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“You have a big wave right there. You are getting better at this thing, Zuma.” Lolli yelled as she worked a big ball of bubbles with her hands.
“Ummh! This is so much fun. Why aren't you trying, Onira?” Zuma dropped her hands letting the energy she was channeling dip. The huge mass of waves she had created caused a big splash of water and Lolli pouted. “Oops sorry,” she shrugged. “You are never going to get it if you don't try, Nira!” Zuma fondly looked back at Onira before diving deep into the water.
Onira merely shook her head as she propelled herself to the edge of the water. She watched in awe as Zuma’s streamlined body moved to the bottom of the water with so much ease. It was as though she spoke to the water and it obeyed. Barely floating in the enormous river, Onira felt alone watching her mates have fun. She tried to immerse herself but one look at her thick clawed feet shimmering beneath the water, she hesitated.
Onira didn't just feel different from the rest of her kind, she could also see the strange changes in her body. However, when Onira turned seventeen, she was told that her parents died in a fire and she was adopted. It still didn't explain why her body was getting thicker and not streamlined like the other teenagers her age. She was developing gills on her back like others but it didn't quite look like it. She often wondered if her biological parents didn't have webbed feet like hers too. She wished she had met them even once. She had so many unanswered questions. Many things were happening to her body at once and she was too shy and afraid to talk to anyone about them.
“It is almost sunset, Nira. Mum and Dad must be waiting.” Zuma emerged from the water like a goddess. Her drenched silky long black hair accentuated her slim waist.
Onira had great admiration for her sister. All she wanted was to be even half like her but she knew deep down that she had nothing of the water inside of her.
“Perhaps we could wait for sundown?” she pleaded. Onira had recently learned that her skin glistened a silver hue in the sunlight, hence giving her a strong metallic appearance. The first time it happened, she was alone at the mountain where she always visited to find solace. Onira had never seen that happen to anyone before, so she kept it a secret.
“Ten minutes, Nira.” Zuma could never say no to Onira’s puppy eyes. She had fallen in love with her the first day her parents brought her home as a baby.
Moments later, the sisters walked back to the royal chambers, occasionally glancing at the thousands of soldiers who trained tirelessly day and night. Onira loved to watch them but she often wondered what they trained so hard for. The water-dwellers were the only ones there and they followed their leader’s rule. They had massive watch towers and the training ground looked like a terrain that had been pummeled with battles from a long time ago.
That evening after dinner, Onira was about to sneak out through the back gates to her favorite getaway when she overheard her mother's low tone from the garden.
“Have you looked at Onira lately? She is starting to look nothing like us.” Zira came to stand beside her husband. Onira always thought that Zuma was the younger version of their mother - soft-spoken, thin-framed, and with round yellow eyes.
Archie looked to the sky like he saw something. He rubbed his temple and thick narrow chest with his webbed arms. “But of course. She is adopted.”
“No Archie. She looks nothing like a water-dweller. Even the sea rejects her. She can barely keep her head above water. The water protects and guides its own. It is tough yet gentle.” Zira was getting agitated. “Archie, I fear the worst. Could the rumors be true?”
Archie rose from his position and stared hard into his wife's eyes. “What happened decades ago was a clean sweep. Still, our soldiers are ever-ready. The world is ours now. Remember, a farmer from our borders brought her here because he said her mother had died and he couldn't take care of her. I am Chief of the Water-dwellers and I would know if at all.” Archie’s voice had never been firmer to Zira’s hearing. “Stop worrying about her. She will be fine. She just needs some time with the water.” Archie’s expression softened.
Onira climbed up the smoky towering mountain while pondering about the things she had heard her parents say. She looked over her back just as she settled on a rock beside the mountain edge. Onira had been living with the feeling of being watched for a while and it was quite unsettling.
The chill in the air slowly crept down her spine. Suddenly, the eerie silence was interrupted by a crackling sound and Onira jumped. Just then, a cloaked figure emerged from the haze that clouded the mountaintop.
Onira was about to make a run for it when the cloaked figure revealed himself. He was bald with pale brown skin and eyes. “Finally, Onira!” he said in a low growl as he approached her. With a sly grin, he let out his hand.
Onira staggered backward. “What are you and how do you know my name?” she barked.
“I am a man I know you've never seen my kind before. My name is Aros and it is time you learned the truth. Your name precedes you, Onira. You are the key and the code to the next civilization.”
“What are you saying to me?” Onira was now standing at the edge of the mountain.
“Onira, the answers you seek are within you. You are no water-dweller and you feel it inside you. I have been watching you. These are not your people. They are the enemy. Once they find out who you truly are, they will destroy you. Come with me, Onira. We are forming an allegiance. A great war is soon to come and you are at the center of it all”.
“Stop it. I don't even know what I am,” Onira cried.
“You are Onira of the Sky-born. Listen to every word I will say to you now. A very long time ago. Many beings roamed this earth but your kind was the greatest of all - an ancient species with metallic shimmering skin, powerful wings, and an advanced system of technology. One day, the water-dwellers decided to take control of the earth. They secretly joined forces with powers beyond this world and destroyed all other kinds. They wanted it all and they took it.” Aros spread his arms wide.
“But not for very long now. Your kind and mine are the last survivors of the massacre. Some left this earth while others remained believing that the prophecy that is you, will come to pass. There were rumors that the night your enclave was attacked, a water soldier took pity and spared you. He then gave you to a farmer who in turn sold you to the water chief. That was the last of your story. Your parents were the leaders of your enclave. They kept all of the sky-born secret codes and powerful energy safe and latent within you before they passed.”
“How can I believe all of this?” Onira took another step back.
“Easy now!” Aros drew closer to her.
Onira looked down and they were feet above the ground. Before she could turn back, Aros tapped her shoulder and she leaped. As she plummeted, a searing pain shot her in the back where her gills should have been. She felt the air fill up her insides. Onira had never felt that much in control of her body before. It was as though she was propelling the air inside of her. She was now floating and a surge of energy rushed all over her. She landed back on the mountain and charged at Aros. “What did you do to me?”
“Nothing, Onira. You are unlocking the sky-born within you. There is more where that came from.” Aros held Onira's shoulders. “They lied to you. They killed your parents and made you an orphan. Soon, they will destroy you too. It is only a matter of time, Onira.”
Aros’ words surged through Onira like fire. Another searing pain shot her in the back and this time massive metallic wings tore through her skin. As the wings unfurled, a strong deafening mechanical sound engulfed the air shooting Onira up to the sky. As she soared, cutting through the sky like blades, her wings let out hues like never seen before. Trembling, Onira lowered herself to the mountaintop.
“Now they know a Sky-born lives. They will come for you, Onira. Join us. War is coming,” Aros hastened.
Onira pondered for a couple of seconds. She nodded and held her head high while flapping her new wing with rage in her eyes.