Wind Riders

Wind Riders chapter 1 "It begans!"

Chapter 1 “IT BEGANS!”

         My names Jay, my parents died in the wars. I was raised by an old junkman in a placed called Bomber Canyon, a plane graveyard. Created when a large bomber formation was downed by an ambush over the canyon in the wars. My room was the twisted carcass of a bomber called “Angles Bliss”. The old man, or as I called him “old timer” taught me everything I know. How to build and repair airplanes, to read, write, count, to paint (mainly nose art) and most importantly to fly and fight. Not necessarily in that order, as far as friends I had several if you count the skeletons of dead bomber crew members. My best friends were Sgt. Jones and Capt. Micole, the two skeletons in the boomer I lived in. Life in a bomber canyon was good, but nothing lasts forever.

          KA-POW KA-POW, on my 18th birthday I awoke to the sounds of gun fire. I ran as fast as my legs would carry me, but I was too late. When I reached the “Devils Delight” I found him dead, Old Timer, the man that raised me was lying in a pool of his own blood. Everything went red, I ran into the bomber that Old Timer used to live in and grabbed his gun and loaded it, then searched Bomber Canyon from one end to the other. But to no avail, those who were responsible were long gone.

         The sun was setting when I returned to the Angles Bliss after burying the man that raised me. “Hi Micole, Jones “I said as I walked in. I had taken the time when I was younger to put the two of them back together so I’d have some friends. "Old Timer always said I’d have to leave someday, I guess tomorrow I will." I said thoughtfully, then I looked Micole and Jones smiled and said “Don’t worry you two are coming too”.

         The next day I packed my things, my two friends and readied my plane to leave. I built my plane myself and was very proud of her. Her name is “Star Pixie”; she is a beautiful little biplane. The wings are set tight and forward about a foot and a half from the base of the prop. The wings are connected by a single strut on both sides that also has a rudder on each in addition to the two on the twin tail. This gave her a distinct figure that made her stand out. This accented further by the red and black paint job with gold strips on the wing and white prop with black tips. On either side of the cockpit and on top of the wing in front of it were the words “Star Pixie” with a picture of a cute pixie wearing a dark blue slip and four shimmering wings. But the piece-de-resistance is her 12 50 Cal. Machine guns, set in four groups of three with two groups in each wing one on either side of the fuselage, making her a beautiful but deadly machine.

         I’m very proud of the Star Pixie and the fact that I built her myself. “You’re gorgeous, you know that?” I say as I rub my face on the plane. After a moment I snapped to my senses and loaded my plane. As I climbed into the cockpit I looked over my right shoulder and gave my old home one last look “I guess I’ll never see this place again”. I mumbled to myself as I settled into my seat. I started the engine and went down the check list out loud. “Ailerons Check! Altimeter Check! Air Brakes Check! Fuel Gauge Check! Flaps Check! Rudders Check! Compass Check! Caulks clear, guns loaded engine lights green, safeties off, check, check, check and check!”

         The engine’s hum turns into a massive roar as the Star Pixie began her take off. She jumped into the sky, almost as if she couldn’t wait to leave the ground. After sometime I reached altitude, circling over the canyon a few times while I looked over the map. “Hummmm……..looks like two fields in range. ‘Gulp...I hope, but which way? To the east and La’dea Corra or to Caylore in the northwest?” I say to myself thinking about it out loud.

         All of a sudden a small female voice broke the silence “Soooooo? Which One?” I nearly jumped out of my skin. I glanced around the cockpit, and then I saw her. She was between 4 and 5 inches in height, she wore a green top made of parachute silk and a tan skirt made of a scrap of an old uniform, she had a lightly built frame with nice curves and wings like a dragonfly. She had very long red hair, at least 6 ½ inches she has it in two ponytails that are wrapped loosely around her arms. She had dark green eyes and a cute smile that was very warm. The little Fay was sitting cross-legged on top of the flight stick.

         “Aaaaaa….Who are you and how did you get in here?” I asked her more surprised than anything. Her eyes flashed at the question and started laughing and replied “my name is Lilith. I got caught out in that big storm 3 days ago. A big gust of wind pulled me into the sky, then I hit my head and blocked out. When I woke up I was in a pile of bones. I got up looked around and saw the Star Pixie, and decided it would be a nice place to stay. Oh! Sorry about what happened to your grandfather, 4 on 1 isn’t very fair. If I knew more magic I would have gave them a thing or 3 to think about.” She sighs heavily then continues, “But I’m a weak pixie that doesn’t know any spells at all. I’m no help to anyone”. She then slumped forward, buried her face in her hands and started to cry.

          I reached up and pulled the canopy shut, then latched it. I looked at her, sighed, then reached down and patted her head with the trigger finger of my free hand. She sniffed and looked up at me; I smiled and said “Now, now Old Timer was my adopted father not my grandfather and he wouldn’t want anyone to cry over his passing”. I set my trigger finger under her chin and said “Now about that nonsense of you being no help to anyone. I can sense things a little and you have more power in that cute little frame then you realize “. She smiled and dried her eyes. Then I asked “You say you saw who killed him right?” She nods rubbing her chin on my finger”. You think you’d know them if you saw them again?”

         Her eyes light up and she jumped to her feet and shouts “Yes, Yes, Yes!!!” “Good. Did you see which way they went?” I asked. She spun once and pointed east and said “That way east to the rising sun.” “Alright, east it is.” I replied then I gently picked her up and set her in the left breast pocket of my flack vest and said “you can ride in that pocket till I setup something safer for you later, partner.” She looked up and smiled up at me overjoyed at the comment. (Partner) The word would come to mean so much for us. More than I could imagine at the time.