Cloud Shifters

“How long ago did you fall? The alarm should have started by now,” Vega asked, tilting his head as if listening for the warning horn.

“Two and half days ago,” Cadin answered, and gasped as Vega missed a wing-beat.

“Sorry,” Vega said as he readjusted the makeshift harness. “But is that possible, and how were you able to not fall through to Earth? I mean you are so young!”

“I cloud-shifted enough to catch the last cloud. I have just been waiting for someone to find me.”

“Amazing. I am deeply concerned that you said someone dropped you from Glade. Can you tell me about it?”

“I don’t know,” Cadin confessed lamely to his savior. He wasn’t sure who he could trust.

“Let’s get you safely home first.”

“Can you tell me about Earth?” Cadin asked hopefully.

Cadin was fascinated by the little details of Earth and humans. He told Vega of his observation while stranded on his cloud.

“You were able to see and hear the humans?”

That seemed like a strange question. “Yes, why?”

“I just need to prepare for our return. You must have been at the very edge of the barrier.”

It was a longer flight than Cadin had anticipated as the fall took very little time.

“The cloud-lands migrate a lot in a day relative to the natural clouds,” Vega said. And of course, they had to rest quite a bit with Vega’s heavy veretal coated wings and the fact that he had to carry Cadin and his backpack. During one rest stop where they had located a fringe cloud-land that developed due to cloud-stones, Vega told Cadin about why he became a Guardian.

“It is a little difficult to explain to someone who is not already a Guardian or at least destined to become one,” Vega said to Cadin who was picking up a few cloud-stones and began sorting them by color.

“You mean that being a Guardian is more of a destiny than a choice?”

“Yes, actually I think exactly that. You see every successful Guardian that I have ever talked to or even known about has always talked about their calling to Earth—to humans.”

“I don’t quite understand what you mean by a ‘calling,’” Cadin said as he looked up from his cloud-stones.

“It is an overwhelming sensation to want to be a Guardian and everything that it entails. You may not understand the specifics of it at first, but there is a need from within that is only fulfilled by becoming a Guardian. Some have chosen the Guardian Path without feeling the call and their career never lasts very long.”

“So, your job is to protect humans?”

“That is part of it, but there is so much more to it than that. There is more guidance than protection.”

“Do the humans know that you are there and what you are doing?”

“In some cases, we purposefully reveal ourselves as angels to humans, but those instances are rare. There are some humans that are simply more intuitive than most and have no trouble knowing who and what we are. Most are not aware of us, and discretion is often a large part of our job description.”

“Wow,” Cadin said. “The humans you work with must be so happy for the help!”

Vega started a quiet laugh. “Some are, yes. However, many humans resist our help for many different reasons. But we always try our best.”

“Why would you try to help a human that doesn’t appreciate or even want your help?”

“Cadin, you are young and as most of our kind at your age, you are focused on the immediate world of angels and cloud-lands around you. You will soon learn that there is much more to our Universe than you know. For instance, humans,” Vega said with a smile that reached his eyes. “Many angels think that humans and angels have no true relationship or need of each other. They are severely mistaken. Angels and humans have a complex symbiotic relationship that would be catastrophically detrimental to both races if ever truly severed.”

“I don’t understand why we need humans.”

“In time, young Cadin of Glade you will. Time to fly again.”

“Nearly there!” Cadin heard Vega call to him. Cadin got excited and frantically looked around for his beloved Glade. Would there be angels circling where he was abducted? Had they found out yet what happened? Cadin looked but saw no cloud-lands of any kind, let alone the huge cloud-land of Glade. Cadin squinted to see past the natural clouds floating about but still saw nothing but sky and a tiny, bright shimmer. At first, Cadin thought that it was a reflection off another airplane—he was excited to have seen two already on their journey, but then it became apparent that the dancing light was their destination.

