Dawn Patrol

The stars had begun to fade from the still dark skies as he made his way across the grassy field, dew wetting his leather riding boots.

Brisk, fresh air tussled his dark hair as he approached the staging area, his leather helmet tucked under his arm.

There was the usual bustling around the corrals as he arrived; the young Handler apprentices running to and fro at their masters' commands. The old Handlers, most of who were retired Pilots themselves, making sure all was prepared for the early morning departure.

He neared the corrals' blackened Stonewood fences and one of the apprentices ran hurriedly up to him to take his leather satchel from him, and then sprinted back to the pens to pack it on his mount.

Stopping just outside the corral gate, he looked up at the blackness of the clear sky; deep, purplish blue began to seep into the edges of the horizon as the sun made its way back from its nightly journey.

This was his second favourite part of the day; his favourite would come soon enough.

A familiar sound came from behind him and he turned to see a grizzled, old Handler leading his mount out of the shadows of its pen.

While some of the other mounts of the Patrol pulled and lashed against their reigns as the Handlers struggled to keep them in check, his simple strode toward him, its head held proudly high and its gaze held steadily upon him.

Pride filled his own chest as well as the magnificent creature cantered closer to him, not needing to be led by the old Handler at all. The old man grunted his greeting and passed over the reigns before ambling off to attend to his other duties back in the pens.

With a soft whisper, he patted the creature's armour-skinned neck and it purred deeply, rumbling like some massive feline at its master's touch.

A quick adjustment of the stirrups and saddle upon its strong back and, donning his helmet and goggles, he clambered up onto the beast and strapped himself in.

Behind him, the other members of the Patrol were mounting up as well.

With a quick shout and a gentle prod of his heels, his mount leapt into the air agilely and began to beat its powerful wings.

Almost spanning twice its own length, it beat its leathery wings gracefully, lifting both rider and beast easily into the chilly dawn air.

Deftly guiding its movements, he spun them around in a smooth arc that faced them with their backs to the rapidly approaching sunrise.

The entire team of the Dawn Patrol came into formation around him in its standard flying wedge as he took the lead.

The cold wind whipped around him and could not help but grin with the pure pleasure he felt as they flew across the skies; racing against the dawn's orange light.

Tapping the beast's sides with his heels in a complicated pattern, he sent a message to his mount and felt the surge of energy within its mammoth body.

With a deafening roar, his Dragon belched forth a torrent of flames from its mouth, signalling to all those below that the Patrol was high above; keeping them safe as always.

This was his favourite part.

Trunk

Along the sidewalk of the tree-lined street, the little old man shambled; his beat up steamer trunk in tow. The rusty wheels of the trunk's hand cart rattled loudly, breaking the peaceful quiet of the residential avenue.

On their way to school, Richie and Tim doddled as they stopped to look at the strange wildlife of caterpillars, beetles, and spiders that thrived upon the grassy yards of the well-kept homes they passed.

Across the street, Richie spotted the little old man who had stopped and set up his trunk atop the hand cart which doubled as a stand for the worn and battered case.

The hunched man stood serenely beside his closed trunk; as if awaiting any interested parties to arrive.

Richie tugged at Tim's packsack and motioned for them to go over to see what the old man was all about.

Reluctantly, Tim followed as he ran to catch up to Richie who had already started to cross over to where the benign looking old man stood.

"Hey, Mister," Richie blared unabashedly. "Whatcha got in the trunk, there?"

The old man smiled to greet them as Tim came up beside his friend, but the way in which his grin did not touch his black eyes made Tim's skin crawl. There was nothing benign about the little old man in the brown polyester suit.

"Oh, hello, boys." He said in a tinny voice that set Tim's teeth on edge. "My trunk? Oh well, I have something very unique inside; very special."

He placed his ancient fingers upon the leather-bound case, gently kneading its scuffed surface as he leaned in closer so he could lower his already quiet voice to a whisper.

"Would you believe," he started, the black pools of his eyes glistening. "That inside this old trunk of mine, I have a real, honest and true ghost?"

Richie scoffed loudly, but Tim's eyed the case warily.

"There ain't no such thing as ghosts, mister." Richie stated brazenly. "My dad told me, they're just in stories to scare people."

