Part One: Abelton

Iliana was picking her way through a field of flowers. Beautiful blooms spread out as far as the eye could see. Wind whipped the skirts of her dress about her legs and sent the little brown hairs that had escaped her bun into a frenzy. But the flowers in the basket she held were safe, shielded from the wind with her body. If they had spilled, she wouldn’t have minded picking some more. She loved this meadow, so much that she tried her best not to turn around until the last second. Because if she did, this happy moment would be cut short.

The city of Abelton was always behind her when she went to pick flowers. The fresh air and wide open spaces was such a difference from the smoky and crowded streets of the city. Having grown up there, she didn’t exactly hate it. Just needed some separation every now and then. Or every morning, as it turned out.

Iliana came here to fulfill a part her duties at the flower shop she worked at. The pay was good enough, and she got to be in a place she loved every day, but it always a little hard to return after a beautiful morning like this one. That is why she thought of dumping the flowers out and starting all over. But she only thought it for a second. Madame Suri had said yesterday that if she was late again, Iliana’s pay would be docked for the time she missed in the morning. Time, it seemed, was not on her side today. She had to hurry back, or risk incurring the wrath of her employer.

Walking briskly to the only patch of blue in the entire meadow, she came upon the only flowers she hadn’t picked yet. The Blue Jewels, as Iliana called them, were the most beautiful of all to her. Three rows of deep blue petals, curved out and then in to produce a delicate point on each end, surrounding a perfect yellow pollen center. It reminded her of the sun in the middle of a cloudless blue sky.

Iliana snipped a big bouquet with her green garden scissors, and laid them gently on top of the other flowers in her basket. She gave one last look at the meadow of vibrant colors, then turned around and walked back to the road that led to the city.

The road had seen a decline in use over the last decade or so. Most people now used airships to get to Abelton from far-off places. Road transportation within the city was only used by the rich, while everyone else walked or road the trolley. The small city was not a popular tourist destination anyway, and did not offer much in the way of lavish vacations. The only big events were the occasional parties held exclusively for the upper-class.

Iliana watched her feet as they carried her down the road, and heard the clop-clop of her clunky boots as they hit loose pebbles in the road. She was due for a new pair, seeing as the sole of her left boot was becoming detached from the rest of the shoe.

I’ll have to start saving up for that, Iliana thought. Mother will insist on a nice, durable pair, as she always does.

Suddenly, Iliana realized that there was another sound besides the clunking and scuffing of her worn boots. She stopped walking and listened intently. The sound was still there, and it was getting louder, from a low rumble to a steady thump. The little pebbles on the ground seemed to start jumping of their own accord. Iliana looked up ahead of her towards the city, but there was nothing there. Then she turned around.

A cloud of dirt was racing along the old dirt road towards her. Iliana squinted to try and see what it was, but there was so much dust that she couldn’t tell. It was going incredibly fast. Too fast to slow down in time to not hit her. Iliana jumped back from the road just in time as it passed. She caught a glimpse of a strange animal with spiraling horns coming out of its head pulling a fanciful carriage. In the driver’s seat sat a heavily veiled person, who turned their head towards her as the carriage passed.

Iliana shielded her face from the dust that billowed after them. She heard a muffled but forceful “Whoa!” Straightening and brushing dust from her dress, she checked the flowers in her basket. None the worse for wear. Looking up to where the carriage had gone, she saw that it had come to a complete stop not fifty paces from where she stood. Muffled coughing and a high-pitched braying could be heard through the dust. She took a few tentative steps towards the carriage. The dust was beginning to settle now, but it still got into her mouth and nose when she breathed, causing her to cough along with the driver.

Iliana saw the veiled person standing beside the creature. Tall and dressed in black from head to toe, he was petting it, crooning in a low masculine voice. “Calm down,” cough, cough, “Kestral, calm down.” Then he turned toward her. His face was hidden behind a thick scarf and huge circular goggles, and he wore a rather large top hat as well. She couldn’t make out any features beneath the clothing, besides that fact that he was obviously a man.

“Hello, miss,” he said. His voice was muffled by the thick scarf he wore around his neck. “So sorry about that, but it is very hard to see through all this dirt.”

