Fledging

Chapter 28

Previously in Fledging:  Araceli wakes up after having a nightmare.  Unable to sleep, she gets up and walks outside.  Alida and later Kenneth join her.  After talking with Alida, Araceli confesses her fear about going to the capitol while her friends give her couage.  As they leave, the leader of the Azinza village greets Araceli, giving her a small vial of medicine, asking that she return sometime so that they can become better acquanted.  Araceli learns Kontar has left them, saying he would send help. Help comes in the form of a peryton and griffin that bear them to the capitol, the latter surprisingly becoming Kenneth's Sildwaa!

AN: ALSO!!! Some awesome reader (@ProfessionalGeek) was inspired by this story to write a story called The Winged Ones!!!  It's just the beginning but go over and check it out if you have the time!  

ALSO!! TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT THE GRIFFIN'S NAME!! ... I'm unsure of it.  Ok, lots of stuff before the story, but without any further ado.... HERE!

Chapter 28

                The capitol had been in our sights for the last twenty minutes, but I still couldn’t believe my eyes.  At first, I couldn’t understand what I was looking at as we approached from the air.  Large, gray columns sprung out of the sea, reaching towards the sky like craggy fingers.  Some were just large enough to hold a duo of lone figures, but as we wound deeper into the maze of stone pillars, they began to expand in size greatly.  A few of the columns had fused together at the top, forming stone archways that we passed through with plenty of room to spare. 

The first sign of life we spotted was atop one of the monolithic spires that surrounded us.  The small herd of peryton stood grazing on the fine grass among which was interspersed small, white and yellow flowers that encompassed the flat peaks.  The blades of grass danced in the gentle breeze that was present, creating a sound that seemed to give rise to feelings of comfort and peace.

                Off to our left, there was a forest of the spires that blocked our view for the most part of anything beyond them.  Soon we turned the corner and I couldn’t help but stare in shock at the sight before me.  The largest pillar by far, if you could call it that, jutted out of the sea far below.  It was the size of a city, and it had to be since that was what it was supporting.  A large structure built of the same gray stones that surrounded the area stood tall and proud in the center of the large sky-island.  Even from this distance, I could see vast patches of mostly green with swaths of yellow, blue, red, white, and even purple mixed amongst everything, particularly around the stone palace.  Grand arches sprawled around the perimeter of the palace and buildings that surrounded it.  They looked strange from far away, but as we drew closer, I saw that they were carved to look like a pair of pavox, their inner wings spread towards the other, fusing together to create the arch.  All of this left me awe struck, but soon I was more focused on the shapes that were wheeling through the air around the large sky-island and around us in the sky.  A flock of curious, young pavox that looked to be just learning to fly, passed us as their instructor chirped sharp orders to get their attention back on her, although she too looked closely at our arrival with a curious gaze.

                Soon, we were in amongst a crowd as we passed above the island and headed straight towards the stone palace that loomed up ahead.

We perched on the landing at the top of a long flight of narrow stairs, fit only for one person abroad, as Kenneth and I got back on our own feet.

After I thanked the peryton, it turned around and flew off in the direction we had just come, most likely returning to the herds we had passed by.  The griffin remained with us, not straying far from Kenneth’s side.  Kenneth was still regarding the creature with an awed expression and he seemed to be focusing on something the griffin was saying although none of us were privy to the conversation.