Black clouds started to form. She could taste the sulphur in her mouth. One hand tightly intertwined with her brother's as she carried him on her back. There were only a few moments left. She could make it to safety. They all could.

Her wings were tired from the day's journey, yet she flapped them harder. She eyed Cloud Kingdom's twin moons rising in their green and lilac glory, positioning for the overlap. One more flap of her wings and she skillfully landed on one of the archways of Castle Silyn.

The guards in the archway quickly dropped to their knees and bowed their heads in her sudden presence. Iris clapped her hands and the guards stood.

"Get the magisters. Now!" she ordered. Iris started to untie the rope around her waist that had held her brother strapped on their way back from their scouting mission.

"More are coming. We have ten injured. Is the castle ready for the firestorms?" She asked.

"Yes, Your Highness. All is ready."

She looked at her cloudguard. "Hold the gates open for as long as you can. I want everybody to reach Silyn tonight. I accept no casualties and no excuses."

A gush of wind alerted her to the magisters arrival.

"Fix him up," she snapped at the magister closest to her. "And as soon as Joas comes in, send him to the solstice room." Iris turned on her heels walked the few steps to the edge of the archway.

The diamond dome that protected Castle Silyn was turning darker. Iris looked around; her army had landed on all six hundred archways. She felt pleased as she closed her eyes and dove head down in the heart of Silyn.

The wind sighed through her wings. One, two, she opened her eyes. She could feel the faint rays through the archways. Three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine. She curled her long legs to her chest, took a spin, and landed in the main courtyard.

The winter solstice was fast approaching and her army was not fully prepared for what was coming. She needed everyone in top form if they were going to succeed.

The moon merge had commenced. The firerain was relentless if you were caught outside. Even the most powerful magisters in Iris' kingdom could not save you from it.

As a young soul when she first ascended to the Cloud Kingdom, she was mystified by the firerain, the dome, but mostly she was curious about the mage, envious at times. She was disappointed when she found out she could not be a magister. Her path was to be a cloudsoldier. She had arrived in the kingdom with Joas so many years ago the memory was so distant. It puzzled her for a while when the Maister had announced their positions.

"You asked for me?" Joas asked with a ferocious look in his light purple eyes.

"Walk with me to the solstice room."

They walked in silence through the stone hallways.

"The vegetation is well taken care of," she pointed out. The trees were strong and held the stonewalls of the castle together. They were the glue, the heart of the castle.

"You can thank the magisters and the young souls for this."

They reached the solstice room and closed the doors behind them.

"What happened out there Joas? Who was that?" She enquired calmly.

"Your Highness," Joas said.

"Don't Your Highness me Joas; it's the two of us now."

"Iris, I don't know what happened. A young soul so strong that ten cloudsoldiers including myself were not able to control it. In my years here, the centuries we have spent together, I have not seen this before."

"And the most bizarre out of all this, was his bond to the elements." Iris added.

"I asked Maister to attend to him immediately and he will come here to give us his findings." Joas informed her.

"Good," she said and turned to look out the diamond window. The firestorm had passed, it only lasted while the moons were aligned.

Two sharp knocks on the door echoed in the solstice room.

"Enter." Iris said.

"Your Highness, Joas," the Maister voiced as he kneeled before her.

"Rise, Maister, and give us your findings."

He held his moon pendants and began to speak. "This soul, though just a day old, and not arrived during the summer solstice, holds great power within. It appears that it combines both the heart of a soldier and a magister. His eyes are light purple but also black at his wish. I have only seen this once before, many centuries ago." He was took in a deep breath and added. "He is the One."

"According to the scriptures the One should come during the summer solstice." Iris countered.

"Or in times of great peril," the wise old man added.

"We were given other signs as well?" She asked.

"No, Your Highness."

"We must prepare him for what is to come. We only have four months until the winter solstice. I would like to speak with him as well."

"I would advise against this," Joas quickly added. "We don't know if he can control his powers, his strength."

