RISE: B1 — 7. The Black Tortoise

RISE Rewrite Index

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Ayla blinked, a sudden wave of dizziness and nausea flowing through her against the sunlight that fractured through the storm’s remnants. Nulina’s massive wing overshadowed her, a sheltering canopy, yet the gut-ripping feeling didn’t leave under her shimmering feathers, glowing with latent energy and casting dancing shadows over the drenched ground from the crackling electricity that sparked over her body. 

What? I can’t… I can’t see… Breathe…

Resisting a dry heave, she choked out a cough.

Luckily, Nulina’s wing shielded her from the worst of the valley’s harsh, golden light, though a few errant rays had already seared through, striking her like an open flame—a stark, alien contrast to the embrace of Soul’s Tempest. Despite that, the radial heat clung to her soaked skin, rising in waves from the flattened grass as her bound white hair dangled before her vision, trying to keep her focus on the damp ground.

Her boots sank into the softened earth as she forced herself upright, foggy mind struggling to reconcile with the overwhelming brightness while gasping for air.

Steam curled in tendrils around her legs; evaporated rain that had trailed them here from Nulina’s ionizing aura. Yet, that was normal to her. What wasn’t was the open expanse that stretched around them, impossibly vast—she’d only poked her head out of the storm a few times but never had she felt so isolated in a place so large now totally exposed to a Valley Eye.

Too bright… Why… Where? Wildflowers dotted the vibrant landscape, their hues piercingly vivid against the lush green. Why is it so…green? Where…

Vision still locked on the wet grass, her eyes opened wide as she reached up to touch her face. Where’s Kael’s sunglasses? Don’t tell me…

Casting her eyes around, she stumbled and almost fell upon squinting and catching a glimpse of the horizon, her mind buzzing as she recalled the moment General Valara handed her them at Kael’s funeral—the only item she received back and one of three treasures she had from him.

“No… No, no, no!” she cried, falling to her knees and quaking as she fumbled around the knee high grass. “Where are they?! Where are they?!”

Nulina’s low trill drew her gaze back back. The great bird lowered her wing, brushing Ayla’s shoulder with a soft feather, her sparking eyes gleaming with concern. Ayla exhaled slowly, her pulse still hammering as she tried to calm her racing heart.

“I just… Kael’s sunglasses,” she trailed off, her vision adjusting.

Ayla spotted the caravan far below on the small hill they were on. A long, winding trail of wagons wove through the valley, their frames dark against the vibrant earth. Once again, she was met with the sight of cages—more rows of them than she’d first thought, lashed together with thick yellow silk. Harpies.

Squads of raven lords and their riders flanked them, but Nulina’s appearance had caused everything to grid to a halt. She didn’t have long to dwell on the sight. Nulina’s sharp trill interrupted her spiraling thoughts as her thunderous voice boomed over them, far harsher and less feminine without her device.

“Keep still, Ayla.”

Ayla flinched as the air thickened with energy. The sky overhead darkened, clouds swirling unnaturally fast. She turned her head sharply, squinting and catching the unmistakable form of two massive black rocs breaking through the storm’s edges. Their wings trailed spiraling streams of dark clouds, their cries thunderous.

The rocs descended, lightning danced along their wings as storm clouds coiled around them, their descent casting vast shadows across the valley like harbingers of chaos. Ayla’s pulse quickened. The weight of the tempest returned, not in rain but in its sheer, suffocating presence that they carried, far less refined than Nulina’s controlled and safe aura.

“Ayla!” Caden’s concerned voice, pulling her gaze from the circling figures above, sharp gusts and rain beginning to fall around them. He stumbled up the hill toward her, soaked through and panting, his usually sharp features slack with exhaustion. His boots squelched in the mud as he doubled over, holding his side with a forced laugh. “What’s wrong? Are you okay? Personally, I think I screamed a stitch into my belly, so…”

She didn’t respond immediately to his attempt to lighten the situation, her hands still clutching the grass as her heart fought to calm. Nulina’s wing shifted slightly, allowing another errant ray of sunlight to sear through as her large head followed her fellow roc’s slow, cautious approach.

Ayla flinched, pulling back under the protective shadow and forcing herself to meet Caden’s worried gaze. “It’s…” Her voice faltered as she glanced at the trampled grass around her, the worst case scenario playing through her head—what if she couldn’t find it. The sting of frustration twisted her gut. “It’s my brother’s sunglasses. They… They slipped off when I fell—they’re gone!”

Caden blinked, his brow furrowing as he straightened, the storm winds tugging at his soaked tunic as he studied her shying away from the sunlight. “Your brother’s—oh.”

