*Meanwhile... back in the Black Kingdom...*
I jolted awake. There was a strange surge of power that hit me in my sleep. Not that I exactly slept; it was more like slightly unconscious rest. I stood and walked over to the edge of the roof, spreading my wings to their full breadth, then ruffling the feathers. Everything looked calm and quiet as I had left it. Frowning, I leaped into the air, flaring my wings then flapping violently, I shot into the evening colors of the sky. I looked down at the palace garden. Almost everyone who occupied the outside garden, looked up and watched me pass. I rarely was seen, so when I did allow myself to be, everyone would watch me in awe; which I understood. How many huge flying cats were there in this world? I looked ahead. Narrowing my eyes at the horizon, I saw--and only I could see, the remnants of a strange energy I had never encountered before. The remainder of energy swirled in a circular motion, betwixt six trees that had grown in an almost perfect circle. I descended slowly, cocking my head as I watched the little ribbons of light twist and turn around each other. They were quite pretty. The energy substance was green, and was fading away slowly. I landed about twenty feat away from it. Folding my wings in neatly, I started toward it. That's when I sensed someone else had been here recently; it was Sage... But where had she gone...?
*She had better not have... gone through some portal or something...* I thought to myself, not ceasing in my approach of the swirling light. As I got within five feat of it, I could tell it was a portal; and this was the last place Sage had been...
*Wonderful! Now I have to find some way to bring her back...*
How was I going to get her back? I hadn't a clue. But I knew, of course I had to find out where the portal went, and then find a way to open it again.
