Her wings. They unfolded from her shoulders, growing solid and strong against the winds.

They were falling, head down, into the blanket of rumbling darkness below. In some areas, the clouds had exploded upwards, massive pillars that spun into the sky. That was where the Islands of Ceiswyr had fallen through, leaving a trail of stone and dust in their wake.

AsaHi knew that under those clouds lay the cold, distorted earth that had once been the beautiful lands of the Inner Realms. Her homelands, the places where she had once traveled and loved, were devoured by darkness and Chaos.

And now, the one safe place in all the world, the Islands of Ceiswyr, were gone. The loss had been tremendous… not only within her heart, but also to its Patron. Weakened by the blows of Chaos, the Dreigiau was falling. And she was falling with him.

“Zemi!!! Zemi, wake up! Please!” tears streamed down AsaHi’s cheeks. She clutched at his chest, shaking him with what little strength she had left. But he could not hear her. She couldn’t even feel a trickle of awareness… not even the hint of a connection between them.

I’m so sorry, Zemi… I’m so sorry…

The Chaos had struck at the heart and soul of the Arweinydd… and had stolen it away. He was not waking up. And she didn’t know what to do.

I wasn’t able to save you… I wasn’t able to stop the Chaos from taking everything. In the end, Zeromus still won.

AsaHi’s breath came in panicked gasps as the air grew colder. She hugged close to Zemi’s chest, partially in fear… partially in resolve.

But, no matter what happens to me… I won’t leave you here alone… I promise Zemi.

The cold was seeping into her skin, a chill that felt like death had already come. She clamped her eyes shut, shivering all over, her hands feeling numb with the cold as she tried to keep her grip. But she couldn’t feel anything beneath her fingers anymore. And her breath was coming hard… as if air had no meaning.

AsaHi gasped.

She gasped again.

Am I dying!?

The world was denying her breath.

Zemi! Help me!

She was suffocating!

So cold!

She wanted to scream. But no voice came. It was as if she didn’t exist at all.

I can’t… I can’t…!

She felt as if her lungs were ready to explode.  One second more would be the end.

ZEMI!!!

Light filled her vision. A beautiful, warming light that came from within. It shown from between her fingers. Bursting from her torso… along her shoulders. Spreading out from her back. A soft, translucent white that slowly… slowly began to condense.

Soft, glowing white.

Feathers?

To her shock, AsaHi saw feathers. As she looked beyond, she saw even more.

Wings…?!

Her wings. They unfolded from her shoulders, growing solid and strong against the winds. Strength slowly spread back through her limbs. Breath rushed into her lungs again. Feeling returned to her fingers. And her vision cleared…

She could see, now. Not with the same eyes she had once before. But really and truly See.

I’m… Awakened?

As the realization swept over her, she shivered. The world came back into focus. And though only a space of a few seconds had passed since she crossed the line of Awakening, the clouds below were coming closer and closer.

AsaHi discovered very quickly that her wings knew exactly what to do, even if she had never flown before. She gripped the front of the Dreigiau’s shirt, bracing herself with renewed determination, and spread her wings wide. Much to her surprise, they began to slowly descend.

It’s almost as if… Zemi doesn’t weigh anything at all.

Looking down at his pale form, she could only feel worry at that discovery.

Please… Zemi… hold on a little longer. I’ll get us to the ground.

Her wings swept back, softly parting the darkness of the clouds as they came through the bank. The winds howled, growing more vicious, throwing them around in the rise and fall of turbulence. Though her wings burned and ached from the strain, AsaHi held them fast, fighting through the storm… never letting go of the Dreigiau’s limp form.

Finally, they broke through the line of dark clouds and the lands below came into full view. It was raining across the broken earth. Everywhere AsaHi looked, rubble and cracked pieces of the Islands were strewn, leveling the forests that had once been there. The rain was cold and fitting, but it made flight more difficult for her. The further away she came from the moment of Awakening, the more she found herself floundering and struggling.

The sound of people and Dragons rang out across the desolation. AsaHi turned her flight in that direction. Slowly, she was feeling exhaustion washing over her body. She knew that soon she would have to land, whether it was safe or not. So when she caught sight of the first Dragon, she doubled flight speed, heading straight for it.

“Hey!! Hey! We’re over here! Someone!!” AsaHi shouted, so overjoyed that she forgot the danger of flying close to the forest. Before she knew it, tree branches whipped her from every direction, catching up in her wings, tearing out feathers and leaving a trail of white behind her. “OW!! OW!! OWW!!”

AsaHi’s first landing was very unceremonious… a stumble and a flop, careful not to fall on Zemi. Just glad to finally be back on the ground again… even if her whole body stung and bled.