"Oh?" the old man questioned mockingly. "Is that so? Well, I can tell you for a fact that there are ghosts and that I have one right here in this trunk."

Tim looked from the serpent-like smirk on the old man's wrinkled face to the mysterious steamer trunk with an impending sense of dread that made his stomach tense and knot.

Richie laughed out loud this time.

"Oh yeah?" he said belligerently. "Prove it. Show us your 'ghost'!" he nudged Tim with his elbow knowingly, but Tim continued to stare at the now menacing trunk on its rickety old cart stand.

A curious thought popped into his and a got the better of his fear so he heard himself start to speak before he realized what he was doing.

"How," he creaked, "how did you catch a ghost in there?" His own voice seemed distant in his ears. "If it's a ghost, couldn't it just float through the case and escape?"

Finally looking back to the old man, Tim was startled by the knowing wink he gave as his smile grew, this time making it all the way to his raven-black eyes; making him all the more terrible.

"Ah, yes." The old man delighted. "That's the tricky part. You see this is a very special trunk. Why don't you boys come closer and I'll show you."

Crossing his arms in defiance, Richie scoffed again and took a bold step toward the trunk. Tim however, an icy chill stealing over his heart, shook his head and took a step back.

"We... we better get to school, Richie." He said as he tried to pull his friend away by his shirt sleeve.

But Richie pulled away, moving closer to the trunk still.

"We got time." Richie stated, not taking his eyes off the old man who simply smiled his sickly smiled back at the pig-headed boy. "Go on, show us."

Sliding his bony hands to the trunk's tarnished brass latches, the old man's smile broadened and he became even more hunched and warped-looking as the locks snapped open.

"You sure now?" The old man inquired, almost gleefully. "You really want to see?"

Tim backed away as the trunk top creaked open to let a sliver of the darkness it held inside, and real fear gripped him; terror at what was in that darkness.

Richie's smug expression started to falter as the lid slowly opened wider and Tim almost thought he heard him whisper, "No."

But he would never be sure, for as he looked on in terror, the image of Richie doubled and a transparent version of his friend began to be pulled from his solid form and sucked into the blackness within the trunk.

Finally finding his legs, Tim turned and ran; horrid cries from Richie mixed with the cackling laughter of the old man filled his ears as he sprinted down the street, leaving his friend and the nightmare of what was happening behind him.

The screams and laughter faded and were soon replaced by the noisy squeaking wheels of the big, leather-bound trunk being pulled along on its cart by the little old man in his brown polyester suit, shambling along the picturesque suburban street.

Final Approach

The wind whipped passed him as he fell ever faster through the air.

There was no panic in him; no sense of dread or doom at his impending fate, only a calm that radiated from him as he travelled rapidly on his descent.

All around him was a sea of blue with wisps of white clouds that he occasionally passed through; gaining momentum as he picked up more mass.

Blurrily, the vast expanse of land below began to take up more of his field of view as he fell tumbling further and further; over and over, down and down.

The cracked and arid brown of the landscape below was in stark contrast to the deep, azure blue of the sky above.

Yet, even as the ground drew nearer, he was filled only with a serene sense of being at peace; at peace with the air, the ground, all that surrounded him. For he was not rushing toward oblivion, but to his purpose; to fulfill the destiny that he had been given.

It was a satisfying feeling to know, and to be able to achieve one's destiny, and for that, he was truly joyful that his existence would mean something.

If only a tiny something.

Closer still, the land neared and he could at last make out his ultimate destination. His goal within sight, he was then filled with a sense of pride; a pleasure that filled him to the point of bursting.

On his final approach, turning once more to face the sea of blue above, he saw the multitude of his brethren in close pursuit, filling the sky on their own journey toward the dry desert below.

There was only happiness as the falling drop of rain splashed upon the prickly surface of the tall cactus that stood solemnly in the seemingly unending New Mexican desert.

The droplet's life-giving moisture absorbed into the cactus' tough, but porous bark; into its nearly depleted reservoirs of water stored within its cavernous bulk.

Soon after, more and more drops fell upon the dehydrated cactus and parched earth, darkening their surface with much needed rain as the clouds high in the sky above burst forth with their payload.

The destinies of millions fulfilled in a short, afternoon shower.

