Sonnae

Achaius walked in to see his daughter Sonnae hovering by a broken display case and holding some sort of brilliantly shining stone in her claws. It seemed to be pulsing brighter and her eyes when she looked up at him were full of fear. Panic began to set in and he quickly signed, ‘Drop it! Hurry!’

Tears welled up in her eyes and her shoulders tensed as she shook her head. He wanted to be irate at first before he realized – she couldn’t. The stone, now of indeterminate shape and size, continued to glow brighter still. He was starting to feel a thrumming against his chest and skull. Thinking quickly, he darted forward and reached for it. She pulled back, her fins waving desperately in a clear gesture of keep back! He froze, his claws open and helpless as that thrumming grew heavier. No. He couldn’t let her go through this alone. Biting back his fear, he thrust his claws out and grabbed onto the stone.

Pain lanced through his body immediately and he cried out. Sonnae was beating him with her wings, but he hardly felt it against the intense vibrations emanating from the stone. Her wings soon subsided, so he began looking around for a way out. The window. He looked down at his daughter. Tears were streaming down her face, but as their eyes met, she seemed to understand and they hardened in determination. She drew herself up and nodded to him. So she was prepared. He took a breath, juggled his pearl in his hindclaw, and kicked it through the nearest window.

They didn’t wait. Achaius’s claws were already numb from the throbbing of the stone. It was awkward trying to fly together, but they had to. They flew out of the window and beat upwards toward the sky. Higher and higher, above the first, second, and third towers. Higher still, until all of the Library lay below them in its splendor. Its wondrous façade. Higher until his wings ached and Sonnae began to flag. Then the stone gave a shudder. It was time. They could barely see each other through the beams cast by it, but all the same, Achaius folded his wings around his daughter. He needed her to know that he was there for her.