The Rescue Mission
Chapter 26
Written by rachel76m
Edited by Don Kaufman

Brianna and I wake up in the morning at sunrise. The morning sunlight shines brightly into the room. We look at each other and smile. Then I bring my eyebrows down.

“What’s wrong, Richard?”

“What’s wrong is what I don’t hear. I don’t hear my fairies here.”

We get up and look in the drawer. Their blankets and pillows are still there. However, they are not there.

“Oh, that’s right. They flew into the forest with the rest of the fairies to spend the night with Avel’s fairies.”

“That includes King Oren’s fairy troop as well. Let’s hope your fairies come back to us.”

“Let us hope, Brianna.”

~~~000~~~

The fairies wake up in the woods near the glade. It is the same glade I went to the last time I was there.

Bianca rises up from the grass bed. “Oh dear, Brianna needs us, Lavan.”

Lavan gets up as well. “I feel it too, sister. We’ll get lost in the woods to find her at the castle.

“Sigh . . . Then we must trust the Creator to keep her safe.”

“That we must, sister.”

“Even though it’s great to be among other fairies, I am still home sick in some ways.”

“I know the feeling, Bianca. But we must learn from this experience. We need to check with our other brothers and sisters to see how they are doing.”

“Yes, we must, Lavan. I’m glad I have you for a brother. You are more level headed than I am right now.”

“Perhaps, but we’ll both feel better once we are with Brianna and Richard again.”

“Yes, we will, brother.”

Bianca and Lavan flap their wings. They see the other fairies going through the woods to find their morning meal. They find the nuts and berries with help from Avel’s fairies as they point out which one is edible. They bring it to the glade. They see Avel and the centaurs gathered together in the glade.

~~~000~~~

We take the bed covers off. We get out of bed and get ready for another day. This morning is spent with us apart. I’m meeting King Tierion and the Castle Lords in the King’s Chamber. Brianna will be with the ladies. We can only imagine what the topics will be. I make sure to bring the cook book with me this morning.

We walk down to the foyer escorted by a knight. He leads us to the formal dining room this time. When the doors are opened, we see only the royalty there. The Mystic Order is having their own morning repast together elsewhere in the castle. The Military leaders are having theirs with the other Castle Knights and Dwarf Warriors in the dining halls outside Thryson Castle. I set the cook book on the table that is set near the double doors to the dining room from the foyer. We wash our hands quickly with water and soap. Then we dry them with a towel before we all sit down together.

“Richard, will you please give the morning Thanks to the Creator?”

“Thank you for the honor, my king.” I stand up to give it. “Creator of the Universe, we thank you for your wonderful blessings. I thank you that I am among friends, once more. As we are all friends here. Let this food we eat, give us the strength we need to do your work. Thank you, Creator.”

Everyone responds together, “Thank you, Creator.”

I sit down. The servers come in with the plates and set them in front of us. I see it will be broiled fish this morning. It has two different servings of steamed vegetables with several different spices and herbs. We talk among ourselves while we eat together.

“Richard, I hear from King Tierion, that some day in the future, you will be king of a country.”

“That’s right, Lord Eralian. I don’t know when it will happen. I think it will happen about 150 to 200 years from now on my world. I also think it will be after Earth is accepted into the Local Group. The current royalty on the British Isles doesn’t even know that Brianna and I exist. Our families kept the line hidden until the time is right to claim the throne.”

“That sounds like you will be confronted and need to prove you are descended from royalty.”

“That’s right, Lord Eralian. I do know of a clandestine group that sees to it the current monarchy stays in charge. I will have to deal with that group as well.”

“Well, we wish you the best in solving that problem.”

“Thank you, Lord Eralian.”

“Brianna.”

“Yes, Queen Shiranna.”

“How are you coping with Richard being the Omega Unicorn?”

“We had been apart for 12 years before I found him after our families split apart. I am totally grateful that he has been part of my life when we were kids. He even was able to save me from a terrible ordeal without him being there.”

“That’s interesting. You can tell us about it when we meet together this morning, Brianna.”

“Thank you, Queen Shiranna.”

“Richard, how big are your wing spans?”

“They are quite large and long, Lord Beryllian. I will need plenty of room to do it. I only hovered with them once. I used the dragon wings to protect us from the flames of a large explosion. I will tell that story later this morning.”
“We can wait until then, Richard.”

We continue eating the morning repast. When we get done, the servers come in to take our plates away and refill our glasses. They come out with a bowl of cut up fruit. The peels and the seeds are removed for us. We see it is dusted with a light spice on top. We get done with the desert in about one-quarter mark.
The Master Chef comes in with the kitchen staff. We give them a round of applause for the wonderful meal served to us. I stand up quickly.

