The Heart of Armonia

Harmony splashes into the stream, the top half of her favorite green dress welcoming its drizzling waterdrops. She snatches a rock, not letting the current give it a new home. A hint of gold sparkles within the smooth stone’s folding holes, her eyes following the swirling brown and white feather lines coursing through its coffee-colored surface. The small mountain pebble is their family rock, the Diavaino Stone.

Trading her attention to the reflection in the water that should match the stone’s colors and patterns, Harmony sees an ugly mix of colors that reminds her of a burnt marshmallow. She tries to cover up the chaffed black and gray crystal shards around her left eye, a new mark her baby brother Rikou gave her when she let him hold the rock. His throw was so precise, it bounced off her cheekbone and plunged into the water behind them.

A glimmer of light blue touches her golden hair, the turquoise sky floating above her head. Crimson streaks sail over the underwater glass dome, a glade of pine trees sleeping beneath the silent glow. The echo of the meteors slamming on the ground above fills the dome, her skin illuminating with orange. Harmony whispers what her father always told her,

“Fire always goes to land and never under water.”

Another echo erupts, the rough pine needles scrapping her elbows from the impact. It will be okay. It’s just another grumpy storm from the sky. We’ve always been safe in the forest.

Bright red engulfs the dome, merging with the deep blue atmosphere. Harmony continues to repeat the same words as the meteor gets closer, raising her voice louder while the light grows brighter. A powerful roar tears through glass, the intense heat forcing Harmony to shield her eyes. She lets out one final scream,

“FIRE ALWAYS GOES TO LAND AND NEVER UNDER WATER!”

Rock and metal clashes, a thick cloud of crumbling earth covering both the trees and Harmony in a blanket of brown and black. A waterfall gushes from the hole left behind by the meteor, sunlight shining through as the ocean lowers around the dome. The peaceful trickling of white water helps Harmony loosen up, until she gasps. Rikou! She races to where she left him, but he wasn’t there. Her eyes stare at the empty spot on the grass, Harmony unable to move, and then it set it. Her brother was lost, and it was all her fault.

The amber smoke makes every tree seem identical, the twisting branches tearing at Harmony's sleeves. She tries to keep her tears behind a platinum gate, but they break through every lock she placed. Navigating up a butterscotch tree wreathed with tacky moth webs, she notices polished bronze scales on the bark.

“Whoa! It’s bigger than my thumb,” Harmony hollered.

A crisp voice suddenly bellows from the air above her.

“That's my wing you are perched on little one!”

“I’m not little! I’m seven and a half years old, and almost four feet-’ Harmony froze, the face of an alligator hovering over her. ‘Are you an elephant with wings? No, you must be a giraffe with wings because your neck is taller than the trees! And your eyes! They are as big as the pool I fell into, but I think they should be blue instead of green. Also, you have a fuzzy black puffball underneath your droopy mushroom ear. Oh wait...It's Rikou!”

“My name is Audaz, I am the descendant of Brountzos, an elder dragon sent to bestow a great gift to your brother Rikou,’ Audaz announced, lowering Harmony and Rikou to the ground. ‘And now, I grant you the protector over this magnificent gem.”

“Uh…Mr. Dragon. I think you gave him the wrong gem. This is just a plain rock, and an ugly one too,” Harmony laughed, showing Audaz the tattered earth colored rock Rikou holds.

The dragon’s enormous nostrils expand like the honey rolls Harmony’s mother made, a heaping gust of air lifting the burgundy whiskers drooping from his face as he chuckles.

“You are correct, and as the boy grows and learns, so he will shape the rock into the great gem I have spoken of. Once the boy is old enough, I will return and teach him how to use it against the growing storms that threaten your world,” Audaz concluded. He disappears into the sky, his wings appearing as a floating blanket in Harmony's mind.

“Harmony! Rikou!” A man’s voice shouted through the trees.

“Dad!’ Harmony rushed over to her father, squeezing her arms onto him like a magnet. ‘Rikou gave me a crystal eye!”

“Honey, I think your eye will be fine. It’s just a bruise, but your hair,” Harmony’s mother said, kneeling to her.

“My hair? What’s wrong with my hair!”

