The Monster and the Puppet (The Shadow World Chronicles Book 1) by Jamie Leonard

Author:Jamie Leonard [Leonard, Jamie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-09-20T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 23

Izel

Hours three and four pass without much action, only one more pathetic soul dying. The arena is silent, nothing but the bubbling of the lava rivers crackling through the air. My drone rests in my lap, the lens zooming in on me as I rest against the same ledge that I’ve been sitting on the entire time. My body is numb, frozen, and I don’t want to move for fear of this becoming my reality.

We are all separated by our godly parent at a young age, sent out to train at various schools across Clazarene dedicated to our differing powers until we reach what humans would consider our teenage years. Ealdir’s children are taken to a school sitting amongst the clouds, nothing but blue skies speckled with clouds stretching out around them for miles and miles. The world was so far below that they didn’t risk jumping and trying to get back home.

Not everyone is born with wings, but those that are learn how to use them before we’re taught about our powers. For hours every day, there were seven of us that practiced flying in the school’s courtyard. When I was born, my wings were white. As I grew older, their color darkened until they became a pristine black. The only one with black wings, most of them maintaining their pure white wings as though they were angels sent down to the world. One boy had speckled wings, but even he was revered in better standings than I was. When everyone would go back to their dorms, I would continue to practice my flying because my wings were my only friends, the air and open skies my home.

Whenever I had felt lost in the world, I would take to the skies and remember exactly who I was always meant to be. There was a peace with flying, in knowing that I would never fall and crash to the ground. In knowing that I could go anywhere, leave my problems behind. My wings would never hurt me like everyone else I’d grown up with had.

Now…

Amidst the darkened heaps on the rock floor below me, scattered bodies bloody and slashed apart illuminated by the light from the lava, I can see them. The faint outlines of my wings. I haven’t been able to look away from them and how broken and mangled they are, how they will never be used again. They deserve better for what they’ve done for me, what they’ve given to me. And while it might be foolish to mourn a pair of wings, it isn’t just about them.

It’s about what I’ll never be able to do again.

It’s about the freedom that I’ve lost.

It’s about the peace that I’ve sacrificed.

I release a slow breath and stand, the drone floating beside me and trailing me down the side of the mountain. The wounds on my body have healed, even the broken stumps where my wings once were. Nothing but a hollow pit carving itself deeper into my chest as I descend and walk over to the wings.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.