Voices surrounded her. Voices in awe and sorrow. When AsaHi looked up, she found herself within a ring of battered and haggard faces. The winged soldiers of Ceiswyr stared down at her as if they had never seen another Awakened before. Then their gaze fell upon the unmoving form of the Dreigiau.

“Someone! Please! We need a healer!” the girl exclaimed with little patience for their staring. “I think Zemi is hurt!”

That seemed to be enough to kick people into action. The shout went up for a healer – not that there weren’t enough other people that probably needed healing there. But coupled with the words “Zemi is hurt,” a response came fast. The surrounding group of winged men parted as a familiar figure rushed in with wide green eyes.

“SoYa?” AsaHi had forgotten that besides being an Athrylith, he was also a practiced healer.

He seemed to be unscathed from the battle – no doubt that KaiShi had taken good care of him. But his hands were sticky with blood of other men… and she knew from the tired light in his eyes that he had been already making rounds to heal the wounded the best to his ability.

“Zemi!” he gave a shout, leaping over the rubble to get closer. His eyes were fixed at the impossibility of it all. That their Patron, the Dreigiau, could be lying there, unmoving upon the broken remains of the once proud city of Ceiswyr. His voice came again in a whisper, “No… what happened?”

“The Chaos…” AsaHi told him, face lined with pain. “Zeromus. He struck down the Islands. And when he did, it hurt Zemi, too.”

“I… don’t know what I can do for him…” SoYa knelt, already feeling across Zemi’s chest for any sign of wounding. Of course, he would find nothing there. The wounds that the Arweinydd bore were not physical. And AsaHi realized it was true — there was probably little that any healer could do for him.

AsaHi knelt down on Zemi’s other side, placing her hands over top of SoYa’s. Her wings unfurled slowly, cupping over the three of them protectively. For the first time, the Athrylith stared up, seeing them. He had been so focused on Zemi… and she had not been displaying her wings too obviously. Until now.

A whoosh of shocked sound passed between SoYa’s lips. His eyes widened as his mouth fell open in that dumbfounded way he often had. For a long time, he just stared, and AsaHi could see her reflection in the clear light of his eyes.

For the first time, the girl began to wonder… worry… about what her Promised would think of it all.

“A… A…” he stuttered.

This isn’t starting out well…

Finally, SoYa shut his mouth, and tried again. “AsaHi… you’re… a…”

“A really bad flyer… I know,” she joked with a soft face, trying to put a few of her disheveled feathers back in place.

“N…no… I..”

AsaHi lifted her hand, placing a finger on SoYa’s lips. “I’m not important right now. We have to take care of Zemi. And the people…”

He blinked before slowly nodding, his eyes still wide as he stared at her. “Yes… we do. Father… said we need to move… the troops as far away as we can get. We need to leave… the Inner Realms.”

“Leave?” she breathed, the word full of sadness.

SoYa wiped his face on his sleeve. “We’ve lost this battle… if we stay here, we’ll be hunted. We have to try to make for the Spiral.”

Tears suddenly sprang in AsaHi’s eyes as the impact of his words struck her.

That’s it? Just like that? After all we’ve done… how hard we’ve fought…

“We’re not giving up yet, AsaHi,” SoYa reached out to her gingerly. As if he wasn’t sure if he should touch her. “We just have to get to safety.”

She nodded and looked down, “Do you think it’s a good idea to move Zemi… when he’s like this? I mean, taking him out of the Inner Realms. Would that make him worse?”

A raspy, rough voice gave a cough then a mutter, “You talk about me like I’m already gone…”

AsaHi and SoYa both stared down in amazement. Zemi peered back up at them, his eyes hazy, face lined with pain and weakness. But he still managed to smile.

“Zemi!” AsaHi breathed in a long happy sound of relief. Then before she knew what she was doing, she had thrown her arms around his neck, hugging him fiercely.

SoYa watched awkwardly. Though his voice was thick, it was obvious that he was glad that the Dreigiau was reviving. “Zemi… are you going to be okay?”

“It was only a little Chaos. I’ll pull through,” the Arweinydd told him with a slight wink. But when he tried to push himself up on his palms, he found he needed help to sit up.

“Zemi… you have to take it slow,” AsaHi advised.

The Dreigiau, however wasn’t listening. He was staring up at her wings, running his finger along one of the feathers. There was a distant look of delight on his face. The girl almost could swear she heard a soft purr in his throat.

“Zemi?” SoYa interrupted with a frown.

“Oh? Yes! Well…” the Arweinydd shook his head out. Then he glanced over at the Athrylith, voice cracking as he spoke. “Tell your father to follow through. Ready everyone that can travel. He’s right… we can no longer stay here. We will take shelter in the Spiral, and from there, figure out what has to be done.”

SoYa nodded grimly. Then he turned and disappeared into the amazed crowd of winged people that stood watching over the Dreigiau.