Chapter 1: Eva Skywing

Eva Skywing, an eleven year old girl soared higher through the sky on a majestic golden griffon, feeling the cool clear morning air and the exhilaration of her flights speed. She raised her arms up to the sky, a laugh almost escaping. Her mind raced and heart beat in the way that only heights gave her. The wind rushed past leaving the blue sky and giving way to the highest clouds and then the world went white. she was in the fluffy clouds. Not so fluffy now she thought . Droplets of water clung to her skin sending cold tingles through her body and then her vision returned, a magnificent castle came into view. It was the floating castle of Harmony Heights. The castle looked like it had been forcefully ripped out of the ground, with sturdy brown brick walls with delicate ivy cascading down its side. Bridges connected various floating structures, each one more grand and beautiful than the next, spaced among the castles were different ledges and platforms where riders and their mounts jumped off into the bright blue sky. As her eyes swept the sky she beheld different flying mounts: dragons with shining scales huge and demanding attention, Pegasus with long flowing beautiful manes dancing in the playful wind, and griffons like the one she was riding their beak gleaming and eyes peeled for anything worth their immediate attention. 

The griffin maneuvered through the towering structures until they saw a courtyard full of guardians in black suits magnificent capes each in different colors that complemented their features, apprentices of the guardians dressed in hubble brown attire with white bands around their waists and clad black caps, and the servants were the most raggedy of the group with clothes no more then brown and gray rags they were carrying buckets of water mops and brooms.  Eva dismounted, and one of the servants “Thank you Barry”, she whispered to the servant boy. Barry gave her a quick nod of the head to show her he heard and then took the griffon and led it away. Eva was a servant herself, she had assigned the task of taking two of the griffons to king Maxameous to the ruler of Chandelier. One of the protectors approaches her in a high and mighty fashion as if the whole world was beneath him. Inside of her a red hot flare of anger sprouted up full of jealousy, sadness, and hate. She studied him; it annoyed her to see him so high and mighty for he too had once been a servant too. Her emotions were boiling over, the heat unrelenting as he came forward. He was a youthful man about the age of 18 named Bartholomeus and had a stubble of a beard his eyes were a shade of blue neither kind nor unkind. His cape was a magenta cape that flew behind him as he walked and complemented a black suit that was perfect for riding through the sky.

“I trust it went well”, he said. “Yes sir”, she said, and gave a deep bow. The silence seemed to press on both of them. Eva felt like squirming away; they had been  friends until they took him to be an apprentice then a Guardian.

Eva tried not to show any happiness that the fast flight had caused her; such expressions are forbidden sadness, and anger were also discouraged.  Eva’s and Bartholomeus’ voices were both expressionless. In this realm happiness did not come often. There was only one day a year that emotions could be displayed and Eva looked forward to it every moment she had lived here which had been quite a while. Bartholomeus then said with a stiff voice “Return to your duties servant.” He said servant in a weightier tone like talking to her was trivial and unimportant. Eva shrunk a little  and was so mad that she wanted to start crying, but she held it in the like holding her breath as she went through a door as she went out of the courtyard to a maze of corridors and hallways apprentices and Guardians hustled about and then she started climbing down where mostly servants hustled about sheets, laundry, brooms, and dishes. Soon a dark ominous flight of stairs soon greeted her that went down down down devoid of noise and life deeper than the dungeon and to her room that she shared with 14 other girls. She sat on her hard bed and she let go her breath of worry, sadness, and anger and a few tears slipped . She said out loud in an angry sad tone “why did HE have to turn on me”. Flashbacks enveloped her Bartholomeus, a twelve year old boy showing her six year old self around the hallway of the castle. Her and Bartholomeus laughing about his name at the festival reveling in the sound of happiness. Bartholomeus being taken as an apprentice Bartholomeus scorning her Bartholomeus turning his back on her. Her body shook with emotion and she lay there for a few still and sorry minutes Then she sat up then shook herself and wiped her tears so no one would see her showing emotion that had suddenly betrayed her and headed up the stairs that were winding back into the dark cruel world.