Read Crystal Shade Episodes 01 for Free Online Page B

flexed in reverse to their threshold and then quickly set back to their original horizontal position. From the corner of her eye Grace saw the tail turn left and right before it regained its horizontal position; as always, her eternal child father grinned as he tried his wings . He loved to fly.
    Like her sister, Grace loved to watch take off, whether she was inside or outside. Their awakenings were amazing, also, as the craft majestically opened their large wings and came alive, stretching like their flesh and blood cousins after a long dream. And now the Anshara was awake.
    “Fly Chosovi! Fly!” came Aurora’s small cheering voice from behind. Grace smiled warmly.
    “Let’s fly, little Doli,” Grace called the blue bird in the native Odess’ianan dialect. The wings suddenly elevated slightly. The Anshara screamed like a flesh and blood eagle as the aura swirled faster within the aura-cauldrons. The large silver eagle beat once with its large wings while it pushed itself away from the ground with claws and powerful metal legs. Chosovi quickly pulled up her metal claws on the second mighty beat of the wings as the will of Grace’s father had ordered them.
    Grace looked down as the ground slowly shoved out from under them. Their house on the grassy plain soon became so small as the Anshara climbed higher into its realm, the endless sky. The majestic wings beat a few more times while clouds slowly embraced them.
    We’re climbing higher and higher up into the sky. The wings beating as the clouds embrace us, then we break out of the top of the clouds to reach the sun , thought Grace. She imagined herself from the outside as they break out of the top of the clouds. In her mind she saw the shiny silver and azure craft, which looked to be a messenger from the Gods as it silently glided through the sapphire daylight. For a moment, she heard the false crystal chime music that echoed in her mind, like a silent whisper. It reminded her of the irrational fear she had felt in her strange dream.
    It’s so strange. I’m safe and I love flying.

    * * *

    The white clouds swirled around the Anshara before they split to reveal the great capital of the eleventh province, Odess’iana; the city of myth and forgotten knowledge.
    Grace smiled. In the hands of her mother, grinning Aurora had already put her nose to the transparent wall to peek out. Her little sister had waited for this moment a long time and now she watched the endless tapestry of the great capital, silent and amazed. The green eyes mirrored the desire of the little girl; she wanted to touch, play and take care of the town like it was one of her huge sand castles that she lovingly built with her tiny shovel in the backyard of their home.
    Grace wasn’t surprised by her sister’s amazement. Odess’iana was simply beautiful from the sky and in the clear daylight. The capital and its outskirts were much larger than her home, the great valley of Seradelphia, or even hundreds of small villages together. From the great height they clearly saw how the city was weaved through with beautiful, long, wriggling aqueduct systems. Like arteries, they carried the clear water from the nearby lakes and rivers into the dozens of baths, small pools, underground cisterns, fountains, enchanting imitation fishing lakes, and small oases throughout the capital. It also supplied water to the farms that surrounded the whole town.
    Her father mastered the Anshara with due foresight as the craft majestically began to descend. They passed above the thick soaring segmented exterior walls that buffered the city from the worst sand storms and also protected lives and their achievements within. Mansions, libraries, schools, parks, lakes, and various other buildings curiously watched the Anshara from the ground as it passed above the widest middle segment of the town. In the distance, the smallest center district was visible. Only a few large buildings stood there, the palace of the rulers and the