“Master Chef Beharn, I have a gift for you. I remembered to bring it.”

“Thank you, Richard. I look forward to reading it. It will give me new ideas for some new dishes to create.”

I walk over to the table and pick up the cook book. I turn around and walk toward Master Chef Beharn. I hand the book to him. He takes it from me.

“This is just a sampling of the many recipes found around Earth. Some are vegetarian dishes. Some will be meat dishes. However, there are some meat dishes from animals that you don’t eat here. I’m sure you can adapt and change to accommodate your style here.”

“Thank you, Richard. I greatly appreciate that. My memory that came from you, investigated many chef schools throughout the world. I still recall some of the aromas from the dishes, spices and herbs that were served up. Some of your herbs and spices are unique to your world. But, this book is a great start to work with.”

“You’re welcome, Beharn. Now you have more ideas that won’t be boring and tasteless.”

Everyone laughs and giggles in the room.

“That’s right, Richard.”

We bow our heads together at the same time while we smile at each other. Beharn turns around and returns back into the kitchen. He sets the book in his kitchen study room for the time being. He walks about in the kitchen to make sure everything is clean and ready for the noon repast.

We exit the dining room. I follow the men to the second floor. Brianna follows the ladies to the second floor as well. The men enter the King’s Chamber. The women enter the Queen’s Chamber.

We sit in chairs before some tables set in a circle. Two pages tend to us by filling our cups with water while we talk together. The two pages return to their chairs sitting against the wall with the table of cups and pitchers of water.

“Richard, will you please update us on what has happened when you were here the last time?”

“I will, King Tierion.” I begin with what happened in my life since I was here the last time. It took about a mark to tell it all. Some of the Castle Lords asked me questions during certain points in the story. Soon, everyone gets a picture of what is happening on Earth. That includes their own memories verifying what they found on Earth.

“That is very interesting, Richard. Still I would like to see you produce your wings. You said you really haven’t learned how to fly yet.”

“Only for that brief moment off the South Carolina coast, my King. Sensei Chou told me I must learn each technique, step by step. I need to learn how to walk like a dragon first before I can fly.”

“Walking like a dragon. That’s an amusing thought. It never occurred to us to use animals as examples to learn the martial arts that you showed yesterday.”

“For some people, they will use the snake style to become better wrestlers. If I were to face Evrat this time, he would find me to be a very difficult challenge. Even Hikaru will enjoy the battle between us.”

Everyone smiles on the possible betting opportunities if we were to meet in a fighting arena.

“I’m sure it would be a great show of fighting skills, Richard.”

“What about Twainor, my King? What has happened since I was here the last time?”

“It has been about a year since you were here the last time. Everyone had a hand in building the new fighting armor. It took a lot of trial and error to come up with a good fighting design. Isn’t that right, King Thranton?”

“That’s very true, King Tierion. Some of the metal combinations were very unique. That’s especially true with the Ethereal Space ore and the Evenshard stone. We tested it many times. In the beginning, only the Wizards could master the armor, the shield and the sword. But, once he understood its capabilities, he was able to teach our warriors and knights its full use.”

“You will get the armor as well, Richard.”

“Thank you, my King. Here is a thought to consider. Once you see the wings come out from me, it might be best to have two openings on the backside of the armor for the wings to grow out through.”

“Or maybe has it designed in pieces so you can remove the armor while your wings are extended.”

“Either way, we have time to figure it out.”

“My king, this new sword that you have, how strong is it?”

“It is very strong. You can do a lot of offense and defense with the sword. Are you suggesting another sword to have?”

“I need to give a history lesson about the British Isles. It refers to the two people you met while we were in heaven. They are King Arthur and Queen Guinevere.”

