The Sunrise of Night

Chapter 1

"Tell me again why this is best?" Araceli dug his fingers into his hair and tugged slightly. His whole body surged with the desire to make her stay, make her change her mind, change...everything. Diamante slipped into her black satin dress effortlessly and headed for the window, refusing to look at Araceli. He took in every detail of her body; her sharp, deep brown eyes, sun kissed skin, long caramel hair that flowed all the way down her back, and her long fingers.

"I don't have to give you a reason. I already told you this is something I have to do, and I'm not going to change my mind." She stared mindlessly at the breathtaking mountain view. "You know I can't stay. No matter how much we want this." Araceli sank into the feather bed and tossed the silk and linen blankets away from him. He got it, he just didn't want to admit it, or accept it. Her skin glowed with beautiful power, hers and his combined. She had been chosen to travel to Sunrise, the massive palace where their prince and the most advanced of their kind lived and practiced. She was very strong, and this was an honor for her. Both practiced on the same level, but her dedication had shone, and he had not been chosen. The sky around his house darkened to match the mood of its master. He watched her body shimmy into its' skin of black fur and the panther jumped out the open window as the rain began to fall. The storm raged all night.





He awoke to a light summer shower, with the sky still as angry as he was. He thought absentmindedly about giving the earth a break and some sun, but in his state of mind, didn't feel like putting in the effort. An eagle landed on his balcony, and he walked outside to meet Jace, his best friend. They met in a slight embrace before Jace stepped away, glancing up at the sky, and shaking the water off his brown jacket.

"Little wet today, doncha think?" Araceli shrugged slightly. Jace shook his head. He wasn't as powerful as Araceli, but he could undo the rain if he wanted to. Normally, he would have, but somehow, he got the impression that Araceli would hit him if he did that right now. Walking into the house, he took in the messy bed, half eaten food, and his half-dressed friend. It didn't take a genius to see that she was gone. He leaned against the tree trunk in the middle of the room. "Not doin' so well, huh?" Araceli shook his head. Jace already knew the whole story. Explanations weren't needed.

Both were nature dwellers, those beings unknown to humans that are human in form, but in reality are every animal, insect, plant and element, combined into one powerful being whose main purpose is to maintain balance in the world, yet remain unseen. Shapeshifters, and workers of the Creator, but never to be known. All have different levels of powers, and different specialties, depending on how hard they work on them. He had dedicated his life to perfecting his use of the element air, and his love of birds. She, on the other hand, was a lover of the earth and the great cats that ruled it. His house was high in the mountains, hers inside the earth. They had been together for more than 5 years, and now the time had come for them to part. What made it worse was the fact that he knew this was the right thing for her to do. It just would have been nice if that knowledge brought some relief and happiness. Jace nudged aside the wooden beaded curtain and stepped into the stairway.

Araceli had built his house in the largest tree in the forest. He put a circular room in each of the great trees main branches, some 200 feet off the forest floor. He fashioned a series of walkways and stairs from room to room so that he could walk freely in his human form around his house. The system was remarkably eficient and strong, and supported a few very large rooms, like the meeting room and his bedroom. Jace walked through the relaxation room and on to the kitchen. Most of the nature dwellers kept little in the way of food. Usually they went hunting in various forms to eat. Some of the more advanced, however, liked to live almost strictly in human form. Araceli wasn't one of them, but he did keep vegetables, fruits, nuts, water, and other basic foods on hand in the kitchen. Jace began cutting up fruits as Araceli sat at the table.

"You knew she was going to go. Hell, you even told her it was a good idea." Araceli glared at his friend, who flinched at the power being aimed at the back of his head and put up his own mental shields.

"That's because it is a good idea. Every one of us dreams of the opportunity to work in Sunrise. To do some actual work, instead of just making it rain or keeping peace between animal communities to prevent extinction, or make it sunny, or whatever. I mean, out here, we're little more than Sprites." Jace put down the knife and turned to look at his friend in disgust.

"You did not just compare us to wood fairies! Cuz, I might have to kill you for that. We are much more than simple Sprites. Sprites help trees reproduce and plant flowers, and aggrevate the living hell out of the animals with their games and tricks. They can't actually do anything or cause anything to happen. They help nature do what it already does on its' own. Bah!" Araceli rolled his eyes at Jace, who went back to chopping apples.