“Well, I think that meteor got a tad bit too close to you, and-

Harmony pushes away from her mother, finding the nearest pool of water. Horror struck her face, fighting back the tears as if they were her worst enemy. The meteor turned her hair almost completely crystal gray, a streak of gold the only color remaining. She ties her fingers around the strands of gold hanging over her forehead, wonder glistening in her eyes. For the first time, a smile overtakes Harmony’s whole face.

“Cool! Oh yeah, a dragon gave Rikou a rock.”

Twenty Years Later:

The air zooms past my shoulders, the armored wings lifting underneath my fingers as the weightless sky currents guide the spirited creature within: A wind bird.

“One more lap around the island Tigre, and this time…We’re going beyond!”

Sunlight graces Tigre’s invisible body, showing his wild yellow burning eyes. The brilliant red glow from his heart, ignites the magnetic barrier that holds the knitted feather plates together. I close my eyes, the patriotic call expanding within Tigre’s lungs, and then with one howling exhale, he shoots forward.

Trees, rivers, mountains, their colors all blend as they pass, a vapor in the wake of Tigre’s full velocity. The jagged crescent shaped corner of the island approaches, the wolf’s mouth. The Ninth Island of the North Sea, The Iconium, held the underwater dome inside its jaw like a pearl. Tigre circles the mouth, the wind creating a vortex in his stride.

“Good job Tigre, that was our fastest time yet. Let’s go back to the lookout.”

I dismount from Tigre’s saddle, all the towering trees ascending from the mountain side now before me.

“My name is Rikou, a valiant reflection of the Diavaino Stone. I am no warrior, nor do I take pride as a hero. I am a wind rider, the black and gray tunics I wear a swift ally to my will. My orange and bronze helmet is a symbol of courage and a steady reflection of my bird’s armor. His wings may bring me to countless islands, but my heart will always call this planet and the island I was born on my home: Vnoia Nisia.”

“Ahem.”

What? I twirl around, Harmony standing in the doorway beside Tigre. She crosses her arms over her midnight blue jacket, the gold streak in her crystal gray hair combed to the side.

“My name is Rikou, a valiant reflection of the Diavaino Stone,” she joked, using her deep sarcastic voice. The white painted feathers over her chest and arms creating a V as she lifts up her fingers to mock me.

“Hey, you know that patch of brown on your face has gotten bigger right?”

“At least my hair looks cool and doesn’t look like the blunt end of an iron axe. Also, your friend is here,” Harmony hurled back, unfazed by my insult.

“My name is Telvar,’ a bold and powerful voice uttered. He strides out onto the platform with his sharp gray uniform leading his footsteps, a static purple stripe draping across his right side and dipping up to his heart. Swirling white and sky-blue colors shine from the visor he wears, midnight blue plates waving around its sides. He bows his head, puffing his chest and clenching his fists with pride.

“Is THAT my helmet,’ Harmony interjected, her eyes glowing pearl white in a panic as her jaw dropped. ‘Give it back…Right…NOW!” She growls like a cat and makes clawing motions but he ignores her and continues.

‘My stone, The Stone of Amatista, did not come from these islands. I took it from the dying core of another PLANET! Out of the colliding space debris, a warrior was born… I am a lightning rider, sent to contest with the electrifying storms that have challenged our shores for over a hundred years.”

Harmony just smiles, probably thinking that both of us our idiots. Her smile fades, a silver spark igniting in her eyes.

“My name is Harmony. I am the Star Map of Armonia, the last glistening array of hope in a black universe. What’s left of my stone has almost faded, and if I die, the heart of Diavaino will die. I do not ride the wind birds; I command them with my voice. When my birds fly in the morning they create a sunrise, the shadows cowering in the wings of their horizon.”

“Did you see her eyes,” I whispered to Telvar.

“Yeah,” Telvar gulped and removed Harmony’s helmet, one of the black patches across his slate blue face seeming to disappear from her captivating gaze. Dark silver streaks zigzag through the black, unrefined ore in his short spikey hair.

Suddenly a voice hollers from the skies.

“And my name is Ruj, and I NEED HELLLLP!”

An even more frightened howl follows his yell, the cherry red and orange armor on the wind bird shooting at us like a fiery comet, and Ruj clings onto her saddle for dear life.

“Pippin, Barrel Roll,” Harmony commanded, whistling with an acorn top.

