Sonnet: The Cities of Steam, Brass, and Aether

Chapter Twenty

Henry could see the ground far, far below him; he was able to tell he was a great height in the air, but he couldn't tell just how high up he was. It was as if he was on the wings of some giant beast, or perhaps he was the beast? It was hard to tell.

One peculiar thing he noticed was his heightened vision, despite being so high up; he was able to clearly make out every detail of the humanoid figures scurrying around, going about their daily lives.

They looked like a bunch of miniscule ants from up here. Henry laughed and when he did so the noise shocked him. A deep rumble came from his throat, shaking his entire core; all the way from the tip of his nose, down his body and into his wings and... tail?

"Ahh!" He shouted, but instead of a voice he was greeted with a loud, ferocious roar. It sounded like that of a lion, but amplified by a hundred; he was surprised the noise didn't shatter his own ear drums! The noise frightened a large group of elk, far down below him.

He angled his entire body downward, tucking his wings close against his body to remove any possible updraft in his descent. He was moving at perilous speeds, barreling down towards a large male elk.

He angled upwards hard at the last minute and did a corkscrew maneuver to deftly snatch it up as he sped by, a single large talon sliced through the creature's neck and killed it instantly in the motion.

He then used his two front claws to eat the carcass; it was a strange thing to think but the way he pulled the meat apart. He almost related it to eating a chicken leg off the bone.

He continued to survey the creatures far below, noticing something he found very strange. Throughout all of the miles he flew, speeding past farming villages, towns, and even rather large cities; all he saw throughout the entire land was Faye. There were no humans anywhere.

He knew he was still in Sonnet though, because he could recognize the Sinidel range and the Tykla valley. The biggest difference he noticed was the forest, he assumed it was the Vernelli forest; but it was larger than any forest he had ever seen before.

Within this forest, were great magical trees that stood high above the rest; radiating magic that was somehow visible through his eyes, they appeared to be great beacons of hope scattered throughout the lands.

Mhm... the aethertrees maybe? Lance had made a mention of them once to him and Lavender, but refused to speak any more on the matter for now. He had a sad look upon his face when he changed subjects too.

He was leisurely flying above the top of the forest, taking in the magnificence of its enormous size. He looked to the center of the forest, where he imagined the inner cities should be. He was still leagues away so he angled his wings slightly and lazily began to drift in that direction.

He heard a roar that rivaled his own, looking up he saw two long, scaled reptiles with wings. Was that what a dragon looked like? They weren't even supposed to be real. He was stunned by the magnificence of its splendor, unable to take his eyes away from the dazzling light display that shined off its wings.

He returned a roar in kind, acknowledging his kin but not changing course, speed, or elevation. They continued flying in the direction they were headed, accepting you had chosen not to join their hunt.

He allowed the wind's current to carry him along his path, content to suckle on the bones of the elk he caught a short while ago.

As he closed the distance, and was only a kilometer or two away from the forest's center, he could see the largest tree he had ever seen. Resting atop this enormous tree, strangely enough, was a plateau of rock and stone laid across the tree. The way it rested along the upper branches, made the tree almost look like a living creature, with a great crown of stone upon its brow. The crown itself was large enough to be a small country.