A fanfic, pt. 1

So this is my fanfic.

BEFORE YOU READ IT:

• You must  —  I repeat, you must  —  have read the entire Saga and Wingfeather Tales before you read what I have written. If you don’t, either you will have knowledge of things that you shouldn’t, or won’t have knowledge of things that you should. Terrible things shall happen should you not take heed of my warning.

  
  

• This is my own idea for what happens after the ending. I would not like my opinionated ideas to influence your version of the ending. In other words, I am suggesting that you cement your ideas and thoughts for what happens after, before you read this.

• I am not Andrew Peterson, therefore I do not write as he writes. I did try to imitate his style, and I made the story as accurate to the original series as possible. I literally researched in the series to find the names of certain things. If there are any mistakes (canonical or otherwise), please let me know in the comments below.

• I remind you again, in case you did not see the bold, italic, underlined thing above, that you must also have read Wingfeather Tales in its entirety before you read this. (it contains a significant spoiler for one of the stories.)

In the words of Omrimund, King of Something, “Get ready. It's better than you think.”

"I still can't believe it," said Sara to Leeli, as they flew over Anniera.

"What?" asked Leeli.

"That we're riding on a dragon! And not just a sea dragon, but a flying sea dragon. I mean, I've heard about regular sea dragons, but flying?!"

As she said this, she realized that she had in fact seen a flying dragon, in a carving that her family used to have. The carving was of a man, a woman, and a dragon with wings, all together in a garden. Her father had sold it a few years after she was born, otherwise the Fangs would have taken it. She could still remember how the wood was not of any kind that she had ever seen before or since.

She grew quiet as she remembered her father.

Kalmar asked Nia if they could ask the dragon to do a few loops or rolls just for fun, but Nia shook her head, glancing nervously at the ground, and then suddenly, the ocean — for they had just flown over the beach.

As they flew over Ban Rona, the people looked the size of ants as they pointed and stared at the dragons flying above them. Sara thought about what it might be like to be a bird and do this all the time. Kalmar looked over at Artham and wished he had been melded with a hawk, so that he could have flown places. He then thought better and decided that he had been what he had been, and that was that.

They landed in the Field of Finley.

After they dismounted, Oskar walked over to where Sara and the Wingfeathers were.

"I recognize you from somewhere—" he began, gesturing toward Sara, but was cut off by Sara.

"I came to the Dragon Day festival in Glipwood once. How I got here is a long story."

"Well, in the words of Pilton MacGuire, 'I suppose I'll have to hear it sometime. But maybe not now, for we've company.'" He pointed, and there they saw Guildmaster Clout walking towards them.

Clout immediately knew that something was off. He saw Oskar, Artham (who still had wings), Nia, Leeli, a girl he didn't recognize, and a boy with dark hair. But no Janner.

"What happened?" he asked, concerned. "Is something wrong?"

"Janner seeded the new garden. All of the Fangs — including me — were melded with Janner. He gave all of his energy, his life, into saving everyone. He protected me from myself, just like I asked whether he could do," Kalmar answered.

He nodded. "Who are you?" he asked, this time toward Sara.

"I'm Sara Cobbler, but like I told Oskar, the story of how I got here is a long one."

He was about to ask what they were doing back, when Thorn, Biggin, and Kelvey O'Sally suddenly arrived on two houndricks.

"We’d heard you was back, so we'd thought we'd come and see you." Biggin stopped the houndrick.

"Who are you?" asked Thorn, looking at Sara.

"She's Sara Cobbler. It's a long story about how she got here — like she’s said twice already — but anyway, it's good to see you again!" Leeli said, running up and hugging Thorn, who turned red. Then she herself turned red, as she realized she had just done that in front of everyone.

Sara, smiling, felt someone tap her on the shoulder, and turning, saw Kalmar. Smirking, he whispered in her ear, "Thorn and Leeli soon will be:/ M-A-R-R-I-E-D."

She burst out in giggles at this rhyme, which caused Leeli to turn even more red. Now everyone was chuckling except for Clout, Leeli, and Thorn.

"Alright! Alright. Enough!" said Clout firmly. "The Wingfeathers can stay in the Orchard Inn, along with any company they have."

"Actually, if it's all right, we'd like to stay in the closest thing to the Field of Finley," he said. "The dragons have to sleep, too," he added, feeling like he had to explain.

"That would still be Orchard Inn. Ban Rona is still mostly ruins."

