Return from Exile

Chapter 8 Dark Angels on Golden Wings

When D entered the hanger he at first didn\'t see anyone, but his keen hearing picked up on the quiet cursing in the curtained off back corner. \"Excuse me,\" he called, parting the tarpaulin.

The boy looked up suddenly, and at once his face went to shock. \"C-can I help you?\" he asked, swallowing his moment of fear.

\"Would you be Tyler?\" The boy nodded. \"Your father said to ask you to lock down my horses. He said you\'d know where and how.\"

\"Yeah. I do,\" he draped his rag over his engine, and dropped his tools into the box. \"Just over here.\" The boy took the reins and led the white pair over to a set of chains and harnesses, hanging from the rafters near the wall. \"Nice horses,\" he offered, seeing how the pair moved in unison when turned and backed up to the wall.

\"A pair of my father\'s carriage horses. Not what I\'d prefer to ride.\"

\"DL10s?\"

\"12s.\"

\"Really? Very nice.\" The boy thread the harnesses from the wall around each of the horses, all the while watching where the tall man had chosen to stand. He seemed so detached from his surroundings, as though he didn\'t care about anything, or curious about anyone. \"You flying out soon?\"

\"Soon. My father is making the arrangements with your father.\"

\"He\'s still in the hanger? Mom must have loved that.\"

\"No. They\'re at the breakfast table.\"

\"In the house!\"

\"That\'s right. Something wrong?\"

\"W-well, no. Not really. Just. Mom & Dad try not to bring business into the house.\"

\"Your mother was insistent your father eat. You mother invited us to join him.\"

\"Invited? Now that\'s rare.\"

\"Why?\"

The boy secured the last of the straps around the horses, and secured the chains at the rings along their backs. \"Well. It happened before I was born, but it goes that some guy showed up one night, asking for shelter for. Brice was three, I think, at the time, and there were a few extra rooms in the house. Mom offered the use of one of the rooms, they guy turned out to be a Vampire. He bit mom, nearly killed her, right in our own kitchen. Dad hired a hunter to kill him. Sense then, no one, during day or night, has been invited into the house. Today? Man, mom must have really flipped. Dad didn\'t say anything?\"

\"No,\" D answered, knowing then what his father must have done to gain an invitation into the house.

\"Man, dad flip too? That\'s rare.\" The boy shut down the horses, and pulled a leaver on the wall. Slowly the chains came taut, and the horses were pulled up and into the rafters. \"Not to worry. Your horses will be perfectly safe up there. Those chains can lift that big plane over there, six inches off the floor, and hold it for hours, before the rafters start to show signs of stress. Dad prefers them up there anyway. Don\'t have to move them when you need to bring a plane in.\" Just then a loud noise grew overhead from the distance. A noise both men recognized. \"Speaking of planes, Nadine\'s back. Come on. You can see Golden Flyer come in.\"

\"Golden Flyer?\"

\"Yeah,\" explained Tyler standing in the doorway with D. \"Each plane has a name, chosen by the one who mainly built it. The big one here is High Flyer 1. Brice has the same plane, ed Hed High Flyer 2, Elwin\'s got a smaller plane for people and cargo, and he calls it Cloud Hopper. Nadine built this one to transport small amounts of cargo to remote mountain areas, where the bigger ones can\'t go. She called it Golden Flyer.\"

\"And yours?\" D asked turning back to see the engine the boy had been working on, plainly visible through the parted tarp. \"What is it called?\"

\"Right now, a hunk of junk. I keep setting it on fire when I start it. I\'ll figure it out. And when I do...you\'ll see.\" The two turned back to see a single engine plane land on the only runway, and then come to a stop just outside the hanger. The plane was one D recognized as a Cessna, a fine plane to learn to fly in. But he didn\'t like to fly.

The pilot flipped some switches that stopped the propeller, then finished a few other things, then jumped out. \"Hey squirt!\" she yelled, seeing Tyler, as always, the first to greet her when she returned. Her dark hair cropped short and held down under a hat that didn\'t flatter her attractive features one bit. \"Who\'s your friend?\"

\"Not sure. He\'s here to book a flight. How was your trip?\"

\"Awful. The drop hatch kept jamming shut.\"

\"Sounds like the release mechanism is bent out of shape again.\"

\"Can you fix it? I have another set of deliveries tomorrow.\"

\"Yeah, I can fix it.\"

\"Thanks. You\'re my favourite baby brother.\"

\"I\'m your only baby brother.\"

\"And that\'s why you\'re my favourite.\"

\"Nadine! Welcome home!\" The girl turned to greet her two older brothers, and Tyler returned to his engine. He wasn\'t comfortable around his sister when his brothers were there. He always felt out of place. They always spoke about how their planes handled, the weather where they flew, the scenery from above, it all made Tyler feel left out, because he didn\'t have a plane of his own to fly to see these things for himself. And at High Flyers, you didn\'t fly a plane unless it was your own, and he didn\'t have his yet. But soon...yes, soon.

