Gateways

A Twinkle in His eye

The Prince was always so curious about the upside down world he saw. It didn't look like his home, the castle, nor his garden. As he sat in his favorite part of his garden, he was painting the upside down city again. He had painted the city many many times before. Each time was better than the last.

To the Prince, the city in the Sky was an escape. He wasn't allowed to have any freedom. He was confined to the castle due to a long lasting war. The Kingdom of Sleeping Giants has threatened to kill the prince in retaliation for their Prince's death 100 years prior.

"It's not fair! Why am I being penalized for something I had nothing to do with!" The Prince spoke a strange language that almost sounded like Ancient Egyptian and Ancient Greek mixed together.

In anger, the Prince stood up and tossed his painting into a fountain that was before him. His attendant merely sighed and leaned to get it out of the water. "Please my dear prince. You must not be so upset. The king has stated he is in talks with the Kingdom of Sleeping Giants. Hopefully peace comes to us soon. The fighting has been going on for far to long." The attendant was a tall man who looked a bit older than the prince.

"I wish I could go the city in the sky. Even if just once... Just to be free. For even a bit." The prince said in a dreamy like fashion.

"Vulas, one day you will go. I'll make sure of it. Although... no one has been able to travel there for centuries. They probably have forgotten about us. Especially since their technology seems to have changed so much." The Attendant said looking up at the city in the sky.

The prince looked at the attendant and then towards a large structure that was located in the middle of the garden. It looked as though it was made of crystal and precious stones.

As the prince was about to say something, a loud screeching sound came from above him. He then flopped down and lazily waved at the creature in the sky. As it landed, it was a very large bird like creature. It was bright red and flames protruding from its neck, forehead, the top of its head as well as flames falling from its wings and tail. However, it was not setting anything on fire. On its back was another young man. He was tall with silver hair that was tied in a top knot on his head. His eyes were bright red and he had white skin with red markings.

"What do you want, Claf?" The prince asked in a clearly annoyed voice.

"What a sore greeting to your protector, Prince Vulas. I've come to tell you I'm almost done with the training of two extra knights. So you can at least go to the city." Claf said as he was feeding the bird like creature.

Vulas scuffed at Claf. He stood up and walked towards the creature who in turn lowered its head for the prince to pet it. "Claf... you know where I truly wish to go. You and Gaelin promised." Vulas said sounding impatient.

Gaelin has been Vulas' attendant since he was a small child. Even at a small age, all Vulas wanted to do was go to the sky cities. Gaelin was laying in the shade. His dark green eyes were watching the prince's movements. While his main purpose was the prince's attendant, he was more of a bodyguard.

Gaelin sat up and rubbed his chin as if in deep thought. "Vulas... the Sunati has been broken for centuries. I'm still researching what happened to it and why. You must give me more time." Gaelin said calmly.

Gaelin stood a few inches taller than the prince. His broad shoulders and strong back seemed to point to a man who did hard labor daily. However, he liked to lay around lazily under the rose trees that grew all around the garden. His dark red scales and brown skin pointed out to the elites he was originally from the Kingdom of Dragons. He didn't remember living there as he came to the Kingdom of Elves as a baby. His hair was kept short, uncommon in the kingdom of Elves and its brassy color also was uncommon.

Prince Vulas was considered one of the most beautiful men in the kingdom. He was tall, lean and strong. His hair was silver with gold. His eyes were a violet color that many said rivaled the beauty of the century flower. His skin was a light brown with Silver markings all over him in beautiful intricate lines. Vulas was told many times how much he favored his mother. Not only was her pregnancy with Vulas difficult, his birth set her to her eternal sleep. Rumors swirled his magic stole her life force away but King Vulmer struck such tales down.

"Mother so wanted to see it... the sky cities. It's in Her book. Drawings from that world and such. She was one of the last to go to that world. She went even while I was in her womb. Maybe that's why I long to go. I know time moves differently for them compared to us but still. It's only been 1,000 years since she went to that realm. How much different can it be now?" The prince asked in excitement.

His dream was to simply walk the path of his mother and he felt his father would never allow for that. So it had to be done, behind his father's back. Vulas hates going behind his fathers back for anything but it couldn't be helped.

Gaelin stood up and stretched. He looked over to Vulas and sighed. "My dear prince. Let's not rush. We must still figure out how to active the gateway and how to do it without alerting and alarming the entire kingdom." He said sternly.

Vulas knew they needed to be careful. However, he did not wish to be careful. He wanted to be in the upside down city... tonight.