Wings of Paper - Chapter 16

Welcome Home

My palm tingled with the phantom sensation of Alex’s skin gripping mine. Her scream echoed through the cavernous volcano but ended abruptly. Icy coldness welled in my gut and I felt numb. 

She couldn’t be dead. 

Alex wasn’t meant to be here. She wasn’t a character, nor was she a creator. She was just some random girl from my school who wanted an adventure. 

I could hear her yelling my name. Luke. Luke. LUKE. 

No, I wasn’t hearing the past Alex. She was alive, and she was calling my name. I opened my eyes and was met by a harsh wind. 

A large dragon was floating in front of me, the scales a deep navy and the eyes knowing. Alex was perched on its back, her hair whipping wildly in the wind. The dragon gave a snort and a tinier creature appeared from underneath. 

“Smokey?” The dragon yipped when I said his name. He nuzzled me playfully, scales soft to the touch. 

“Smokey found his mother,” Alex told me, her voice hoarse - probably from screaming.
“Wonderful,” I said. And I meant it. At least one thing was going right. 

The volcano shook beneath me, reminding me that it was still on the verge of explosion. “Help me up,” I told Alex. She stuck out a hand and hoisted me onto the dragon’s back. 

Smokey flew beside us and for a second I felt at peace. On a dragon’s back, Alex at my side, hovering high above a world of my creation. Thunder rumbled in the distance as the Darkness advanced on a village far away. I could almost hear the screams. 

“Our friends,” I whispered. 

Smokey’s mother gave a snort as if to say she knew. She tucked her wings and I found myself grabbing onto her slick scales for support as we rolled into a dive. 

We twisted around the side of the volcano, winding around and around until I caught the sound of screaming. “There,” Alex said, pointing at one of the campsites. I could barely make out figures jumping up and down. 

Smokey’s mother lowered herself until she was hovering beside the campsite, her wing outstretched for the Fictionals to climb onto. 

Sammy and Sadie were the first to scamper upwards, plopping down beside us. Next came Kenzie, coaxing Hiro onwards. Hiro stumbled forwards, tripping on the wing. The volcano rumbled again, threatening to blow. 

Kenzie grabbed Hiro’s arm and yanked him aboard. Smokey’s mother took off immediately, Smokey flapping along behind us. The volcano rumbled again, spewing a misty white smoke. We flew further away - and just in time too. White lava from stardust poured down the side of the mountain, destroying everything in its path. 

I relaxed into a small divot on the back of the mother dragon. She was about as big as two mobile homes from head to tail, her wings as long as a school bus each. 

Sadie was shaking in Sammy’s arms and he sparked a tiny bit of light to keep her warm. The two shared a snuggle and I felt a pang in my chest. Sammy and Sadie were too innocent to die. Well, maybe not Sammy so much. 

Kenzie was wrapping Hiro in a cloak as he shivered. His lips had a grayish tint to them and I was beginning to get seriously worried. 

“Are you all okay?” Alex asked, sounded just as concerned as I felt. 

“We’re fine,” Sammy replied, a bit bitterly. “We thought you died - it took you several hours and when we felt the whole thing quaking we thought it was the end. What happened?” 

“We ran into a bit of trouble with a nymph,” I sighed. 

Kenzie let out a string of curses. “Of course it was a nymph. Those things are self-centered and prideful, never to be trusted. Did you get the sword?” 

I held it up, bringing it out of its sheath. The blade swirled with pearly light. Kenzie smiled at it and I could tell Sammy wanted to hold it. The sword wasn’t for them though - it was for me. 

“So we just go fight Dee now?” This was from Sadie. “How do we know the sword will work?” 

“It will,” Hiro mumbled. “It has to. Who knows, maybe it can even cut down the Darkness.” I highly doubted the sword was that powerful, but I couldn’t be sure. Maybe Hiro was right. 

“We’ll just have to wait and see. How long is Smokey’s mother willing to carry us?” Alex asked. 

“She says that she will carry us as far as she can,” Kenzie said as the mother dragon purred. “But she does not think that she’ll be able to carry us for long. The Darkness is taking her wings as it gifts them to her son.” 

Right, I hadn’t even noticed Smokey’s new wings. But his mother did seem to have trouble holding herself up. 