"He doesn't know who I am or who he is yet. I wonder, does he remember who he was in his earthly life? If his powers are strong maybe he does. He will need someone to guide him through." Iris said as she stepped away from them towards the doors.

"He remembers clearly who he was," Maister said.

She spun around in a heartbeat. "He remembers?"

"Yes, and he wants to go back."

Her eyes filled with tears in an instant. Her eyes locked with Joas, the heartache of remembering who they were in their earthly lives, the people they left behind when they ascended to the Cloud Kingdom, was only softened once your loved ones joined you. If they joined you.

"I need to speak with him. What's his name?"

"Christopher." The Maister offered with discontent.

"The injured. How are they?" she asked while reaching for the door knob.

"They are healed Your Highness."

◇◇◇◇

Christopher looked around the room. The old man had left a while back, maybe half an hour, if his sense of time was still correct. They kept calling him a young soul. It irritated him. He was not a young soul. He was Christopher, a twenty five year old man.

"This is a dream. I will find a way to wake up and go back. Mom and dad will enjoy the story of this dream immensely. My brother...I need to wake up," he muttered to himself. The sound of footsteps broke him out of his reverie, he lay still in the bed. The door opened and a magnificent creature entered his room. He sat up on his bed and looked at her.

She was almost two metres tall. Long lean legs, mocha skin, symmetrical features with amazing light magenta eyes. Her hair was tied up in a bun at the top of her head with a yellow stick through, probably to keep it in place.

Her beauty was bewitching.

"Welcome to Castle Silyn," Iris announced.

Christopher stood up. She was shorter than he was. How can this be? Last time they measured his height was in the army and he was no more than 1.65. "What the fuck is going on here. I need a mirror now."

She pointed to his left. Christopher slowly turned towards it.

"This is not me," he said in a quiet voice. He raised his hand to his full lips. Deep lilac eyes were curiously staring back at him contoured by thick black eyebrows. His body was chiselled to perfection. There was not even a trace of his previously tattooed arms on his now light brown skin.

"This is the real you. This is who you are in your core, in your soul."

"So the real me is a huge chocolate man." Christopher probed, certain that any minute now he would wake up. "I look good though. Wow! My eyes, they just turned black. Do yours change too?" He asked Iris while still admiring himself in the mirror.

"No, only yours change colour," she informed him with a hint of annoyance in her voice.

"Ha. Okay. So I'm weird. That's fine I guess, this chocolate body will work just fine to get the girls. I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself, Christopher." He extended his arm but she left him hanging.

"My name is Iris."

"Where are you from Iris?"

"It doesn't matter. My Earthly life was a long time ago."

"What do you mean? You look so young," he countered. She couldn't be more than thirty. "You are just fishing for compliments now sweetie. How do I get back to my Earthly life as you call it?"

Iris looked at him standing in front of the mirror still admiring his reflection. There was no easy way to break the news. She must try to be gentle though, due to his lack of control.

"You asked how old I am. I joined the Cloud Kingdom a bit more than three centuries ago."

He turned around his eyes wide with shock trying to figure out if she was serious. He noticed something on her back. They looked like wings. He turned his back to the mirror. He had wings too. Magnificent, white, long wings. He reached his arm to touch them. They felt soft and strong.

"We have wings, for sure this is some sort of hallucination," he said.

"Christopher, I was told that you remember your earthly life," she offered.

"My life, my family, my friends why would I have forgotten them? This is a dream." He said in a definite tone.

"And may I ask what is the last thing you remember before falling into this...illusion," she insisted.

"I...I," he scratched his head trying to think if he was watching a movie, no he was asleep, he woke up, was on his way to.... "No, no, no," he stumbled back a few steps and sat with a loud thump on the bed. He held his head in his hands. "No, no, no, no it can't be. This is a dream."

The room around them started to shake, the mirror was about to fall but Iris caught it on time before it shattered to pieces.