Diamante stopped running and walked the rest of the way to the lake. Her black fur was beautiful, but hot, and she had emerged from the rain at least 5 miles back. She lapped up a good deal of water before walking over to a tree and she jumped onto the lowest branch to lay down. Her mind was running faster than she ever could in any form. The dweller with her clothes and other things would arrive at the palace a couple of days after she did. It was a 10 day journey on foot, even in various animal forms. She had been informed however than there would be no shortage of things for her to use while she waited for Kyoko to arrive with her things. He was very good at getting things from place but he always arrived in his human form, so no one knew what forms he used, since a horse carrying bags but no rider would be questioned on the highways, which meant he had to go through the dense forests and fields of tall, tangled grass to get there, just like everyone else did. Of course, most humans wouldn't know what to think about a black panther sleeping next to a lake, since this was definitely not a nature preserve. Even if she were in Africa, a black panther in the wild was an odd sight to see.

She looked at the horizon, and its' dark clouds, wishing she could make things all right with him again. It was definitely too late for that. Only those who were invited to live there were ever allowed into Sunrise, unless they had business there. Celebrations used to be held there as well, and they were open to the public, but it had been years now since one had been held there. Some of the most powerful were regional lords, and lived in other parts of the world, yet still had free access to Sunrise and its' limitless possibilities. There were several lords. One for the North American continent, one for all of Central and South America, two for all of Europe and the islands with it, one for the Asiatic continent, one for Africa, and one for New Zealand and Australia. 10 more ruled over the various oceans and seas of the world. 17 in all, and next to the royal family, were the most powerful of their kind. The royal line was the most powerful in existance, and were trained from young children to master all forms to perfection, not just focus on one like most did. They were able to command every species on the planet, and could use every talent of every creature, even when not in form. They could gain a tiger's claws on their human hands, or simply use the venom of a snake, without ever changing forms. Some, like Diamante, could use the features of one or two animals out of form, but not all. But that is why they chose specific dwellers to live and train in the palace. Those that showed the most power and ability, the prince wanted with him, so that he could see to it that they advanced as far as they could. They would be part of his elite army, region lords, or simply advisors and teachers.

Like everyone else in the world, the nature dwellers had an enemy they clashed with on a regular basis. The nature dwellers caused rain, or storms or other natural phenomenons, but never disasters like tornadoes, tsunamis, volcanos, or earthquakes. That was the work of the walkers of night. They bore a human form as well, and weren't shapeshifters, but they didn't look like humans look. Tall and powerful, with brilliantly jeweled eyes, they were strikingly intimidating to look at. None looked the same, and varied greatly in their looks and their level of power differed as well, but none were to be messed with. Their psychic ability was far greater than that of the nature dwellers, since they didn't have the ability to fight with fangs or claws. They weren't necessarily inherently bad. The majority of them simply caused small floods, tremors, storms at sea and the like. They were a necessary part of nature, since tragedy was needed to balance with the good that the nature dwellers did, and for that reason, the majority of them simply caused their small disasters and avoided all contact with the dwellers. Unfortunately, as with every group, there were some who abused their power, and they were the cause of the grand scale disasters that ended in death and destruction. Diamante had met one only once, and he had been on his way to be executed when she met him. There were some whose only goal in life was to terrorize humans with natural disasters, simply because they could, and because they thought they were better than humans. He had been one of them. Araceli had captured him, and it had only been a few months later that they had gotten together. She had been stricken by Araceli's natural beauty and ease with his abilities. Even though she was more advanced, he was more fluent with what he did know and flowed more easily in his forms than she. He was very tall, and was stunning with his clear, ice blue eyes, long, honey blonde hair, and his skin browned from spending so much of his time in the sun. She had easily fallen in love with him, and now it had been necessary to leave him.

They were in different lives now, and she needed to focus on her job, and her training. She needed to get moving too. Thick clouds were moving in, and this time it wasn't Araceli. It was another dweller, taking care of the slight drought in the area. She quickly took another drink before setting into an easy run again, with thunder rumbling behind her.




