Chapter Six

Heavenly Wings

A pale light shone through the trees and left the grass dimly lit but glistening with dew drops left from the night. The birds in their nests were too lazy to be chirping their songs that early and instead sat sleeping with their babies. A lone morning dove was left perched on a branch above their heads and cewed softly.

Aiden raised his head from where it lay against an old birch tree and blinked the sleep from his eyes. A gentle wind blew through the grass that he knew she was sleeping and walked over to her.

Crystal was sleeping soundly in the comfortable, damp grass and felt Aiden's gentle hand touch her shoulder. She heard a faint whisper from him as to not startle her. "I know it is early, but you have got to see something."

Without another word he helped Crystal to her feet and grabbed her hand. She grabbed the knapsack with the golden egg in it and held on tightly. With swift feet and a quick pace, they ran to wherever Aiden was leading. Crystal, although still groggy, she wondered what it was that Aiden wanted to show her.

Running as fast as she could, and holding tightly onto Aiden's hand, her heart raced and adreneline rushed. The adreline created a high that she had never experienced before. It seemed as though she was flying without wings.

Crystal laughed happily and threw her other arm out to create the sensation that she had wings. Aiden could see her happiness and his heart soared.

They jumped over decaying logs and felt the wind whipping against their faces. Twigs that stuck out into the road brushed against their skin as they ran by.

**************

Crystal blinked amazed at what she saw. Aiden stood by her still holding her hand. They were breathless from all of their running and took a moment to catch their breath.

In front of them lay a gorgeous clearing that seemed almost completely seperated from the forest and all of the trees. There was a sea of thistles swaying calmly with the breeze that blew through it.

"I present to you, the Wind's Children Meadow. It is the only meadow of its kind in all of this world. Even Sinister is jealous of its rarity," Aiden explained once he began to breathe at a normal pace again.

Crystal was not suprised. The meadow was undescribably beautiful and pure. She could have sworn that she heard a soft whisper of singing as she stepped forward after Aiden.

The thistles tickled her leg as she walked through it and giggled quietly as they walked through it.

Aiden slowed his pace enough for Crystal to walk along side him. "I know that you will love them," he said.

Crystal scanned the area around her. All of the time that they were standing like statues staring into the clearing, she thought that the meadow was the thing that Aiden wanted to show her all along.

"What is it that you want to show me?" Crystal asked finally.

With a sly grin Aiden looked quickly at her before gazing back up to the meadow before him. "I would not want to ruin the surprise," he said.

**************

The two were had almost crossed the meadow and stood at the edge of the forest on the other side. Aiden had stopped them and stood still while staring into the trees.

Crystal decided not to question what he was doing and decided to stay silent.

"Insicue Ande allatenka suquea. Tillana orijina ollaylaya. Eeyuandelia!" he chanted in a language that Crystal did not understand.

Aiden then concluded his chanting with a sharp whistle that a steady whinny replied.

To Crystal's astonishment, two pure, snowhite horses stepped out from the trees. But, they were not only horses. They were unicorns of innocent white and long, fine hair. A horn protruded from each of their heads and glistened in the morning light.

Eyes wide with amazement and mouth gaped open, she gasped, "Unicorns! I have only read of these in books and dreamed of them in my sleep. How?"

Aiden smiled proudly and placed a hand on one of the unicorn's head, "These two have lived in a herd that made this meadow their home before Sinister took power in his kingdom. The ancient herd was living here before Salcurien was founded. These innocent creatures habbitated the entire world much longer than Elves and men came onto this planet. They thrived for centuries until men hunted them and craved their meat.

Each one killed brought a curse upon the murderor. The curses contorted the men and formed them into vampires, dead creatures that will continue the chain of murder until a stake through the heart finally vanquishes it.

Slowly, the unicorns' population dwindled until they became to be only found here, few in number and very rarely seen.

Sinister knows the history of these ancient creatures and preys on them. Forunately, the unicorns are able to elude the attacks and hide for their lives. But hiding is no way to live and it is quickly effecting the creatures. I found many unscathed unicorns lying dead throughout the forest."

"Why would Sinister prey on them?" Crystal asked. "What does he want from them?"

Aiden sighed, "Unicorns represent the innocent and pure of heart and only let virgins touch them. Sinister, being the epitomy of evil, despises the affection of the pure and hates anything so sacred. For years, Sinister and the ones that warmed the thrown before him, have attacked all ancient and sacred being such as unicorns. It is in his nature and is in his black heart to try to destroy all of these animals and to wipe them away from our world."