Pippin fans her wings into a half circle, changing the wind current into an upward spiral. Telvar and I duck, the metal tail feathers nearly grazing our heads as Pippin lunges into a series of backwards air rolls. Ruj gasps with each roll, until they both gently float down like a leaf. Pipon immediately sheds off all of her armor, causing the saddle Ruj is sitting on to drop through her invisible body and thud onto the ground.

“She was like, I do not want to ride with you anymore,” Harmony giggled.

Fog covered Ruj’s green helmet, his jacket bathed in orange and red dust.

“That…was AWESOME! Thanks for letting me ride her,’ Ruj rejoiced, his helmet sliding off his sleek steel hair, twisting grains of copper hidden in his sides. A rich smile stretches across his bright orange face to the thin ginger lines across his cheeks. He clears up his glasses with a handkerchief, his sapphire blue eyes beaming through them. ‘Hey Harmony, how is your wind bird able to just pop her armor on and off out of the blue. I keep forgetting, and it’s driving me crazy.”

“Because I literally haven’t told both you exactly forty-three times,’ Harmony tries to keep her composure, snatching back her helmet from Telvar. ‘Magnetism. Wind birds can create a magnetic barrier around their entire body, turning them on and off if they want to. They cool their bodies with the wind currents to keep the heat from peeling the armor off while they fly at ridiculous speeds.”

Telvar and Ruj gaze upon the open mountain view from my bedroom window, their yellow striped navy ship resting at the docks below. Ruj sighs, noticing my packed belongings.

“So, you’re really going off to another island and leaving the wind rider life behind you?”

I stare out into the ocean, silence overtaking the room.

“As much as I love flying with Tigre, the passion that my father has with creating these domes…It just isn’t mine. Most of the time I stay on this island, creating more armor and metal parts…When Logan Tykoft visited our island three months ago to ask for volunteers to help return clean water to the people of Corazon Island, something in my heart told me to go.”

“You know Rikou, with all the detailed armor you have in your room, I don’t know why you put such an UGLY rock beside them,” Telvar scoffed, putting on my wind helmet.

“For whatever reason, Harmony is crazy about that rock. When I was younger, she told me it would turn into a beautiful gem. It never did…And every time I tried getting rid of that thing, it always ended up back on my shelf. This one time, I got so mad at her that I threw it out my window. I’ve never seen her dart so fast onto her wind bird just to catch a falling rock. After that, I took my dad’s favorite sledgehammer to see if there actually was a gem hidden inside it, and the rock cracked the hammer instead…Boy was my dad not happy.”

“So, there must be something important about it then,” Telvar inquired, admiring his reflection.

“You know what Telvar, every time you come to visit you always put that helmet on…Why don’t you keep it.”

“Ohhhhh,’ Telvar gasps, a new kind of pride defining him. ‘Then I will use it to end my greatest foe's plunder on the sea, Borrador: The Eraser!”

Tigre folds his wings back, the magnetic barrier pulling the last feathered armor plates onto his free-spirited body. I secure all the pouches around the saddle, everything I need for my journey inside.

“Wait,’ Harmony leaned in and panted. ‘You…Forgot your rock!”

Harmony held the rock up with pride, smiling at her perfect record of returning my long-lost treasure.

“Oh wow! How could I have forgotten my favorite rock!”

“Here's a helmet too. Sorry that it's moss colored. Be safe, and remember-

“Don’t lose the rock. I promise.”

“Good! Goodbye,” Harmony waved, an evil glare buried behind her gold streak.

“Wait Har-

“TIGRE, GO BEYOND!” Harmony commanded.

A surge of air pushes me on my back, Tigre’s wings zipping across the ocean faster than our last lap around the dome. My fingers vibrate, the rapid wind overshadowing my voice. Well, there goes my relaxing flight…

A warm breeze touches my skin, the howling of unimaginable velocity that Tigre tortured me with is finally over. I look down, a rainbow of metal colors shines from a lively cluster of islands, creating a giant turtle shell in the ocean. The rose gold island in the center, that’s it!

“Tigre, we’re here! We’ve finally arrived over Corazon Island…Tigre?”

The metal plates start shaking beneath me, a feather suddenly falling off and sucked away by the wind.

“Ah, Tigre, this isn’t funny. Tigre come on, snap out of it!”

The wind claimed another armor plate, the magnetic energy beneath the metal becoming a static purple color. The heat! It wasn’t just warm; the atmosphere is hotter.