"Christopher, calm down. Christopher!" The shaking was getting more intense. The door opened and the guards came in. "Stop! Do not restrain him, it will only make matters worse," she ordered. She quickly went to his side and put her arm around him. He was rocking his body back and forth in an effort to console himself. "Take deep breaths, everybody here has been though the same."

"No, no, no, I want to go back. I must go back."

"You can't go back, but if you work on your powers you may visit them in their dreams. That is the only interaction we are allowed with the Earthly life until they join us in the Cloud Kingdom," she whispered to him.

Christopher turned his head and looked at her. "I wasn't ready for this."

"No one ever is," she said in a hoarse voice. "Now you must be hungry."

He squinted his eyes and tilted his head as he looked at her.

"Yes, we eat," she informed him with a smile on her face.

"I'm not hungry right now, thanks."

"That's fine. When you feel hungry the dining room is to the left and then you must follow the third path on your right." She informed him and left the room with the guards behind her.

Christopher still had hopes that all this was just a dream. It had to be. He fell flat on the bed and closed his eyes. He opened his eyes; nope he was still in this so called Cloud Kingdom. Again, he closed his eyes and opened them. No luck again. He tried to pinch himself to wake up. Still nothing.

He drew in a deep breath and pushed himself off the bed. There must be a way to see his family again. She did say something about powers. Unsettled, he followed her out of the room. He had been transported here in blindfold. The sun was blinding, he put his hand on his forehead to able to see.

He was dumbstruck with what he saw. Beautiful, colourful gardens surrounded small stone houses. Streams were flowing across the settlement blending in perfectly. It was breath taking to say the least. He saw creatures, that looked like he did now, flying over them. Some kind of dome covered the entire area. He could also see tall stonewalls surrounding the dome filled with what seemed to be pigeon holes from where he was standing.

Christopher found Iris waiting for him outside the room.

"I was amazed too the first time I saw castle Silyn," Iris told him in a calm voice.

"It is impressive," he murmured to himself as he followed her around in the endless maze of the castle. "Why you call it castle, it looks more like a city."

"Yes you are correct, it looks like a city, now..." she answered as she continued to guide them through the pathways. "We could fly to the dining room, but you are not ready yet. Maybe tomorrow," she said with a smile.

"You said we could visit our people on earth if we use our powers," he enquired.

"Yes, but you will have to work hard to control and develop your gifts."

"What do you mean?" he insisted.

"Think of it like a training program, you will have to learn to fly, fight and interact with the elements if you are to be ready for winter solstice." She replied.

"What's the winter solstice?" He had more questions but they had just reached their destination.

They entered the dining room. Silence was spread throughout the hall. A grand hall with countless cloud people dressed in red and black. Everybody stood up and bowed their heads towards them. He looked at her and realized that she was not only the welcoming committee; she was way more than that. He followed her as she made her way through the room to the top table and sat beside the old man that examined him in his room and the man that had captured him. He stood for a moment wondering what he was expected to do.

"Your Highness," Joas greeted her. "Christopher is it? You may have a seat next to me," he said and gestured to the empty chair beside him.

Christopher thanked him as he took his place at the table. So, she was the queen of Silyn. He looked around , everybody looked so mesmerizing. Even the ambience in the atmosphere was majestic. The candles that lit up the dining hall seemed to be hovering above them. The see through ceiling provided a clear view of the sky, he saw a dome, he saw two moons, he saw islands floating about.

"Other souls live on the other islands?" He enquired Joas.

"Souls from other realms."

"Other realms?" Christopher hopefully asked.

"Not from earth." Joas warned.

Christopher realized that Joas did not want to share more details on the matter which made him even more curious. He decided to change the subject.

"Do you communicate with your family on Earth?"

"Not anymore," Joas replied.

"Okay," Christopher said and focused on his food. It appeared that Joas wasn't the talkative type. He noticed that there was a lot of whispering and pointing going on but he focused on the food in front of him

______
Hi loves,

A rather long first chapter...I hope you liked it.
Can't wait to hear what you think.

If you did like it please comment and vote!

❤❤❤
Myro