Outside in one of the parks within the town, was the most unusual group one could have seen, gathered together around a child’s climbing frame. There were four of them, and they paid no heed to any of the people around them, who neither saw them, nor heard them. There was a group of teenagers by the swings drinking and smoking, and the occasional passerby late home from work. It was a typical scene at the park, save for this group.

There was a man, a mother, a daughter and an aberrant.

The hour was waning, and with every passing minute, the stars grew brighter, the evening star taking centre stage.

‘It’s here’ the aberrant rasped in his low harsh voice, he whipped his tail in agitation and flexed his mighty wings ‘It’s very close now.’

There was a sudden uproar of laugher from the swings as one of the boys attempted and failed to do a handstand on the swing itself. The aberrant jerked his head up, snarling at them and their disruption.

‘Do you think the others have found it yet?’ the mother asked.

The man twirled a strand of his fiery red hair between his fingers.

‘Not yet’ he replied, ‘we would know if it was found. They still don’t know yet where it is. But the problem is, neither do we.’

‘I wonder who will reach it first’ the daughter voiced, passing a hand over the orb she held before her. The sphere glowed; within it were many beautiful colours, though all of them were dark. ‘I fear things will not go well.’