Jace moved silently out the door. He had seen to it that Araceli had eaten, had water, and had ensured that he would be allright until tomorrow. He took a moment at the door to set the sky on the path of clearing up, and getting no arguments from Araceli, continued working on stopping the rain as he fluttered down from the tree, trading his eagle form for a white-faced monkey at the bottom. He had always enjoyed getting around as a monkey. It was impossible to take life seriously when you had hands for feet. He headed for his own home, built into the first level of thick, leafy canopy, with rain falling all around his head.


Araceli  watched his sky clear up slowly, compliments of Jace. He added a crisp breeze to the air and was satisfied for the moment as he moved to the highest room in his house; his sanctuary. Moving aside the beaded curtain of clear blue, he entered the place where he came to train or just to ignore the world. Today, it was the second reason. The room had been designed for comfort. The thick reed carpets on the floor were two or three deep, making a floor that you sank into. All the corners were piled high with pillows of linen, satin, and cotton, with blankets of thick wool under them to lay on. There was a skylight in the roof for light, and candles around for night. Each wall had a huge window with reed shutters, that looked out onto a wrap around balcony, which is where he headed. He looked out over the many miles of land which he had been placed in charge of, land which he willingly shared with Jace. His home, his training ground, his refuge, and his responsibility.The regional lord, Storme, lord of the western half of the European continent, had doled out large chunks of land to the most powerful dwellers in his region. Most lords did that, to make it easier for them to know what was happening in every part of their territory. They met every other week to discuss issues, solutions, problems with other dwellers, or simply to tell Storme that nothing interesting had happened. Storme had offered the job to Diamante, but she had refused, content to have all of her time free to train as she pleased.

Araceli looked to the west and noticed that he only had a couple of hours to make his rounds tonight. Screeching, he stepped onto the railing of his balcony and let himself fall for a good while before taking his preferred falcon form and regaining altitude to survey his terrain from above.




Onyx looked up at the sky and watched Araceli fly over and waited in the usual meeting place until the falcon made his way to the ground. The small clearing in the dense underbrush of forest was dense, dark, and generally deserted. This is why the night walker chose to live in that area. He had cleared out and fixed up a serious of caves that opened into the clearing where he and Araceli now stood. Araceli took his human form and greeted his friend. Next to Jace, Onyx was his closest friend, and also knew of Diamante's leaving, though the two had never met, and she had never known that Araceli had a night walker in his circle of friends. The only one that did know was Jace, but he refused to meet him and that was perfectly acceptable to Onyx. Onyx was a very powerful night walker, but kept his activites small and mostly local, though he did have a habit of causing small earthquakes in the islands. He generally trained underwater, since night walkers possessed the unique ability of not needing oxygen, water, or food to survive. He matched Araceli, in height, with long black hair that ended just above the small of his back. He wore his hair loosely tied at the nape of his neck, occasionally braided if he needed it out of his way. His skin was naturally very bronze in color, and his eyes were black as the deep ocean but gleamed like the stone he was named for. Unlike the majority, his eyes were not brilliant blue, green, red or purple, but like all of the night walkers, his eyes blazed brilliantly when his powers were in use. Normally, he was clothed in a simple pair of brown pants of suede or natural leather, no shoes, and no shirt, only his silver armband around his left bicep, with a falling star carved into it, and a piece of obsidian around his neck. He looked as if he belonged in an indiginous tribe of South America, and looked no different tonight. The night walkers had a similar system of power, and the two leaders acknowledged each other respectfully before ducking into the caves as the thick fog that Araceli created gave them the privacy their meetings required. Onyx handed his friend a flask of fresh water from the underground spring in his home, and grabbed some vodka for himself. They went deeper into the caves, stopping by an underground river, where they sat down to talk.

"How are you doing?" Araceli shrugged, which was the response Onyx had expected. "Anything else interesting happen today?" Onyx's territory was much larger than Araceli's, but Araceli was the only one he maintained a relationship with.

"There was a big storm off to the west, but I think that was just Aiman forgetting to give his territory sufficient water and deciding to make up for it today. No matter how much I tell him not to let it go that long, he always does. Other than that, nothing interesting. Anything on your side?" Araceli snatched the vodka from Onyx and took a drink while he listened to his answer.