“Areeeaaahhh,” Tigre squawked, his voice dying as he dove straight down.

The air grows faster around us, more metal plates slipping off. The saddle abruptly dangles left.

“The rock!”

My hand reaches, my body falling from the last metal plate. An overwhelming gust takes me, everything going black for a moment. I open my eyes, my rock holding me up in the air by a silver vine. Miraculously, it cracked just enough to latch onto the chrome plant. Wait…It cracked?

SNAP!

“Oh dear! Please don’t be a long-

My feet gently touch the ground, the rock landing in my hand. My whole backpack lays in a pile of mud, all of my best sketches soaked in brown mush. I sift through them, every armor design and figure bearing some kind of unnatural blotch. And it figures my backpack is almost completely dry…but everything inside!

“Hola!”

A boy stands before me, dressed in blue tinted steel armor. Yellow sapphire overlaps some of the plates, including his eyes. He points to my drawings.

“What, you want them, but they are kind of ruined now…Oh alright. I can always just draw more. Here you go!”

He snatches them, leaping in joy as if I gave him a treasure.

“Casco para mi,” the boy said, pointing to my green helmet laying in a copper leaf pile.

“Uh…Yes? I think.”

He leaps in the air and grabs my helmet, running off before I have a chance to stop him.

“Come back!”

I lift my backpack up from the mud, stuff the rock inside, and run. He darts into a tall brush of steel weeds, his armor disappearing with all the other metallic colors. I dash through the weeds, the weight from my backpack sending my face into another muddy pool.

“Rikou? Here, let me help you up,” a man exclaimed, his hand helping me to my feet.

“Tykoft?”

The expression on Logan’s granite black face told me enough, I was covered head to toe in mud. Stone gray curved in like a bird’s claw on his left check, the only thing that revealed any kind emotion he displayed. At least his hair was iron like mine, although his sunflower yellow eyes always made it seem like he was prying my chest open to reveal my inner thoughts.

“I wish you could see your face right now,’ Logan laughed, stretching his arm around my back and patting me on the shoulder. ‘I am delighted to see you. I have a group ready to deliver my music filters to a village hanging from the west mountain sides. You’re going to have a blast,” Logan replied, still snickering over my mud slide while his elegant white tunics were completely clean.

Logan Tykoft leads to me a large opening in the exotic metallic forest, a group waiting for us in the center. They all wear armor embedded in the shape of all plant life, each warrior bearing a unique collection of curving shapes such as flowers, vines, leaves, and even tree bark. They all whisper in another tongue, inspiring colors glowing from their eyes.

“Attention everyone, this is my friend. He is from the Ninth Island of the North Sea, called The Iconium,’ Logan announced. He softly nudges me forward and whispers. ‘These are the Empheriia, not all of them speak Rou’k, but some do understand a little. See that tall lady with the pearl armor, her name is Madre Rosa. She is our translator. Talk slow so she can translate for them. Good luck!”

“My name is Rikou, a valiant reflection of the Diavaino Stone. I am no warrior-

“Mi nombre es Rikou, una imagen fuerte de la Diavaino Piedra. No soy un guerrero,” Madre Rosa repeated in Empheriian.

Shock overtakes my face, all the Empheriians bending over in laughter and repeating, “No soy un guerrero.”

Logan pulls me aside,

“You just told them that you’re not a strong warrior. Good job buddy. That was a hoot.”

“Alright everyone! You all have your music filters, get into your groups and let’s head to the west mountain village so we can restore their clean water,” Logan shouted, Madre Rosa translating for him.

“Uh…Logan. Two questions. What are music filters and which group am I going with?”

“Attention everyone,’ Logan hollered, all eyes on him. ‘Who would like to have Rikou in their group?”

A girl in bright gold armor pops up her arm and waves at me to come to her. Her helmet bloomed out like a flower from the back, purple butterfly wings enclosing her eyes with mystery. A sea of verdant green swirls within her armor, honey glow yellow rays harmonizing with them.

“That's Gloria. I believe she's around your age. She’ll tell you all about the music filters and where we’re going,” Logan said, his voice disappearing behind me.

“Hi, uh, my name is…My name is…” I couldn’t stop staring into her eyes. The fragrant purple wings changes from red to pink as the light moves, mystery clothing her gaze.