Nemesis: Conclusion

The rain pelted down from the dark sky and matted his dark gray fur to his slender body; struggling to stand back up on his four shaky legs, he looked up at the small back cat that hovered high in the air above the roof of the apartment building.

As the cat's black fur glistened in the rain, it glared down at the wizard cat with power-crazed eyes that glowed with red malice.

He was outmatched, his black cat nemesis had accumulated too much dark energy, and his own feeble light magic could not withstand the onslaught the misleadingly harmless-looking cat had rained down upon him.

Another barrage of the dark lightning and the battered cat wizard would be finished.

Nevertheless, he would not face his end on bended knee, as the malevolent cat above him would want; he would stand in defiance of the darkness, even if it took the rest of his already depleted energy to do it.

The black cat growled in anger as the cat wizard stood once more and shook the drenching rain from his face.

Descending closer to the rooftop, the black cat's glowing red eyes intensified as the power within him built up and his hissed maniacally; the weak and wavering wizard cat prepared for oblivion.

A flash of light erupts, blinding the defiant cat momentarily as he lets it wash over him; lets the end come.

The intense light fades however, and he opens his eyes to see a figure standing before him, shielding him from the fatal blast.

Ralph looks back at him as the black cat's beams reflect off the powerful barrier of light emanating from Ralph's hands.

A moment of confusion grips the little cat wizard and he looks over to the roof's access hatch to see the pretty woman in her rain soaked floral dress watching on worriedly.

Ralph loses a step and the sound of sliding gravel makes the cat look back to his human, who struggles against the black cat's powerful magic blast, which intensifies with each passing moment.

Ralph struggles, even though he is obviously a very powerful wizard in his own right to withstand that much dark energy. That was the fact that had caught the cat wizard by surprise, for, up until very recently, he had always though his human roommate a very dull human being indeed.

"Arg!" Ralph exclaims in duress, which brings the cat out of his stunned state to see the human wizard struggling to maintain the deflecting spell which was saving them both at the moment.

With intense strain in his eyes, Ralph looks down to his cat companion.

"Come on, Mr Fluffernutters!" He shouts, "I can't do this alone!"

It was his hatred of his own name more than anything else that raised Mr. Fluffernutter's ire to the point he no longer felt the bruises and pains that wracked his little body, and gave him the strength to make the great bounding leap to Ralph's shoulder.

Digging his claws into the fabric of Ralph's sports coat, Mr. Fluffernutters adds a blast of his own magic to Ralph's and a radiating blast of dark and light energy explodes with a booming resonance.

And everything is awash with light.

As he curled up on the couch between Ralph and his lady friend, the great and powerful cat wizard Mr Fluffernutters tried to lick his bandaged paws to no avail.

After their battle, Ralph had explained to him that he too had felt the dark power growing, and his new special lady, Morgese, had become more and more fearful of her cat, Professor Jingles; who it seemed had been exhibiting very unsettling behaviour, which he, also being a wizard, had recognized as signs that the cat was indeed a dark wizard, an agent of evil.

It was not until they had come back from the occult store, where he had been asking an old conjurer friend about any human spells that would work against cat magic, and saw the two of them having a wizards' duel on the roof tops, that he realized that Mr Fluffernutters was a wizard as well.

Each use of his name made the cat wizard growl angrily, causing the two humans to laugh at his annoyance, and tell him to stop being such an old cranking puss.

They then settled in to eat their microwavable meals while watching their favourite game show on the TV.

Mr Fluffernutters huffed loudly, but rested his chin on Morgese's leg and soon began to purr contently as she stroked his still singed fur.

Nemesis pt.2

It had been almost a month since the wizard cat had realized his evil nemesis was living in the apartment building across the way; living with the new lady-friend of his human roommate, Ralph.

And the tension was reaching a boiling point.

His evenings were no longer spent watching television on the couch with Ralph, who was too caught up with his new lady love to spend much more time on him than it took to fill his food bowl before rushing out to meet the woman from across the street.

Instead, the cat sat in their living room window and stared at his nemesis, the green-eyed, black cat that looked intently back at him from the woman's darkened bedroom window; sparks nearly shooting out of each of the cats' eyes as the gazed at each other until the darkness of night shrouded them in the shadows of their empty apartments.

