Read Crystal Shade Episodes 01 for Free Online Page A

domes were inset on either side of the large first cushion. They were the heart of the Anshara.
    There were no windows on the craft, but they saw everything, the windswept grassy plain below, the clear azure sky and clouds high above, the valley of Seradelphia and the canyon all around. All the while, the safe strong body of Chosovi surrounded them. The entire hull was solid on the outside, yet the walls from the inside seemed transparent. The closed wings gleamed blurry silver and half transparent, as did the small tail wing behind them, which still pointed up toward the sky. The eyes of an eagle gave a great panoramic view to the master of the Anshara, who navigated the sky.
    Eion sat down cross-legged on the first cushion while her mother sat on the last cushions with excited Aurora. Grace put her papyrus and pencil under the cushion before she sat down behind her father.
    “Would you like to master the Anshara?” her father glanced back at Grace.
    Grace measured the fragile controlling crystals; they called her. She wanted to touch them just once to see what cannot be seen otherwise; her aura. Every time her father gave her the opportunity, she resisted the great temptation. The greater part of her soul feared that the nature they would reveal would be something else never dreamt of.
    Shy, she shook her head to say no.
    “Then when you’re ready,” said her father kindly and he laid his hands on the crystal domes to each side of his cushion. They slowly filled with his aura; azure light started to spread out from the crystals into the transparent walls of the control chamber, and then throughout the entire craft from bow to stern, center to port and starboard. The aura energy that came from Eion extended his spirit will to the craft. The gently whirling blue light was the string that held the entire craft together and controlled it.
    The aura reached the eagle’s eyes through the very thin pipes that now glowed blue as the eyes filled with the power. Grace looked back to see Aurora’s eyes gleam with happiness as the blue energy gave life to her beloved Chosovi.
    As the aura wrapped within the walls the craft itself created an invisible gentle force of nature, Grace’s fragile body felt a tingling feeling that pulled all of them lightly to the Anshara’s floor. Her eyes followed the flow of the energy as it quickly spread its way into the walls through the rifts to the two large circles, and the small tail circle; the aura-cauldrons. They quickly filled with the life-giving aura concentrated there while the rest spider webbed into the wings. The blue energy quickly filled the missing gaps between the large closed wings and shaped small aura feathers on the wings. Her father’s will reached all parts of the craft in seconds; his mind and will connected to the aura-cauldrons, the wings, and finally reached the legs and the great metal claws.
    Now you’ll look just like a proud eagle, Grace smiled. Awake, my silver birdie! It’s time to fly! Her mind ordered the Anshara as if she was in control the craft.
    The awakening of the bird took only a few moments. The outline of the transparent eagle head quickly looked up in front of her father while the large segmented wings, the coverts and the cross feathers slid upward one by one on the circles. A quiet crackling slid into Grace’s sensitive ears as the large aura-cauldrons began to swoop down from their vertical position, while the folded-fan wings on them opened like a blooming flower. The tail also filled with the swirling aura, along with the tail feathers it slowly lowered to center position. The large main wings reached their final position as the ninth and last cross feather slid into position. The wings along with the aura feathers looked like large eagle wings with the blue glow flowing through them like blood in arteries. The left wing tilted forward while the right wing tilted backward through their cross axis. Then at the maximum point, they quickly