Biggin drove one houndrick, carrying Clout, Kelvey, Thorn, and Oskar, while Leeli drove the other, with Sara, Nia, Kalmar, the body of Janner. Artham flew.

As they rode, Kalmar turned to Sara. "You know, Janner said that you were pretty once."

Sara blushed but remained silent.

"It was the evening of the Dragon Day festival that you went to a year and a half ago. We didn't see you for very long, but afterward he said that he thought you were pretty."

Her cheeks remained rosy, but she was smiling now. She remembered the encounter, but it seemed like a long time ago.

"He talked about you in his sleep, too — 'Sara! Your eyes are so pretty! I'll come back for you, Sara! I'll see your bright diamond eyes again!'"

She smiled. It seemed that everything that she had hoped for once was true. The Shining Isle of Anniera was real. The Fangs were gone. She was even, technically, an Annierian. Listening to the Annierian tales and songs had made her heart hungry. Living out those same tales and songs was filling it up.

She was even, she realized, a princess, like her father used to call her. Especially if the last hope that she had would come true.

Biggin dropped Oskar off at the library, Clout at the Great Hall, and then he and his sons rode home. When the Wingfeathers got to the inn, they found Artham had already swept it and cleaned it. Nia prepared dinner while Kalmar explained what they needed to do the next day.

"We'll have to put the Water somewhere. We want as much of it as possible."

"Why?" asked Nia.

"Well, there are a few people still injured. Also, any extra water can be given to the dragons. Then they might all get wings."

"They’d be able to fly over land and sea, faster than anyone has ever known!" said Sara.

"Yep," answered Kalmar, but that was all that he said, for at that moment, dinner was served, so he had begun to eat.

As Sara drifted off to sleep that night, she looked out the window and saw the moon and stars. She remembered how Artham had called her a moon in the dark, and smiled at the thought. She wondered for a moment whether or not Janner ever did this, but then she remembered no more, for she was fast asleep.

"I can't."

The sudden sound of someone’s voice woke her.

"Not right now."

"Because I have to heal my brother."

Sara sat up and tried to listen to what Kalmar was sleep-talking about. He spoke in a quiet voice, but not a whisper, as if having a private conversation in the corner of a room.

"I can’t show you Anniera right now; I have to heal my brother."

He sighed. "Galya, I like you a lot — but I must try and heal my brother. We can travel all over Anniera together after I come back."

"Well… yeah, I guess…" Kalmar sounded embarrassed now.

“We’ll travel all over after I come back.”

After that she heard only his snoring, and, smiling to herself, Sara drifted off to sleep again.

When she woke up, Sara smelled breakfast and heard Kalmar eating. Leeli was getting up right next to her, rubbing her eyes. Sara did the same. Nia had made eggs and hogpig steamers, which reminded her of how she and Maralay took care of Artham.

As they ate, they made a list of everything that they would need for the journey. Food and water, supplies and tools, tents and sleeping mats — the list went on and on.

After breakfast they contacted Clout by messenger dog, and were soon meeting with him in the Great Hall.

"You need what?!"

"Canteens and barrels, as many as are available," said Kalmar.

"Why would you need those?" asked Clout.

"It's a long story. But we're going to try and find the First Well."

"How in Aerwiar do you think you could find that?"

"Well—" Kalmar started, but was interrupted by Artham.

"After I was… changed… I found it."

"Oood the troll — the one that helped during the battle — found it as well. In fact, that's why the dragons have wings now," Kalmar said.

"Humph. Alright," Clout said, then called to one of the guards. "Ladnar! I need some canteens and barrels for the Wingfeathers."

"Aye, thir.” He smiled, revealing that he had some missing teeth. “Hey, Leeli! You remember me. I got punthed by a Fang a few weekth ago.” He pointed to his mouth. “Lotht my pretty thmile. Alright, Wingfeatherth. I don't know where to look firtht, but I'll try and find you some canteenth."

They began asking around, but it soon became clear that few could be found — most unnecessary objects, it was said, were lost in the rubble.

Leeli thought for a moment. “Dogs can smell really well, right?”

“Yes…”

"Then I can have the dogs do it!" exclaimed Leeli, kneeling to pet Baxter. She whistle-clicked something to him, and he raced off, barking to call other dogs to the chase. In total, ten dogs joined and were seen going in all different directions, racing off as fast as they could with their noses to the ground.