His hands slid through his hair as he cast his gaze about, lips becoming a line before looking up at the clouds the fowl formed, blotting out the sunlight. Cries were heard in the distance from the panicked lowland people, and nervous shrieks came from the harpies, yet his focus was on her as he knelt down, offering her a hand to help her up.

“Ayla, I’ll help you find them,” he said, showing a strained smile, “but first, we’ve got bigger problems. Those rocs are Skybound, and we don’t exactly know how they’ll respond to your little stunt. Yikes. Here they—”

A gale-force wind crashed down as the first of the smaller rocs landed, cutting his words short. The impact reverberated through the ground, jolting Ayla to her butt. Nulina’s wing shifted back, her massive frame bristling with energy as she turned her attention to the newcomers.

The first roc, jittery and smaller than Nulina but still towering at fifty feet, hopped excitedly in place, its claws tearing deep into the softened earth. Each movement sent shockwaves through the ground, forcing Caden and her to brace themselves against the tremors.

Sparks danced along its feathers while circling the Tempest Queen, crackling erratically as its piercing gaze darted between Nulina and the brace on her extended wing. Ayla’s frantic mind went wild as tears formed in her eyes, watching each hop devastate the ground he jumped to.

“No! No, stop—Kael’s sunglasses…”

She glanced at Nulina in desperation as the giant bird’s feathers rippled with a subtle warning before emitting a sharp, commanding squawk; her massive wing snapping out to deliver a light but decisive smack to the jittery roc’s side. The smaller bird recoiled, letting out a sheepish chirp before bowing his head, retreating slightly.

Hands quivering against  her chest, Ayla coughed as Caden placed a hand on her back, steadying her. The tightness in her chest wouldn’t leave, raw emotion ripping through her at the thought of one of the last things her brother left her being lost forever.

The second roc descended with far less fanfare, landing with calculated precision a few roc paces away. Its posture was regal, its feathers sleek and pristine, radiating a quiet authority. Unlike its jittery companion, this one held its ground with practiced composure, its sharp gaze focused intently on Nulina. Still, it was roughly the same size as the other, having to look up at the queen.

Ayla’s focus was pulled to Caden as he cleared his throat and leaned over, spreading apart a few patches of grass before smiling at her again. “Hey, it’s okay—if it fell off when you fell, then it should be nearby, right? We’ll find it. Okay?”

Panic subsiding, her cheeks burned as she caught her breath and nodded before looking up at the two rocs. He’s right… Stop shaking! Freaking out won’t solve anything. It’s not broken. It’s just lost. It’s here…somewhere.

Feeling slightly embarrassed as the comforting pressure of Caden’s warm hand left her back, she straightened herself on the ground, knowing full well to stay where she was. It only took one wrong step for a roc to crush a human, especially when one was practically vibrating with excitement and overstimulated. It did make her think, though.

He looks like a little chick that just found his feet… I guess he knows Nulina or possibly was trained by her. The other one looks…agitated?

The subtle dynamics of their hierarchy weren’t lost on her. Nulina, with her calm but unyielding aura, had no need for posturing. The others followed her lead instinctively, the storm’s energy itself above them immediately bent to her will, dissipating.

Ayla slowly exhaled, her heart beating against her ribs as the rocs settled into uneasy stillness. The rain falling around the birds ceased, sunlight breaking through again. Nulina’s sharp, thunderous trill cut through the tense air again, drawing Ayla’s gaze upward just as the smaller rocs shifted uneasily, their feathers ruffling with sudden agitation.

A jolt rippled through her chest—the way their heads snapped toward the caravan below, the ruffling of their feathers, and the rapid shift in atmospheric vibrations. The two are getting ready to attack—lowlanders and fellow military?! Why?

Her gaze darted to a lone figure who had separated from the caravan, too far away for her to fully make out other than what he wore—a robe and using a staff to walk. Time seemed to stretch, like the static before a storm’s fury, as the person moved with an even pace.

Ayla squinted, her pulse quickening as she strained to make out the details against the valley’s brightness. His figure grew sharper, more defined with every step, and then the wind shifted—a chill that robbed the air from her lungs.

Is he… Her gut clenched, an instinctive reaction to the warning Nulina’s crackling feathers broadcasted to the other rocs. The erratic one backed down, but the agitated one stepped forward, wings flaring out, lightning and dark clouds forming around him. He can’t be—

Ayla’s fingers gripped the grass beneath her as her eyes locked onto the man’s measured approach, unbothered by the threatening display. Suddenly, a shimmer of liquid seemed to rise around the figure, pooling unnaturally at his feet before spiraling upward in rhythmic pulses.

