Cloud Lands Saga Box Set Books 1-3

by Katie Pottle

  “Nope, sorry.”

  Sun shook her head. “I don’t understand. What does it mean?”

  Cadin hesitated. “I’m not sure. With Mira, it could mean any number of things; however, I think maybe it means I should be better at wielding lightning.”

  “Oh,” Sun said softly. “When did she send it? I mean you just got struck by lightning.”

  Cadin shook his head. “She knew when I met her that I was a storm angel, yet still struggled with lightning. My dad probably mentioned that I would be competing here this summer. Either way, she is right. I should have controlled that bolt better.”

  “Hell yeah,” Lep said. “If you hadn’t struck yourself with that last one—we might have taken the whole tournament!”

  “Dude,” Bart said, hitting Lep with a pillow.

  “What?” Lep said.

  “Just get back to packing—and learn a little sensitivity.”

  “Hey, I owe him one after he scarred my eye for life!” Lep smiled as he made his eyebrow dance.

  “No worries, Lep.” Cadin threw a pillow at him and set his bag and daypack on the bed. “All done. Anyone need help?”

  “Gurrrr,” his dragon said from his little plant nest in the window.

  “Oh, I’m sorry, buddy, but that has to stay here, it’s not ours.”

  “Hiissss, gurrrr.” Gur circled around and laid back down in the base of the succulent.

  “I got you something at the C.V.,” Sun said softly from behind him.

  Cadin turned around to find Sun holding a small hanging plant, like the one his dragon had fallen in love with.

  “I have an idea,” she said, approaching Gur, who was trying to sink deeper into the soil. She grabbed the plant, dragon and all, and replaced it with the new one. “I don’t think they’ll mind if we swap, will they, Gur?”

  The dragon rumbled with what Cadin swore was a smile on his scaly face.

  “You’re amazing!” he said to Sun and rushed in to steal a kiss.

  “I…uh…,” she faltered, blushing bright red.

  “Hey, no PDA,” Lep complained from his corner.

  “We’re not exactly in public,” Cadin argued.

  A light tap on the door stopped their bickering. Instructor Kade stuck his head in. “Everything is ready for our departure. I got things set with the Game’s committee, though they are not happy that we are not staying for the final celebration.”

  “How’d things go with Master Sanjen?” Cadin asked.

  Instructor Kade walked in and closed the door behind him. “Good. I explained to him where we are going and why. He sent word ahead to some soldiers stationed on Air to meet us on Ansford and help in any way we need. I was a little shocked by the offer, since the Core doesn’t have a lot of warriors to spare in that area at the moment. But I will take what we can get.”

  Instructor Kade rubbed the back of his head. “Master Sanjen also gave me these for you. He meant to present them on stage after the Final Round, but we left too quickly.” He looked on the inside of the red folders he held and handed them out to each of them.

  The folder was heavier than Cadin had imagined it would be. He opened it and found two pieces of paper and a large silver medal on a red lanyard. The medal was embossed on the front with a warrior wielding a sword. As Gur focused on the medal, Cadin pulled out the papers. One was a fancy piece of parchment with a Core seal on the bottom.

  Instructor Kade pointed to the papers. “Included is a summary of your credits and achievements over the summer, and the conversion to school credit and badges. The second parchment is an awarded scholarship to the Academy. It is not the fast-track, but it includes automatic acceptance upon Commons High School graduation, and full tuition and board.”

  “Yes!” Lep said beside him.

  “I’m very proud of all of you. You earned this,” Instructor Kade said as he patted Cadin on the shoulder. Gur let go of the medal to run up Cadin’s arm and nibble on Instructor Kade’s fingers. “Grab your things and let’s get going.”

  The color drained from Sun’s face. “Oh my gosh, I haven’t said anything to my mom! She will think I just ditched her!”

  Instructor Kade shook his head. “Actually, Grace and Francisco just arrived and are waiting for you in the courtyard. I sent word to them right after we left the Arena.”

  “Oh, thank you!” Sun said, rushing out the door behind Instructor Kade.

  Cadin went over to help Bart fit all of the arunium figurines into the small bag. A tear played at the edge of Bart’s eye.