Crystal began to realize then why Aiden hated Sinister so much and became overwhelmed with anger.

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The unicorns tossed their heads in impatience.

With a sigh to change the subject, Aiden then smiled and said, "I will help you up if you want to ride them."

Crystal gave Aiden a weak smile. "I am not sure if I could ride one..."

Aiden shook his head, "Go on, touch one to see if it will allow you to."

Hesitantly, Crystal raised her hand and reached over to the one that Aiden was patting. The unicorn saw her hand and backed up a bit.

Her heart plummited and she lowered her hand. She was suprised to see Aiden smiling. "Go ahead. Have confidence. They can sense if you are fearful."

With another hesitant moment, she reached out to the horse to touch it's forhead. This time, the unicorn stayed calmly still and allowed her hand to lie on its forehead. It whinnied merrily and its gold horn flashed.

*****************

Aiden helped Crystal onto the unicorn and placed the knapsack gently on her lap and tied a strap to the saddle. There was no saddle on either of the horses and the feeling of riding bareback was very different to Crystal.

Aiden quickly clambered onto his unicorn and adjusted the reins. "Do you know how to ride a horse?" he asked.

Crystal felt alittle uneasy as he reminded her that she had no experience on a horse before. "No," she said plainly.

With a chuckle and a kick of the unicorn's sides he appeared by Crystal's side and demonstrated the correct way to sit on the horse.

Crystal tried her best to mimic the way Aiden was sitting. He was sitting straight up with his feet against the side of the horse.

"Next, grip the reins firmly. If you want to turn, find the side of the unicorn that the reins is touching and pull it. It will turn that way. If you want to move left, do this," Aiden said and demonstrated how the horse would move.

With a few frustrated tries, she was able to steer the unicorn the way that Aiden did.

"Now, hold on tight! We should try to canter and gallop," Aiden said and kicked the sides of the unicorn so the horse would canter.

Crystal did the same and the horse began to canter after Aiden and his unicorn, its mane blowing briskly through the wind that the cantering caused.

Aiden slowed his horse so Crystal could catch up. "You've got the hang of it!" he said and smiled a sweet smile.

She returned a proud smile as her unicorn matched Aiden's.

As they were cantering, she heard cries from the birds that woke up. The birds chirped a while and then finally spread their wings to fly out of their nests. A strong wind flew and the birds flew in the direction of the breeze. There were many all coming out to find food for their babies.

Crystal sighed. "I wish I could fly like the birds," she said as she sighed.

"We can, you know," Aiden said and kicked the sides of his unicorn harder. The unicorn nayed and galloped as fast as it could.

With a swift kick of her unicorn, Crystal followed after him.

Together, they pounded down the side of the river, hearts racing, hoofbeats sounding through the dirt. Faster and faster they rode until it seemed that the horses were going at an infinite speed that could not be doubled. As they rode, the unicorns seemed to lift as they ran.

Aiden glanced at Crystal quickly before chanting another message to unicorns. "Lificulta Sinticula Eltapaca!"

Wings began to grow from the unicorns' shoulders. They sparkled a golden color and flapped once completely grown. The unicorns then lifted further off the ground.

Crystal's mouth widened to an extaticted expression as her unicorn took flight and soared through the air. "We are flying!!!" Crystal said. She got frightened of falling off so she threw the reins aside and grabbed the neck of the unicorn.

Aiden saw this and laughed alittle. "Do not be afraid, Crystal. If you were to fall from them, they would be sure to catch you. But, never has anyone fallen from the back of a unicorn."

A sigh of relief escaped Crystal's lips and she released her grip on the horse's neck. She looked down and saw the trees slowly disappear beneath them and the clouds got closer.

*****************

They were now level with the sun and completely on top of the clouds. As Crystal gazed down at the clouds below her, she smiled warmly. They were a beautiful yellowish color from the sun's light and reminded Crystal of untouched snow reflecting the light in the morning sun.

"It is all very peaceful up here," Crystal said.

Aiden moved his horse closer to hers so she could hear him.

"Yes, the first time that I came up here, I instantly thought of heaven and its infinite beams of light. Its glow. Its glistening floor of clouds."

Flying, to Crystal, was like being suspended away from earth and completely forgetting any single earthy concern. Leaving earth, to her, was to leave the war, her father, death and Sinister. And entering the land above the clouds was to add complete peace and harmony. To stay safe and never to die. To live forever and live however your heart would let you.

She sighed slightly as they continuously ascended further into the sky. She knew that it would be hard for her to come back down.

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