Cloud Lands Saga Box Set Books 1-3

by Katie Pottle

  “Yeah. I think of it as the ‘Blue Road’, though the flowers are probably not here all of the time. I don’t think the food place I have in mind is open quite yet. Do you want to play a quick game of round toss?” He led them to a grass opening at the end of the road. “So far I have beaten Lep four games to two.”

  “You’re on, Cadin of Glade!” Sun picked up the four tan sand bags and stepped behind the line. Target boards with worn holes in them were perched and propped up on rocks and trees. Hand-written points were near the holes along with comments such as ‘Good One!,’ or ‘In Your Dreams.’

  “Ladies first.” Cadin waved her forward.

  Sun smiled before whipping three of her four sand bags through the hole labeled ‘25 points—or 50 with one eye closed!’ She then lofted her last bag toward the highest board, mounted at an angle on a tree labeled ‘100 points + your opponent has to dance a jig!’ Her bag hit the board but slid past the hole.

  “Wow, I think you will be a bigger challenge than Lep,” Cadin said, stepping up. “Did you sink those first three with one eye closed?”

  “No, but thanks for checking. You want to try it?”

  Cadin stepped up and rolled the dusty sand bag between his fingers, feeling the weight. He eyed the target before turning to Sun, winking and keeping one eye closed before tossing his first bag at the target. It missed the board completely. He readjusted his aim, kept one eye closed and tossed again. This one hit the board directly above the target and fell to the ground. He tossed his third one and it zoomed through the hole.

  “Nice one!” Sun said. “Only twenty-five points behind. What are you going to do with your last one?”

  “Oh, I think I’d like to see you dance a jig.”

  Sun’s eyebrows raised. “Not my strong suit, but I pay my debts.”

  Instead of the high one, he tossed his last bag at the lowest, largest hole—labeled ‘5 Stupid Points—Wimp!’ The bag dropped in and Cadin walked over to Sun. “How about I find us some food now instead? Look—they are opening up.” Cadin led her to the squat restaurant that was one of the lucky ones to be situated on the road level; however, it was squished by the clothes shop above. Cadin lowered his wings as they headed to the window with a brightly colored sign that read, ‘Fruit Skewers’.

  Sun smacked her lips. “Smells great.”

  “What’ll you have?” a scratchy-voiced woman asked.

  “Can we get a sample platter?”

  “Three aros.”

  Cadin handed over the coins and moved out of the way of the growing line. The locals obviously knew this hole-in-the-cloud gem. A young woman flew over to them holding a plank with four large sticks piercing various grilled fruits.

  “Sample platter, right?” she asked.

  “That’s us,” Sun said.

  “Honey dip in the yellow cup, and spicy ambri dip in the blue cup. Enjoy!” She zoomed off as they thanked her.

  “What do you think, tables or under the big tree?” Cadin asked.

  “Tree.”

  They sat with their backs against a giant cottonwood and dipped various fruits into the luscious sauces while Gur zipped up and down the branches.

  “Oh, try this green fruit with the honey,” Sun said, offering her skewer.

  “Yep, this one is up there with this white and red one.”

  “How did you even find this place?”

  “Lep and I were looking for Instructor Kade a few days ago. Mom said he had come to town, but she wasn’t sure what for, so we wandered around. I wanted to bring you here the second we found Fruit Skewers, but everything got so crazy with Master Emilio and training, there wasn’t really a good time.”

  Sun shifted her wings along the tree and scooted closer. “You mean you wanted to bring me on a date before now?”

  He set his empty skewer on the platter and grabbed her hand. “Sun, I’ve wanted to take you on a date since the first moment I saw you.”

  She giggled. “You mean when you arrived at school late after you broke into the Glade Palace and got the whole school into triple exercises?”

  “Well, I made a big impression, didn’t I?”

  She sighed. “You always do.”

  Impulsively, he leaned forward and kissed her. She tasted of honey and flowers. Electric tingles ran up and down his back.

  “That was nice,” Sun said as they sat back against the tree. “Why didn’t you ask me out before, I mean if you always wanted to.”

