Leo and his friends stood still, unable to move as they stared at the form that stood before them. Those burning yellow eyes Leo had watched stalk his brother, the last things he had seen before he vanished, were once again looking directly at him. Except this time, Leo could see who, or perhaps what, they belonged to.

With the rest of Devolo’s body in view, Leo could see that the majority of his brother’s stalker was a fragile, old man. Wrinkles covered his face, giving him a tired and forlorn look, which only increased as he tried to force a welcoming smile across his dark black lips. His hair looked as though it had started to fade into a light brown which was dotted with flecks of white.

As Leo continued to work his way down Devolo’s body, each inch revealed something that looked more unnatural than the last. From the neck down, where you would usually find skin, was layer upon layer of feathers that created an intricate pattern of white and brown up the entirety of his body. Torn brown trousers covered his legs to his ankles, where Leo then looked for feet, but found wrinkled, yellow talons.

Glowing yellow eyes, black lips, and a feathered body aside, Leo thought he looked relatively normal. But then came those enormous wings that he gracefully stretched out behind him. As Devolo held them aloft in the slight breeze, Leo could see that they were not just a plain white as they had first appeared. The inside of the wings were speckled with little spots of brown, and a contrasting dark brown was on the outside that could only just be seen against the night sky.

‘What are you?’ Kaira blurted out.

‘I am as you see. What else would I be?’ Devolo stuttered but maintained his smile.

‘Then who are you?’ Leo asked.

‘My name is Devolo Aldwyn, as I just said. No need to look at me with such dread,’ he took a step towards them, ‘but time is short and I’m sure you’ve many a thought, so let us get off these moors and head indoors.’

He waited for the four of them to move but they remained motionless.

‘You can continue staring at me when inside. In or out, I've nowhere to hide.’

A click came from the door behind them and it swung open. The four friends shared the same look. Knowing there was no option to turn back, they entered the windmill.

‘What is that?’ Leo whispered to Kaira as they stepped inside, as their smell became the first sense to be exercised as the scent of rot and decay filled their nostrils.

‘I think it’s that,’ said Kaira, indicating the far side of the circular room where the remains of small animal carcasses scattered the floor.

‘I don’t get many guests as you can probably tell. You’re the first people here in many a year so I didn’t know about the smell,’ Devolo said, walking in behind them as the door swung shut.

Windmills did not seem to be designed for gatherings of teenagers and winged men, with space becoming a premium once inside. In the centre of the room stood one solid beam of wood that went all the way up to the top of the building, turning the various cogs that were scattered around the windmill’s interior. Each gear worked in unison to keep the huge fan on its gradual spin, flickering the moonlight through the circular windows as it glided by.

One wall enclosed the entirety of the windmill, broken only by two arched holes. One led off into what looked like a kitchen, and the other into shadow. The wall itself may have once been a light blue, but those days had long passed, as the paint peeled from wherever it was not coated in patches of dirt. More pressingly though, the walls had also been inscribed with the same word repeatedly from top to bottom and all the way around.

‘Libero,’ Leo read aloud.

‘Libero indeed. The very reason you have followed my lead.’

Devolo hobbled towards a green and blue patchwork armchair before sitting down.

‘Come, have a seat. You'll soon have plenty of time on your feet.’

Devolo gestured opposite him towards a dusty looking couch, and Leo watched as his friends took a seat before he stood by a round table near the door. Two placemats with pictures of the sea were laid out on it, though they were coated in a thick layer of dust.

‘I’m not here for whatever Libero is. I’m here for my brother!’ Leo said, heatedly, ‘what have you done with him?’

Devolo flicked his large yellow eyes across the four of them before letting them sink to the ground, leaving the shadows to weave their way into the depths of his skin.

‘I’ve been thinking about bringing you here from a far earlier date. But I fear now that I have left it too late.’

‘What do you mean too late? Too late for what? If you needed us sooner, why did you make us come all the way here?’ The questions were coming to Leo faster than he was willing to wait for answers.

‘I couldn’t risk being seen again. There have been too many sightings, and people are starting to chase us with swords rather than pen.’

Devolo’s wings rested either side of him, and he held a feather in each hand and played with the barbs as he spoke.