“She says rest as much as possible in case of an emergency,” Kenzie said. “And I agree.” 

I tried to sleep, but rest did not come. I moved about, every time I rolled over I felt my sword press into my thigh. No one else seemed to have the same problem and I did manage to catch a few minutes of sleep before being jolted awake. 

I felt exhausted even after I woke up, and the feeling lingered as the others slept without me. They deserved the rest so I didn’t wake them. Besides, my own thoughts kept me company. 

Smokey’s mother flew us quite the distance, I was really beginning to think we would make it close to the Darkness. The volcano was pretty far Dee’s makeshift fortress, but the Darkness was slowly growing further and further outwards. 

I was surprised when I noticed the pattern in how the Darkness was spreading. Dee’s castle was far in the left, and the Darkness was spreading directly to the East. It hadn’t begun to really spread North or South yet, which left Dee’s castle vulnerable at the sides. I could see a lot from up here, but Dee’s castle was partially obscured by the Darkness. 

The Fictionals couldn’t travel through the Darkness - I barely could! Which meant we needed to go around to the sides. It would be our best bet, if predictable. 

I told this to the mother dragon, who adjusted our path slightly. 

I desperately wanted to talk with the others. I wanted to explain all of what had happened to the Fictionals. I wanted to apologize to Alex. They were my friends now. 

They weren’t just characters I had made up. I had created people, people who actually had lives. And they were so much more complex than I had realized. Sammy had a tender side while Sadie was feistier than I had expected. And Hiro and Kenzie were supposed to be enemies - now they were closer than friends. 

It made me rethink the whole Darkness problem. I still had no idea where it was coming from, or why Dee existed. But there had to be another angle. Maybe they weren’t terrible things. 

I shook my head, clearing my thoughts. The Darkness was giving me a clean slate, yes, but in doing so it was destroying my beloved creation. And Dee was just an attention hungry monster who had dark magic. There couldn’t be another side to it. 

Smokey’s mother shook underneath me. Her wings trembled and I noticed small holes breaking in the membrane between the wings and the bones. 

Panic overwhelmed me. We would have to jump or we would crash. Although jumping would be a death wish too. 

I grabbed Alex and shook her awake. Sleep blurred her vision and she sputtered for words. “The dragon is going down,” I explained as quickly as I could. Alex’s eyes widened and she passed the message on to a now waking Sammy. 

“How soon are we going down?” Kenzie asked the mother dragon, her voice still thick with sleep. Smokey’s mother purred in response and Kenzie sighed. “She says she sees a spot where she can land ahead. But it’ll be a rocky landing, so everyone hold on tight. She’ll take the brunt of the impact.” 

“How can you speak dragon?” Sadie asked her. 

“Mind reading still works on creatures apparently,” Kenzie explained. “But we can discuss that later. Brace yourselves!” 

She didn’t need to say it. Just as Kenzie spoke, Smokey’s mother let out a terrifying howl and began to plummet downwards. Wind whistled in my ears as Smokey cried out for his mother. 

We crashed into the ground hard and everything went black. 

I was only out for a moment before the pain woke me up. My back and shoulder weren’t killing me anymore, it was the rest of my body that ached. I groaned, sitting up and slamming my head against a slab of wood. 

“Where are you guys?” Sadie’s voice cried out. “Hello? Am I the only one alive?” 

“Sadie,” I called. I heard footsteps coming towards me but it was too dark to see anything. A tiny orb of light flickered to life in front of my face, revealing Sadie’s face. 

“Where are we?” Sadie asked as she pulled me to my feet, the orb hovering between us. 

I gazed around. The ceiling was broken and there was a hole in the roof that let in minimal light and a bit of rain. 

“I have no idea,” I answered. “If I had to guess, I’d say we’re in a mansion on the outskirts of some kingdom. Probably some rich brat’s house, and they’re probably consumed by the Darkness already.” 

“That’s optimistic,” Sadie grumbled. “Let’s find the others.” 

Alex wasn’t far away, we found her in a pile of wood and debris, a cut on her cheek. We woke her up and she sounded happy to at least be inside. The harsh drumming of rain could be heard from outside. 

We found Sammy next, who was delighted to find Sadie alive though he didn’t seem as worried about her safety. Maybe that was proof that he was learning to respect himself too.