I then tell the story of King Arthur and Queen Guinevere as best as I can. I can see they are in deep in thought about the connection I have with my ancestors.

~~~000~~~

Richard’s fairies, Amber and Cobalt are together discussing how their day is going.

“Amber and Cobalt, is it what you expected when you came back here?”

“It is great to see my brothers and sisters again. It brought back a lot of memories of our time together here.”

“I agree, Amber. It has been great as well. But right now, I feel a hole in my soul. I miss being near Richard.”

The other fairies look at each other. Then they nod their heads up and down in agreement.

“Okay, that just confirms what we feel within ourselves. We do miss Brianna and Richard very much. I’m sure they miss us, too.”

“I agree, Tiger. But let’s use this time apart as a learning experience for us all.”

“I have a question for all of us.”

“What is it, Esmeralda?”

“Are any of us are feeling an attachment to another fairy, like Amber and Cobalt? How about you Victor and Victoria? How are you both doing?”

“I’ll admit it is great to have our soul mates with us here on Twainor. But I do miss the presence of Richard very much. Avel is a good presence to have around. Isn’t that right, Victoria?”

“It is, Victor. But we do miss having Richard nearby. I’m sure the animals in the woods near the cabin feel it the most.”

“Richard did tell us that we’ll be gone from Earth for a few hours while we are here for thirty days or so.”

“Either way, we’ll know what their reactions will be when we get back.”

“We need to get with King Oren and Queen White Dove. We need to know how they feel as well.”

“That’s true Ruby, but they have yet to meet Einhorn and Athena. That will be the true test of their convictions, to stay here or go back to Earth.”

“There are still other fairies on Earth that we haven’t met yet, Cobalt. We’ll be needed to extend that hope and belief as well.”

“Then there is the invitation to see the fairies on Never Never Land. That should be a fun and interesting time.”

“I’m sure it will be, Tigress. Well, let’s get going. Let’s see if we can find King Oren and Queen White Dove.”

They all respond together, “Yes, Amber.”

They all fly off to see what else is happening around the glade and to find King Oren and Queen White Dove.

~~~000~~~

“So, this sword, Excalibur. What was the original name again?”

“The original name is Caledfwlch.”

“It seems to be one of the legendary weapons on your world.”

“It is, King Tierion. To King Arthur it was a strong sword for him. When I use it, I will be able to use its full powers. I don’t know what they are now.”

“You’ll figure it out in due time. Using our new sword will help you in the mean time.”

“Yes, my King.”

“All of the repairs are finished to the villages and towns since the Nefelim Attack. Even the new stone walls helped as well. There was a grass fire that was ignited by lightning from a strong storm. The wild herds encountered the stone walls and turned into another direction. Thank you for the idea, Richard.”

“You’re welcome, Lord Eralian. I take it, there is no success in creating the Star Sword for the kings, King Thranton?”

“We’ve had no success, Richard. To create the Star Sword, it will take the heat and fire from a volcano to meld the metals and the gems together.

“Then I will have to meet up with Hephaestus to have him make the Star Sword. I still don’t know how we’ll be able to pay him for his services and expertise.”

“Has he accepted gold?”

“He has, King Thranton. But, I think in this case, it needs to be something that is unique and different.”

“Yes, it will be similar to the melded gem you gave me. That is unique and different.”

“Yes, it is, King Thranton. Well, I will think on it some more. Perhaps a solution will come up by then.”

“Yes, let’s hope so, Richard.”

“So, what is the procedure to do the wedding here?”

“It will be a multi-step process. First, she becomes like you.”

“That’s nice, King Tierion. But my fairies need to be with us. They need to be a part of the ceremonies as well.”

“We have no problem with that, Richard. They do need to be there with you.”

“After that, there is the exchanging of vows one to another. Once the vows are given, then there is the exchanging of rings. Then the Mystic Order pronounces, and you are both married.”

“In the two weddings we have been through so far, we participated in some additional ceremonies. In the first wedding, we each took a candle to light a central candle together. Then we blew out the individual candles.”

“We have done that as well, Richard. But not everyone does it.”

“The most unique wedding we did was the Cherokee Indian wedding. They are the original local natives in the area of the mountain cabin. There was the Seven Steps around a campfire. Each one is reciting a scripted verse. There is the wearing of a blue blanket by each person, then those were taken off. Then Brianna and I would be under a single white blanket. Then there is the drinking of a herbal tea from a wedding vase at the same time. It had two spouts on the vase. There were several other steps as well like singing of songs, exchanging of rings, etc. It was a very moving experience for all of us.”

“I’m sure it was, Richard.”

“King Thranton, what is the situation or update with your problem that you had a year ago?”

“Ruald is still alive on the island. But he is a lot grayer and slower now. He doesn’t leave his shelter unless he has too. Draknor has done the fishing for him. Draknor has built his own shelter. He is getting very tired of it all, as well. However, the screams from Ruald still keep Draknor up through the night. The other three have returned to the Under Kingdom a moon ago. Yertaug and Glavine are working the mines. Gapher is doing really well so far in working with our quartermaster. He makes sure the numbers, the money and the materials are tallied correctly for the monthly reports.”

“Well, we have covered everything that needs to be discussed. It is time for the noon repast, my friends.”