His days were full of restless naps that were constantly interrupted as he compulsively peeked over the window sill to try and catch a glimpse of the other cat doing the same, but the black cat never seemed showed himself in the daylight hours.

At night, deep within the walls of the apartment, the wizard cat searched fervently to find a spell powerful enough to protect himself, Ralph, and hopefully the rest of the city from the dark magic that was radiating from the cat across the street.

Yet, each hour slipped away without yielding much more than a different variation of this warding spell or another.

So much of the benevolent and good magical energy had faded from the world, and now there was very little left, and very few who could still conjure it.

Dark energy was more abundant with each passing day, and the wizard cat could feel it amassing in the unassuming apartment of Ralph's lady fair.

The days and nights blurred into one another as the weeks went on and still no spell powerful enough could be found, he was at his wits end and feeling drained from the constant barrage of malice directed at him from the unwavering stare of the black cat each evening.

Then came a night when Ralph and the woman had gone out on the town and left both cats alone in their respective apartments. As the wizard cat sat waiting for his nemesis to show himself, there came a rumble of thunder in the distance and the skies blackened prematurely with dark storm clouds filled with flashes of crackling lightning.

A crash of lightning hit behind the building close by and all the power went out in the neighbourhood, plunging the buildings into darkness.

Still intently staring at the window across the street, the wizard cat saw the figure of the sleek, black cat hop down from its usual spot on the bed and, as another flash of lightning brightened the sky for a moment, the cat bounded out of the room.

The wizard cat transferred his focus to the next window which was the kitchen as a flash of green light hit the apartment door, causing it to open slightly; enough for a cat to slip out of.

Quickly, he leaped from the window sill himself and ran for the door to their apartment. Hitting the door with disengagement charm, it opened enough for him to wiggle his way out of and into the red emergency light-lit hallway and continued to trot hurriedly toward the fire exit.

Using a transparency spell, the wizard cat passed through the thick, metal door and raced up the stairwell to the very top, which did not lead to a residential floor, but the maintenance hatch to the roof above.

Levitating himself up and through the locked hatch, he found himself on the gravel-covered roof, under the dark skies filled with menacing storm clouds that threatened to burst forth with rain at any moment.

Bounding to the roof's edge, he put his front paws up on the ledge and scanned the rooftop of the building across the street. Another flashing of lightning revealed his green-eyed nemesis to be standing, staring wildly back at him.

There would be no more time for searching for an appropriate spell, the time had come at last; the wizard cats would battle for the fate of the city tonight!

Nemisis

Once there was a great and powerful wizard, who also happened to be a cat.

Although he was a very potent wizard, the cat chose to live with a very ordinary human named Ralph in a one bedroom apartment in the east end of the city.

And even though the great and powerful wizard cat could conjure spectacular spells and wield magnificent amounts of magic, Ralph had no idea he lived with such a cat sorcerer.

He was a very dull and ordinary human.

Most days the cat lounged in the comfy, sun-faded chair that sat beside the big picture window of the living room and soaked up all of the glorious rays from the afternoon sun.

When Ralph returned home from work in the evenings, they would sit and watch their evening game shows together as they ate; Ralph his single, microwavable dinner and the cat his fish-smelling canned food.

Then, in the late hours of the night, after Ralph was sleeping soundly in his bed, the cat would begin to weave his magical experiments.

In the dim shadows of the his clandestine workshop between the walls, the cat wizard practised his ancient arts, poring over the multitude of spells scrolls he had collected over his long years, building his repertoire of enchantments and charms; all the while, searching for a spell powerful enough to protect him from what was coming.

For sometime now he had felt a great force building, a shadow creeping in secret across the city; an evil presence that threatened his thoughts with a probing malice.

After long hours of searching and spell work, the cat would lumber groggily out from the maze of passageways behind the walls in time to curl up in his bed at the foot of Ralph's just before the human awoke to his bleating alarm to get ready for his day.

Conjuring so much magic, even for a powerful wizard such as the cat was, was draining and he needed to rest in the sun's replenishing beams to regain his strength for the next night's work.

One evening, Ralph came home, yet seemed to be in a hurry, but not to put his meal in the microwave. The normally dull human rushed around the apartment, changing out of his work attire, showering, shaving, and putting on a clean shirt, slacks, and a tie.

