Excerpt: Beyond What You See

Samuel closed his eyes as the air rushed past his face, letting the wind whistle through his ears and allowed his muscles to relax as his wings beat in a steady rhythm. Over and over, to the beat of his heart, completely free from the world for a time. He watched as the land rushed past him in a blur of color and focused for a fraction of a second on the scenery.
Down below him was a river, winding its way away from the town from home. Eventually it curved away to the west, ending in a lake of sorts. Forest surrounded it. Huge oak trees stretched out their limbs, trying to break free of the roots that tie them to the ground, lunging for him and stretching away.
A little further away was a mountain range, where the forest cut off and the plush green made a pitiful effort to stay alive on the sides of the great mounds of rock. They pierced the sky and looked to the naked eye like a set of fangs. Yet inside these mountains, dragons slept peacefully, slumbering on their golden treasures and biding their time for when the skies were safe again. And they almost were. The new kingdom about to make its stand, and the new rulers coming in to free them within the month.
Samuel thought about the pack on his back. The week’s worth of food and magic supplies, plus a few books that the old fortune teller would love. His assignment was to deliver the supplies to him and make sure that he didn’t need anything else. He had always wanted to learn more about the fortune teller. Rumors told that he was alive during the reign of the old king and queen, he himself a teenager when they were born. He could tell the whole story from the visions he received as a gift from the deceased king Aaron. He was eager to hear the stories from someone who saw it firsthand. Excitement built inside of him and he couldn’t contain the smile that burst forth from his lips. Today was going to be great.
As he descended at the base of the middle of the mountain range, he saw the old red oak door stand out from the side of the cliff. His residence was inside, and at any point when someone was lost and found this spring, they could enter and wait until the week’s end. That’s when the shipment would be brought to him and they could be taken home by the delivery boy.
The spring was rumored to have healing abilities, and was created by the tears of every type of being that had ever existed. It was a combined effort of all the species, and it was one of the few times in all of history when everyone had been in agreement. That’s how the old man had stayed alive for so long. Whenever he was sick or injured, he would heal himself in the water. It’s said to extend your life, but all of this was just a rumor, if just an enticing one and no one had any proof to say it was real.
He landed in front of the door and knocked on the aging wood. He waited for a few moments as he heard a shuffling behind the door before it was cracked open a bit. He heard a voice call him inside and he glanced around before entering and shutting the door behind him.