Everyone responds in one voice, “Yes, King Tierion.”

We get up from the chairs and push them toward the tables. We exit the King’s Chambers. Then another door opens, we see the ladies approach us. Brianna quickly puts her arm around mine and gets close to me.

I whisper to her, “How did it go?”

“It was a little tough without Bianca and Lavan there. The ladies consoled me as best they could after I told my trying time in college.”

“At least they were there, Brianna.”

Then Queen Shiranna gets near us, “That wedding ring you bought for Brianna is very beautiful. I love the rose design for it.”

“So did I, Richard. I’ll try to describe it to our dwarf jewelers. They would prefer to see it for themselves.”

“Thank you for the compliment, Queen Shiranna and Queen Rosina. We’ll just have to set up a time and a place for it to happen. We’ll be here for a moon period.”

“Yes you will, Richard and Brianna. You still need to see the other kingdoms that you haven’t been to yet.”

“I don’t mind that, Queen Shiranna. As long as they visit our dwarf jewelers first.”

“Now, now, ladies. We need to keep our Outside Helper and his wife in one piece. Besides, Richard told us he doesn’t have any twin brothers.”

Everyone giggles and laughs at King Tierion’s joke.

“I only have three older brothers and no twin sister, either.”

I get an extra squeeze from Brianna after her statement. I whisper to her, “If they only knew.”

“Shh . . . let’s keep it to ourselves.”

“Yes, my beautiful wife.”

I get another squeeze from Brianna. “Later tonight, lover boy.”

“Oooh . . .”

Everyone smiles together as we walk down the steps to the foyer area. We enter the formal dining room. This time we see the Mystic Order with us. Brianna and I sit with King Tierion and Queen Shiranna at their table. Everyone else sits together according to fiefdoms this time between the two other table groupings. I also see King Tierion’s brother and his wife as well, Duke Traylor and Duchess Clarienelle. Apparently the children are elsewhere having their own noon repast.

Renard and Trianna give the Thanks to the Creator like the last time they did it yesterday. The servers come out to deliver the plates in front of us. We see it is a bird that is roasted this time with roasted vegetables and a light spice on top. We get done with the meal in about a half-mark. Then the servers come out to take the plates away. They come out with the desert this time. However, we see there are two whole fruits in a bowl in front of us.

We have fun cutting open the fruits and retrieve the prize within. Everyone laughs and giggles as we try to be neat about it. When we get done with one fruit, the servers come back out and put small moist towels in front of us. We gladly accept the towels to clean our hands and faces. When we get done, Chef Beharn comes in with the kitchen staff. We clap and cheer for the great noon repast.

After the noon repast, Brianna and I walk to the Castle Tailor shop to pick up our clothes.

“Knock, knock!”

“Enter!”

We enter the room. I let Brianna enter first.

“Are you here to pick up your clothes?”

“We are, Rosella.”

“That’s good. You need to try them on, We need to make sure it is a good fit. Men, step outside, please.”

We all respond in one voice, “Yes, Rosella.”

Vincent, Thomas, another male assistant and I step out of the shop. The ladies are left inside the room.

Brianna takes off her clothes. They are laid on a table nearby. She puts on the dresses one by one. She stands on a box, while ladies go over the clothes carefully. They make sure there is no binding anywhere. Then ladies finish the seams and the hems. Brianna is amazed at how they sew using magic. She is fascinated in seeing the needle jumping in and out of the garment like a fish in water.

Then the dresses are tried one more time. Brianna loves the patterns and colors for the dresses. “I’ll be definitely taking these back to Earth.”

“Don’t set your heart on them too long, Brianna. You might see other dresses at the Sea Gala Arena that will catch your eye.”

“I’m sure I will, Rosella.”

All of the ladies giggle together.

Then the wedding dress is tried on. Brianna is surprised to see it is another white dress. However, it has the colorful embroidery on the dress like she has seen on the other dresses. They help her take it off to finish the seams and hems. Then Brianna wears one of the new dresses and the others are folded up. They will be delivered to her room tomorrow.

Brianna exits the Tailor Shop.

“That dress looks great on you, Brianna.”

“Thank you, Richard. I love how it feels. It is almost like silk. It is very light and strong. It’s your turn, gentlemen.”

The rest of us respond together, “Yes, Brianna.” We walk inside to do my check up. When I take off the jacket, pants and the shirt, they see I’m wearing my shorts and T-shirt underneath it.

I try on the clothes one at a time. They make sure they fit right. They also had me try on two new garments that will fit outside the armor.