He once again went over the pictures of the engine in the old book he\'d scrimped and saved for so long to buy. He went over his own drawings, and followed the look of the engine as it sat before him. In his mind he confirmed that he\'d connected the right wire leads to the correct connections, he made sure all his hoses and fluid lines were connected, and not leaking. He even made sure all the bolts he could get to were tight. But still, despite all his checks, and work, the engine had still caught fire when last he started it.

He tossed his notes onto the bench, and slapped the books closed. Quickly he grabbed another tool kit, and headed out to the Golden Flyer. \"What\'s with him?\" whispered a tiny voice. D said noting, but slipped into the quarantine type of work area. \"What a mess.\"

\"He\'s got it working, but he keeps setting it off.\"

\"Oh, don\'t tell me you\'re going to play mechanic again? D you haven\'t been in a pit crew for a long, LONG, time.\"

\"Perhaps not, but one still knows how to look over an engine.\"

\"Well someone should tell him that the radiator fan is way, way too big.\"

\"No...I think he\'s trying to build an ultra light. A hang glider that moves much like a plane does, only for one person, and for low altitudes.\"

\"I know what it is. But why should you care?\"

\"I don\'t,\" he said getting a closer look at the blades of the propeller. One blade had a chip out of the inner edge of it. Upon closer inspection, the inner edges of all four blades had some minor flaws to them, like they\'d been struck by...or on...something as they turned.

\"What are you doing?!\"

D turned to see Tyler standing at the curtain, holding a hammer in one hand and a four-inch bar type of hook in the other. \"Your blades are too close to the housing.\"

\"What? The blades are perfect. I measured them myself. Five times!\"

\"I didn\'t mean to imply a sloppy job. But if you\'ll look, I think you\'ll see what I see.\"

As the man stepped back, Tyler looked closer to the blades. \"They have a little wear on them. I can fix that.\"

\"You\'re not looking close enough. Here,\" slowly D turned the blades. \"Look closely. As the blades spin, they vibrate ever so slightly off centre. The result, the blades strike the housing, possibly knocking loose this bolt that holds your fuel line. The fuel leaks out and the sparks ignite the fuel, setting the whole engine on fire.\"

\"We\'ll see,\" said the boy, giving the blades a defiant spin.

\"It\'ll go up again if you start it.\"

\"You\'ll see. It\'s not how I put it together...\"

\"Tyler...\"

\"...it runs fine!\" Tyler flicked the ignition switch, and the propellers started spinning. D jumped out of the way to ensure the exposed blades wouldn\'t hit him. \"You see!\" Tyler called over the motor. Then out of the corner of his eye, he saw a spark. \"SHIT!\"

\"Too late!\" D pulled him back and to the floor as the engine once more burst into flames. Quickly Tyler crawled back and hit the kill switch as D doused the engine with the extinguisher.

\"DAMN! I just replaced all the toasted hoses and wires!\"

\"You can do it ag\" \"

\"No...No I can\'t. I may as well admit it. Brice was right. I\'ll never get this thing to fly...I\'ll never get out of here on my own.\"

\"Tyler. Did your father give up when he built his first plane?\"

\"No. But...\"

\"Look at the number, and sheer size of it and the engines. He probably had lots of setbacks. So did your siblings most likely. But if you give up now, you\'ll always wonder if you really could have succeeded. Don\'t give up. But step back, look and think, as though you were someone else.\" D stretched out his hand to him to help him up. \"And it isn\'t like you\'re all alone in this like your father was. You have four other people you can turn to for help, advice and guidance. Don\'t throw that away.\"

\"Do you really think I can do it?\"

\"Your parents believe it, and from what I\'ve seen here, I believe you can too. Can I tell you a secret, you promise not to tell anyone else?\" The boy nodded. D lowered his voice slightly, he wasn\'t sure why he was going to say, what he was about to say. But for some reason, he trusted the boy, he just couldn\'t say why. \"I\'ve seen these Ultra lights fly, and yours will too.\"

The boy smiled. This strange man was really something. Seeing the thing fly? They hadn\'t been seen in thousands of years. But the feeling of renewed confidence spread threw him like wild fire, and he reached up and took D\'s hand.