“Finally—the Bridgestone,” Vega said aloud but more to himself than Cadin. Cadin knew he had heard of the Bridgestone before, but he could not remember where. As they approached, the shimmer expanded into a bright, warm light that washed over Cadin, welcoming him back. He relaxed and almost cried at the overwhelming sensation of feeling at home. The light completely saturated Cadin’s vision to the point that he could see nothing but intense brightness, forcing him to close his eyes. All the sudden the light was gone and Cadin opened his eyes to find himself in a white-walled room that shimmered. He smiled as he realized that he was once again inside Glade Palace.

Vega quickly went through what Cadin assumed was some kind of identification process and then approached one of the guards and talked to him for a moment before the guard left in a hurry.

“Not quite what I expected to see in the top room,” Cadin said as he glanced around. The room was mostly empty except for the guards and a beautiful black stone that rose in a twisted archway. Though black, the slick surface reflected more colors than Cadin knew existed.

“That is the Bridgestone. It is the path between the Earth Realm and the Cloud Realm. If you had fallen or purposefully traveled to Earth—even for you with how long you were on the natural cloud so close to Earth—you would not have been able to return to the cloud-lands without traveling through the Bridgestone. It has been heavily guarded and highly secure since the Cloud-Raider War due to their gross misconduct towards humans at that time. There were once many that were placed in public squares, but those days are behind us.”

The door opened as a guard landed at the top of the same flyway that Cadin and his friends got trapped at the base of months ago. “You have been cleared. A guard has been sent to inform your family and summon a healer. We can wait for them on the main floor.”

The same angel that ran the healing demonstration on Badge Day was focusing on Cadin’s shoulder when his parents ran through the front entrance of Glade Palace. The guards held up his parents for a moment, but Gur slipped through.

“I missed you too, Gur!” Cadin said the dragon landed on his shoulder and started guring in his ear and examining bits of Cadin’s face as if to check that he was whole.

Gur kept trying to extract the healer as Tal and Sara both ran to him and pulled him into a hug. Cadin flinched.

“Probably best not to do that until I can finish,” the Healer said as she gently removed Sara’s arm from under Cadin’s.

“What happened?”

“Are you alright, Cadin?”

Cadin just nodded, emotions choking his words.

“When Gur found me, I knew something was wrong,” Sara said as she drank in the sight of him. “It took me a moment to realize he was trying to give me your medallion...I thought...I...”

Tal took over as his mom gently hugged him under the glare of the watchful healer. “Gur insisted that we go to a spot at the edge of Glade and kept circling around like mad. We sent out search parties directly below, but we couldn’t find you, we imagined the worst.” Cadin’s dad didn’t finish as they heard a gentle cough from behind them. They turned to see Guardian Vega standing next to Master Sanjen.

“We must talk.”

They sat in one of the private showing rooms within Glade Palace. The opulence of the surroundings was a bit lost on Cadin. The healer was not happy to be asked to wait outside, but Master Sanjen assured her that it was necessary. Cadin told the story of Bruce finding him, telling him of Tiberius and of Bruce’s reaction when he refused to meet Tiberius. When Cadin mentioned the part about the struggle and Bruce grabbing him, Cadin had to keep his focus on Master Sanjen, because his mom was crying into his dad’s shoulder and he thought he might break down a little bit if he looked at her. But he knew Master Sanjen needed all the details and so he continued to tell about his cloud-shifting, the two Tlaloc angels that had searched for him and nearly found him. He told of his exhaustion, observing humans, and finally his elation at seeing Guardian Vega fly over to him. The only part he left out was Bruce’s questions about the Core. He was sure he would have to find that out on his own.

Master Sanjen turned to Cadin. His armor shone, but it could not hide the worry in his eyes.

“First of all, I am so glad that you are safe. I can’t believe we were so late in protecting you—I thought we had time.”

“You knew this would happen?” Cadin was stunned.

“Not exactly.” Master Sanjen was holding up strong under Sara’s death glare. “Let me explain—though understand that many things are classified, and I cannot fully inform you.”