“I heard you have wings, Richard. Can you display them here?”

“It looks like this room is long enough. I’ll try it, Rosella. Help me stand up on the chair. I will bend over and extend them.”

They help me stand up on a chair. I bend over. I have the image of the wings. They quickly grow out from my shoulders blades. I fold them back and behind me. Then they help me down from the chair.

“The wings are beautiful, Richard. This will be a new challenge for us. I need ideas from everyone here. Just speak out loud.”

Everyone else responds in one voice, “Yes, Rosella.”

“If Richard is wearing the armor, there should be two openings for the wings.”

“Perhaps, but one of the forearm shields is on the back.”

“Then let the smith redesign a new shape.”

“I think we should measure carefully where the wings are on his back. Draw it up to scale. Then we can make copy for the smiths to start with their designs, Rosella.”

“That must be done, Vincent. I agree with that.”

“Here is a thought. Can there be two openings there with covers? I was told the new armor will allow the person to use magic. I can use magic to slide over the covers to create the opening for the wings to come out.”

“I like that idea very much, Richard. That is an excellent suggestion.”

“What do you think, staff?”

Everyone looks at one another and smiles. “We agree, Rosella.”

“Okay, let’s draw and measure out his back side. He has gotten more muscular since he was here the last time. Do you think you will get more muscular, Richard?”

“I don’t know, Rosella. We do need to compare the numbers from the last time I was here.”

“Yes, we will, Richard. Okay, let’s get busy team.”

I stand on the ground and on the box from time to time. They carefully measure my torso again. With the numbers they draw out an exact copy of my torso with the wings. Even though the wings are grown from my shoulder blades, they discovered the shoulder blade changed shape with the new muscles to support the wings. The shoulder blades grew longer down my backside an additional six inches or so.

Once they are satisfied with the drawing and writing my numbers on both breast plates, they made another copy of it for the smiths. I retracted my wings back into my body. Then my shoulder blade shrank back to its original shape. I put on one of the new daily clothes to wear for the day. The clothes are all folded up on a table with Brianna’s new clothes. They will be delivered to our room tomorrow morning.

I exit the Castle Tailor Shop to find Brianna out there standing alone. We exit the Castle to the front courtyard where the others are walking through the gardens together.

Once they see us, we all walk toward the training fields together where the stone steps are located. I get up to the stop step. I take off my jacket and shirt. I hand them to Brianna. Dragons in the air sense what I am about to do. They come in quickly and land in the fields nearby. They watch with anticipation on what I’ll transform into.

I bend over slightly. I concentrate on my Light side. Quickly, the feathered wings spring out from my shoulder blades. I stand up erect.

~~~000~~~
~~~000~~~

Luke gets a quick jolt in his mind. “Whoa! I felt that, father.”

His father appears next to him in the star ship. “Yes, he is stretching out and learning his capabilities.”

“If he is new at this, he will even be stronger than I.”

“Wait until you feel his Dark side. His Light side will keep it under control.”

“If he could do that, he will be the strongest Force Warrior ever known.”

“But that is normal for them, Luke. You haven’t felt the rest of them yet.”

“By the stars. Well, I must steady myself and get ready when he does that. R2D2, I need to get some sleep now. You have control of the ship. Wake me up if we have an emergency. We are heading the correct direction at this moment. Wake me up when this sleep cycle is finished.”

“Brrrrittt! Twooooo!”

Luke pushes a button on his chair. It reclines backwards and straightens out. Luke slides down the chute until the chair is locked in place. He pushes another button on the panel above. The cushions on the seat inflate until Luke is comfortable. He pushes another series of buttons to set the timer for the deep sleep cycle. To him it will feel like a normal sleep period, but in reality it will be a full day before he wakes up again. A mist blows over his face. He inhales the mist to begin his deep sleep cycle.

~~~000~~~

The Sith Knight in the scout ship is astounded at what he felt.

“That is the strongest Light Force side I have ever felt. I must continue on to follow Luke. It’s too bad, Luke forsook the Dark side and returned to the Light side. If I discover more people here, who are prone to the Dark side, all the better for us when we expand our hold on the Universe.”

“Hmm . . . Luke entered a deep sleep cycle. I might as well do the same.”

The Sith Knight pushes some buttons on a nearby panel. He makes sure his scout ship follows Luke’s ship. Then he pushes another button to make him comfortable in his seat and causes his body to lean back a bit. He then pushes a series of buttons to set the time duration for his deep sleep cycle. Then a mist blows over his face. He inhales the mist and enters into a deep sleep as well.