He slopped the cat's can of food in the bowl before giving the wizard a hurried scratch on the head and heading out the door, humming to himself.

The confused cat trotted up to the window to look down at the building's entrance and watch his human companion exit and walk jauntily along the sidewalk, cross the street, and approach the apartment across the way.

Ralph rang the building's buzzer and stood worriedly for a moment before he answered whoever had spoken through the speaker before opening the door for him to enter excitedly through.

He disappeared into the building and the cat scanned the lit windows of the low-rise apartment building to hopefully see if Ralph showed up in one of them.

Sure enough, after a few minutes, in the window directly across from their apartment, a young woman in a pretty floral dress hopped up from her kitchen chair and went to open the door, revealing an awkwardly smiling Ralph whom she invited in.

The cat chuckled to himself as he thought that Ralph might not be so dull after all.

As the two went to sit down in the living room, as wave of menace came over the cat, the feeling of dread he had felt over the passed few months bore down on him with such intensity it nearly bowled him over.

Looking over to what was most-likely Ralph's new lady friend's bedroom, the wizard cat saw the dark outline of another cat sitting in the window, staring directly back at him.

The two cats gazed at one another, and the cat wizard knew that this was who he had been preparing for; this green-eyed cat was his nemesis.

And his roommate was on a date with its owner.

Under the Mountain

Once, long ago, there were two kingdoms that lay sprawled out on either side of a great mountain, and for many years they lived in peace and harmony with one another. Their trading and diplomatic business was conducted through grand tunnels that ran through the mountain depths, and both kingdoms thrived and prospered.

The rulers of each kingdom, powerful emperors, would often visit one another's cities and celebrate their peaceful existence with festivals and revelries to which all their surrounding allies would attend.

So it was that that the young son of one emperor and the young daughter of the other met on one such occasion and became the closest of friends.

All year long, each would wait with excitement until the next visit to see their friend and they would play and laugh during the festivals; marvelling at the exotic animals that were brought in from far and wide, enjoying the strange and delicious treats from the vendors, and watching in awe during the fireworks displays that lit up the starry night skies.

Soon, as it is oft to happen, the young friendship grew into more as their feelings for each other evolved into love and they would not wait until the next festival, but sneak out into the mountain tunnels to meet one another in secret.

In the multitude of tunnels that snaked through the base of the mountain, they had discovered a hidden chamber midway from each entrance, and there they would meet and be with each other, promising their undying love to one another.

Unfortunately, peace between nations sometimes only last when there is prosperity for both, and soon the dark shadow of famine fell upon the kingdom to the south of the mountain while the kingdom to the north, still prosperous, began to increase their prices for the goods and services they had always provided fairly.

The shadow grew through long months and became the darkness of war between the two kingdoms.

All the while the young lovers continued to meet in secret until her father's spies discovered their clandestine rendezvous and relayed the information to their emperor.

He forbade her from seeing the young prince and in his fury, gave orders to destroy the mountain tunnels, thus cutting his enemies and their young love off forever.

Unaware of the eminent destruction of the tunnels, the young prince stole away from his family's palace and went to meet his adored one in their secret chamber deep within the mass of rock and stone that separated them.

Horrified at the thought of her love being crushed underneath the mountain when her father's army set off their explosive powders, the princess escaped her chambers and fled to the tunnels' entrance.

Perhaps she could get to him before the tunnels were caved-in and they could escape far away to the west or barring that, at least that they could be together for eternity, buried deep in their mountain tomb.

She was within sight of the darkened gates of the tunnels' carved entrance when the massive blast exploded in a fiery flash like flames out of some terrible dragon's gaping maw and she fell to her knees as her heart broke with more force than did the mountain itself.

Weeping for her love she vowed never to leave from where she knelt and that she too, would become as the stone that buried him.

Try as they might, the emperor's guards, alchemists, and even the Emperor himself could not move her, as she had indeed become as immovable as the very stone of the mountain.

And there she remains, still kneeling, alone, all remnants of the two kingdoms eroded away over the millennia, leaving only her stone image, untouched, weeping for her love entombed deep within in the ancient tunnels.

Enwrapping him through the very rock she had become part of, the two lovers embrace forever more, under the mountain.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvPgndy5frA