“Rikou! My name is…’ she let out a nervous laugh, tapping my shoulder. ‘Gloria.”

We walk down a rocky path, dark steel plants looming over our shoulders. Gloria asks me question after question, including my age, what my favorite color is, and the feather marks on my face. She even shows me the music filter, a silver praying mantis that plays musical notes when you blow into it!

Before I know it, a copper thicket of vines blocks our path. Some of the armored Empheriians unsheathe flaming amber blades, slicing through the hard metal without effort. Gloria grabs my hand and pulls me off to the side.

“Look,” she spoke, a gentle giggle following her every word. She touches the metal branches, the flower petals in the back of her helmet glowing red. The metal instantly vanishes, bright pink, orange, and red flowers coming to life.

“You, you changed the colors? How did you do that?”

Gloria waves her hand in front of the swirling jade around her gold cheeks, her words overflowing into Empheriian.

“Wait…What did you say? The flowers. You made them come to life!”

“No, no…’ Gloria turns her beautiful magenta gaze away, ruby red blushing over the purple. She sighs, the jade tail circling her golden lips changing into a smile. ‘Yes. I did that.”

“Gloria, I have a question for you. How are you able to stay cool…In all that armor, since it is so hot here?”

“Ohhh,’ Gloria’s eyes change to a bright orange. ‘See these glass colors on my armor. Everyone here has them. They reflect the sunlight…No…They absorb! And the wind, it cools us off from inside. Well, that is what my parents told me…I, don’t know how it works…And you?”

“Me? I’m fine, I’ve got my water bottle here!”

“The mountain path,” Gloria pointed ahead.

A narrow trail, burdened with steep inclines and spontaneous tan rocks, ties itself to the rusted iron mountain side. It curves and winds like a snake, leading to a small home. The roof resembles the fur of a porcupine, eccentric blue and white needles covering the red brick walls like moss. A few Empherrians go ahead of us, the kids doing cartwheels and the warriors with more rusted armor happily dancing across the daunting path.

The iron ore within the mountain quakes, timbering chunks of metal ripping from its side like rotted trees. The shards cut through the trail, separating everyone treading it.

“Gloria, we have to do something!”

“I…I…Don’t understand…You are quacking…eh…too fast,’ Gloria struggled to find the correct Rou’k words. ‘The vines, I can only control the vines?”

“Hold on Gloria, I have an idea.”

I place my hand on the cold iron mountain surface and close my eyes. How many were there…Five. I need to make five metal slabs…Now imagine the shapes Rikou, and…

“Que?” Gloria gasped.

I open my eyes, the five metal slabs I envisioned are carved from the mountain’s wall, but I can’t move them on my own.

“Gloria, you can use the vines to-

“Ah. I see,” Gloria happily sighed. She gracefully turned metal in soft vines, the vines lifting all the slaps to each person stuck on the trail. Roses bloom on the vines as they bring each Empheriian to the house that needs the musical filter.

“You did it!”

“Us next?” Gloria asked, pointing to the floating steps.

“Absolutely, I want to see how this musical bug works!”

The cozy pine needles hanging from the house greet Gloria and I with a warm hug, three curious emerald, green eyes waiting to see what the jumpy praying mantis would do. They brought us a bucket of water, filled with dirt and pieces of metal ore. Gloria brings the musical mantis to her lips, holes opening through her mask. A dramatic melody begins playing from the mantis’s silver filter wings. The water starts boiling, every last trace of dirt and metal evaporated. The water is clean!

I couldn’t believe it…The children’s hearts were leaping with a joy I couldn’t explain, tears forming beneath my eyes at the sight…I never imagined anyone having to drink from such dirty water…It was a gift of life…A gift I wasn’t truly thankful for…until now…

“Rikou! Rikou!” Gloria grabbed me, the golden sunlight from her eyes illuminating her whole face with excitement. “The gem in your backpack! It is glowing white!”

“Gem? What gem?”

Gloria locked hands with me and said,

“Close your eyes, and I will lead you, just like you were leading me…Here, I will put my mask on you. The butterflies won't let you peak.”

Long and brown braided hair pours from her helmet, a pair of mahogany eyes, with a hint of raspberry, flourishing from a cherry red face.