~~~000~~~
~~~000~~~

In the Pantheon Solar System, there are four worlds that are home to the various gods who visited Earth in the past. One world is for the Greek Gods, one is for the Celtic Gods, one is for the Egyptian Gods, the fourth one is for the Norse Gods. The other name that is given to them, as a whole, is the Eternals. They all get along with each other because they are evenly matched. They do look out for each other when needed. They only get involved with each other when the other group asks them to help out with a certain situation that takes a group effort to solve.

On the Greek World, Pegasus stops eating some grass in the fields. He looks up and senses something new. Hmm . . . It appears I have a new horse friend in the family. It is on the planet Twainor. I have been there once before. From what I can tell from here, he will come here to see me. That will be a nice visit. I’m sure Zeus will be surprised when he shows up here.

Pegasus bends his head downward and continues to eat the grass in the field.

~~~000~~~
~~~000~~~

All of the dragons roar in approval. All of the knights and dwarf warriors clap and cheer when I sprouted my wings. I fold my wings inward and behind me as I step down the stone steps.

“That’s incredible, Richard.”

Then we see a group of fairies approach us.

“Omega! Your wings are like Cloud Dancer, the flying horse!”

“Cloud Dancer? Oh my Creator, I was told these wings are like Pegasus, the flying horse among the Greek Pantheon Gods. That means he was here visiting at one time. When was he here the last time?”

“He came here a few hundred years ago. He would visit here so he could be near the other horses.”

I smile, “He is the only flying horse among the Greek Gods. Apparently he comes here once in awhile so he won’t feel alone sometimes.”

“That’s right, Omega.”

“Omega, try your first time to fly.”

“I’ll try, Marcon. I think the first step to do is what I have seen my fairies try to do. That is to glide in the air first.”

Then the rest of the fairies from the woods appear. Quickly my own fairies fly up to me.

“We’ll help you learn how to fly, father, mother, Omega.”

“Thank you, my fairies. That is greatly appreciated. Yes, please help me learn how to fly.”

I walk back up to the top of the stone steps. I extend my wings outward and straight. I bend over, I run the length of the top stone step. I feel the pull of the wind to lift me up higher. I jump off the edge of the last stone on the end. I glide forward about fifty feet before I come down. I get my feet ready to run. I don’t have the balance yet. I stumble forward as I regain my balance. Then I realized I need to tilt the wings upward a bit to brake my forward speed before I land on the ground.

“Whoa! I need to do that again and get used to it.”

“You’re getting the hang of it, father. Tilt the wings up before you just land with your feet.”

“I just thought the same thing, Tiger.” I walk back over to the stone steps to do it again. I run and launch myself like before. I glide forward about fifty feet again. I tilt the leading edge of the wings upward a bit. My speed slows down very quickly as I put my feet underneath me. Then I land on my feet successfully. I fold my wings backward quickly.

Everyone cheers on the success of my first glide flight.

I do it several more times to make sure it is burned into my mind. It needs to become automatic when I fly.

“All right, let’s try flapping the wings to go farther.”

I launch again from the top stone step. Just when I reach about forty feet, I flap the wings once. I go up a little higher as I keep the wings straight out. I glide for another one hundred feet. Then I flap them twice to get higher up in the air. Then I feel a little disoriented. It has to be the eyes not seeing this correctly as I see the ground rush underneath me. I close my eyes for a moment.

“Keep your eyes open, mother. We’ll help you down.”

“Keep your wings straight out. That’s it, glide closer to the ground.”

“Now tilt the wings upward a bit to brake the speed.”

I do that, then I land on my feet. I bend over and put my hands on the ground. I let the wings retract into my body. I turn over and look up. I see several people coming into view. Brianna rushes to me first.

“Are you all right, my love?”

“I was disoriented by the height above the ground. It is a different point of view I never expected. Flying with a wizard is one thing, now I’m doing it by myself.”

“Then that’s a normal thing, Omega.”

“Thank you, Croin.”

“You’re welcome.”

Brianna helps me to sit up. The dizziness starts to smooth out in my mind. I get some help from some of the knights to stand back up and walk back to the stone steps.

“There is one thing that can’t be denied. It is the exhilaration of flight. It’s the most incredible feeling of all. I will learn how to fly, my friends. That is a must.”