"Some typhoon is going to happen in the islands tomorrow night, compliments of Liam and the goons he keeps with him. You might want your people to know about it so they can prepare the animals. I don't think there's going to be much warning. Also, an underwater earthquake will set off a series of small tidal waves as well. Nothing major, but see to it that no one is on the beaches at that time. That's all I have for you for now." Araceli nodded, and handed the vodka back to Onyx, who surveyed his underground home, lit by channels dug into the wall that he filled with water tainted with cheap alcohol, gasoline, or natural liquids that were flammable. They were all connected, so he only had to light one and in a couple of minutes all of his home was lit. He rarely slept, and therefore occupied himself when he wasn't training with fixing up his home. He had spent a great deal of time removing all the stones, debris, and dirt from it. After that, he had smoothed out walkways and fashioned furniture out of natural elements, mostly stone, ebony, and rattan. For now he was satisfied with it and was comfortable in it.

Onyx began walking towards his bedroom, still drinking his vodka, with Araceli lagging behind. Onyx pushed aside the sheer white veil and walked into his closet to change, while Araceli flounced on the massive stone bed, covered with a mass of cotton, linen, and hand woven cloths impressively thick.

"So when are you going to get yourself a girl? I hear those night walker women are something to see." Onyx had changed into a simple pair of black linen pants, with a long sleeved, unbuttoned black linen shirt, and he had taken his hair down, letting it fall over his shoulders freely, like black satin. He smiled at Araceli. Both were considered very young by their kind, neither over 50, and for peoples that were able to live forever, and didn't start showing their age till they were well over 200, that was considered infancy. So much fighting was done between the peoples that only the most powerful survived past 100 these days. To humans, they appeared to be 20 year olds with no visible flaws and abnormal appearances. The nature dwellers maintained relatively normal appearances since they were more likely to encounter humans. No one could mistake a night walker for a human. Onyx was about as normal as they came, and when he was using his powers, his eyes became like two lit emeralds, and then there was no mistaking that he was something else. They certainly appeared eccentric when it came to looks. They might as well have been wearing tuxedos circa 1850. Onyx laughed softly.

"What do I need a woman for? I have all I need right here. Besides, look at where it got you. In a walker's bed!" Araceli groaned at the bad joke and burrowed into the bed. Onyx made a face. "What do you think you're doin'? I believe that's mine." In an instant, his eyes began to glow, and Araceli found himself floating above the bed, and placed on the sofa across the room. "You don't belong in my bed. I thought you said a woman belonged there." Araceli began to laugh and stood to bid his friend goodnight. Onyx walked outside with him.

"Hang in there, my friend. You'll make it through ok, I promise you that. At least she never stopped loving you." Araceli smiled at that.

"I think that makes it worse, Onyx. Because I know it wasn't what she wanted. She's not happy either. I never wanted that." Onyx lowered his gaze. That was something he knew all too well. He nodded goodnight to Araceli, and watched him melt swiftly into the golden falcon, and take off for his house, the moon as his backdrop. Onyx returned to his cave, walked through the rooms to his bedroom. He lowered the cover over the flames to block the light, and sank into his black bed, his mind spinning with memories, both good and bad.



Aurora rolled over on top of him, still laughing as he continued tickling her, despite being pinned.

"What do you say? Had enough yet? You are in the position of surrender! Do you?" He shook his head.

"NEVER!!" he yelled triumphantly. She giggled, then leaned forward to kiss him.

"Oh but you're done now." She tried to sit up, but he pulled her back down to him. She looked at him, then at the clock. She looked back at him, and he nodded. He knew she had to go meet with Iram about the regional reports, and he had his own to give later. He watched her get out of bed and get dressed. All beauty, at 5 foot 10, with fire engine hair, ruby-red eyes, and skin that was pale, but still slightly glowed with sun-kissed beauty. She slipped into her red dress that tied at the neck, and brown sandals, then leaned over to kiss him goodbye. He reached out to her, but she was already gone. He sat up in bed and called her name.

Onyx sat up in bed abruptly. Damn boy and his girl problems. He hadn't dreamed about her in almost 2 years. He slid out of bed and lit a candle, walking along the dark walkways till he reached the door that led to his balcony. A ledge of earth and stone, he had built it into the side of the hill that his caves were in. This balcony provided him with a magnificent view of the lake and the mountains in the background. He always came here when he couldn't sleep. And somehow he just knew this was going to be one of those nights.