  “Everything okay?” Cadin asked as they picked up their bags.

  Bart nodded as he glanced up to Cadin. “Absolutely. A full scholarship is huge for my family. Our budget is limited, and the Academy was out of my reach. They have an amazing engineering program.”

  “Whoa, you won’t stay on Warrior Path?” Lep cut in.

  “Honestly, probably not now. Engineering has been my dream forever.”

  “I think that’s great,” Cadin said as they rustled their gear out of the room.

  “…and you are actually coming with us?” Sun was saying to her mom.

  “Of course,” Francisco nodded.

  “We will be there for you, Sunyar,” Grace said gently. Behind them sat a mound of luggage strapped to a couple of hovering carts wielded by angels wearing the Embassy Hotel jackets. Grace kissed Sun on both cheeks. “We will go start loading our airship and meet you at the docks.”

  They soared over the spectacular Condor cloud-scape one last time before landing with a huff at the civilian docks. Cadin shook out his arms and wings as he set everything down near the group airship that Ari was rustling around on.

  “Good to go!” he shouted to them above the hum of the airships. He hoped down and hugged Sun before approaching Instructor Kade. “I have the Daisy airship ready, plus the q-wing that I rode over on—and I just cleared the Zeph-Class airship for Grace and Francisco.” He craned his head over the group. “How many do we have traveling total?”

  “Fifteen,” Instructor Kade said.

  “Sixteen!” Cora shouted as she landed with a huff in front of Bart.

  “I told you it may be dangerous,” Bart said, closing his hands over Cora’s.

  “Please let me go with you. I already told my team. And if it is dangerous then all the better that we have more warriors to help, right?” Her auburn hair caught the sunlight, as Bart hugged her and spun her around.

  “Sixteen,” Instructor Kade amended.

  “That is fine, we will have space,” Ari said. “Though we could fit five more if they didn’t travel with so much bloody baggage.” He looked over at Grace and Francisco’s high-class airship that was still being loaded up with cases, bags and boxes.

  “Excuse me,” a gravelly voice said. Behind them stood Kevin, wearing a large backpack and holding a hand-carved walking stick.

  Instructor Kade jumped off the airship that was now fully packed with gear. Cadin sat near the front of the Daisy airship, holding hands with Sun, and watching with interest as the former Tlaloc turned weaver stepped forward.

  “I would like to join you,” Kevin said, eyebrows furrowed and determined.

  “Why?” Instructor Kade asked.

  Kevin fiddled with his walking stick before lifting his gaze to meet Instructor Kade’s. “There is plenty I’ve done wrong in this life. I have been looking to atone for that for some time now. I can—I want to help guide you.”

  Instructor Kade looked back over to the airships, concern etching his face. When his eyes met Cadin’s, Cadin nodded once, figuratively putting his two aros on the table. “You can join us,” Instructor Kade said before leaning in and whispering something additional. From Kevin’s wide-eyed reaction, Cadin didn’t have to guess what was said.

  “I understand,” Kevin said.

  “Good. Then we have space for you on the Daisy airship. Bart and Cora, you have been moved to the q-wing with Ari.”

  Instructor Kade gathered everyone t
ogether and waited for the dock workers to clear out before he addressed the rag-tag group of Gladers, parents, warriors, fringelanders, ambassador, and weaver. “We have a straight shot to Ansford. It will take hours to get there, but be on the lookout for anything unusual before-hand. Keep your weapons close. We have three airships with Daisy in the lead. We have auto-linked so we should stay together even if we travel through a cloud or two.” Instructor Kade straightened his back. “Be vigilant and stay safe!”

  Cadin’s ring pulsed as they departed Condor.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  To Ansford

  His gins circled each other as Cadin focused to make each one change into a different shape. The drills helped calm his nerves as they soared through the clouds towards an unknown danger. For all he knew, Master Emilio could just be fuming mad at another dead-end lead and sitting in one of his own cloud-shifted chairs in the Ansford Grand Hotel restaurant with Eric. Deep down though, Cadin knew that wasn’t the case. His heart swelled as he glanced around at the angels who had come with him in a moment’s notice to help.