Suddenly, it was li col cold wind froze him, he couldn\'t move. He was aware that he was still on the floor of the hanger, but then he thought he was somewhere else. He saw things, great wooden ships with masts as tall as cliffs, sails of cloud white material, stretched hard against the wind. Then he saw great machines, racing across the landscape, guided only by the speed of the turning wheels and the way a thin two railed track lead across the land. Then he saw other machines, cars, trucks, planes, even his ultra light, small boats, large container ships, and the grandest of all, a ship that went into space. Forced form the planet on great bursts of flame. Louder than thunder it roared into the sky, and later returned, much smaller than it was. He saw people, dressed in fine clothes and coats, traveling with suitcases, bags, and family and friends. He saw much more, more people than he\'d ever dreamed, buildings like he\'d never seen outside of books. Streets crammed with cars and trucks. People rushing here and there. And then...

And then a great terror. Buildings exploding, people running in fear, families torn apart by war, death, forced separation...and in the middle of it all, a need to return home. To return where it was safe. Soon he saw mountains, ancient castles, and quaint little villages. At the top of one of the tallest mountain, in the doorway to the oldest castle he\'d ever seen, stood a man. And only two words came to mind. Father, and home.

Tyler finally looked to D, his eyes refocusing on the figure that stood before him, a renewed respect for him, and no longer the fear he\'d felt when he\'d first appeared in the hanger. This man, a total stranger who he\'d found so easy to talk to for some reason, spoke the truth. \"I believe you,\" he said.

D\'s eyes went still and curious, not sure what had happened in that split second of uncertainty when the boy took his hand. But, he couldn\'t explain why, he had to tell him the truth. \"I\'m...\"

\"I know what you are. And what your father is. I can\'t explain how. Just promise me you wont let him hurt mom.\"

\"I know he wont.\"

\"Thanks,\" he sighed, rising to his feet. \"Care to give me a hand? I have to fix this bolt for my sister\'s plane, but then I\'d like to tackle this again.\"

\"Sure. It\'s been a while since I\'d used my hands to fix something. It would take my mind off...other things, if only for a moment.\"

\"Great.\"


It was almost noon, when Tyler\'s parents, siblings, and Dracula entered the hanger, to find D and the young aviator hard at work over the engine. Not only had the two repaired the engine, but rebuilt it, and were just finishing installing it to the buggy & glider, Tyler had already completed.

\"Well Junior,\" said Dracula, watching in silence with the family till now, \"I have to admit this is a side of you I hadn\'t seen in some time.\"

\"I need to pass the time,\" he said standing aside as Tyler pushed the flyer out onto the field.

\"You couldn\'t do it, hu,\" sneered Brice. \"You had to have someone else do it for you.\"

\"No Brice,\" confronted Tyler, surprising the much taller brother with a confidence he\'d never shown. \"What I needed, was another pair of eyes, and an extra pair of hands to follow my directions.\"

\"I still say it wont fly.\"

\"Yes it will. I\'ll prove it.\"

\"Now son, wait just a minute...\"

\"Dad. You had to at lease once let go of them on their first flight alone. Do the same for me.\"

Galen sighed, reluctantly, \"All right. Same rules apply though. Take off, circle twice, and then land. We then go over it, understand?\"

\"One condition. Brice doesn\'t touch it!\"

\"I wouldn\'t want to. You\'ll crash and we\'ll have to carry you into the house.\"

\"Brice! That\'s enough! Go on Tyler.\"

\"Be careful baby.\"

Anxiously they watched the boy strap himself into the seat, the great triangle sail held out above him, like an arrow pointing over his head to the sky. \"You best stand back Brice,\" he warned, strapping on his helmet. \"I\'d hate to run you over.\" He gave the ignition switch a confident turn and the propeller started, now shielded by a mesh fence. He let off the brake and guided the small craft down the runway, turned and started back. Though he picked up speed well, it didn\'t look as though the wheels would leave the ground.

\"I told him it would never fly!\" shouted Brice, trying to wave the boy down. For a moment he thought his little brother would run him over, then the nose of the sail pointed further upwards, and the craft sailed over their heads. \"WHOW!\"

\"AH! OH WOW!\" The older siblings all stood around watching their brother\'s craft, circle the airfield slowly.

\"Well dear,\" hushed Galen putting his arm about his crying wife\'s shoulders. \"Looks like our last chick has taken his first flight.\"

\"Yes. Now you just make sure all his landings are good ones.\"

\"Oh NO!\"

\"What is it Nadine?\"

\"He\'s in trouble!\"

\"The engine stopped!\" Elwin called.

