"Come on! Let's land down there", the Caelum girl yells again at Azeal before dropping down, expecting Azeal to follow. He hesitates before letting his wingbeats slow.
     The other Caelum get the idea, and land on the cliff outcropping that the girl is heading to. It takes all of Azeal's courage to follow behind. His feet land on the hard stone and his wings fold up tightly out of reflex. The girl is closest to him, and starts to ask more questions. She can't be much younger.
"Are you from the other mountain ranges across Liblicen? What are you doing out here?", the girl is more guarded now. Before, she had mistaken Azeal for someone else, and was trying to play tag with him.
"And why are you here at night? Flying through the valley like that is like ringing a dinner bell for a monspact", another Caelum, a boy, gets up in Azeal's face. He flinches back.
Azeal doesn't know what to say or do. Will they believe the truth? With a sickening lurch of his stomach, Azeal realizes that he can feel his magic rising up with the agitation. He lowers his eyes and pushes it back down.
The four are surrounding him, but his back is too the cliff. Azeal is sure that he could outfly them. What then? This is what he wanted, right?
     "Azeal?", the name is said hesitantly, somewhere between surprise and unease. Azeal looks up with his amber yellow eyes at the only Caelum who hasn't talked yet. There's two girls and two boys, but one of them has been hanging back this entire time.
When Azeal recognizes the face, he ducks past the other three and scrambles to hide behind Donnel. The other Caelum is still taller and bigger. He jumps when Azeal gets so close. The younger Caelum clings to his back and looks over Donnel's shoulder at the others. He's not usually so jumpy or shy, but he's never been in this kind of situation before.
"Hey! Get off me!", Donnel twists away, "What are you doing out here, Azeal? It's dangerous to fly at night". He actually wants to ask what Azeal's doing in the valley. He shouldn't be here.
"I wanted to find you", Azeal doesn't really know what to say, but he feels better seeing a familiar face. He stands up a little straighter.
"Who is he, Donnel?", the girl with the white wings asks. She can see that they obviously know each other.
"This is Azeal..... my cousin. He lives on the cliffs by the ocean. Azeal, this is Tiluna, Gladin, and Mindra". Donnel doesn't really want to explain. Azeal can't be here. If he's here, something bad could happen. Donnel knows that now. He knows why his cousin has to stay on the cliffs.
"He's the cliff boy? I've heard so many rumors about him", Gladin, who had been yelling just a minute ago, is now more interested. He has black wings that match the night sky nicely.
Tiluna is the girl with the white wings who first saw Azeal, and Mindra is the other girl, with a wing color similar to Azeal's. Neither of them new that Donnel had a cousin.
"It's nice to meet you all", Azeal runs a hand through his hair in embarrassment. He probably looked like a scary cat. "I've always wanted to see the valley".