  “There it is again,” Cadin said, leaning over the side of the airship, trying to identify the white blur that had zipped past his peripheral vision several times during their flight.

  Sun lifted her bow and Instructor Kade stepped up next to Cadin.

  “Nothing is picking up on the sensors,” Instructor Kade said.

  “Could be a wrath,” Kevin said. “The smaller ones can elude airship sensors.”

  “Wrong color,” Cadin said. “It was much lighter than a wrath.”

  “Angel wings,” Instructor Kade muttered before returning to the pilot column.

  Cadin had his doubts that it was an angel, but he didn’t say anything as Instructor Kade chatted into the communicator with the other airships. Apparently, Sara had also seen something.

  “Keep a look out,” Instructor Kade finished. “We are not far now.”

  As they got closer to Ansford, Cadin’s ring pulse increased in pressure, but not pain—almost as if Master Emilio was trying to communicate.

  “Ver left!” Cadin shouted.

  “What, but Ansford is dead ahead,” Instructor Kade said, motioning his hand through the dense cloud they were flying through.

  “But Master Emilio isn’t! He knows I’m here, and he is using the ring to…”

  The airship jerked as they exited the cloud and Ansford came into view. Something ahead on the cloud-land had exploded, and angels were littering the air around it.

  “Oh, no,” Sun said.

  “Land the airships a safe distance from the disturbance!” Instructor Kade yelled into the communicator.

  Ari’s voice rasped on the other end. “There is a small fringecloud up ahead. I think it would be safest to anchor there and wing-fly over to Ansford.”

  “Lead the way,” Instructor Kade said.

  “This has the feel of Tlalocs,” Kevin said quietly next to Cadin, his eyes darting back and forth across the dark smoke mingling with the whites of the surrounding clouds. “They are here.”

  “Instructor Kade, what about Master Emilio?” Cadin said.

  Instructor Kade nodded. “Let’s find out what is going on down there first. It may lead us directly to him. Kevin is right, that situation doesn’t look like an accident.”

  “No, it looks like a distraction!” Cadin said. “I don’t think we should go down there.”

  Instructor Kade turned to him, his light eyes large and worried. “I don’t know what to do,” he confessed. “I have the strong urge to go and help them.” A distant cry reached them from the edge of the chaos.

  “And the Tlalocs know that,” Kevin said simply. “That is why they would do it. My guess is they are doing something at the other end of Ansford.”

  “Yes, over there!” Cadin said, pointing to the left. “Master Emilio’s energy is over there.”

  “Eh!” Instructor Kade ran his hand quickly through his short hair. “Okay.” He lifted his communicator. “Ari, stop. We won’t anchor. Cadin and Kevin say we need to travel to the other side of Ansford and I agree with them.”

  Another small explosion erupted on the edge of the cloud-land.

  “Are you sure?” it was Tal’s voice that rattled back this time.

  Instructor Kade gritted his teeth. “Yes, Daisy airship will take the lead. Follow us.”

  They flew to the left of the blue cloud-land sprawled out below them. Wispy cirrus clouds swirled around the sky above the wild end of the Ansford cloud-land—shrouding the surface. Cadin’s ring brought them to the edge of the cloud-land and then back towards the center of the town where the Grand Hotel towered over the trees.

  “Is he here?” Instructor Kade asked Cadin, circling slowly. It was eerily quiet compared to the chaos a short distance away.

  Cadin closed his eyes and concentrated on the ring. “Yes—and no. Eh, this thing is so confusing. The best I can say is that he is close.”

  “Then we should land and search. Agreed?”

  Kevin nodded.

  “Yes,” Cadin and Sun said at the same time.

  Ari worked to anchor all the airships with the help of Kevin while everyone else unloaded.

  The second Cadin’s feet touched the cloud-land he knew something was wrong. “Whoa!” He said as he caught Sun when she stumbled.

  “Sorry, I don’t know what happened.”

