The Nian Chronicles
Chapter Two

Zabor glanced back at Alaene, wishing his friend wasn’t so staunch in her beliefs about the Lizia. She’d been scared of the Histories as a child, and he still saw that anxiety in her face and heard a quiver in her voice when she talked about their enemies. After learning her purpose was to fight them, Alaene had thrown herself into drills and duties as if she’d have to stand alone against an entire flock; if they even existed.

“Still believe her fantasies?” Nadia taunted, quivering her wings and smiling sweetly at him.

Zabor shrugged to hide his indecision. “Let Alaene have her fun,” he muttered.

Nadia laughed, sounding like a clear tinkling bell. “She’s the only one I know who considers drills as fun.”

Zabor blushed, annoyed at Nadia for making fun of his first and best friend but also afraid she wouldn’t be interested in him if he stood up to her. Alaene was beautiful but loyal to her cause; Nadia was young, alluring, and seemed to like him. Dancers couldn’t produce families because they were born sterile, but the interest was still there. Some Dancers bonded for life even though they’d be without nestlings.

“So, what fun would you like to have?” Nadia teased.

Zabor surveyed the field they flew over. The warrior part of him recognized the potential hazards of the unprotected sky above the meadow, but the stifled child and his burgeoning attraction to Nadia wanted to throw that part of his life away.

He’d never had a normal childhood. He’d been shaped and molded his entire life as a protector of the village. His lessons, drills, and training had honed him as a fighter. He didn’t know how to be anything else.

“What would you like to do?” he countered, feeling guilty for wanting to have fun even on his day off. Normally he’d be meditating in his barracks nest.

“I want to fly as high as the clouds,” she yelled, zooming over his head to the tree tops. He hurried after, watching for hawks and other flying predators; but not Lizia. Nadia said they didn’t exist, and he wanted to believe her. To make her happy. But hawks existed. He saw none and sighed in relief while Nadia spun and twirled and fluttered like a leaf on the wind.

“Why are you so agile on your own but you can’t fight?”

Nadia whipped around, her eyes glaring and her wings snapping in rhythm to hold her in place. “Maybe I just don’t want to!”

Zabor backed off, realizing he had breached a dangerous topic. “Alright, I get it. You think it’s stupid.”

Nadia laughed and swirled away again, leaving him to look for airborne predators. They could appear without notice. “Why are you so jumpy?” she demanded. “Relax! Have fun!”

Zabor joined her frolicking, but every so often he glanced at the surrounding skies when she wasn’t looking. “I guess this is pretty fun,” he admitted, drifting with open wings on an updraft, racing her even higher in the sky.

“You see? Isn’t this better than whacking other Dancers with a sword?”

Zabor touched his hip where his sword would have been if he were on duty. He felt naked with it gone, but Nadia had insisted he wouldn’t need it. He was off duty.

OFF DUTY.

Then why did he feel so guilty?

“Let others be responsible for the village’s safety for once,” she challenged, noticing his movements.

He was willing to do that if it meant he could spend time with Nadia.

Another twinge of guilt kicked him as he remembered Alaene’s sadness as he and Nadia had flown away from the meadow. He hated to see his best friend sad; but he could have two best friends, couldn’t he?

“Now what?” Nadia demanded.

Zabor jerked around. “I’m just amazed how small everything looks up here,” he mused, staring down at the forest they lived in.

The trees on the edge were thinner and provided less coverage than those in the center. He couldn’t see the main village, but the colony was clearly visible, as were the colonists busy building it. Bright wings fluttered among the trees, and even the commoners were visible in the direct sunlight. Visible and vulnerable.

“Small and insignificant,” Nadia dismissed, sniffing lightly. “No rules out here, no one bossing me, no one running my life.”

She’d been the first to abandon her duties. After an annual two week leave she had never returned. Talek had visited to encourage Nadia to resume her duties, but she had adamantly refused.

“I quit,” she muttered next to Zabor, echoing the words she had said to Talek. “I refuse to participate in this hoax. Do you see them?” she asked, pointing at several cliffs near a stream.

Zabor noticed the distant flurry of workers at the shelter caves, who were too far away to see distinctly what they were doing, but he had heard rumors. Cleaning out caves and storing food didn’t sound like fun to him. “I see.”

“Just because the weather changed a little! So what? It’s not that much different.”

Zabor felt the updraft ruffling his wings, a little dryer and hotter than last summer. The brassy sun was almost too warm on his wings, and he couldn’t remember the last rainfall. Had it been last fall or early this spring?

“It’s hot up here,” he murmured. “Let’s replace some others and play a game.”

Nadia smiled. “Come on,” she urged. “I think I see Ardena.”

Zabor noticed a flash of red and black wings below and raced after Nadia. He didn’t like to hear his new friend’s anti-Dancer propaganda. Maybe if he distracted her enough, she would let it go and let others live in peace.