“Hello,” Iliana said. Though she was intrigued by the veiled man, her eyes were drawn to the creature beside him. It looked a lot like a horse, though it was much bigger, with thick fur that hung off it. Tall, spiraling horns thrusted upwards from its forehead. It was like nothing she had ever seen before. A light brown leather harness wound its way around the animal’s body, which was hitched up to the red lacquered carriage. The man chuckled lightly, and Iliana looked away from the animal, realizing she had been openly staring.

“Yes, Kestral has astounded many people,” he said, taking off his hat and setting it on the driver’s seat of the carriage.

“Kestral?” What’s a kestral?

“That’s her name,” the man said. “She is an Alumavi, very rare. There are not many left in the wild.” He started to unwind the scarf from around his head. For a moment, she was afraid of what was underneath. When she was young, her mother had told her tales of mischievous creatures disguised as humans. They would trick people into trusting them, and eat those that let their guards down, or steal them away to dark haunts. They were old stories, the kind told to children before they went to bed to scare them into obedience. But, as with any story, there had to be some truth in there somewhere.

Iliana was relieved to find that with the scarf and the goggles gone, he looked perfectly normal, and Iliana felt silly for thinking he could be anything other than a normal person. He had shoulder length black hair, which he wore pulled back in a horsetail, and a pair of the deepest blue eyes she had ever seen, which were shining brightly at her.

“I am much more interesting than Kestral,” he assured her with a wide grin. “Dray, at your service,” he said with a bow. Then he straightened, offering his hand to her. “And who do I have the pleasure of almost running over this fine morning?”

“Iliana,” she said. His formality was somewhat amusing, and she couldn’t help but give him a small smile as she accepted his offered hand, which he shook gently.

“And what may I ask, Miss Iliana, would you be doing all alone out here?”

“Oh I always come, every morning, to pick flowers,” Iliana said. Too late she wondered if she should have told him that.

“Ah, yes,” Dray said, looking into her basket. “I should have known.” Iliana squirmed a little under his scrutiny of her wares, and took a couple of steps along the road.

“Yes, well, I should be going. I don’t want to be late.”

 “Are you headed back to the city?”

Iliana looked back and nodded. “Yes, I am.” Where else is there to go?

“Then may I propose,” he continued, gesturing to the carriage and the strange creature pulling it, “Since we are going in the same general direction, that I give you a ride to your destination.”

“Oh, no, I…” Iliana stammered, trying to think of a reason not to. Dray was nice, and very well mannered, but she’d only just met him. And who asks a girl to go for a ride the first time you meet them, anyway?

“Come on, it’s the least I could do for almost running you over.” The young man climbed back up to the driver’s seat and stowed the hat, scarf, and goggles underneath the wooden bench before sitting down.

“I don’t know…” Remembering how fast the carriage had gone before, Iliana thought that it certainly didn’t seem very safe.

“I insist,” Dray said, holding out a hand to her again. Iliana looked at his hand, then up at his face. His eyes seemed to radiate… trust… and calm. A desire to do… something…

Without a second thought Iliana took his hand and he hauled her up with one arm as if she weighed nothing at all.

“We’re off!” he said cheerfully. Iliana quickly sat down and held her flower basket firmly in her lap. Dray gave a high-pitched whistle and Kestral began to pull the carriage towards the city. The strange animal was swift and agile, though she did not run as fast as before.

Perhaps I won’t be late after all, Iliana thought, grateful that this event wouldn’t affect her day too much. 

The carriage didn’t bounce nearly as much as she thought it would have. Dray didn’t try to start a conversation, and Iliana was much too shy to say anything to this person she had just met. Instead she tried to keep her eyes on anything but him, which actually wasn’t very hard with the unusual animal that was pulling the carriage. 

Iliana had never been around animals very much; her mother was allergic to cats and ‘dogs need too much attention’, as Iliana had been told every time she’d brought it up when she was younger. The spiral-horned creature was sure-footed, trotting easily down the old dirt road and not losing a beat when they reached the brownish-red cobblestones that covered all the streets in Abelton. The shaggy fur shifted with every movement, the head held upright, the shiny black horns catching the light every once in a while. A magnificent creature.

In no time at all they were driving down the main street of the city. People stopped and stared at Kestral, just as Iliana had done. Apparently they had never seen anything like the Alumavi, either.

“So, Miss Iliana,” Dray said, breaking the prolonged silence. “Where am I taking you?”

“Madame Suri’s Flower Shop,” she said, and, again, wondered if she should have told him that. But he was kind enough to give her a ride, and she might as well take advantage of it.