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Savior
Chapter 4: Descent

Ride's almost over. Ready to drop? I direct the question to my friend, who's flying just to my right. We've been flying on the kite creatures for what seems like hours. They've been a huge help; we've flown over canyons and plains that would've have taken days, if not weeks, to cross without them. We'd fly even farther, but the creatures are looking pretty tired, and they've done so much already that it just seems cruel to push them any further.

At the moment, we're passing through more ruins, and they're huge. Seriously, it's like a whole city here! Everywhere we look we can see remains of old spires and bridges all crisscrossing each other. Just up ahead there's some land that's relatively obstacle-free; if we can land there, we should be able to slide the rest of the way down on our own.

Of course I'm ready! Let's go! With that, the two of us pull into a quick dive, the wind battering our faces. I'm nervous, but I know we can pull this off.

But we have to time this just right......

JUMP!

The word explodes out of me, and the two of us leap as one from our steeds. A few seconds of hang time, and then we plummet the rest of the way to the ground. Legs spread in preparation for impact, I brace myself-

And it's a perfect landing. I strike the ground and my momentum carries me forward at amazing speed, sliding effortlessly across the sand like a snowboarder.

And what a rush! The wind at my back pushes me forward across the desert, ducking through arches and flying off bridges like they were makeshift ramps. I thought flying was amazing, but this...this just tops it all! I've never felt so alive!

Ah ha ha ha HAAAAAAAA! My friend shoots by, whooping at the top of his lungs. He launches off of a bridge, backflipping ecstatically through the air and landing expertly on his feet before rocketing forward even faster than before. I'm happy he's enjoying himself so much, and I laugh out loud.

Deep inside myself, I can feel determination building up. So what if we're just having fun? I am NOT losing to him! I lean close to the ground to reduce drag to increase my own speed, and soon the two of us are neck and neck. We rocket side-by-side into a narrow tunnel, neither of us willing to give. Like bullets in the barrel of a gun, the two of us propel ourselves forward, even as the sand ends and the stone floor meets it. In a burst of light, we explode out of the other end-

And we're falling. The bottom of my stomach drops out as I hang in the air for a split second, staring down at the sandy ground hundreds of feet below me, before gravity takes over and I plummet to earth like a stone. Admittedly, it doesn't hurt much when I land, but it still knocks the breath out of me.

I was not expecting that.

After laying there and catching my breath for a while, I lift my head and look around. I'm in what seems to be a massive courtyard of sorts. Mountainous walls tower around it, encapsulating it on all sides. I don't see a way out right now, but that can wait. I've got something else to worry about.

Hey, are you okay? I try to shout, but I still haven't fully caught my breath and it comes out as more of a whisper. I gather myself and call him once more. Are you okay? Where are you?

I'm fine! I hear my friend's voice from the other side of the courtyard. He rushes up to me, seemingly unwounded.

That was fun! He exclaims, still hyped up.

Barring the fall at the end, yeah. I agree. Now we just need to get out of here.

Already done. He replies, and then upon seeing my confused look, adds, Over there.

I turn the way he beckons and see what appears at first glance to be a haze of red, but upon closer inspection turns out to be a mass of small red cloth scraps. Interesting...

There were some more of those old ribbons, so while you were lying around I went and fixed them all. He explains. Then that cage opened up, and those little cloth pieces flew out. What do you think they do?

You've never seen them before? I ask, mildly surprised. He looks to me for further explanation, so I continue. When you sing, they light up and lift you really high into the air. I bet we can use them to get up there. I direct his gaze to an opening at the top of one of the walls. Shall we?

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This is... amazing.

The sand... it's alight. The light of the setting sun, at this angle, is igniting the sand beneath our feet, transforming it from a runway of sand into a glowing inferno. It's like surfing on a belt of light, and I've never seen anything so absolutely beautiful.

Overcome with emotion, I throw back my head and let out a bellowing cry. It echoes back at me from deep within the walls around me and I shout back at it, over and over again. I'm purely in awe of it all, and I wish it would never end. If I could just spend the rest of my life here, surfing forever on this endless road of light, I would never ask for another thing again, not even to reach the top of the mountain.

But like everything, it does end. The sand finally stops at the edge of a cliff, dropping into a deep, colossal hole. I go over without even realizing it's there, and soon I'm falling, farther and farther until I hit the bottom. I'm now in a dark, gigantic underground cavern, with a thick layer of sand covering the ground beneath my feet. I don't see my friend nearby, but I'm not worried about that; I know he wouldn't go ahead without me.

I don't even know how I feel. As stupid as it sounds, a part feels...sad, like I've lost a piece of myself I can never regain. So I just stand there for a while, not really thinking about anything or paying attention to anything, just feeling the emptiness aching inside me. I don't even notice my companion standing next to me until he speaks up.

Are you okay?

I'm a little surprised; I've never heard him sound this worried before. I look up, honestly a little out of it, and stare at him, gazing straight into his concerned eyes. Am I okay? Hell, I don't know. I want to say yes, but something about what just happened... well, it opened a void in me. I don't know how to explain it. I guess if I had to explain it, I'd say it's like trying something new that turns out to be really, really exciting or interesting; when you're doing it, you feel like there's nothing that can stop you, like you're invincible. It feels incredible. But once the experience is over, it all just leaves you. And you can go back and try it again and again but you know that no matter what you do you can never feel that way again. Am I just being an idiot? I can't help but wonder.

...I will be. I answer him at last. It's not the best answer, I know, but it's how I feel.

He looks at me for a while, then finally nods his head. Okay. Wanna keep going?

We might as well.

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The tall white specter stands before me once again. But there's something different about it this time. Before, it always looked so regal, like an angel, standing tall and looking down upon me with caring eyes. This time, it's bowing its head and staring at the ground like a sinner. I chirp once, softly, and it turns to look at me. Its eyes... I'm struck by its eyes. The kindness I've come to recognize in them is gone. Now there's just sadness. Deep, genuine sadness. It moves ponderously, as if shackled by a great weight, and sings again...

The heavenly red ribbon starts to fade away, and the lights of the gleaming utopia all extinguish, leaving only the empty buildings they used to power. The scene shifts, and I see two white-robed figures...but they're fighting. Fighting over a lone red ribbon that snaps in twain from their heated argument.

The scene shifts one last time, and the images I see frighten me more than anything I've ever seen.

War. Countless white-robed citizens, standing next to and alongside horrible things I can only believe are weapons. Weapons shaped like long, flying snakes that shoot lasers from each of their solitary eyes. All that's left is ruin...

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I come to, and my friend is watching me. I don't need to ask to know what he saw. I can see it in his eyes. Fear, sorrow, disbelief, and so many other things. I can only assume that he's seeing them in me, as well.

We move on. For once, we have nothing to say.