They found Ardena then rounded up several others. Fast-flying Kalec, with turquoise and white wings, white hair and body, and blue eyes was always ready for a game. His lithe and quick cousin Saren had purple wings edged with emerald green, hair a little of both colors, purple skin, and green eyes. They were about two hundred years old and cousins, usually never far from one another. Two Dancers of the same generation in one family at the same time was rare. Maybe it was another omen.

Zabor shook off the intuition and tossed a blossom to Ardena. She stood out the most with red wings and black tips. Her hair was red, but her body and eyes were black. She was the youngest at one hundred fifty years old, but she was a fast flyer and agile like Saren.

They tossed the blossom back and forth, calling out names of animals as they had in childhood. Zabor relaxed, seeing how much fun life could be; but he also remembered an entire battalion of Dancers were drilling, and he’d have to go back tomorrow.

For the first time in his life he didn’t want to.

Nadia must have seen his sneaky glances towards the village, because she threw the blossom especially hard at him. “Wake up!”

He jerked back from her force and frowned at the others staring at him. “What?”

“How long will you keep going back?” Ardena demanded. “You can’t sit on the fence, Zabor. Either you’re with us or with them.”

Zabor blinked at his new circle of friends. Their arms were crossed, their wings buzzed like angry bees to keep hovering, and he pulled back. “I can be wherever I want,” he retorted. “I can have the best of both—”

“There is no best with them!” Nadia challenged. “Only with us can you be yourself! They cannot give you this kind of freedom! Be one with us!”

Zabor hesitated. “We should all be one.”

Nadia zipped over to him. “With them we are kept separate from the village and their lifestyles. We live a separate existence, one that has no purpose! There are no Lizia except in make believe stories told to naughty children.”

Zabor frowned. “Other predators aren’t make believe.”

“They don’t cause enough trouble to worry about,” Ardena rebuked. “When was the last animal attack?”

Zabor couldn’t think of any.

“Even Alaene is so safe she sleeps in the trees!” Saren taunted. “You saw her this morning! Soaked to the skin and totally useless to fight or fly. We have no danger here.”

Zabor wanted to defend Alaene but couldn’t, not with Nadia glaring at him as if to say, her or me? “I guess you’re right, Nadia. I like having fun. We don’t get any in the village.”

Nadia retreated a wingspan, her head raised. “From this day on, we get all the fun we want. Right?”

“Right!” everyone echoed.

Zabor half-heartedly threw the blossom at a silent Kalec. He didn’t think all fun and no work was a good balance for all work and no fun, but maybe Nadia would change her mind when she saw her colonists suffer from no work and no protection.

Alaene wasn’t sure how many Nia had dissented, although Talek has said a third of the Dancers. They built new homes at the edge of the forest because they didn’t feel ‘welcome’ in the village, so she decided to see this new section for herself. Even if she couldn’t convince all of them, she was determined not to lose touch with Zabor. He was her best friend. She couldn’t just give up on him.

Several sections were still under construction. As Alaene flitted through the edge of the forest, workers called to one another as they raised a nest or constructed one on the ground. She saw too many bright wings here and not enough at the practice grounds. Tears pricked her eyes as she noticed Dancers playing games and lounging in the sunshine. This wasn’t right. They had duties and practice they should be attending, but they were doing nothing!

She stopped near a few workers daubing a nest home with sticky mud. “Hello, I’m looking for Zabor. He's black and gold. Do you know where I might replace him?

They pointed towards the meadow. “Last saw him over there,” one replied before turning back to his work.

Alaene stared in that direction, but only when she shaded her eyes did she notice his gold and black wings drifting at the clover’s edge. Several others hovered with him in a circle, tossing a blossom from one to another. She had hoped to talk to him alone, but it seemed that wasn’t to be. Determinedly, she approached the game.

Nadia saw her first. “Well, well, look who’s here. Shouldn’t you be practicing?”

Alaene ignored her and faced Zabor. “Can I join this game?”

Zabor stared at her a moment then glanced at the others, his face pink. Alaene didn’t think it was from the exertion of the game. Was he embarrassed by her, now? Nadia rolled her eyes and shrugged.

“Sure, Alaene,” Zabor finally responded.

The other players didn’t look comfortable as she turned to them. She didn’t know Kalec, Saren, or Ardena personally, but she greeted them and picked a spot between Zabor and Saren. The game commenced, but the lighthearted banter she’d heard while approaching was gone. The cousins glanced often at each other, and Ardena arched her brows at Nadia. Alaene felt bad about their discomfort and cast about for something to say.

Before she could, Ardena asked, “So why are you here, Alaene?”

Alaene was so surprised she missed the blossom when Saren tossed it to her. Now it was her turn to blush. “I thought I’d come and see what was going on out here.”

Nadia snickered. “She’s probably spying for Talek.”

Alaene glared at her. “I am not spying! If Talek wanted, he could come and see for himself.”