At last we found Kenzie and Hiro. The latter was lying on top of Kenzie, his limbs splayed out but at least he was alive. Kenzie saw us coming and pushed Hiro off of her, waking him up. She brushed herself off. “I didn’t want to wake him unless there was danger.” 

“Where did the dragons end up?” Alex asked, wiping the blood from her cheek. 

Sadie pointed to the opposite end of the house. “Smokey’s mother is gone but I found a rather large pile of ashes next to me when I woke up. As for Smokey, I think I saw him flying the other way right before we crashed.” 

I hoped Smokey had made it - I didn’t want him to be killed while trying to save us. 

“Does anyone know where we are?” Sammy asked, stifling a yawn. Apparently he hadn’t gotten a good sleep either. 

“No idea,” I shrugged at the same time as Kenzie grumbled something under her breath. “What did you say?” I asked her. Kenzie avoided my gaze, crossing her arms and staring out a grubby window towards the rain sodden forest just outside. Sadie and I had been downstairs before, now we were on the main level and more natural light filled the space. 

“We’re at a house on the outskirts of my kingdom,” Kenzie answered quietly. “A mansion on the very outside borders.” 

“Have you been here before?” Hiro asked her as he pulled himself to his feet. 

Kenzie nodded reluctantly. “I lived here once - this was my childhood home.” 

On that note, chaos ensued. It was a simple statement, but everyone had different reactions. Alex and I were both relatively indifferent, though I began to inspect the structure a little more in depth. Sadie probed Kenzie with questions about which room was hers and what furniture she had. Sammy scanned the surroundings like he was expecting an attack. 

Hiro simply sat there in silence, his mind elsewhere. 

“What color are your walls?” Sadie asked excitedly. “Did you have a big bed? Which room is yours?” 

“I can take you there,” Kenzie offered weakly, overcome by memories. 

Sadie smiled brightly and Kenzie began to lead us to where her room used to be. I followed closely behind her, Hiro at her side. 

“You never told me you were born in a mansion,” Hiro was saying. 

Kenzie shrugged. “I didn’t live here for long. I became Princess Ash’s maid at a young age and I didn’t live at home. Besides, my parents were glad to get rid of me. They considered telepathy to be a mark of a demon, they didn’t want me destroying their home. So I left.” 

She opened a pair of double doors to reveal a large room, though the smallest one I had seen in the house so far. Everything was dusty, and none of it screamed Kenzie. 

Sadie took to exploring everything from pictures to books to even a diary that Kenzie quickly snatched out of the girl’s hands. Sadie mumbled something about no fun before continuing her careful examination. 

“You’re lucky to live in a place like this,” Alex said, her eyes wide. “My parents gave me my own room, but it was nowhere close to as big as this.” 

“You should see the rooms they gave my sisters and brothers,” Kenzie said, her voice bitter. “They didn’t possess Talents like I did, so they were good children. All of them were younger than me too, I had three sisters and two brothers.” 

“Had?” Sammy noted. 

“I assume the Darkness has taken them by now,” Kenzie sighed, though she didn’t seem sorry. “Mother and Father were never ones to believe in magic - besides mine. I’m sure they went out to prove it wrong and took my siblings with them. Dead, all of them.” 

“Like Mother,” Sammy mumbled. His eyes rolled back in his head and he toppled over. Luckily, Sadie had reflexes of a gazelle and grabbed him before he hit the floor, struggling under his weight. Sadie lowered him to the floor until Kenzie scooped him up and placed him in her bed. 

“What’s happening?” Sadie asked, her voice panicky. 

“He’s having flashbacks as a side effect of the Darkness,” I answered, unsure if I should be sharing the information. But Sammy could be in danger, so I decided it was fine to say it. 

“How would you know this?” Alex asked, her eyes narrowing. 

I stumbled for words. “I, uh, may have shared one of these episodes with him. It was before we went into the canyon on the outside of the volcano. Don’t worry, he’ll be fine.” 

Everyone seemed to accept that for an answer. The Darkness was effecting everyone except Sadie, and before too long I expected it would start to get to her too. I wondered what her odd curse would be.  

“What did you see in his past?” Sadie asked me. 

