The Storm within My Mind

The light is warm and comforting, surrounding in a circle that drives back the darkness of the storm.

But the storm is relentless and pulses with electricity and crashes with thunder as it seeks to overpower the light.

Each time the storm surges, the circle of light gets smaller, until from somewhere, the strength of the light is renewed and it pushes back against the storm.

Then the wind adds it restless energy to that of the storm and it surges again, the circle of light once again gets smaller.

Now images and voices, flash against the darkness of the storm, unleashing pain against the light.

The pain manifests itself with fear, doubt, uncertainty, loss, heartbreak, and loneliness. It lashes against the light with blades forged from it’s companions.

Light flashes with each strike, trying to drive back the pain and the darkness, but it’s circle still diminishes.

From somewhere, strength still seems to be found, and the strength of the light is renewed, pushing back the darkness and the pain that it hides.

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Walking into the courtyard, the temperature dropped slightly from that from inside the palace. Looking around, the courtyard was empty. Not surprising, since it was still early in the day. The court populace, courtiers, and influential hopefuls wouldn’t appear for some time yet, as the heat wasn’t uncomfortable enough out in the main square to drive them inside. The fruit trees spaced around the outer edge of the courtyard were still in bloom and the sweet fragrance on the cool air was as refreshing as the cooler air. The fountain at the center of the courtyard was partly responsible for the coolness within the walls of the courtyard.

Going around the stone bench, I scanned all around the courtyard for anyone attempting to hide, or appearing to be too intent upon the doorway through which I had just entered the court. Although, there wasn’t anyone there, it was better to be alert. The sound of rustling cloth brought my attention back to the doorway.

She entered the court, the cloth of her sea foam green dress rustling as she stepped through the door way. Her red hair was pinned up neatly behind her head, under the matching veil, which was pulled back to her shoulders. Her tiara sat a top the whole thing. Her clear green eyes took in the emptiness of the court. Her smile indicated that she was pleased. I could understand. There had been a lot of suitors and she had really gotten tired of the whole thing. It was nice to be able to come out into the court and not be swarmed by hopefuls.

She moved past the trees and sat down on a nearby bench. A distortion of the view of her dress as she moved alerted me to an object that I had not seen when I had come in. I moved over to where the object had been set to the left of the door between two of the fruit trees. It was a figure of a pony made of some sort of glass-like material. I brought her attention to it.

She looked at it and then queried as to who could have brought it. It hadn’t been there the night before. Nor had it been there this morning. It’s position was too close to the door for it not to have been seen by someone in the crowd that had been there earlier. She signaled for me to stand near her as she puzzled over who could have left it there. It was obvious that it was placed there by someone in the crowd, so now it was just a question of who had left it.

As I stood there near her, discussing the possibilities with her, a young girl had come into the court by the same door. She had spotted the glass pony and was running her hands over it. Unnoticed by her, a small orange glowing dot had appeared within it. It was the young girl’s query that brought the pony again to our attention.

As soon as I saw the orange glow and the fact that it was getting larger, I yelled a warning and projected a shield around the princess. Alarms went off within the palace and I called at the young girl to get away from the pony. She was too close to it for me to project a shield around her as well. I moved toward her with all haste as the glow filled over half of the pony figurine. The young girl seemed oblivious to everything as she kissed the glass muzzle of the pony.

I heard the princess call Bria’s name as I reached for the young girl and then everything went white.

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The expanse of gray grit stretched for half a mile before it was broken by the stark white of the buildings of the station. Off to the left, the expanse of gray continued, even after it hit the mountain range. Only once on the mountain did the color change to a darker shade of gray. The gray of the grit and the white of the buildings stood out against the vast expanse of black sky lit by tiny pin pricks of light.

A dark shape rose from the white of the buildings and moved toward the mountain range before turning and coming in my direction. The stubby wings and twin pylons on the front marked it as a light fighter. I could see red energy building around the pylons as it got closer.

Vibrations in the grit told me that there was something behind me but I couldn’t change my view to see what it was. All I could do was watch as the fighter got closer. It came to a hover a short distance from me and released two bolts of red energy. I felt the energy hit the ground behind me and felt the heat as matter was converted to energy.

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There were people everywhere. The convention was in full swing. Many were in costume of their favorite anime characters. Near the center of the floor was a raised platform. The platform was ringed with bands of colored light and its surface was lit from below in light blue. There were several people on the platform dancing.