~~~000~~~
~~~000~~~

Two familiar faces are looking at a video screen in heaven.

“Well, well, he is learning how to fly, Goku.”

“Yes he is, Yusuke. Even though we don’t need wings to fly, he is getting used to being in the air. That is the most important part.”

“Yes, it is, Goku.”

“He’s taking it step by step like we did. He’ll get stronger with each black sash he earns.”

“Yes. I think we have seen enough for now. The Creator told us the day of the wedding will be spectacular.”

“Then let’s set a time to watch it on the video screen here.”

“Let’s do that, Goku. Let’s see how everyone else is doing.”

“That’s fine by me.”

They leave the video screen and fly off to where the other people are still preparing for the Ultimate Last Battle. The video screen changes to a sunrise position screen saver when they leave the screen.

~~~000~~~
~~~000~~~

I continue for the next two marks on learning how to fly. After each effort, I get better each time. I learn how to fly in a circle from a large radius to the smallest radius I can handle. I flap my wings to lift myself straight up from the ground. That took a lot of energy to do. Then I do some shallow dives to test my braking speed. Slowly I learn how to dive at a high angle and still pull myself up safely. Then I do some swoops, where I dive toward the ground. Then I judge the angle to turn up slightly to race along the ground as fast as possible before I pull to a high climb toward the sun. Then I dive straight down from the sun. The reason for this is to do a surprise attack to use the sunlight to hide my intentions at the last moment. I think wearing my helmet with the sun visor will be needed in that situation.

Then I start to fly around with the fairies and the dragons. They enjoyed having a new presence among themselves. I would slow down so the fairies could fly along aside me.

After the two marks, I start to feel tired. “It’s time for me to take a break. My muscles are bit worn out now.”

“We understand Richard. It is time for us as well to rest our bodies. You need to keep this up daily, to extend your flight range. You’ll also be eating more food to recover your lost energy.”

Brianna and I look at each other quickly. “It’s a good thing, I have a good income.”

“Yes it is, Richard.”

Then the dragons fly off toward the ocean to restore their energy and get their rest in the Thryson Mountains.

I sense all of the fairies are tired as well. I let my wings retract within my body so that I can appear normal. I see my body is sweating very much now. Also, my muscles are a bit sore now.

“I think I will stop for the day, my friends. I need a good bath and a rub down. Fortunately I brought my own medicine this time to ease the aches and pains tonight.”

“We understand, Richard. There is a bath facility down the hallway.”

“Thank you, King Tierion.”

We all walk back to the castle. The knights and the dwarf warriors are amazed that I can do something like that. Their Outside Helper is becoming a different person before their eyes.

I see the confusion on their faces. “Have no worries, my friends. It is still I under my skin.”

“For some of us, Richard, with the new armor and sword we have, we feel a change as well among our friends here.”

“That is something that will always happen in the military. Isn’t that right, Sir Trenton?”

“Yes, it is, Richard. Tactics, armor, weapons always change over time. Our ancestors would have a hard time understanding us today. It is because information and technology always change for the better. We must adapt, or we might find ourselves with a sword pointed at our necks.”

“That would be similar to how you helped us to defeat the Nefelim Giants, Richard.”

“Yes, it is, Sir Valmar.”

We enter the side door while the soldiers remain on the training fields for another mark. We make our way to the second floor where our rooms are located. My fairies follow us into the room. I sit on the edge of the bed.

“I am very hungry now. I am also smelly and dirty.”

“Get cleaned up first, father.”

“Yes, Tiger.” I immediately open my first aid kit. I open a pill bottle to take some pain killer medicine. It will help me for the time being before I take another one before I go to bed tonight.

Brianna puts my jacket and shirt on the bed. I exit the room. I ask the knight that is standing attention in the hallway.

“Where is the bath facility, sir knight?”

“It is the fourth door on your left.”

“Thank you.”

I walk down the hallway until I come to the door. I see the bath symbol mounted on the door. It is a metal tube profile, with soap and towel. I open the door and walk inside. I see a page there attending to another man in the tub. It is King Thranton.

“Hello, King Thranton.” I start undressing myself. Another page pours water into another tub. He recites a spell to fill up the tub and make it hot.

“Hello, Richard. That was incredible to see you fly like that. Have men tried to fly like that on your world?”

“They have, sir. Eventually a design was found to work out. They are called gliders. Some will have motors with a fan to propel them forward. Most prefer to glide with air current. The wings are made out of a light fabric that is stretched over a pole frame arrangement. Those wings are a lot larger than my wings.”

“I’m sure they are, Richard.”