Cadin nodded.

“Tal informed me that he has already told you some of his part in the Cloud-Raider War. What you don’t know is that those that eluded our capture did not merely go away. The group called the Tlalocs have been building and bidding their time ever since the end of that war.” Master Sanjen let out a breath and focused on Cadin’s eyes before continuing. “Their leader, Tiberius will stop at nothing to bring the Core down.”

“What does any of that have to do with me? I doubt they just randomly abduct people to join them, because I’m pretty sure the public would be more aware of them it that were the case.”

“You are correct. He had his sights set on you from the moment that he learned of your mixed color Aura.”

“That’s it?” Cadin felt like someone just hit him over the head with a very large cloud-worm. “That’s the only reason Bruce went crazy and tried to haul me away from Glade?”

“Yes. I know my explanation is lacking, but I am restricted in what I can tell you. Your Aura is rare, and even though you are young, having the strength a mixed Aura affords you makes you both a prized commodity and a huge target in a time of war.”

“Time of war, really?” The cloud-lands had always felt like a secure, safe place.

“Not yet. The Core will do everything possible to prevent a true war from even blossoming.”

“Will he try to take Cadin again?” Sara was very pale, but her voice did not falter. Tal gently squeezed her shoulders.

Master Sanjen turned his gaze to Cadin’s parents. “I honestly don’t think so. One of the reasons that the Tlalocs remain elusive is that they don’t dwell on failed plans. We have set up several traps in other instances where they failed to obtain something they were after, and they have never come back. However, their leader is patient. Therefore, I have misdirection and protection plans in place. As of now Tiberius thinks that you fell to Earth. With Bruce exposed, I don’t believe that Tiberius will risk more of his spies on the interior for a while—he prefers to stay elusive and on the fringe. It should take time for him to even learn that Cadin survived.”

“It didn’t take long for him to learn of Cadin’s Aura in the first place!” Sara’s face flushed under her bronze complexion.

“You are right. To have missed Bruce as a Tlaloc agent within Town Hall is unforgivable. I can only assure you that the Core will sweep Glade and increase the overall protection protocols. And Master Emilio mentioned a plan that could help keep you less conspicuous.”

“What’s the plan?” Cadin and Sara asked in tandem.

“Some sort of energy shift to hide one color of your Aura. I’m not sure it will work, but it is up to you if you would like to consider it.”

His mom didn’t seem fully satisfied, but she didn’t say anything else as Master Sanjen returned his attention to Cadin.

Master Sanjen spoke. “You have many choices to make, some sooner than others. Until you have made them, the Core will do its best to protect you.”

Cadin took a deep breath and looked into the eyes of the Master of the Core. Despite his misgivings, he would not turn his back on his family and friends. He would keep searching, but for now at least, his choice was clear. “I have decided on the Warrior Path. I want to ultimately join the Core and fight against the Tlalocs.”

Master Sanjen held Cadin’s gaze through his declaration. “If you succeed along the Warrior Path, the Core will gladly embrace you. The upcoming Calvarian Games will be the best opportunity to prove yourself. There are destinies among angels, and yours is being realized. I am curious to see how your life will unfurl. However, for now I need you not to worry about the war or Tiberius. You have given us more insight than you may realize into the Tlaloc’s plans and the Core has some preparing to do.”

Cadin had never looked forward to Summer Break so much. Even though it was best year of his life, High School was exhausting before the addition of Tiberius. His friends took the news of his being dropped fairly well aside from Lep looking closer to a shade of green than any normal skin tone, and Sun bursting into tears at the sight of him.

With permission from Master Sanjen, Cadin planned to tell his friends all about Bruce and Tiberius and the position that having a mixed Aura had put him in—but that could all wait until the official start of Summer Break. With a sigh of relief and longing, he turned in his registration form to Instructor Kade on the last day of school stating in bold—Cadin of Glade: Warrior Path.