The beat of gigantic wings just over the forest’s canopy sent birds and leaves into the air. A gigantic hawk-like bird with long flowing plumage on both its head and tail soared over the precipice of the forest. Its eyes were obscured by a giant white blindfold that flowed behind it, but it did not seem a hindered by it. It lowered its body, flying just above the vast wheat field that lay beyond the forest with absolute dexterity. When it reached the inner circle of the wheat field and arrived at the large estate in the centre it pulled up to land on top of one of the many stone towers each topped with a glass dome reminiscent of bird cage. It ruffled its feathers as it perched, and its head swivelled as if surveying the many gardens and elegant architecture below it, it’s focus finally settling on one garden where it could hear many people talking.

Gale sat in a small crowd of people that looked to be his age, they couldn’t have been more than late teens. He sat with them on a large patch of grass surround by a beautiful garden. Flowers with tall stems and bushes in full bloom looked over them and the rest of the garden was dotted with decorative hedges in the shape of different kinds of birds, everything from finches to owls. Beyond that, weeping willows loomed over the garden, but in turn the large stone towers of the estate that surrounded them soared over those trees. But what demanded Gale’s attention was the two men in front of the crowd, standing on a stone circle that was raised above the ground.

“This is all forty of them your highness” Said one. He had a thin build and was a full head shorter than the other. Most of his features were obscured by the owl mask he was wearing, but there was a tuft of grey hair visible above the mask. His clothes were simple, white robes that covered most of his skin and he was holding a sheet of parchment affixed to a wooden board.

“Let’s make sure this still works before we begin” The other man said gruffly, still facing the crowd. He was tall, had a strong build and looked middle aged. But what stood out the most was a few peculiar features. His neck was obscured by clouds as if it were a scarf, his hair was closer to vines than actual hair, and tiny flowers were dotted through-out it with large flower at the top of his head. He was dressed in elegant regal clothes and wore a spiked golden crown. He didn’t look like Gale or the other teenagers in the crowd, they had rough ashen skin, a hole in each of their chests, and the circumference of their heads were jagged and exposed as opposed to joining with the rest of the skull. In place of their cranium rested a glowing ball of fire that poured out flames. They all looked as if a meteor had crash landed into the top of their heads, forming a crater from the skull, and replacing the cranium with a forever burning meteor. In place of where his eyes would be, several small pebbles floated in the flame, roughly taking the shape of eyes, their vision fixed on the man with the crown.

“Stand” Commanded the man. Gale’s eyes glossed over, and without thinking he stood. The others in the crowd did the same.

“Raise your hand,” said the man. Once again, Gale and the others followed the command. They looked back and forth at each other and whispered. The bigger man paused before his expression darkened.
            “Bite into your hand until you reach bone” He commanded. Fear washed over Gale as he watched his hand lower and felt his mouth open. The pain shot through him instantly, his eyes watered, and he let out a muffled scream. He looked around him, everyone was the same, pain and terror painted on their faces, their eyes watering and the tears subsequently burning up in the fire of their heads, sending plumes of steam into the sky.

“This is exactly why I started wearing a mask.” Said the thin man

“Pssh! Surely you’re not scared they will escape and seek vengeance?” The other chuckled mockingly.

“Impossible, but it doesn’t hurt to take precautions”

“Precautions are why I check this. Release.” He said plainly, turning back to the crowd.

Gale’s jaw loosened and he removed his hand. Grimacing, he placed his other hand over the wound to stop the bleeding. The thin man passed the board with the sheet of parchment to the other while speaking to the crowd.

“You’ve been trained for years now in every skill you will need to serve the World King here at Long Field manor. You will now be assigned jobs to handle every day from now on.”

“Line up!” Commanded the king.

One by one the king went down the line and read off the list. Each one would leave in a different direction after receiving their orders.

            “Décor and cleaning in the west tower.”
            “Cooking and resupply in the main building. Patrol your perimeter twice at midnight.”     “Gardening and décor in the eastern garden and outer quadrant. Patrol your perimeter twice at sundown.” He said when he reached Gale.

Gale felt his body start to move again. He looked solemnly back at the crowd as he left, then looked at the blood seeping from under his hand.
            “I hope they’ll be okay.” He thought.

When he arrived, he felt control come back to his legs.

            “I can move again, does that mean this is the eastern quadrant?” He thought as he looked around. He had stopped a way off from the garden, but he could see it quite clearly.

The rest of the quadrant looked the same as the rest of the estate he’d seen, but the eastern garden stood out because of how immensely unkempt it was. There was a lot of space overgrown with grass, the only exception being a strange small hill with clean cut grass and a white wooden arch at the top. There was also a muddy pond and creek complete with stepping-stones covered with algae and a large shaggy willow that had grown so much that the branches were tangled up in a dirty gazebo next to it.

“…I get tools, right?” He said out loud, irritated by the mess. “Maybe they’re in one of these big buildings” He thought looking back at many of the extravagant buildings and towers nearer to the centre of the estate.
Gale tried to take a step back, but his eyes glazed over, and his foot froze mid-air.
            “Tch. I’m not allowed to leave the quadrant” He thought, irritated.

After reaching and investigating the garden up close he found a shack hidden behind the willow under a mess of branches. Inside on one side were several simple metal tools; scythes, pitchforks, trowels, etc. The other side was covered with jars but despite the soft glow of the flame on his head, it was too dark to read their inscriptions. He squinted and moved his head closer to see better but found the flame on his head began lashing at the shelf above. He quickly pulled back to avoid setting it on fire. He decided he should just stop being lazy. From the ceiling hung a rope with a twin hook holding up a corked glass bottle shaped like a light bulb. He unhooked it and the black slime sitting at the bottom of the glass stirred. He uncorked the bottle and looked around for something.
            “Nothing to feed it… Oh” He mumbled before suddenly having an idea.

He looked at the wound on his hand. It wasn’t bleeding heavily anymore, but it was still bleeding. Gale was used to wounds like this not needing any serious or immediate care.

He held his wound over the bottle. As the blood dripped from it and onto the black slime, it stirred and gave off a dull glow that quickly became strong enough to light up the whole shack.

He corked and hooked the bottle back up before inspecting the jars.
            “Daisies, sunflowers, lavender, agapanthus, tiger lily, orchids, bird of paradise… There’s everything here.” He pondered. “It seems like I have to garden, but maybe the order is vague enough that I can choose how.” Gale wasn’t sure how he felt about this, on one side, he was relieved, but on the other he was still enslaved. He screwed his face up in frustrated thought.        “It could be worse, I guess.” He said but pondering it more he finally sighed and relented. “Honestly, this could be fun actually. It’s not that I want to be here, but… its sunny outside.” He said grabbing a bunch of pots and tools and heading outside.

“I don’t want to be gloomy!” He said determinedly kicking open the shack with a comical number of tools and pots in his arms. All at once Gale chucked the tools and pots into the air.
            “Orbit!” He said cheerfully and the items began to float around him like a moon around a planet.

Spurred on by the novelty of the situation, work was relatively fast. A dense blanket of clouds eventually rolled in but luckily it waited till the end of the day to do so. By sundown he’d cleared and ploughed a patch of grass for the first of many flower beds and removed the tangle of branches from the gazebo. He admired his work for a while, scanning over the garden. But when his vision moved across to the white arch on the hill, he paused. He had not stepped foot on the hill the entire day, in fact, he’d not even thought about it. As he stared, wind brushed through the garden and the fire on his head flickered in time with it.
            The arch, simple and white did nothing, it did not move nor speak nor demand Gale avert his gaze, but Gale’s eyes glossed over, and he looked away as if he’d never noticed it.