Among them was a tall girl with blond hair spiked in waves. She was wearing a red sleeveless top with black pants and red shoes. Bracelets of many colors moved on her wrists as she danced to the music that blared from speakers above the platform.

When she saw me, she came to the edge of the platform and extended her hand. I held her hand as she stepped down. Her name badge indicated that she was Kumiko Matsuko. We walked hand in hand past the other dancers to an adjoining eatery.

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I drove the car slowly along the path in the snow that had been made by the truck that I had heard earlier. Up ahead, I could see the tracks that it had made going up a slight rise. Off to my left was the man-made reservoir that was full of water. Broken ice floated on its surface. At the far end, a ramp of packed snow and ice went down into the cold water.

I shifted down and let the car climb the rise. At the top the path turned sharply to the right to follow a wall of snow. It wasn’t where I wanted to go, so I put the car into reverse and began to slowly back down the rise. The car began to slip and I put the car back into forward and eased the throttle up. The backward slide slowed as the tires fought to pull the car back up the rise.

However, the packed ice and snow broke loose of the path and the car slid sideways and then picked up speed backwards towards the water. There was no stopping the slide. The tires could get no grip on the ice and even the studs in the tires didn’t help.

The car plunged back end first into the cold water and then sank. The engine stopped as soon as water filled the compartment. Then, everything went black.

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The man in the black suit signaled impatiently to the man at the control panel. I stood back against the wall as another man in a black suit pushed me back out of the way. Commands were entered into the computer, and they managed to get the barrier to drop from the window.

In another room, a circular area in the floor opened and a beige egg-shaped object was raised up through the opening on a platform. The egg-shaped object rested on it’s long axis on three padded magnetic arms. When the platform locked in place, the arms deactivated and lowered to the platform. The object began to float on its own, exactly where the arms had held it.

The men in suits had astonished looks on their faces. The object was not what they had expected. Also, the fact that the object was now free floating, puzzled them. I used this distraction to edge my way toward the door, which had been forced open by the men.

As they watched, the upper part of the narrow end of the object began to turn dark, and two stubby rounded wings appeared on the lower third of it’s sides, swinging out at a downward slant. Then, a faint blue energy field appeared around the object. The section with the dark part began to open and there was a hiss as air rushed into the empty space beyond.

One of the men struggled with the controls to the access door to the bay. I took that opportunity to step through the open door behind me and down the passage to a connecting corridor. Another doorway and I was in a lift. I didn’t worry about the object. The field that it was projecting would only allow me through it.

Upon the Wings of Dawn’s Light, Chapter 43 (excerpt)

“You five have pleaded guilty to the charge of aiding in the conspiracy against the People of Aderrenval. It has been decided that the charge against you be dropped, provisionally. I regret, however, that this particular decision has not been unanimous for all five of you.”

“Student Sairandon Arro Rani, the People of Aderrenval have given you a choice. You may either accept the punishment of your sire, complete with the cancellation of your student status, or you may accept the provision and become the Ward of the Herd Council.”

It was not an easy decision for Sairandon to make. He was torn between the wanted love of his sire, and the new understanding of his mother’s teachings. He had forsaken the teachings of his mother for the love of his sire and because of that, she had disowned him. Could he possibly win back his mother’s love for him? He did not know, but trying to earn the love of his sire had gotten him nothing but trouble. He chose the provision.

“The charges against you are summarily dropped, with the provision that you obey the instructions of your master, whomever it may be. You are also denied any duties inside the palace proper for a period of time not to exceed eight seasons.”

All five students gratefully accepted the provision. They did not know what their alternative punishment would have been, nor did they wish to know. All that they knew was that, because of the graciousness of the people, they had retained their status within the herd. High Captain Midknight spoke, interrupting their relieved thoughts.

“Student Sairandon Arro Rani, you are from this day forward, a ward of the Council of Aderrenval. You will answer directly to the head of this council and receive regular instruction from High Captain Swift-Inwill or one of his apprentices.”

The five students were then released to their respective guardians. The guards were instructed to return Carrama and Randon to their holding places and they were taken away with a swift efficiency that surprised and pleased Midknight. Tomorrow morning they would officially lose their citizenship and be escorted to the nearest border of Aderrenval.

The herd then observed a moment of silence. The trial had been a long one and its cause and result and would not be forgotten. When a moment had passed, High Captain Midknight released the herd so that they could stretch stiff, and aching muscles and refresh themselves. The Visitor said nothing as the herd separated.