  Cadin thought about it for a moment. “I was too shy at first, and then it kind of felt like we were in the ‘friend zone,’ being teammates and all.”

  “And there was Susan,” Sun said softly.

  Cadin sighed. “Yes. Susan was exciting during a time when I didn’t think I had a chance with you. But, Sun, you were my first true crush.” He felt the heat rise up his cheeks as he said it.

  Sun leaned over and kissed him again.

  Gur chirped above them in the tree.

  Cadin leaned back and Sun smiled at him. Gur continued to chirp. It took Cadin a few moments to remember his dragon only chirped like that when he wanted Cadin to see something—not reprimanding him for kissing Sun. He glanced up at Gur and turned to find what the dragon was looking at.

  Instructor Kade was strutting towards them, clothes covered in white dust and a small box held protectively against his chest.

  “Uh, hi, sir,” Cadin said when he stopped in front of them.

  “Cadin, Sun, hi!” Instructor Kade shook the dust out of his hair and grinned. “I need your opinions on something.” He shifted from one foot to the other.

  “Happy to help,” Sun said, standing up. “Can I ask why you are so dusty?”

  “Oh, this?” He swept his hand down his shirt and pants, knocking off layers of white that floated around. “The dust is from the mine.”

  “What mine?” Cadin asked, jumping up next to Sun. He wanted to hold her hand, but thought it would be uncomfortable in front of Instructor Kade.

  “The fyredite mine across town. Condor is famous for it. Fyredite is a rare and beautiful type of cloud-stone. Condor trades in fyredite and it is one of the reasons it is the wealthiest cloud-land in the Calvarian System.”

  “What have you been doing in the mine?”

  He shifted back and forth. “Well, you see, I wanted a nice fyredite, but the pre-mined ones are expensive and not as personal. I have a friend, Marko, who is one of the foremen of the mines and he let me mine my own fyredite for a small fee. It took me a few excursions to find the right one, and then I came back to get the cloud-stone shaped and polished. What do you guys think?” He opened the box in his hand and held it out. Nestled in a crevice was a small translucent stone with fiery shards of different colors riddled throughout. The stone was polished and cut precisely, allowing the shards to reflect the light around it.

  “That is incredibly beautiful,” Sun said.

  “I’ve never seen another cloud-stone like it,” Cadin said. “Eh, who’s it for?”

  “Really?” Sun said, turning to him.

  “Why it’s for Zephran of course,” Instructor Kade said, straightening up. “I have a setting for it at home. When we get back to Glade, I plan to ask her to marry me.”

  “Oh, wow.”

  “Congratulations!” Sun said, obviously not surprised.

  “Do you think she will like it?” Instructor Kade’s eyebrows lifted.

  “I think she will love it,” Sun said.

  “Thank you. I hope I have not been too neglectful of my duties to you as your Warrior Path mentor.”

  “Honestly, you’ve been great,” Cadin said. “I didn’t even realize you were gone.”

  “I would appreciate it if you didn’t mention this to anyone else,” Instructor Kade said, gently closing the box and securing it in a pocket. “I simply saw you here and was excited to share my news.”

  “Understood,” Cadin said.

  “We won’t say a thing,” Sun promised.

  “Excellent.
” He looked them each in the eyes and smiled. “I will likewise not mention your public display.”

  “We…uh…” Cadin felt his face and neck burning.

  “Deal,” Sun said, holding out her hand.

  Instructor Kade shook her hand before reaching his hand to Cadin, winking as they shook.

  Part Three

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Short Notice

  Instructor Kade flew with them back to the Competitors’ Village. “Earn a couple of credits today if you can,” he said, before brushing more dust out of his hair. “The pace of the competition is quickening. You won’t be able to spend much more time here.”

  “Got it,” Sun said.

  Cadin nodded.

  “I’m going to go get cleaned up. I’ll see you at dinner.” He took off and flew towards their condos.

  “I don’t think he trusted us to come back here on our own,” Cadin said.

  “Well, can you blame him?” Sun said with a shrug. “I mean, we weren’t exactly earning any credits with what we were doing.” A mischievous glint lit her eyes.