Not even a minute had gone by before Baxter stopped, nosed a few planks and stones, then lifted his head and barked. Another dog ran over, sniffed, then barked as well. Artham, Sara, and Ladnar moved the wood, and sure enough, there was a small canteen sitting among the stones. Baxter and the other dog then moved on, continuing the search.

Soon enough they had two dozen canteens and six barrels. Clout also provided them with food, water, and tools — everything that was on their list of supplies.

It was time to go. They headed back to where the dragons were resting in the field. After securing everything to the backs of the dragons, the Wingfeathers said goodbye to Clout and the rest of the Hollowsfolk.

"I'll see you soon, Song Maiden," said Thorn as Leeli climbed onto Hulwen along with Sara. Leeli turned red, then waved — too embarrassed to say anything.

Kalmar mounted the green dragon along with Nia. Oskar was the only one on the other one, for he was too heavy for the dragon to carry anyone else.

They took off, waving, and began flying east.

It wasn't long before they arrived at the Blackwood. They landed at the edge of the forest, had a quick lunch, then took off again, for they had heard from the Hollowsfolk that the toothy cows were out of hibernation.

It took only a few minutes to get to the first outpost of Clovenfast.

They landed in the middle of the largest clearing that they could find. The structures had not been overgrown in only the three days that it had been left; the buildings had not yet been covered in plants, although the massive trees in between them remained.

As the rush of wind from the dragons’ beating wings subsided, Kalmar told everyone, "There's something you guys should see."

He quickly climbed down off the dragon, looked around, and then started off on one of the many paths.

"Are you coming?"

They hopped off quickly and followed him, confused and wondering what it was that he wanted them to see. 

He led them through the woods towards Esben's den. Once he got near it, he began explaining.

"When Janner and I were in the Blackwood, we came across the city of Clovenfast. When we first got here, Cadwick led us to a certain place — a certain house. What you are about to see… it’s where Esben lived."

Nia and Leeli gasped softly. Artham began to tremble slightly. They were fearful of the tears and memories that it could bring them, but they stepped in anyway.

Nia was on her knees, crying and holding Kalmar and Leeli. Sara carefully stepped in and looked around. The floor was packed dirt, and there was a worn and dirty blanket in one corner, and small pile of bones in another.

The rock wall before her was covered in drawings. Drawings of islands, surrounded by waves; of a castle on a hill, with sailboats in the ocean beyond it; of fields with newly-sprung crops, and people tending them.

At the center of the drawings were scrawled five names: ESBEN, Janner, Kalmar, Leeli, and Nia. There were many drawings of Nia, in many different poses and dispositions, and next to those was a drawing that looked a little bit like Artham — but with black hair instead of white. It must have been before he was Fanged, Sara thought.

Below that there was a picture of Leeli, Kalmar, and Janner on the deck of a ship. To the right of that was a vivid Gray Fang, but with blue eyes instead of yellow. Beneath it was written, "My boy." She wondered whether this was what Kalmar looked like before she had come, but was interrupted by a screech from Artham. He rushed out, attempting to fly away, but the large branches above prevented him from doing so. Kalmar ran out to try and help him, but then screamed.

A large toothy cow was right next to the opening of the abode, and at his scream, it turned toward him and mooed.

Quick as a wink, Artham had drawn his sword and slit the throat of the beast. "Yank thoo — thank you, Kalmar." His ears twitched. "There are more of them. We need to go."

They walked quickly through the forest, listening carefully to the sounds of the wood, though their own feet made more noise than they would have liked.

The moment they saw the dragons, Hulwen said, I smell some cows nearby. You might want to leave soon.

"Yeah, we decided to come back when we were greeted by one," Kalmar pointed out. "We need to leave as soon as possible."

They mounted the dragons, checked their belongings, and lifted off. Rising over the clearing, they circled around it once, and then Kalmar pointed them in the right direction to the city center of Clovenfast.

Sara's hair was getting in her face as she tried to look down and see the settlements and lean-tos that were passing by below them. She brushed her hair out of her face and carefully looked down. The trees were flying by below them.

Old cloven dwellings were scattered throughout the forest as well, and they were getting greater and greater in number as they flew. They were a wide variety of shapes and sizes, none of them exactly alike, and yet all of them shared something in common. 

Moments later, her hair blew back into her face again. 

As they landed in the main street of Clovenfast, Sara realized how they were similar: a significant portion of every single dwelling was made of a certain moss-covered stone. The road, in many places, was made of the same thing.

Kalmar hopped off and looked around. "Well, this is it. Clovenfast."

