Page 1 of mark of the phoenix

The morning sun shone brilliantly down upon the sleeping village of Crindarius, nestled safely in the peaks of the Vanderlas mountains. Warm light penetrated the canopy of lush trees that kept the village hidden from the outside world, looming high above every building, with the exception of a single tower of white marble, that jutted up from the sea of  green and beige. As the sun’s  rays touched the vein rich white marble of the tower, it faded from sight, into mist before vanishing completely. Raynora like so very often, could be seen sitting up in a tree, watching the tower fade with the wonder of any child around eight years of age. Six soft white wings seemed to glow softly with the light shed on her from above, and some gold could be seen, starting to color her feathers. Well kept crimson hair was braided loosely, almost down to the small of her back. Eyes were wide with curiosity, glistening pools of blue filled with intriguing flecks of gold within their depths.  Her clothing was rather simple, being a child and all it was to be expected amongst her kind. A sleeveless shirt, tan in coloring and tied in the back with a red ribbon, and a long green skirt ending just above her ankles to expose her bare harmless little talons. A long black furry tail, ending in five long and soft golden feathers was visible. And running down it were much smaller feathers of the same color. In the center of her tail’s end, between the five feathers was a crimson gemstone, that appeared to have been there naturally. The last thing to finish of her appearance would be two small black feline like ears.
Zeriath could see Raynora up in her favourite tree like she was every morning. He would take this opportunity to amuse himself. He may have been of the same race as Raynora, but he differed greatly. His golden wings were like those of a bat, each one possessing a claw. Both of his arms were covered in protective golden scales and in his right upper arm, there was a blue gemstone. Like Raynora he wore a sleeveless shirt but his was dark green and his dark brown pants went just past his knees. From there, his lower legs were covered in golden scales, just like his arms and his feet also ended in harmless talons.  From a slit cut in the back of his pants, his tail was able to move freely. Golden scales reflecting the sun, and small blunt spikes running the length of it. The ending possessed five large blunt spikes. As he was walking towards Raynora, he could hear the snap of a branch and looked to her with eyes of amber, worried she had heard him. His black feline ears even twitched cautiously.  But she did not turn. Now was his chance he thought with a quiet snicker. “Hi Ray!” He shouted with a smile.
Raynora wasn’t expecting such a greeting and jumped up with a startled cry. Unfortunately  she lost her footing and fell backwards into some bushes that broke her fall…or at least softened it a little. A small whimper could be heard from the mass of green leaves and broken bush branches. Small feathery wings sticking up slightly where she had fallen.
Zeriath ran to where he had seen Raynora fall and searched around the tree until her whimper gave her away. The young boy had a look of guilt on his innocent face as he helped her to her feet, “Ray! Are you ok?! I’m sorry! You’re not hurt or crying are you?!”
Raynora quickly shook her head, “I’m not crying…I’m ok Zeri. Really I am.” She had a small cut on her left cheek that had been caused by the bushes’ broken branches, And with a small hand she rubbed the tears away from her eyes, Sniffling.
Zeriath could see the small cut on her cheek and his amber eyes widened slightly before he would look down upset. Then with a sudden thought he looked to her, “Ray I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to make you fall down. Please stop crying. Here, I’ve been learning new magic from my teacher. Look.” He rubbed his hands together then touched Raynora’s cheek lightly. There was a faint white glow as he worked the magic. Pain was eased, blood was dried and his friend’s cut was healed.
Raynora rubbed her cheek and smiled happily as she hugged Zeriath, “Thank you! Mommy would have been upset or worried. Mommy always worries…”she frowned. Her smile returned with a laugh and she tagged him on the shoulder before running off into the trees,” Tag you’re it!” Zeriath looked stunned but laughed and ran after her, trying to tag her back.
There game led them deep into the forest but they didn’t fear getting lost. They had lived in the forest all their lives, knowing there was around fairly well. The two spent most of the morning playing like careless children always did. Being unaware of the troubled world all around them, and being oblivious to hardship.  It wasn’t until mid-day that they returned to the hidden village. Everything was hidden well by the trees. Cobblestone paths led to spread out buildings of white quartz and every window was naturally formed by where the quartz was most transparent, and permitted shafts of soft light to enter the numerous homes and public buildings. They were all elaborately designed since the massive trees allowed towering spires of quartz. It actually looked as if someone had held a single piece of quartz in the palm of their hand, and had carved each building out of it by hand. One at a time, paying extreme attention to every last detail.