‘I’ve known you for a long time, Leo, I didn’t expect for it to all go so fast. I've been trying to figure out when it would be right to tell you the truth about you and your brother’s past.’

‘None of this makes any sense. You’ve been stalking me and have finally decided that now is the time to tell me about it?’

‘I’ve tried to keep you both from danger as long as I could, but I am afraid that danger has now come. If we do not get your brother home quickly, then I fear to the others he will succumb.’

‘You mean he’s not here? You’ve brought us all this way and he’s not even here?’ Leo went to step forward but Kaira intercepted and held him back.

‘Your brother’s in Libero, Leo, we’ve got to go and get him. We can’t wait any longer, our chances are already grim,’ whispered Devolo, gripping his feathers tighter as his eyes stared at the grubby, white tiled floor that was covered by a chocolate-coloured rug.

‘Ok, what on Earth is this Libero place?’ Kaira chipped in.

‘Libero is not of this Earth. We decide who steps on its turf,’ Devolo closed his eyes as he sat still, steadying his breathing as his light brown feathers gently moved back and forth between each other.

‘What kind of cult is this?’ Bailey questioned.

‘Look at me. Do you think anything I say is beyond the realms of possibility?’

‘Fair,’ Kaira shrugged, ‘then tell us what it is.’

‘Libero is a world created by myself and three others: Komado, Arctier and Isla. We were once closer than even sisters and brothers.’

‘You created a world?’ Dorian asked, only to be ignored.

‘Each of us can control an element. Mine is probably quite evident.’

‘Wind?’ Leo assumed.

‘Yes, you’ve already seen my quarter, so to Isla, who is the master of water.’ Devolo’s voice broke off as his eyebrows furrowed.

‘What about the others?’ Kaira pestered.

‘Komado is the master of earth and fire, and finally, ice and rock bend to Arctier's desire.’

‘Where are they?’ Dorian pressed.

‘I don’t know, it’s been many years since we last communicated. But they are somewhere in Libero, the world we created.’

Devolo raised his head to find four confused faces staring back at him.

‘Years ago, we lived here on earth. But, over time everyone seemed to forget about how much the world was worth. Life was no longer about living, with everyone happy to just give in. We watched as people spent their entire lives working in a system designed for them to fail. People working their entire life only to be given freedom when they had become old and frail.’

‘So, you just made your own world?’ Kaira almost laughed at how bizarre it sounded, ‘what’s so different about your world then?’

‘In Libero we dreamt of a place where people could be truly free. For people to be whatever they chose to be.’

‘What happened?’ Bailey asked, her long grey hair framing her face as she watched Devolo look back at the ground.

‘More importantly, why is my brother there?’ Leo asked again.

Devolo tried what he probably intended to be a calming smile, but it only agitated Leo.

‘Libero was meant to be a place with only one view, where you are given no birth right, just the rights nature intended for you.’

‘But that’s just how it is. We earn our right to live,’ argued Dorian.

‘Your right to live was given to you at birth, having to earn that right is only something thought of on Earth.’

Devolo took a final breath as he plucked one of his feathers and brushed it through his fragile fingers.

‘In Libero people go through many changes, and for your brother, Leo, I fear it may be too late. For he also finds himself with the wrong kind of people to help guide his fate.’

‘Well, some things will never change in any world. So, Libero is why you look like this? Does my brother look like you?’

‘Libero will bring out your true self, bringing out whatever animal instincts you possess. There’s no knowing for sure what will happen to you or Sam, that is for you to guess.’

‘What happens if you are there forever?’ Leo wondered.

‘Most adapt to their instinct but some become Bellua, where they forget who they were. There’s no way of knowing what will happen until the changes occur.’

‘What happens when you come back? Are the changes permanent?’ Leo asked, looking at the person resembling as much of a giant owl as he did a man.

‘Only the four of us ever come back. In Libero you will realise you are finally whole, never dwelling on what you lack.’

‘Then what’s going to happen to my brother when we bring him home?’

Devolo looked Leo directly in his eyes. His eyes portrayed an understanding sorrow as they met the worry and frustration of Leo’s.

‘Until you go, I don’t know.’