Leeli looked around, and saw the similar stone designs in many places. "It looks like it was re-built. The stone that's used in the road is also used in those houses. And those, too." She pointed.

"Yeah," Kalmar said, "Elder Cadwick told us that there were already ruins here when the cloven first found this and started to rebuild all those years ago."

"With such widespread use of this stone… this must have been a great city once. Before the cloven came, I mean," commented Nia.

"Indeed, it used to be!" Oskar exclaimed, realization striking him. "In the words of Frobentine Mumn, in his book The Fall of the First Epoch, 'The First Well is said to have been hidden near the unwalled city of Ulambria. Although some think otherwise, my sources suggest that Ulambria is probably somewhere north and east of the Killridge Mountains. Ulambria was the first city, and a well-named city at that.' It seems he was right! This must be the ruins of Ulambria!"

The First City.

The Wingfeathers, Oskar, and Sara alike were open-mouthed in amazement as they realized the profound importance of the place. Thousands of years of history had happened here — the sheer amount of time that had passed since the stones were set upon one another was staggering.

The First Fellows had lived here. Ouster Will had lived here, too, before killing Yurgen’s son and causing the fall of Aerwiar.

"If this is the First city, then according to legend, the First Well should be somewhere nearby!" Oskar exclaimed.

"It is. Actually, I know how to find it. If we leave now, we might even be able to get there by sunset," Kalmar said, looking around carefully. He pointed at the sun through the trees, already nearing the horizon, then began to clamber up the short ladder onto the dragon mount.

Seeing this, the Wingfeathers all climbed back onto the dragons and got themselves situated. Oskar needed a little bit of help from Artham, but he eventually succeeded in climbing aboard.

They took off, flying southeast, and flew until the sun was just about to touch the horizon.

They flew high this time, higher than they had flown before, for the mountains were getting closer and closer beneath them.

Kalmar and Artham both watched closely for a bald hill — the one landmark easily seen from the air.

"There’s the hill," Kalmar said, pointing.

Artham nodded. "Alright. Now we turn north."

North for a few miles now. We should be close. Kalmar said to the dragons.

We’ll keep an eye out for it, Hulwen said, changing course.

The trees grew greater and greater in both width and height. After a while, Kalmar said, "Alright. Let's start looking."

They began flying in circles, wider and wider.

It had been almost an hour since they left Clovenfast. The sun was setting, and it painted the sky beautifully, like only the Maker could paint it.

Nia was planning to ask Kalmar to just return to the hill and camp for the night, but it was around this time when Kalmar yelled, "I see it!"

And indeed, there it was. 

It was a small clearing, edged with tall stone pillars that were covered in vine and mildew. The trees that grew around the edge were enormous, their trunks as wide as a house. There was a pool in the middle of the clearing, ringed with stones. The water there was as still and as clear as glass.

There was a rush of beating wings. The leaves of the trees shook and the grass below was flattened into a circle as the dragons landed.

There was a slight bump as Hulwen landed. Sara carefully got up off of the makeshift dragon saddle and climbed down the rope ladder to the ground.

She looked around in wonder. The trees here were wider than houses at their base, and their height was so great that it was difficult even to comprehend their scale.

For a moment, everyone in the party stood in awe of the magnitude of the place that they had come to.

Then, one by one, they began setting up camp — taking supplies off of the dragons, setting up the tents, and organizing the barrels and canteens. But as they did so, it was not infrequent that one would look up for a moment and stand once again in awe of the tremendous beauty that surrounded them.

The clearing was just large enough to accommodate 3 dragons around the perimeter, with plenty of space in the middle for the tents and supplies.

Camp was made quickly, and after a while, without any calling, everyone gathered near Kalmar's tent.

Once everyone was there, they made their way to where Janner's body was still strapped to the dragon. Kalmar and Artham carefully unstrapped it, and the procession came up to the Well. A somber mood was over the whole group, and many had tears in their eyes. 

Artham closed his eyes for a few seconds, fighting back the thoughts that were trying to invade his mind.

Kalmar carefully dipped his canteen into the water, then looked at Artham questioningly.

Artham slowly knelt down beside Janner and carefully tilted his head back, opening his mouth. Kalmar understood, and poured the water in.

Nothing seemed to happen. They waited for a few minutes, then tried pouring the water over his head.

Still nothing.

And so they went to bed that night with great sorrow and weeping, for, though they had once had a hope, it looked as though it were dashed.

[Link to part 2 will be in the comments.]