“You didn’t close your eyes,” Gloria said, irritated at first, but then she allows a smile to form between her light rose cheeks; a tiny circle of basil green on her left cheek adding to her illustrious face.

“I will, once you put your helmet on me,” I smiled back at her.

“Okay,” Gloria rejoiced, her mask covering my face in a violet prism.

Warmth grows from my hand as Gloria guides me, my steps feeling more awkward with each step. The bumpy rocks and sticky dirt disappear, a smooth stone floor echoing with our steps. Finally, we stop. The helmet lifts, illuminous colors dancing above our heads. It is a giant golden dome, like the one at home! Honey glow orange circles shine from a vast turquoise sky, each tracing a unique shape, just like Gloria’s helmet!

“This is, our star map of the planet,’ Gloria stated, mystery capturing her still glare. ‘All the orange dots are the islands. Can you count how many there are?”

“Hmmm,’ I study the entire map, careful not to lose count. “198.”

“Ohhh…No. There are 316. You forgot to count all islands underwater, they are the green dots,” Gloria moved my finger, directing my eyes to the ones I missed.

“I see them.”

“Okay, now take out your gem, and I will show you mine,” Gloria whispered, unable to contain her joy.

The rock Harmony always guarded without question, is now fractured into three pieces. Pure light glows from the cracks, all the islands above our heads becoming stars. The flower petals growing from Gloria’s mask open, a brilliant rose red gem nestled in the center.

“Elafros, you can come out now,” Gloria whistled, a musical tone following her voice.

A violet bloom of red leaves awakens from her gem, spiraling around her fingertips. They hover beside her neck, a chorus of chirping birds playing from her ear.

“It’s okay, he has one too…’ Gloria hushed her voice and pulled me in, her brown eyes meeting my green eyes, ‘You have to be brave, okay? Elafros, she is very…How do you say? Gigantic…I think.”

The blissful breeze separates us, a thick oak tree suddenly sprouting from the ground and cascading the rainbow above us in an umbrella of darkness. I try to climb around the overgrown roots, my hand grasping a long white tooth…No, it’s a claw.

“Rikou, look up,” Gloria whispered.

Pink scales lavishly form around the smooth face of a gentle horse, but it is not a horse’s face. Eye lids lift, two white flowers painting themselves onto pearls.

“I see!”

The imaginary beast my sister always told me about that I never believed, now honors me with its glorious bow, a dragon.

The dragon’s mouth opens, Empheriian words filling the air with a soft kiss.

“I will try my best to translate her words, so you can understand them in Rou’k,” Gloria said, her smile fluttering from her heart as her nerves finally eased.

“She says, hello, and that her name is Elafros. She is the wife of another dragon. She says that you met him when you were a baby…but you did not know…that it was a dragon who saved your life, and he give you this gem, so that you could use,” Gloria stops, struggling the find the right words.

“Gloria, you’re doing great! Just take a deep breath. I know you can do this.”

“Ah. Yes…I know I can. Thank you. The gem, it has…Gifts! Gifts of love, kindness, and inspiration. The storms are made by hearts that do not love. You use the gifts to touch the hearts of others, and they touch the hearts of more! Then the storms will stop. For the rock to become its gem, it required three acts of true kindness while it is with you. That is why it...showed its light. Now it is time for you to choose the shape and color of your gem," Gloria said, translating Elafros’s every word with perfection.

“Hmm…I know! I know exactly what it will be. I want a verdant green sword, with a hint of brown that grows when sunlight grazes it.”

Elafros brushes her eyelids in a scarf of red, green, white, yellow, brown, and silver, her lavender chest round as a candle and her tail moving as a vine. The colors pour out and transform the gem, Elafros returning to Gloria's flower.

“Rikou,’ Harmony yelled, flying in on Tigre. ‘Do you know how long I was searching for Tigre? Thirty-nine hours, and if you lost your wind bird, then you might have lost-The gem! I knew you would pick a sword!”

“Hola!” The boy from before, hops off Tigre and runs up to me with a bundle of drawings. All of my characters and armor designs are colored in, and he even blended the brown stains into mountains and hills!

“Look Rikou! He drew you! Aww, and he even gave you a crystal eye,” Harmony cheered.

“No warrior!’ The boy said, shaking his head, ‘Procer!”

“Procer? Gloria, what does that mean?”

Gloria smiles and says,

“Hero.”