\"Watch were he falls,\" called Brice. \"Remember your crash training, and if he\'s not dead when he hits the ground, I\'ll kill him.\"

\"You don\'t have to worry,\" D said calmly. \"Watch and learn.\" Seven pairs of eyes watched the sky as the orange, red and green kite like craft circled on the wind one last time. Then slowly, and gracefully it landed, silently rolling up to where his family stood.

\"Holly crap, little brother!\" shouted Elwin. \"How\'d you do that?\" Question after question his family tossed at the boy, as he climbed out. Slowly he made his way back to D, the broadest grin across his young face he\'d ever had.

\"Thank you.\"

\"For what?\"

\"For not letting me give up. Thanks.\"

\"Why\'d your engine quite?\" his father asked.

\"It didn\'t. I turned it off. It\'s designed to glide if it quits. What better way to test it?\"

\"Come on. We gotta figure out a name for it,\" his sister yelled. \"Come on Tyler, what are you gona call it?\"

\"How about Dud?\" called Brice. Everyone just looked at him. \"Face it. This thing is good for nothing. It can\'t carry cargo, it can\'t carry passengers. It can\'t do a damn thing.\"

\"Yes it can! It can get me away from you! In this whole place Brice, you are the only thing I won\'t miss.\"

\"Tyler you can\'t mean that?\"

\"I do Nadine. I\'ve wanted nothing but to get out of here since I was 15. Now I have that chance.\"

\"But you\'ll be all alone. What about us!\"

\"Cool it sis. I\'m not gona go forever, but I am leaving. I\'m going to the far shore. I\'m gona start an airstrip there. So you see, I\'ll just be a flight away.\"

\"I\'m very proud of you son.\"

\"Thanks dad.\"

\"I\'ll go with you,\" chimed Elwin. \"To...you know...keep you out of trouble.\"

\"I\'d like that.\"

\"Then it\'s settled. Two pilots here, two over there. Now. Mr. Tepes. We can have golden Flyer ready after lunch. You\'ll be arriving in Airomat near dusk. That ok with you?\"

\"Perfect. Payment?\"

\"$100 each is more than enough to buy fuel. Objections?\"

\"None, good sir. None at all.\"

\"You look tired, Mr. Tepes,\" Tyler hinted. \"You and Junior can use my room, if you like. I\'ve got some work to do here.\"

\"Thank you young one...that is most gracious. Junior?\"

\"I\'ll call you when we\'re ready to fly,\" Mr. Padlen stated. \"Nadine, I\'ll be going with you.\"

\"Sure dad.\"

\"This way gentlemen. I\'ll show you to your room. Oh Tyler, You did put your underwear away didn\'t you?\"

\"MOTHER!\"

\"Just checking.\"


\"You warped their minds, didn\'t you?\"

Dracula rolled over. He\'d slept only a couple hours, but the smell of bread baking had roused him. He always loved that smell. \"Only slightly.\"

\"Why?\"

\"Because I needed out of the sun. Besides I was as non-threatening as I could be. No harm will come to this family. I promise you that.\"

\"Tyler knows what we are.\"

\"You told him?\"

\"No. But somehow he knew. He\'s not going to say anything though.\"

\"That\'s good.\"

\"I tried to reach Adrian, but we\'re still too far away.\"

\"Its alright. The closer we get to Turngond tnd the others, the better chance I have of over powering them and clearing the block. It is the distance that is preventing me now, and they know it. You seemed quite at ease with young Tyler. That isn\'t really like you.\"

D turned his attention back out the window, staring back to the ultra light he helped build. \"They are trying, father, to rebuild from the ashes of this place. It felt...rewarding in a way...to help with that.\"

\"And Kale?\"

\"I\'m worried about her, yes. But there isn\'t a damn thing I can do about it...not yet anyway. But when I find her...\"

\"Steady son. The air has suddenly become so thick in here you can cut it with your sword.\" They turned at a soft knock on the door.

\"Mr. Tepes. We\'re ready,\" came Nadine\'s voice, a hint of curiousness to it, D was sure. Most likely over why two strangers were in the house.

