The Elders (Sky: Children of the Light)

~Chapter Seven~

EDNA'S POV

Edna sat on the edge of the platform, relishing in what could be her last moments alive. It was blissfully quiet, almost eerily, with a cold bite of with that smelled of snow and crisp ice. That probably meant she wasn't in the Sky kingdoms, but somewhere with seasons, and a time of day or night, since she faced a bloodred sunset. She would probably never get to know where she was.

She traced the grain in the wood with one finger, thinking about anything other than the fact that she was about to die.

It did not work. She was still worried.

She heard a flap of wings and light footsteps. Umber. She looked behind her, and she found her suspicions confirmed. Lovely.

Edna sighed and put her head back down.

"Such a shame, to die so young." Umber whispered. Then she yanked Edna up with her telekinesis, floating her a few inches off the ground.

"It would be even more of a shame to die so old." Edna shot back.

"I will not waste time talking." She leaned in close. "You will be the first of many to die, and none who stand with you will be spared, not even Tam."

She backed away, and before Edna could react, there was a gleam of metal and she jolted backwards. A dagger was sticking out of her chest, buried up to the handle. She scrabbled at it, pulling it out and throwing it on the wood.

With one last grimace, Umber pushed Edna over the edge of the platform, down into those silver-white clouds.

✧

ACE'S POV (This will be fun >:D)

Ace was used to pressure, being the leader of Floare's son. Former leader, that was. But that had been nothing compared to the pressure of leading really anything at all. Ace still found time to visit his friends in the Sky Kingdoms often.

Ace flew out over Floare, which had almost completely rebuilt since that unnatural. . . thing had damaged it all.

His vision flickered switching to the oh-so-familiar dark stone walls and the grinding sound of gears. He crashed into a wall, sliding down, and hitting the ground. He did not know what it was from, but he knew the recurring sensation of being. . . somewhere else. Something else. It had to do with his eyes. His petals, crusting over with stone.

He shook himself and got up, flying out into the still, clear quiet of the secret garden he had found. Walking forward, the world spun once, twice, and he was floating over the Golden Wasteland. He was always dumped into random places whenever he used the garden. It had gotten quite annoying, but he could still bug whoever was around.

He headed down, looking for Sunny. She was reading a book on top of one of the towers, like normal. He floated silently behind her, his vision flickering only the slightest. He whispered in her ear.

"What are you reading?"

She whirled around and smacked him with the book.

"How did you sneak up on me?" She asked him.

"What do you mean?"

"No one can sneak up on me. Especially not you." Ace decided not to be offended. Sunny flew down off the tower, landing on the sand. "How did you get here anyways?"

"There's this portal in Floare, I don't know where it's from, but it just dumps me somewhere in the Sky Kingdoms."

"So, you came to see me. Yay."

She reached up to put the book back by the thousand others.

"They still haven't come back?" Ace was referring to Rayem and Edna.