I shrugged uncomfortably. “I don’t know that his past is technically mine to share. I think he would have told you everything he wanted you to know.” 

Sadie pretended to pout, but I could tell she accepted my answer. She didn’t want Sammy to suffer any more than the rest of us did and she certainly respected the boundaries of his personal life. 

“I guess we camp here for a bit,” Hiro sighed. “Kenzie, do you want to help me root the kitchen? You know where it is.” 

“I think you and Luke can go find some food, Sadie can stay here with Sammy, and Alex and I can go scavenge whatever else we can find. There should be plenty to go around as long as it’s not rotten.” 

Hiro looked a bit disappointed to be stuck with me, something I tried not to take personally. I wasn’t exactly fond of splitting up either yet here I was. 

“Come on,” I whispered to Hiro. “Maybe we can find some cake and eat it before anyone else.” That perked Hiro up and he excitedly led the way out of the room and down a flight of steps. 

Neither Hiro or me knew the way around Kenzie’s house, so it was almost like a scavenger hunt than a food hunt. Hiro was interested in nearly everything. I had created it - whether subconsciously or not - so most of the belongings didn’t phase me. Besides, I didn’t want Kenzie to kill me for looking at her stuff. 

Hiro was particularly interested in what rooms were missing. Growing up as a prince, Hiro never really had a taste for normal villager life. He had experienced the most lush fabrics and foods, and he had never really considered poverty as a problem. 

But now, looking at the little amounts of supplies and furniture Kenzie’s family had, he was surprised. “Where’s the kitchen and the pantry? Where are all of the closets?” 

“Not everyone has access to those luxuries,” I informed him. “Even Kenzie has more than most. This mansion is twice the size of my house at home.” I faltered as I remembered my room and all of my house that I was missing. Probably the shower most of all. 

“You mean you don’t live in a castle?” 

“I only know of, like, one person that lives in a castle - and that’s the ruler of England.” 

“Why don’t you just build a castle? You are the Creator after all.” 

“The world doesn’t work like that,” I sighed. “You need a lot of money to build a big house. The castle I mentioned is passed down from generation to generation.” 

Hiro was amazed by this idea. He was also intrigued by items he found lying in Kenzie’s siblings’ rooms. “What is this?” he asked, holding up what I assumed was a worn teddy bear. I told Hiro this and he dropped the thing in disgust. “They play with that?” 

“It’s probably their only toy,” I said. “Not everyone is rich like you.” 

“I wouldn’t consider myself rich,” Hiro mumbled. “Though my castle is pretty sweet. Maybe when this is all over you can come visit it.”

“If we’re not dead by then,” I grumbled. “It’s probably one of the best places I’ve seen so far in my time here. I mean, Sammy’s cottage was incredibly tiny. I can’t even begin to predict what you would say if you saw what he lived in.”

That brought the conversation to a grinding halt. I was sorry I even mentioned it. 

“I hope he’s okay,” Hiro muttered. 

“He’ll be fine,” I said, though I wasn’t so sure. 

“He will be,” Hiro said, more to himself than to me. “We will make it through this.” He sounded like he truly believed that. I didn’t. 

Hiro and I inspected the house in silence, finding not much besides bedrooms upon bedrooms. Each one was grander than Kenzie’s, the room itself bigger and the furniture much more expensive looking. 

After a while we finally found the kitchen. Hiro frowned at the small pantry but he helped me gather as much stuff as we could find and load it into a blanket. Luckily, most of the food was nonperishable. Hiro wondered if the plumbing worked and turned on the sink, spraying both of us with chilled water. 

We agreed to deliver the food upstairs before looking to bathe or shower. The blanket was heavy but with Hiro’s history of randomly passing out I decided it would be best if I carried it. The last thing we needed was Hiro to fall down the steps and get a concussion. 

Kenzie informed us that every bedroom had a bathroom attached and that we were free to shower if we wanted. Sadie didn’t want to leave Sammy at first but when Alex offered to watch him instead the elf reluctantly agreed. Alex showered first in a separate room and when she returned the rest of us left. 

The water was cold, but it felt nice to feel the grime washed off of me. I scrubbed at my hair but with no shampoo there was little I could do. How I longed for a proper cleansing. 

I was just finishing dressing when a scream pierced the silence. 

Sadie was in trouble.