Hello everyone!

Right, so first off, I want to thank everyone who voted or wrote me a nice comment. It means the world to me!

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**This chapter is dedicated to @Raven17 for her super helpful comments! I can't thank you enough, you helped me so much! You're amazing! :D

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Chapter 5

After leaving Starbucks, Chase thoughtfully stopped at the mall so I could get a change of clothes. At first, I refused, as I had no money, but he insisted, so I relented.

"Buy a pair of pants, two or three shirts, and anything else you might need. It'll take us a few days to get to Aeolus."

A few minutes later, I came back with everything I needed.

Chase paid for my stuff and looked at me, surprised, "Wow, that only took you ten minutes or something! I didn't know girls could shop this fast!"

I rolled my eyes. "Not all girls like to spend hours shopping at the mall, you know. Plus, we're kind of in a hurry right now, so I wasn't going to waste precious time deciding which top best matched my shoes."

Chase laughed. "Alright, I got it. Come on, we should get going."

I went quickly to the bathroom to change after Chase had cut slits for my wings through the back of one of my shirts.

"So, how do we get to the land of the Winged?" I asked, following Chase out into the street. Different scenarios, each one cooler than the others, popped into my mind. Were we going to get there on the back of a giant bird? Or maybe they had flying boats that traveled between Aeolus and the human world?

"We're taking the bus." This answer brought my imagination to an abrupt stop. I tried not to let my disappointment show. The bus? How boring is that?

We arrived at the bus stop and Chase leaned against a wall, looking out for a sign of the coming bus. I looked at a map of the bus' itinerary.

"I don't see any stop called Aeolus or Winged something." I said, walking back to Chase.

He shot me a weird look. "Why would there be..." Then he started laughing, "No, Hailey, the Land of Aeolus is not a bus stop. I think the bus would have a little trouble getting to a place above the clouds."

"But, I thought you said..."

"We are taking the bus, but that's just to get closer to the place where we can actually get to Aeolus." Chase said, growing serious again.

My mouth formed a silent "Oh."

"Wait, so how do we actually get to the Land of the Winged people? Like, from the world of human to yours?" I asked, as my hopes of some extraordinary way of transportation flared back in my mind.

"There's a tower that leads there."

I looked at him in astonishment. "A tower? You mean some guy just decided to build a tower from the human world to Aeolus? A giant bird would have been much more efficient, if you ask me. Well, there better be an elevator, because there's no way I'm climbing up a giant tower all the way to the land of the Winged."

Chase started laughing again. He gasped for air. "God, Hailey, you're so funny! An elevator all the way to..." He did not finish his sentence as he fell back into fits of laughter.

Usually, when people laugh at something I said seriously, I get offended. Chase was so good humored and did not seem to make fun of me in the slightest though, so I found myself laughing along with him.

Passerby shot us weird looks, but we were having too much fun to care. At last, the bus arrived, and we got in. I sat down next to Chase and asked,

"So, I obviously do not understand a thing about getting to the Land of Aeolus. Care to explain in a bit more details?"

Chase smiled, and I thought he was going to start laughing again, but he answered, "It's like this; the tower houses a magical door. If you go through that door, you're transported to an identical door in an identical tower. That tower is in the Land of Aeolus, though."

"Oh, I get it! So it's like there's a portal in the tower?" I was relieved not to have to climb all the way up to some place in the clouds, and to be honest, going through a portal was almost as cool as traveling on a flying ship.

"If you want." Chase shrugged.

"So does this tower have a name, or do you just call it the-tower-with-the-portal-to-go-from-the-land-of-humans-to-the-Land-of-Aeolus?" I asked, saying the last part very fast.

Chase rolled his eyes at me. "My friends and I call it the Tower of Two Worlds. The adults don't like that name, because apparently the tower can bring you to other places than the Land of Aeolus. I'm not sure I believe that, though."