\"Thank you, Miss Nadine. We\'ll be right down,\" replied Dracula, as he stood, stretched, and pulled his cloak back around his shoulders. \"Ready son?\"

\"As I\'ll ever be. I hate flying.\"

\"As do I, but we must do what we must.\"

\"One day father, you\'ll need to tell me how you can protect yourself from the sun, when others can\'t.\"

\"D, I though you knew already. The older the Vampire, the more advance the powers, though granted it is only for a limited time I can be out, and blood feedings play a key roll.\"

\"Enough. What you do is your concern. I\'ve been asked to make sure you don\'t hurt the family.\"

\"Oh not to worry. I\'m fine. Lets go.\"


After bidding good-bye to Mrs. Padlen and her sons, and securing a portion of the lovely smelling bread for the trip and the recipe for later, the Tepes boarded the small plane with Nadine as pilot and her father beside her. It was a quiet flight, aside from the drone of the engine. D reached out with his senses, trying to find Kale and Adrian as they neared Airomat. Dracula doing the same, only trying to find the renegade Vampires.

D could feel a stronger and stronger barrier, as they got farther north, and despite the heated interior of the plane, he couldn\'t help but feel cold. He pulled his cloak tighter and closed his eyes. He didn\'t want to look out, didn\'t want to be reminded how high he was, or that he was even off the ground at all. \"There!\" his father hissed suddenly, but only D could hear him.

\"We\'ll be landing in thirty minutes,\" called Galen.

\"Circle the plane!\" Dracula demanded.

\"What?\"

\"Circle the plane!\"

\"You crazy! We don\'t have the fuel for that!\"

\"Circle the plane! NOW!!\"

\"SHIT!!! DAD HIS EYES!!!\"

\"Be still both of you!\" D called, holding his hand over his dagger. \"We have no quarrel with you!\"

\"Circle the plane!\"

\"Do it Nadine! We\'ve no choice.\"

\"How dad? How can he be a vampire? It\'s full sun!\"

\"Please, don\'t hurt my daughter.\"

\"You and your family were never in danger from us,\" said D. \"Our purpose here is personal. Just do as we ask, and all will be well.\"

\"Will you stay Quiet!\" Dracula ordered. \"I need to concentrate.\"

D kept his eye on the pilots, as his father, appearingly, sat there looking out the window. But what D felt in his mind was quite different. He felt the rise and fall of mental powers, the screams and cries of those at war and lost to his father\'s far superior mental strength, and in the midst of it all, a familiar sensation of warmth and love. \'Kale, please hear me.\'

\'D, where are you?\' his brother\'s thoughts echoed.

Suddenly, the path was cleared, and D nearly fell off his seat from the mental rush forward his mind had taken. Steadying himself he found his brother\'s thoughts once more. \'Closer than you think,\' he said.

\'D? Where...how?\' \'Soon, Adrian soon. Where are you?\'

\'Mountainous desert. I\'m overlooking a valley, there\'s a plateau carved out by caverns, and a river. Kale is there, and a few others. D we can\'t leave them.\'

\'I can see you. I\'m right above you.\'

\'You\'re in a plane?! D are you crazy?!\'

\'Father\'s here too. We had to. Turngold has turned on Father, he\'s hoping to get to you and Kale before us, to use as leverage against him. They\'ve been blocking him, so we couldn\'t warn you.\'

\'Is father all right?\'

D turned to see Dracula rubbing his temples, but a rather satisfied grin across his face. \'He\'s fine. I guess.\' \'D \'D. I\'ve got an idea on how to rescue Kale, but I can\'t do it alone, and your horses aren\'t exactly listening to me. I need your help.\'

\'I\'ll be right there.\' \"Galen, you see that ridge of hills?\"

\"Yes.\"

\"Can you fly low over the back side, and let us jump out?\"

\"How low?\" asked Nadine, more than happy to push them out the door herself.

\"Five feet if you can manage it,\" said Dracula.

\"Its a tight fit. Dad, you better do it. I don\'t want to screw it up.\"

\"All right. Get ready.\" D pulled the pin on the hatch, letting it drop open, then watched as the ground slowly got closer. The dust started to fly, the closer they got. \"Ten feet! I can\'t get closer.\"

\"It\'s all right. Here,\" Dracula tossed a small pouch to Galen. \"For your extra trouble. Till another time.\" Dracula then disappeared through the floor, changing his form to that of bats, rather than hit the ground.

\"Thank you,\" D shouted, and let himself drop from the plane. The ground was always hard, whenever he struck it, but it was never a more welcome feeling than now. As he stood he gathered some of the cold dirt in his hands, and let it fall through his fingers, grateful he was standing on it once more. He watched where the bats, that would later join to become his father again, fly over the rise. He knew that on the other side, he\'d find Adrian, on a perch overlooking where his love was held. \'I\'m coming my Kale. I\'m coming.\'