Once my clothes are on the chair, I ease myself into the hot water. “Ahhh . . . that feels great. I sit in the water and let my body warm up to the water. I then take a bar of soap and wash rag. I proceed to wash myself down and get cleaned. Once I get done with that, I soak in the tub a little longer. Then once I feel the muscles are relaxed, I stand back up. I walk over and stand in another tub. The pages pour fresh water over my body to rinse off the body. King Thranton does the same thing as well. Once we are dried off with the towels. I put my clothes back on.

“See you in the dining hall, Richard.”

“See you there, King Thranton.”

We exit bath facility at the same time. We walk down to our rooms and enter them.

“Now you smell better, mother. You smell like a flower like the rest of us now.”

“Thank you for the compliment, Ruby.” I change into another set of clothes for the evening dinner.

“We took our bath here while you did yours, father.”

“That’s good, Emeril.” Once we are all satisfied on how we look, we exit the room together. We walk and fly down the steps to the first floor foyer area. We enter the dining room to find everyone there waiting for us. We take our seats. My fairies are given their own place setting with another table brought out for them. That extra table is placed on the end where Brianna and I are sitting with the royalty. We have the same group together with us when we had the noon repast. However, the children and the teenagers are sitting with us this time. We are grouped together by fiefdom and Under Kingdom this time.

Renard and Trianna give another dual giving of the Thanks to the Creator. Once they get done, they sit down. The servers come out to deliver our first course. It is a salad of mixed greens, cold vegetables and a light spice on top.

I try to eat it slowly, however, my appetite is very strong now. It wants to inhale the food quickly to replenish what I spent in flying today. I forced myself to eat at the same pace as everyone else.

When we get done with the salad, the main course is brought out. I see I’m given another portion of vegetables and roasted bird on my plate. I mumble to myself, “Thank you, Beharn, for the extra portions.”

Again I eat it at the same pace as everyone else. Then I realize within my stomach, I’m starting to feel full. Once we are done with the main course, the desert is brought out. It is slices of fruit pie. I see that my slice is slightly larger than the others. I smile to myself on the thoughtfulness from Beharn.

When we get done, Beharn and the kitchen staff come out for the accolades. We give them arousing clapping of hands and cheer. They bow forward and return back into the kitchen.

We exit the castle out to the front courtyard. We see the musicians getting ready for the sunset music dance. I walk over to a chair among them. I sit down and pick up one of their four string instruments. I strum it a few times to remember how it is played on the frets. Then we hear a fairy yell out loud. “Here it comes!”

I play the introduction to one of my songs that I did the last time here. Immediately the other musicians know which song I’m playing. They quickly join in once the colorful light display is in the courtyard.

Brianna looks at me with a big smile on her face. “That is the song you played a few nights ago on Earth.”

I nod my head up and down, “Yes, Brianna.”

Brianna looks around to see everyone else dancing to the song we are playing. She sees the sound waves being emitted from our musical instruments. Some of the teenagers are watching us as well. Some of the younger children are playing games in trying to catch the colorful stream behind their sibling or friend in a game of tag.

We play through the song twice before the colorful display ends. It races across the landscape toward the Thryson Mountains. It lights up like a multicolored crown then it disappears. I put the instrument on the chair. I walk over to Brianna and my put arms around her. My fairies come around to hover around us as we look up in the sky. We see the stars and the nebulae shining brightly in the night sky. We clap our hands and cheer out loud for another wonderful day. We also hear the knights and dwarf warriors doing the same thing in the training fields as well.

We walk back into the castle to get ready for bed.

“King Oren and Queen White Dove are staying with the fairies in Avel’s glade, father. It is the only place that accommodates all of them.”

“I understand, Cobalt. It will be interesting when they meet, Einhorn and Athena. I am glad you are here with us, my fairies.”

They all respond in one voice, “We are glad too, father, mother, Omega.”

I look at the cave carving on the dresser. I realize it is empty, because my memory of Croin has returned back to Croin. I think I need another cave carving to replace that one. It needs to have some stronger veins of the Ethereal Space ore and the Evenshard stone. Croin’s memory will need it to recharge faster in the future.

Yes he will, Richard. Also, you will use it so your fairies, Brianna and you can get recharged as well.

Yes, Creator. Thank you for all of your wonderful blessings, Creator. Thank you for the opportunity in letting me learn how to fly for the first time today.

You’re welcome, Richard. Have a great night of sleep.

We change into our night clothes. I take another pair of aspirin tablets to ease my joints and muscles tonight. I turn off the crystal lights to the crystal lamps. Once I get under the covers with Brianna she starts touching me all over my body. I respond like her as I mimic her. Eventually we fall asleep about a mark or two later.

We all have peaceful dreams throughout the night.