Chase and I talked the whole day, about anything and everything. We stopped to get food and switched buses a few times. It occurred to me to ask Chase what city we were in, and where in the country we were going. I didn't, though. I did not want the distance between my dad and I to feel real. I found that I would rather be uncertain about how far away we were than know for sure that we were several states apart.

I dozed off and was awaken by Chase shaking my shoulder. I looked out of the window and saw that night had fallen. I turned to Chase.

"Are we getting off?"

"Yeah, just next stop."

The bus pulled over, and we got out along with a few other people. It was the last stop, apparently. Before closing the door and driving away, the bus driver looked at us.

"Are you two kids going to be okay?" He asked.

Chase gave him a reassuring smile.

"Yeah, our grandparents live just around the corner!"

The driver seemed satisfied with that answer and let us go. Chase started walking off, and I followed him, impressed at how convincing he had been. I know being a good liar isn't something I should aspire to, but you can't deny that it is really useful. Chase stopped when we were out of view of the bus stop.

"So, where to, now?" I asked.

"We have to get to a small village. It's a thirty minutes' walk from here. Are you going to be okay doing that, or do you want to stop for the night?"

I could tell he was anxious to get there, and I was not tired after my nap in the bus. I was worried of any encounters we could make, but with Chase with me I figured we would be fine.

"Sure," I said. "Let's go."

We must have been in a pretty small town, because in not even ten minutes we were walking on a deserted road, with no buildings in sight.

We walked in silence, neither of us wanting to disturb the quiet of the night. The moon was almost full and cast a welcome light.

I started shivering slightly from the cold, and Chase stopped to pull out the hoodie I had gotten at the mall earlier from his cross-shoulder backpack. As Chase took out his pocket knife and cut holes in the back for my wings, I wondered if whoever had designed that kind of bag had been a winged-person. It certainly was convenient, because the pack rested right between the two wings and the strap did not pull at the feathers.

I put on the hoodie, angling my wings to go through the holes without rubbing against the fabric too much. My wings were pretty big now. They threw me off-balance sometimes, but I had gotten used to them surprisingly fast. Having wings just felt right.

We had resumed walking when Chase halted, his muscles tense.

"What is it?" I whispered.

"I don't know, just a feeling... Stay right behind me, alright?" He whispered back.

I nodded my consent and shivered again, this time not from the cold. The night was unnaturally quiet, and the light from the moon which had before been welcomed now seemed eerie and cold.

I increased my pace, huddling closer to Chase. Suddenly, there was the sound of something whipping through the air. In an instant, Chase had pushed me behind him away from the sound and had drawn his sword.

Wait up, when did Chase get a sword? I did not have time to dwell on that thought as a huge serpent reared up only a few feet in front of us. The monster must have been about four times bigger than me, if not more, and I gasped at its huge size and sudden appearance.

Chase cursed under his breath. "Stay behind me," he ordered, his eyes fixed on the snake.

The animal hissed, opening its mouth to reveal two long, sharp fangs. A drop of green liquid rolled down one of his fangs. I followed its path to see it fall on the road. With a hiss, some of the concrete evaporated. Holy... I opened my mouth to scream, but I was too frightened to emit any sound.

The serpent's tail came whipping towards us. Before I had time to say good bye to my dad, Chase's sword shot out, blocking the blow and cutting the scales.

The snake quickly withdrew its bleeding tail towards itself, glaring at Chase with its evil yellow eyes. Chase, his eyes still focused on the serpent, threw something towards me which I barely caught. I looked down in my hands. Chase's bag.

When I looked up, Chase was advancing towards the reptile, his sword pointed in front of him. The two fighters' gaze never left each others. The air oozed with tension.

In a flash, the great snake's tail whipped towards Chase. The winged boy kicked up and was airborne just as fast, narrowly escaping the attack. Chase descended upon the snake, slicing the air with his sword. The serpent did not have time to ready itself and received a stinging slash on its neck. Stunned, the serpent let Chase land another blow on its nose before rearing up, its mouth wide open. It bit down towards Chase, but the boy was too quick and flew back around the snake, slashing the back of its neck once again.