Ardena rolled her eyes. “Talek is too busy training. Too think we all were gullible enough to believe we were doing something worthwhile.”

Remembering that one among them still believed, Saren fluttered his wings faster and looked away. Kalec snickered but hushed under Nadia’s glare. Zabor studied the group then smiled at Alaene. It almost looked sincere.

“I’m sure she didn’t mean anything against you personally.”

Alaene sighed. She may as well come right out with it. “I also came to listen to your point of view.”

Saren frowned at her. “About what?”

Alaene shrugged. “Anything. Why you came here. Why you don’t want to be a part of the community.”

Nadia whirled to her. “We are a part! We don’t have to fit into a class to be a part of the community!”

Alaene studied Nadia. Her wings snapped, her eyes sparkled, and her two-toned face added a third color, pink. Her jagged breath had the others shifting back. Nadia was obviously their spokesperson, and nobody wanted to go against her.

“Nadia, what don’t you like about being a Dancer?” Alaene challenged. “What can you do here that you can’t do at the barracks?”

Nadia launched herself into the air. “Anything I’m actually good at!”

Alaene gaped after Nadia. So that was it! Nadia had always been mediocre during practice and training. She wasn’t strong or fast or coordinated. If her rebellion stemmed from an inferiority complex, she could be very hard to reach. Nadia’s withdrawal had also drawn away other struggling Dancers; but these four were valuable warriors who had passed with excellent reviews.

Alaene turned to the others. “I now understand her point of view, but I don’t understand why the rest of you would leave. You’re all very good. We need you.”

They stared at each other, the ground, and the forgotten blossom. Alaene stepped towards her best friend. “Zabor?”

He glared at her. “I’m good enough. I just don’t see it happening. It could be a myth like Nadia says. Is it reason enough to waste my whole life on it?”

“Nobody is wasting their lives!” She turned to the others. “Even if it doesn’t happen this year, it will happen soon. The villagers are depending on us for safety.”

Kalec rolled her eyes. “Some of the villagers don’t even believe it. Why should I?”

Alaene shook her head. “There are plenty more who do. How can anyone not? Why would the Dancers have been organized if the Histories weren’t true?”

Saren picked up the blossom. “Some say the Dancers made up the Histories and the Lizia to look useful. I mean, face it. No one alive remembers it, not even Talek!”

“But his teacher--” Alaene started.

“Talek’s teacher only said he participated,” Kalec interrupted. “It can’t be proven, so we don’t know that for sure. And even if it did happen in the past, it hasn’t happened for this long, so I say it probably won’t happen again. Things have changed. The land is different now, which means we have no job; if we ever had one, anyway.”

Alaene gaped at him. “All Dancers have a job! We protect the community from predators. We train the new members. We--”

Ardena snapped her wings. “This community doesn’t have enough predators worth worrying about. And why do we train new members? To do the same things we don’t do.”

Alaene couldn’t believe her ears. “The community needs the Dancers,” she insisted.

Saren laughed. “I don’t feel needed. People smile and wave, but I stick out like this clover does against the grass. I could do other jobs in the village, but no one will let us.”

“No!” Alaene pleaded as Kalec and Saren both flew off. “Please listen to me!”

Ardena also launched herself into the air. “Face it, Alaene. We were born for nothing!”

Alaene turned to Zabor staring at her with sad eyes. “Are you going to leave us, too?” she whispered.

“Of course,” he said. “I have to replace where I belong.”

“You belong with the Dancers protecting your family!” Zabor closed his eyes, and Alaene touched his arm. “Please. You’re my best friend. I don’t want to lose you.”

Zabor snorted. “Is that what this is about? You’re jealous I have other friends?”

“How could you think I mean that?” Alaene argued. “I don’t care how many friends you have! Just don’t stop being my friend.”

“I never said I had!” he yelled at her. “Why would you think that?”

Alaene gaped at him. He had never yelled at her before. “I thought, since you were always out here, that you didn’t want to be around me anymore.”

Zabor’s eyes were hard and sullen. “I said I don’t want to be a Dancer anymore.”

“But we won’t have any time together,” Alaene sighed. “We’ve been friends forever, Zabor.”

Zabor sneered. “It sounds as if you are calling it quits on our friendship.”

“No!” Alaene pleaded as he launched himself away. “Don’t go! That’s not what I meant!”

Zabor looked back at her. “Prove it. Join us.”

Alaene felt her heart clench. “You know I can’t! The villagers--”

“Need you. I know. So; you won’t come with, and I’m not coming back. I guess this is goodbye.”

“Zabor!” Alaene wailed.

Tears blurred his shape as he flitted away. Pain ripped through Alaene’s chest, and she sobbed so hard she couldn’t stay in the air. How could he do this? They had been best friends since childhood. They had grown up next door to each other! And now he had turned his back on her and was gone.