Vibrant shades of scarlet, violet, pink and teal, twisted and shifted as woven threads, moving around Askerian, while the onslaught of gravity tugged and pulled at his body. The hum of a live wire was sent ricocheting throughout his limbs, taking the air from his chest in a violent assault.

But just as soon as the feeling started, it ended, leaving him with a strange sense of warmth and calmness washing over him, a peace that he hadn’t felt in a long time. Swallowing the bile that had risen to his throat, he took in his surroundings.

Numerous stars twinkled within a deep amethyst expanse, some were close enough to reach out and touch and when he did touch one, it burst into a glittering dust storm, spreading out, adding more stars to the strange atmosphere.

Further out, the stars mingled in a dance with the buoyant bodies of colorful clouds, before disappearing into the vastness of the void around him.

A glance over his shoulder revealed the golden galaxy mirror, pulsing once again in a soft rhythm behind him. He understood then what the object was.

Portal. The word echoed in his mind.

“Heaven?” He mumbled under his breath as his eyes continued to wander.

“Not quite. But close.” Ardent’s voice broke him from his thoughts, it seemed to be louder and stronger than before.

He darted his attention back to the expanse, where the angel floated with him. Her body glowed in a golden light making her white and golden armor almost hard to look at. The light shimmered as her wings moved, her earlier weakness long gone.

“Welcome to the Celestial Realm, also known as Ardentia.”

“Ardentia?” He repeated the word.

“Yes. This is my realm, I created it myself.”

“Wait you—”

“Come, Askerian. Follow me.” And with that, Ardent drifted further away from the realm’s entrance.

Askerian followed swiftly, keeping a watchful eye on their surroundings. The vast ocean of twinkling lights seemed as if it could hypnotize with one glance.

Angels creating realms. That’s something the books don’t tell you, he mused.

In the distance, multiple islands emerged from within the colorful clouds. Outside of water, they appeared as upside-down mountains, whose tops melded with the array of clouds, vanishing into the void together.

In the center, a larger island stood out strong and proud. A stairwell ascended it’s side and met at the island’s face with two spires that wore parapets as crowns. An archway banked the top of the spires, connecting them together. A wall, seeming to be bricked together with marble, quartz and stone, stretched along the island’s edge. A tall and magnificent castle lurked behind the wall, also built from marble, quartz and stone,

Two canals of water spilled below the arch and trailed downward on either side of the stairwell before disappearing into the void.

All of this was noticed by Askerian as they drew closer. The colorful bodies of condensation, dispersed revealing a sight to behold. Below the protection of the clouds, lit by starlight and flaming sconces, was a city, tethered together in a mix of islands and bridges, people, creatures and animals moving about along the structures.

In the center of the city, the island bridges met together on a large circular platform where buildings that appeared to be shops, sat happily, while citizens mingled about. The buildings had different designs and were styled in many different colors, not a single one similar to the other.

All of this surrounded a large marbled quartz fountain, whose round foundation was filled to the brim for splendid koi fish to swim in. The water flowed from the top of the star at the peek of the fountain, spewing put as if it were liquid stardust. The edge of the foundation, thick enough for a person to sit on, and some were. Tiny canals of water spread out from the fountain and stretched throughout the platform, creating a water labyrinth amongst the shops and structures.

All of the islands seemed to have their own distinctive features, each one different from the other, it wasn’t hard to figure out that all the buildings in the plaza represented each island’s customs.

One Island in particular caught Askerian’s eye. East to the larger island, rested a an island whose surface was covered in lava, some flowing over the island’s edge through breaks in the craggy wall that enclosed the flowing liquid of fire. Just like the water at the stairwell on the main island, the lava vanished into the atmosphere of the void.

Askerian’s eyes widened, his heart skipping a beat at the familiar structure spread out over the blazing surface. What is that doing here?

A sudden shock of pain, ripped through Askerian’s body, taking his attention from the glimpse of his home and sent him spiraling downward towards a crowded platform.

Onlookers watched in terror as Askeriah’s lithe frame fell from the starlit sky, before hitting the quartz floor with a sickening thud, nearly missing the Celestial fountain that stood in the middle of the square.

“Askerian!” Ardent cried, landing next to him before kneeling. “What happened?” She asked, her eyes zeroing in on a familiar weapon.

Brows furrowed in confusion, Askerian met Ardent’s gaze, Anger flashed through her brown eyes, which flickered between brown and gold as she stood, eyes fixed on the object. “Don’t move.” She spoke calmly.

“As if I could.” The dragon shifter wheezed through clenched teeth.

Swiftly turning around, Ardent faced the crowd. “Stand down Ardent Knights!” She commanded in a strong tone. The crowd of curious stares and concerned eyes, parted, revealing three individuals who were making their approach.

“I said stand down!”