  “True. Well, I guess we should be good little competitors and go earn credit.” He pulled his I.D card up. The top row now had two gleaming lights. The lower columns signifying his earned credits over the summer were uneven. Since his talk with Master Emilio, with his mixed Aura shining through, he had quickly picked up a few necessary credits, leaving only ‘Condor Culture’ below the required threshold. Both ‘Cloud-Bio’, and ‘Trade Skills’ were maxed out.

  They wandered over to one of the giant maps of the C.V.

  “What do you still need?” Cadin asked.

  “Hmmm, I need Bio and Culture. You?”

  “I still need Culture. Want to knock that one out together?”

  Sun adjusted her bow. “Well we do make a good team. Let’s do it.”

  “Speaking of our team, what do you want to tell Lep and Bart—if anything—about where we were?” Cadin asked.

  “Why don’t we act naturally around each other, and if they ask, we tell them the truth?”

  “Okay. How long do you think it will be before they mention something?”

  “I suppose it depends on how long it takes for you to kiss me in public again.” Sun batted her eyelashes.

  “I…well…”

  Lep clapped Cadin on the shoulder. Gur hissed. “Where have you two been?” He turned his head and yelled, “Bart, found ‘em!”

  “Just a minute,” Bart’s muffled voice came back.

  Lep turned back. “Hey, Sun, I’m sorry about being a jerk earlier…”

  “No, it’s fine, we got everything worked out.” Sun glanced at Cadin and then quickly turned away.

  Cadin felt the heat rise up his neck.

  “Wait,” Lep said, looking back and forth between the two of them. “You mean you worked it out?” He drew out the last words. Since neither of them said anything, Lep continued. “So, the two of you finally…”

  “Lep!” Sun said. “Mouth closed, remember?”

  Lep held his hand to his chest. “Hey, I never said a word.”

  “You two talked about this before?” Cadin asked.

  “I may have mentioned something to Lep last year when I was feeling a little down,” Sun said quietly.

  Cadin turned to Lep. “And you didn’t tell me?”

  “Hey, man, I keep secrets. Just like I’ve kept a few of yours.” Lep raised his scarred eyebrow. “Should I keep talking?”

  “I think we’re good,” Cadin said quickly.

  Bart burst through the crowd holding up a small Glade flag and box with cloud-chess pieces etched across the front. “Gift for my mom,” he said, holding up the box. “So, what have you two been up to?”

  Lep smiled and turned towards them.

  Bart furrowed his brows. “What? What’d I miss?”

  Sun opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Cadin took a step closer to her when she nodded. He grabbed her hand and turned to Bart. “I took Sun on a date.”

  Bart nodded at them. “And how’d that go?”

  “Uh, good. You don’t seem surprised.”

  Bart shrugged. “I am surprised it hasn’t happened sooner. Just don’t let it affect your game and we’re fine. Right?” He nudged Lep.

  “Yeah, sounds about right,” Lep said. He pulled out his dagger and started flipping it.

  Bart’s eyes widened. “Hey you can go on a double date with me and Cora!”

  Before Cadin or Sun could respond, Lep dropped his dagger. “Oh, man! I wish Valentine were here. What am I supposed to do?”

  “You can come along too,” Bart said.

  Lep cringed. “What…and be the third…no the fifth wing? What creature has five wings? None! Because that’s just stupid and—unnecessary.”

  “Lep,” Cadin said. “We are all way ahead of ourselves here. We still have the Games to compete in as a team. Don’t worry about it, okay?”

  “Yeah, okay. I am happy for you two. Just don’t mess it up.” Lep picked up the dagger and cleaned it off on his shirt before re-sheathing it.

  They had a productive day at the Competitors’ Village, with all four of them meeting their minimum credit requirements. Cadin made sure his credits were well-rounded in terms of subject matters.

  “Lep, what do you want to be when you grow up?” Cadin asked. They were both helping in the kitchen for dinner.

  Lep set down the pan of hot rolls. “I want to be a Warrior of the Core, you know that.”