Her breath hitched as the substance began to take form, solidifying with impossible speed. Lightning sparked across the smaller rocs’ feathers, their unease feeding into the storm around them.

The shape grew, casting a shadow that stretched across the valley floor—a colossal black-shelled tortoise, rising to nearly forty feet tall and double as long. Its immense weight seemed to settle into the earth between the birds and the caravan, the ground beneath it groaning in protest. The shell gleamed in the fractured sunlight, streaked with veins of pulsating sapphire light that mirrored the tempest above—the man was nowhere to be seen now.

Ayla’s stomach twisted as the tortoise’s form solidified, its sheer presence sending ripples of energy through the air and more panic through the caravan—a Xhu’thalan, from stories told by raven lords, bonded to a Celestial Black Tortoise.

Her throat tightened as the charged atmosphere pressed down on her, Nulina’s thunderous voice rolling through them like an earthquake, more as a sigh than a growl. “I told you to stay your feathers, Salendar.”

The storm Salendar created shifted on the edge of a blade, wind spinning the opposite direction and intensifying its condensed fury as Nulina’s feathers puffed up, her aura flaring to life with an intensity that outstripped the smaller roc’s chaos.

Ayla lowered herself instinctively as an ominous cyclone of wind burst forth from above, slamming into the charging roc with unrelenting force. The winds spiraled tightly, carving into the soil with pressure that slammed the titanic bird face first into the ground, pinning the eagle in place. Dirt and grass tore loose, the storm swallowing every sound but the howl of the dark tempest, thick bolts of lightning dancing over it.

Nulina’s cry shattered the air, sharp and commanding, and the smaller roc’s form shimmered like obsidian diamonds beneath the onslaught. Yet, his quivering wings still couldn’t rise, his body sinking deeper and deeper with the rippling power that quaked the ground around them, forcing every creature beside the other roc and tortoise to lay against the earth.

“Are you done, eggling… Yes, even channeling your bonded won’t give you the power to overpower me… You’re not posturing for anyone. That’s it. Calm down.”

Its wings drooped, its defiance quashed as it lowered its struggling head, bowing under the Tempest Queen’s unyielding will. The jittery roc now did his best to steady himself as the large tortoise slowly made its way toward them.

Ayla barely registered the spectacle, her focus split between the raging winds and the other Celestial from another culture. And, unsurprisingly, the colossal creature lowered its eyes to the far larger Tempest Queen, the sapphire veins across its shell pulsing in serene rhythm.

Nulina stepped forward, lifting her outstretched wing while moving past the pinned bird. The winds, far stronger than a hurricane, let up, somehow leaving everything but where Salendar was untouched and showcasing her control and power. The raw power helped to lighten the tension in Ayla’s chest, realizing what she’d just shown.

You just had to remind them who is the biggest bird, even if you can’t take to the skies, you still command them… Even when a roc and bonded human are united.

Her gaze flicked to the jittery one a short distance away as a flash of energy pulsed from his back, where a feminine figure materialized—his human Skybound rider.

I suppose she was also fused with her roc right off the bat… Considering how Nulina reacted the last time she was around a roc—another Tempest Queen, at that—I guess they didn’t know what to expect… And then this Celestial Black Tortoise shows up. But you know he was here. Didn’t you, Nulina? That’s why you were acting so sly earlier.

Nulina’s towering form radiated lightning so bright it painted the valley in electric white. The tortoise then returned her gaze with solemnity, bowing its head in a gesture of respect.

The whole caravan, soldiers, citizens, and prisoners alike, watched from their butts or backs, and for a fleeting moment, the storm quieted. The winds fell still, and the charged energy seemed to retreat into Nulina’s feathers. Then Nulina shifted to make a gesture, her protective wing leaving Ayla causing the sunlight to sear through.

“Wai—”

Panic flashed across her prickling skin as her wide eyes darted toward the heavens, the brightness blinding as her vision smeared with vibrant halos. Her knees buckled, her body trembling under the heat that pressed in from every angle. It wasn’t just the sun—it wasn’t necessarily painful, but a flash of chills ran through her.

“Ayla!” Caden’s voice cut through the haze as her legs gave out entirely. “Solar flash syndrome? I forgot stormland—”

The last thing she saw was his face and the woman atop the jittery rock jumping down, the nobleman’s expression etched with concern as his arms caught her. Ayla’s world dissolved into white, Nulina’s worried cries a distant call, and the crackling storm fading into an eerie silence as falling snow embraced her.

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