  “One second,” Cadin said as he reached down and fully connected to Ansford. He had hoped to gain a location of Master Emilio—but only felt him distantly through the cloud. What he did feel made his gut wrench. He started sweating and pulled away to break the connection before he threw up. He glanced up at the worried faces—faces of his family and greatest friends. “The Tlalocs are here and…and they are killing the cloud-land,” he choked out.

  “What? No!” Instructor Kade exclaimed. “The Tlalocs big plan is on Glade—the Core is there to stop them.” Instructor Kade snapped his head around to Cadin and grabbed his shoulders. “What do you mean ‘killing the cloud-land’?”

  “I don’t know how else to describe it. It is as if it is being eaten away from the inside.”

  An ear-splitting rip cracked through the air while the cloud-land shuttered beneath them. Along the horizon, the Grand Hotel started to lean.

  “It’s going to fall!” Sara cried, taking off towards the hotel.

  Everyone rushed to follow, though Sara got there first. Cadin arrived a minute after his mom to find her banding together with the locals who were trying to rescue angels fleeing the building.

  “Help mom,” Cadin said to Gur, who zipped through the chaos.

  Cadin looked up to see a woman banging the inside of a window.

  “Bart, help me,” Cadin called as he angled toward the window. The building leaned so heavily that debris and items from rooms above were raining down on him. He reached the window and motioned for the wide-eyed woman to scoot back. She complied as Bart landed next to him, holding up the blunt end of the spear.

  “Together,” Bart said, angling the metal fist towards the base of the window.

  Cadin grabbed on.

  “One, two, three!” They bashed the bottom of the window but caused nothing more than a few cracks.

  “Again,” Bart said, pumping his wings to stay aloft as the building tilted too much to hang onto. They smashed the window again, this time the glass shattered and rained down onto the ground below them.

  Bart took the spear and cleared away as much of the glass as possible.

  “Hurry,” Cadin called.

  The woman looked petrified but moved forward swiftly, landing in Cadin’s arms as she jumped down. Glass shards grazed his face and dug into his shoulder.

  “Can you fly?” Cadin asked.

  “Yes, I’m fine. Thank you!”

  She sped away and Cadin spun to find Bart and Sun trying to break another window.

  The ground groaned and hissed as a gaping cavern split through the land. Cadin gasped as
he saw clear sky below. The building shuttered and began falling apart in large chunks.

  “Sun!” Cadin yelled, avoiding a crumbling gargoyle that crashed into the side of the building before spinning off and through the split in the cloud-land below.

  “Almost got it!” Bart said. He thrusted his spear one last time. The window shattered, and two angels and a large dresser crashed into Bart and Sun, sending them falling.

  Cadin fumbled through the air as the Grand Hotel came crashing down around them, trying desperately to reach Bart and Sun.

  Bart flipped and starting flying again, trying to catch the angel closest to him.

  Cadin breathed as he watched Sun’s bright yellow Aura pulse as she pumped her wings with her arms wrapped around an unconscious angel. Cadin rushed forward to help.

  A war cry echoed and Cadin watched in horror as a crazed angel with a purple-speckled Aura launched a spinning bolo at Sun. The weapon smashed into her shoulder and head, whirling to wrap firmly around her wings. Her body went limp as she dropped the angel in her arms and began to fall.

  “No!” Cadin cried as he unsheathed Tsuyo and sped towards Sun through the gaping cavern split across the cloud-land.

  Rain pelted his face as Cadin sent two gins out in front of him to slice Sun’s binding. Blood rolled along Sun’s arm as the gin sliced the string of the bolo and gashed her skin; however, her body remained limp as she fell towards Earth.

  The barrier to the Earth Realm pulsed nearby. Intuitively, every angel knew to keep clear of the barrier. Falling to Earth was dangerous. Even if an angel survived, if you passed through the barrier between Realms, you could never find your way back without traveling through the Bridgestone.

  Cadin cringed in pain as a falling tree smashed into his wing—sending him spinning uncontrollably. The barrier pulsed below him as bits of cloud-land passed through. Cadin saw Sun’s face, eyes now open just as the gentle light of the barrier flashed as she fell through.

  Cadin flapped, again trying to right himself, wings throbbing. The barrier pulsed in front of him as he landed on something hard and white.