One of the newcomers, was a small woman with burnet hair and pointed ears. She dawned a crystalline chest plate, a white trinket carved with the emblem of Arcadia; a tiger lined in pale blue, clasped the ends of her royal blue cape, lined with the fur of a white tiger, over her heart. The rest of her body was clothed in black and blue finery while her feet were tucked into a pair of brown leather boots.

Several light blue feathers drifted here and there on the breeze as they dangled from her ponytail. Similar feathers and blue trinkets danced at her waist.

“M’lady…”

“Rain.” Ardent called her by name.

“Are you alright, you weren’t being chased?” Her voice was coated with concern as she looked closer at the fallen man before her.

Her deep blue eyes widened with horror. “Sean!” She turned to face the knight with blond hair, dressed in gold and emerald armor.

“He’s a human!” She gasped, “You shot a human!” Her hands formed into fists. “You know we don’t attack humans!” Her birdsong voice went up an octave. “You could have hurt Lady Ardent!” She hissed as she stalked towards him, placing her palm at the hilt of her sword as she did so.

The younger knight, backed away, his metal armor clanging with the movement, fear etched into his pale face, before it vanished to be replaced by arrogance, his emerald eyes flashing annoyance. “And if it wasn’t?” He challenged.

“That’s enough!” A broad longsword found its way, blocking Rain’s path.

Her pointed elven ears, twitched in irritation. She glared at the owner of the sword, the third knight, a tall man with a muscular build, which was hidden behind mail armor, which vanished beneath cobalt metal that encompassed his torso, arms and lips. The emblem of Brigadier; a silver shield with a blue sword crossing through it, shown heavily on his chest plate.

He met Rain’s glare with one of his own. Brown eyes giving off a gaze much softer than hers. He shook his head, his red hair staying neatly in place with the movement.

He glanced over at Ardent and nodded, who nodded back at the knight as it seemed he had the situation under control. Then she turned back to the wounded Askerian who was watching the exchange, wondering what he had gotten himself into.

“This is going to hurt.” Ardent spoke as she knelt once more. Without warning, she grabbed ahold of the weapon in Askerian’s chest and forced it out.

Askerian grunted in pain, nearly losing consciousness, his nostrils flaring with each breath he took, he was beginning to lose track of his surroundings, the pain was so great. There was pain and then there was warmth, and then the pain eased, allowing him to breathe easier.

He glanced down to look at the wound only to find Ardent’s hand placed over it. She was glowing that strange golden light that he saw on her when they first entered this mysterious place. He realized that the light was flowing from her body and into his, healing him.

When the light faded and she removed her hand, the wound was gone, not even a scar remained, leaving a tattered hole in his mud colored-leather tunic.

“Alright, nothing more to see here, get back to your duties!” A commanding voice sounded behind Ardent as the Armor clad knight, ushered the onlookers away from the scene. At his command the crowd dispersed.

The angel met Askerian’s distrustful gaze. “I know you must be regretting following me here, but I assure you that what just happened was out of my control.” She stood up, glancing over her shoulder, she caught the eye of the elven knight who was still being restrained by the other.

“Rain.” Ardent beckoned with her voice.

Rain looked up at the red-haired knight and then back at the culprit behind Askerian’s attack.

“Don’t worry, he made a mistake and I will make sure he gets punished.” Rain was taken aback by the words, she was only doing her duty to protect their leader. “Thank you, Knight.” She nodded in agreement, then turned and rushed to Ardent’s side.

“Rain this is Askerian, Askerian, this Lady Rain Bors of Arcadia, Captain of Ardentian Knight squad, Familiarum. She is going to take you to the Celestial infirmary.”

“Hello.” Rain greeted.

Ardent stood to her feet. “I know I healed you, but you need more attention. I know my knight attacked you, but they were only doing their job. I hope you can forgive them and I will see to it that my knight knows the issue of what they have done.” She said before turning away.

“Wait!” Askerian shouted after her retreating form.

“It’s okay. You’re in safe hands… at least now you are. I won’t let anything else happen to you.” Rain spoke in a soothing manner, her words were met with a skeptical look from the dragon rider.

“You should have waited for a signal. That attack could have cost all of us Lady Ardent’s life.” Knight tried to talk some sense into Sean.

Sean crossed his arms over his chest. “You know I’m your equal right?” he smirked, “That means you have no ability to be telling me what I can and can’t do.”

An auburn brow twitched on Knight’s for head. “Don’t get cocky.”

“Sean!” Ardent’s voice rang out above the platform. “My office. NOW!”

Sean shrank back at the force of her voice, he turned and stalked towards the stairwell that climbed up the side of the center island. Ardent followed in pursuit, beckoning to Knight to follow with a dip of her head, her furred ears laid back against her hair, a tell tale sign she was angry, Sean’s spear held tightly in her hand.

Knight followed after them, but not before taking one last look at the people, making sure nothing else was out of place.