Chapter One: The Watchtower
It was a bleak winter. The snow fell profusely on the frozen ground as the wind was groaning throughout the forest, weaving between the tree branches. The overcast sky told the mood of the day in January, and the mood of the two Icewings, beautiful blue humanoid birds. They were brothers who had survived the worst of the century - the worst of the history, rather - and were travelling, needing to know more.
The two Icewings were both injured, but they had fought the battle that had to be fought. Their bravery exceeded all others in the army of the broken nation, and it was encouraged by their other dearest brother Akphoro. Yet they did not know where he was, or if he was even alive; they themselves had a hard time believing they were alive.
As the day drew on they kept traveling, a glimmer of hope still in the eyes of the younger brother. This was Sephoro, the most cunning of all Icewings. He, however, was incredibly injured, and could barely walk. Enscoph, the oldest of the three siblings, had always been there to help, and now he helped Sephoro take the most important steps in the entire history of the world of Ferndath.
Finally they rested at a stump in the unknown depths of the forest. The taiga trees gave them no cover from the unrelenting ice which pummeled down from the gray sky, nor did it ease the wind. But they were glad to be resting.
Sephoro laid back on the tree stump as Enscoph undid the bandage that was on Sephoro's leg. The blue and white feathers around it were covered in dry blood, and the wound which cut deep was still bleeding a bit. Seeing it he said, "This must be infected. We need to find the old Watchtower if you are going to live."
Sephoro answered painfully, "Trust me. We will survive this."
Even though his younger brother tried to convince him of safety for Icewings, Enscoph still seemed to be ever-turning to despair. "I - I'm sorry, Sephoro. Even if we do survive this, we are the only Icewings left. It would only be a matter of time before our entire race would come to an end. What would we do? Share our wisdom to more creatures? The last time we did that our kind was betrayed. They gave us nothing for what we gave their minds - nothing, Sephoro. We might as well stay here and die together."
Sephoro became angered at this. "Never give up hope! I sense something else out there... a kind creature, out beyond Ferndath, one that no Icewing had ever met before... a kind of human... deathless and wiser than we are... they are like the Orymnans themselves who created this world! They will help us."
"Stop that babbling. You are no seer and cannot predict what is out there. There is no such thing as that."
"Yes, there is. I sense it."
Enscoph said to himself, "I knew it. Sephoro's dying... he's losing his wits..." but he was wrong.
Sephoro turned his gaze southward. He heard something familiar to him in the thick underbrush. But Enscoph seemed to hear something else. The warrior deep in his soul and heart awakened again, and picking up a long stick from off the ground he called out, "any human who dares come against I, Captain Enscoph, shall taste my wrath and the sweetness of death!"
And out from the underbrush came hope.
Sephoro sat up in an instant. He could not believe the things he was seeing. "Chaliphis?" He asked himself aloud as if it were a dream.
Chaliphis ran to him and the two hugged. Enscoph threw the stick towards the forest in embarrassment. Sephoro and Chaliphis began to cry as they embraced each other. Chaliphis said through tears, "My husband, I never thought I would see you again! I thought you were doomed once you had taken your sword again with your soldiers and set off into Ferendu, that cursed kingdom."
"Enscoph thought nobody else was out there either... I kept hope in my heart and you in my mind," said Sephoro, wincing as he stood up with pain.
"Yeah, that's not true. I definitely didn't think Sephoro and I were the last Icewings and that our race was doomed to die. It's not true," said Enscoph, trying to act believable.
Chaliphis laughed, "you've never been that positive."