

"Aww, Veyron..." I gently rubbed my hand over his head. "I'm sorry I took so long, the island salesman was kind enough to spend time looking for a good place for us to live. When we get there, I promise we don't have to go flying anymore for the rest of today."

Veyron cooed softly, his eyes closed in satisfaction. "Don't worry. I know you're tired," I told him. "You just need to fly one more time, okay?" I gently patted his head twice, a sign I was taught to tell Glidewings to prepare for their riders to get on them.

He raised his head up and stood up straight, and I got onto his back. I motioned him to walk forward, and I pulled out a map as he was getting to the edge.

"Just past the X Clouds...should only be a 10 minute flight, at most..." I told myself. I pulled out a pen and circled our new island on the map, just so that I didn't get lost.

As I saw we were approaching the edge, I prepared for take off. I was always told to hold tight on the reins, but that only applied if you were rocketing off the platform. I learned just to take off slowly and then increase speed while in the air.

Veyron slowly started lifting himself into the air, and before I knew it, we were on our way. I'd enjoy the scenery but honestly I've seen it so much that it's boring to me. There's nothing here besides an endless sea of clouds and a blank sky. At least at night there's stars, and you can connect constellations, but during the day? Nothing.

However, I couldn't let myself be bored enough that I lose my focus. There were reports all over the Peran community of the Kloy'Qen tribe attacking unsuspecting riders - as of right now, a total of 12 riders were never heard from again after taking off.

People have sent offerings to our Seer, Maroe, so that riders old and young can be protected. However, it didn't seem like it was working - there's been mass hysteria in the streets for days about whether or not Seers are even real.

Seers are really an odd topic. People don't believe in them, some people do. Stories say they were once a singular holy order, but a large war happened between them that caused the order to be disbanded. Now, they only watch over a large area of land individually.

I only ever learned about the Peran seer, Maroe. Although, I have heard stories about others.

I heard of the Kloy'Qen tribe Seer, and honestly I never understood it. As far as I know, they believed in some sort of selfish deity who wants everything for himself. I believe they called him Xenith. Why they believe in some childish thing is beyond me. It's most likely why that tribe is the most mischievous and untrustworthy.

I've also been told about a Seer that watches over the land below the clouds. I find that one hard to believe, since no one has went there and made it out alive.

There's many others, but it seems like that they're all just made up by people for the attention. I once heard of a Seer that's made up of two separate beings, but are somehow the same.

I was so far in thought that I never realized I went back on my word about not losing focus. I was lucky enough to realize that the X Clouds were just up ahead - I didn't want to miss our new island!

Speaking of our new island, there was one thing about it that I never even questioned...it was spacious, had an amazing view, was close to one of the best natural monuments in Peran history...it was perfect, to say the least.

So...why in the Seers' names did it only cost 50 coins of gold? Islands that good are about five hundred thousand times that price.

I noticed a change in the clouds as we were flying, and saw a piece of land start coming closer onto the horizon.

"Ooooh, this is it, Veyron!" I shouted in excitement. "Go, go, go! Full speed ahead!"

Without a second thought, Veyron picked up speed towards the oncoming island. It took us about no time to arrive and land.

I practically fell off of Veyron when we landed. I was so tired that all I wanted to do was sleep. I bet he felt the same, as he sat and closed his eyes as soon as he could.

I looked up right into the blank sky, the same sky I grew up looking at all my life.

I felt myself dozing off, and I knew I wanted to sleep, but..something didn't feel right.

I heard this ringing far off in the distance. Not sure what it was, but it felt like it was getting louder. I got up and looked around, trying to find something, anything that could be making that noise.

I noticed movement in the clouds in the distance. I was scared it was Kloy'Qens, so I started backing up towards Veyron to jump on him at the best time.

But..it wasn't the Kloy'Qens at all. It was something I never would've thought I saw in my entire life.

A giant, white bird with a red beak emerged from the clouds. Its eyes were striped with black, as well as its wings.

I've heard tales about Glidewings that were larger than normal, but this one was different. It was very larger than the rest, probably larger than all the islands combined.

It didn't seem like it was flying right, though. It was struggling to keep itself up. It had a giant gash along its left wing, as if something scratched right into its skin.

The bird struggled to keep flying forward. It wasn't until its full body emerged that I realized what I was looking at.

The Peran Seer, Maroe, just emerged from the clouds ahead of me.

And it was very close into crash landing into my island.

Noticing this, I turned and jumped onto Veyron in an instant. The impact must've shocked him, because he was a bit shaky when taking off. But thankfully we got to an altitude where Maroe didn't crush us into the island's ground like bugs.

After a deafening crash, Maroe's body slid across the island, until it came to a full stop.

I couldn't believe my eyes. I was told tales that Seers were indestructible, completely immune to any sort of harm. Yet here was the Seer of my own tribe, his blood draining out of his body by the second.