Page 1 of Bound By Watchers

Zhèmson

Shackles of ethèr squeezed my wrists and tightened around my ankles. Crackling energy anchored me to the marble floors. I seethed. Any longer, and I’d miss my chance to escape this Alpha-forsaken prison.

Again.

I watched the shifting flecks of iridescence in the vaillë surrounding the tower. I took a deep breath, calmed my nerves, and stilled. The ethereal veil stretched in slumber, not a break in its surface.

“Vini viitsi.” Come on.

I looked for a ripple in the veil. A point I could easily penetrate. Streaks from the three orbiting sòl above danced across the skirts of the vaillë. The larger of the three drifted, slinking backwards, dulling its light. Dawn was leaving, making way for the warm, amber glow of dusk to arise.

A flicker in the distance to my left gave me hope. Right above the stables, microscopic fissures spread in the vaillë. Now was my chance. I charged.

Leaping from my perch on the plush couch, I shot across the baronial foyer, my wings carrying me through the stone doors. Out in the open air, dense billows of clouds threatened to suppress me. The moment I crossed the glade out front, and rushed toward the air over the stables, the ethèr around the tower squeezed.

“Ase nan tästä.” Enough of this!

I roared against the sting, shooting into my palms and up my arms. Scorching agony shocked my ankles and pulsed up my calves. I twisted my torso, wrestling against the weight of the energy choking my ethèr. I flapped my wings. Pressed against the heaviness. Snarled into the deserted heavens. But the weight only grew.

Then the tugging began.

“Non ei.”

I summoned my ethèr. A familiar coolness chilled my bones as enhancement power flooded my bloodstream. Instantly, I grew in strength. In bodily power. Enough to plow through a squadron of Sky Watchers on alone. I spread my wings to their full breadth, all six mighty pairs, and fought back. The membranous feathers clapped like steel, whipping like blades.

Stars spread in the warm canopy of sòl shining above. It looked like mid-dawn, with an overlay of molten embers. Dusk had settled. My time was running out. I pushed against the pressure of the ethèr, battling to escape. Flying through the rift over the stables, I took off at full speed.

I had to get to the Sky Ladder.

“Pääsen pois isit la,” I fumed. I will get out of here.

The vaillë shuddered in warning.

I ignored it. This was my last chance.

I had to make it out now, or else I wouldn’t have the strength to attempt again until the next cycle of the lalin. The eclipsed tri-moons only orbited once every several wèks. That was too long of a wait.

I flew along the edges of Flower Fields, angling myself towards the exit of clouds where I’d find the Sky Ladder. I grew breathless, but I kept flying.

Encircling the tower was a moat of impenetrable clouds. Flying past these billows was dangerous. Deceiving as they were magnificent, they were as impassable as a legion of Sky Watchers.

Swooping low, I flew to the edge of Urien, this isolated prison, balanced above the clouds that made up the skyline of the worlds below. Crisp air kissed my exposed biceps. A tingling sensation nibbled at my spine. My locs flew loose, tapping my hips every now and again. A silent drum beat within my chest. A familiar omen I’d learned to block out.

Zhèmson.

I ignored the call.

I flew over the endless, cloudy pathways. There wasn’t a trace of angelic life besides my own here. The loneliness ate away at my sanity. I needed to get back to the Domenents. Back to angelic civility.

Like a pillar of glorious hope, I spotted the Sky Ladder. With renewed fervor, I raced on. My wings teemed with delicious heat crawling up my spine. Adrenaline flowed through my veins. I clenched my fists, squeezing my legs together, shooting towards the Sky Ladder like an arrow. I was a singular streak of blazing bronze light against the twinkling skies. When I eclipsed the stretch of stone leaning on the cloudy perimeter, I grinned.

There, in its resplendent beauty, was the Sky Ladder. As beautiful as it was supernatural. Wider than any tower. Deeper than the Mistwind Seas.

The ladder still had its rungs stretched out instead of thinning into one long ramp that chariots could ride up and down. Its structure was made of immaculate crystals and layered in rungs of glass and gold. The Sky Ladder was the only thing that connected this insufferable prison of clouds to the world of life below.

I wasted no time lunging for the first rung. I relished the cool feel of the bars in my hands. My wings shuddered in delight, ready to rest. The vaillë grew still. Then. With a snap, ethèr swarmed me like a wave, and yanked. I jerked, contorting in the air, my hands ripping free of the Sky Ladder. The force pulled me back like a yoked beast.

“Non ei, Alfa tanpri, non ei.” No, Alpha please. No!

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