Masquerade of Madness: Descent

The realization hit Creed hard. They did not arrest all of the council members. Creed kept trying to escape the cylinder, as the young council member disappeared from his view.

The platform began to move, splitting open under Creed's feet. Everything was still for a couple of seconds. Then wind rushed up. All Creed could say was, "No, no!" as he started to fall.

He began to fall through the air quickly and had no time to pull out his wings. Creed thought he was going to die until he suddenly landed on a net. Creed heaved a sigh of relief. He looked down from the net, but all he could see were clouds. He wanted to go back up to Casalynn. He could tell he was right under it. He could see the gears and metal machinery that keep Casalynn afloat. He could also make out some of the workers who were busy cleaning and repairing everything. It was so much work, thought Creed, living in a metal city that gets rained on constantly. If any mishap occurred, the city would fall. That's why Casalynn had mechanics that work on it every day, round the clock. Of course, they take turns.

Creed knew he needed to get back up there to save his brother. He spread his wings to the full extent and started to fly upward, but one of the mechanics stopped him.

"I'm sorry, kid, a big storm is brewing. No one is allowed in or out of Casalynn until it's over. Safety issues, you know." The mechanics had no idea what had transpired on Casalynn. They had been busy doing their work, primarily out of touch with the rest of the city.

"But my brother . . ."

The mechanic questioned, "What about your brother?"

"They took him away," said Creed.

The mechanic laughed. "Yeah, I hear some pretty wild stories, but none about kidnapping. Here, Sprout, let me give you a hand if you're going down to that place." He shoved Creed downward harshly.

Creed again was falling through the air. This time he flapped his wings, but it seemed like he could only keep spiraling downward and out of control. He could feel the gravity pulling him head-first to the Humans.

He knew he had to fight. He needed to save his brother. He tried again and kept trying until it worked. Then he angled his body like an eagle diving down after prey. He used his wings to gain some control over how fast he went down. Creed wondered how he would survive.

Instinct took over. Creed spread his wings further, slowing down more. He lifted his head up a little, managing to flip his body upright. Then he spoke the words, "Aeris Arma." A sphere of air started to surround Creed. Once the circle had formed, Creed stopped in midair. He knew he had little time. Eventually, the gravity would pull him down. He hoped the shield would hold long enough for him to change positions. He also expected he would not fall through. Creed managed to change into a flying position, to fly straight across. The shield faded quickly, and the air and gravity hit his wings. Creed began to flap, confident in his control.

[Aeris Arma is a shield created by pulling in the air around the user, making the user able to stop. The issue with this ability is that it only lasts a few seconds.]

Trying to ignore the heavy pull of the gravity was futile. Creed slowly dropped his body downward – he needed to land. Finally, he saw an area directly beneath him. He switched his position again to the eagle form, gaining momentum. Then he pulled his wings back to land on his feet.

He landed with both wings still extended. His body began to tremble as he pulled in the wings. Blood found its way through his mouth as the immense pain of the Human's gravity started to wreak havoc on Creed's body. Some of his wounds from earlier began to open.

Once his wings were pulled in, he collapsed in a pile of rubble from what the Casalyians in his textbooks called gravity sickness. Since they live so high in the sky, the gravity has more effect when they land, making them react violently sometimes.