The snake hissed in pain, and drops of acid fell on the ground, creating holes in the concrete.

Chase went for another blow, but this time the reptile was ready. With a swing of its long tail, it threw Chase backwards. I gasped, but Chase righted himself and charged back. A long exchanged of blows, tail against sword, ensued.

Finally, the snake dealt a blow at Chase's wing. Unbalanced, the boy fell to the ground with a sickening thud. Before Chase could stand back up, the great snake twisted around, its head towering above Chase. With horror, I realized that its tail also laid right in front of me.

Chase gripped his sword desperately, looking up at the snake's head rearing above him, fangs out, preparing to strike.

Without thinking, I ripped Chase's pocket knife out of the backpack's side pocket.

The snake's head came down above Chase, and I dug the knife in its tail with all my strength.

The snake froze and turned towards me. Great. I let go of the knife still embedded in its flesh and backed away.

The snake's head loomed closer and closer to me, with a slowness that made me even more nervous. Why did I leave the knife? I would at least have something to defend myself with!

Suddenly, the serpent made a chocked, almost scream-like sound. It fell on the ground, dead, with Chase's sword protruding from behind its head.

My legs gave away, and I fell to the ground, trembling. Chase landed near the monster's head and drew back his sword, his movements jerky. He wiped it on the grass and put it back in its sheath, where it seemed to shiver before disappearing.

I drew my attention away from the sword - or rather, lack of one- and looked up at Chase. He was panting and looked exhausted. With a gasp I realized his right wing was torn and bleeding.

Chase came towards me, a worried expression on his face.

"Oh my God, Hailey, are you okay?"

I nodded and replied in a shaky voice, "Yeah... I'm fine. I was just so scared... You're hurt, though."

Chase shrugged. "I'll be okay." He helped me up and continued, "That was very brave of you. If you hadn't distracted it, I don't know if I would have survived. So, thank you." He gave me a tired smile, which I returned.

"Don't worry about it, Chase. If anything, I should be the one thanking you. I wouldn't have stood a chance against that monster alone."

We looked at the long form of the serpent lying still across the road.

"So... Should we just go, or do we have to do something about it?" I asked. "I mean, humans would freak out if they saw that."

Chase picked up his bag and pulled a small vial out of it.

"Here, hold that, will you? And be careful."

Going up to the serpent's mouth, Chase opened it with his sword, which had somehow reappeared. I would have to ask him about that later, as I found it very strange.

I looked down at the vial in my hand. It reflected the light of the moon as I turned it in my hands. It looked like it could have been made of diamond, but then I didn't really know much about minerals.

Chase hacked at one of the snake's fearsome fangs, and kicked it to the side with the tip of his sword, which seemed unaffected by the acid.

"Hey, Hailey! Give me that, please." He said, nodding towards the vial.

I handed it to him and watched as he opened it and poured some liquid all along the snake's back. The great serpent's body started shimmering, then slowly disappeared until all that was left of it was the fang that Chase had kicked away to the side.

"Wow! What was in that vial?" I asked, not knowing whether to be impressed or scared.

"I'll tell you later. I have a lot of things to explain anyway."

Chase took the now empty vial and pressed it against the tip of the fang.

"Are you getting some of its poison?"

"Yeah." He shrugged. "Who knows, might be useful later."

I shivered unconsciously. I certainly hoped not.

Using his sword, Chase sent the fang rolling in the grass, away from the road. He picked up his bag.

"Come on, Hailey. We'd better get going."

I nodded. I couldn't wait until we got to that village. I really wanted to go to bed. I was so tired, I might sleep for days. And most importantly, that village might have something to heal Chase's wing, which looked pretty bad.

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And that's it for the chapter!

Please tell me what you thought of it, especially the scene with the fight against the snake, because I had never writen anything like that before.

I would love any tips on how I can improve my writing, and I'm open to constructive criticism!

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