  Cadin wiped off the counters. “Yeah, but after that?”

  “What do you mean?”

  Cadin took a deep breath. “The Warrior Path is exciting, but talking to my dad the other day got me thinking. What comes after?” Cadin shook his head. “I don’t know, I guess I feel like the future is close, and I am confused about what the best version of me to strive for is, you know?”

  “No. Sorry, you totally lost me.”

  “Well, I want to help out the Core—the Calvarian System, and I had thought the best way to do that was to become this bad-ass warrior…”

  “Heck, yeah!” Lep exclaimed, nearly dropping the bowl of beans.

  “Careful, boy,” Alberta said before returning to grilling the meat.

  Cadin grabbed the bowl from Lep and set it next to the rolls. “Well, it’s just that lately I have been searching for other possible futures that may suit me even better.”

  “But you’re a great warrior, Cadin.”

  “And so are you. I don’t know, just forget I said anything, okay?”

  Lep nodded. “Yeah, sure. But if you do figure something else out and want to talk about it, I’m here for ya.”

  “Thanks, man. Now let’s get people fed.”

  A young man in a red vest burst through the door. “Oh, good, you haven’t served your meal yet!” He stopped to catch his breath. “You don’t get to eat that here.”

  “What?” Alberta said. Her right eye twitched, and she looked ready to pounce on the messenger. “What is the meaning of this?”

  He raised his hands and stepped back. “No, I mean your food is to be combined with all of the rest to make an impromptu feast!”

  The cook stepped forward until she was nose to nose with the red-vested man. “For whom?”

  “It’s, um, it’s,” the man sputtered. “Master San—Master Sanjen of the Core.” He exhaled as Alberta took a step back and nodded.

  “It is to be in the Grand Hall I presume?”

  “Yeah, I mean yes, that is correct.”

  Alberta gestured to Cadin and Lep with a large wooden spoon. “Boys, wrap everything up!”

  “Lester?”

  The man in the vest nodded.

  “Go tell the others what is happening, and ask for some help carrying this food over.”

  “Yes, ma’am!”

  Alberta threw several more pieces of meat and mushrooms onto the grill while they did their best to pack everything up.

  “I’m here to help,” Sara announced a
s she ducked in through the kitchen door.

  “Great!” Cadin said. “Mom, can you grab the stuff we have already wrapped up and get someone to bring it down to the Grand Hall?”

  “Here, Cadin, why don’t I coordinate this while you grab your team and head over? You can bring over whatever is ready,” she said, as she ushered them out of the doorway. “I mean, who doesn’t like a hurried feast, right?”

  Cadin and Lep ran into Bart, Cora, Sun and Gur waiting outside of the kitchen who all grabbed food from the pile before starting down the path.

  “Why the short notice you think?” Lep asked.

  “I think Master Sanjen is busier than normal with—you know.” Cadin stumbled over his words with Cora present.

  “It’s not like I don’t know about the Tlalocs causing havoc,” Cora said.

  “Bart, you were not supposed to say anything,” Lep said, aiming a kick at his shins. “Remember how the Core made us sign all that confidentiality stuff after the Thunder Channel?”

  Bart laughed while avoiding the kick. “First of all, you numb-skull, you just told Cora way more about the confidentiality stuff than I ever have!”

  “And secondly,” Cora added, “the Core can’t hush everything that goes on. I think it is more common knowledge than you all think and the Core will admit to. We’re not that oblivious.”

  “Oh,” was all Cadin could think to say. “Well in that case, yes, I think the Core is rather busier with the Tlalocs than they’d like to be.”

  They approached the Grand Hall swiftly. Red vested angels relieved them of their food and ushered them inside.

  “Sit wherever you can find space,” one said.

  Sun leaned over and whispered to him. “I don’t think the Condor hosts like to be unprepared for big guests.” She laughed as ushers pushed each other out of the way while trying to place red flower center pieces onto each table.

  They found an empty table at the front of the room.

  “Two minutes!” One of the red vested angels shout-whispered to the others on the stage.

  “This feels so contrived,” Bart noted. “Ouch!”