August 1492
Vallombrosa Forest, near Firenze Italy

A hard rain pelted the riders as their horses crashed through the forest in hot pursuit of their prey. High pitched screams louder than the rain filled the air as some of the unfortunates were run to ground. Two of the horsemen lagged behind to search the undergrowth with lanterns held high. The leader pulled up short when he saw a lone figure crouched beside the path. He slid off his horse and grabbed the man by his oversize hood.

"I have you now, you heathen devil. You will not escape the abbey again," he said as he pulled the figure out of its crouch.

"Indeed. I see no need to escape since the abbey is my home," the captive said calmly.

The horseman pulled the man's hood back and gasped in shock.
"Father Andrew. What are you doing here?"

"Much the same as you I expect, looking for escapees."

"Oh. I thought Friar Savonarola only sent the guards. I was not aware that the brethren were also out tonight."

"I do not know about my brothers. I just found it rather difficult to sleep with the pandemonium going on right outside my window, so I came out to help if I could."

"Well, it looks like the others have had more luck than we have. I better go on up and join the fray. Goodnight Father."

"Goodnight."

The priest stood aside as the guard and his companion rode up the path. He watched them go without making an effort to return to the abbey. When he could no longer see the lantern light he walked over to a massive oak tree and whistled up into the branches softly. In a few minutes a tall grey haired elf dropped to the ground from several feet above.

~|~

"I heard the screams Father. Who did they capture, do you know?"

Handion Moonwalker asked earnestly.

"I did not see who it was Handion, they are too far ahead. I sneaked a group out of the abbey two hours ago, so I fear it might be them."

"Who was in that group?"

"Elion Trueshot, Levos Silverspear, Halama Windwalker and Galia Eveningfall."

The other man groaned, and Father Andrew put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"It saddens me too, but you cannot help them now. You must save yourself and the rest of your family. You best use Enrico Del Marco's machine before dawn. It might be spotted by daylight."

"Yes. We must leave immediately. I put a protective shield of invisibility on the machine, but all of our natural abilities were wrested from us since then, so the spell may not last."

"How can your miraculous powers have been taken away?"
Handion shrugged. "I do not know. Friar Savonarola is merely a human fanatic, not a sorcerer gifted with the magic of my people. He could not take our power without the help of some powerful members of our own race. I do not know who they are, or why they are determined to destroy the rest of us, but as soon as my family is safe I am going to come back and strangle that information out of Savonarola."

"If I had not sworn a vow of non violence I would help you. The best I can do is get as many to safety as I can, so go now, and Godspeed."

The two friends clasped hands in farewell, in the human manner. Father Andrew turned aside to make his way back to the abbey before his duplicity in the captives' escape was discovered.

"This is ridiculous. I am too old for climbing. I wish I could still fly. I hope those egg-sucking sons of whores who took our powers away, will be burned forever in the fires of oblivion!" Handion grumbled as he climbed back up the tree.

As he neared the thickest section of the mighty oak, a strong hand reached down from above and pulled him up onto a large circular platform that rested solidly among the branches.
"Did you find out who they caught, Papa?"

"It might be the four friends who shared our cell at the abbey, Orthorien. I told Elion Trueshot to go to the mountains, but he thought they would have a better chance in the forest."

Handion's son sat down and hugged his knees, his shoulders shaking in the effort to hold back tears of sorrow.

"Elion was always stubborn, but he was a leader. He dragged everyone else down with him. Nothing makes sense anymore. More of our people are disappearing every day. I can't forget the wild look on the face of that friar when he captured us. The way he screeched that he would not stop until every last one of our race was extinct, chilled me to my very marrow. Their religion is supposed to be based on love, kindness and tolerance, but he and his followers are threatened by everything about us that is different."

"Aaah, you cannot judge the entire barrel by one bad apple, Orthorien. There are many more good humans than bad ones. Your friend Enrico for example. He designed this contraption just to help us get away to safety."

"True," Handion's son nodded abstractedly as he looked around at the machine he had helped Enrico build.

It was a scary looking thing, but it was their only hope. It seemed to be just slapped together, because there was so much open space between the young saplings that were fitted evenly around the base, but it was actually pretty sturdy.

Handion's wife Istimiel quietly knelt beside him at the edge of the platform. She laid her head on his shoulder, letting her long grey hair fall in ringlets on his chest, squeezing his hand reassuringly to give moral support.

"How fare the children, Mama?" Orthorien asked.

"They are secure, and prepared for the chant to make this machine fly.

"Will our magic work on it, when we no longer have our abilities anywhere else?"

"I am certain of it. We tested it just before we were captured. I used Enrico's sketches to build it with my abilities while some of them still remained, but I cannot tell how long lasting or powerful the spells were. The spell of invisibility I put on the outside sealed our magic inside, so we were able to use spells to navigate it up this tree after I lost my powers. It is difficult to tell how the machine will react when we get it airborne, but it still gives us a small chance of survival. That is better than no chance at all."

"True. I wish we had been able to make our way here before we were caught, but the horrors we endured at the abbey are best put behind us. We must make a start of it then, before the children go to sleep again. It has been a harrowing day for them, and they are exhausted," Istimiel said.

Both men nodded their agreement. Handion grunted tiredly as Orthorien helped him stand up. They followed Istimiel to the thick oaken shaft which rose above the centre of the craft. As they walked past the perimeter saplings, Handion grasped one and tried to dislodge it from the wide iron band at the top of the shaft where the young trees were bent and bolted to it. Neither tree nor iron band budged. It reassured him as he made his way to the solid framework which surrounded the shaft, about three feet out from the base.

This structure contained six wooden seats with a foot between each one. They were enclosed individually by an open box made of lengths of willow sapling. Orthorien went around to each of the outer willow posts which formed the ribs of the machine, to make sure the wooden crates of supplies were securely tied down.

The two children Taurvantian and Vendethiel sat side by side, tied firmly inside their enclosures by ropes made of tightly woven vines. The four adults tied themselves in beside the children in male / female sequence - Handion, Istimiel, Taurvantian, Vendethiel, Orthorien, and Nanethiel. Little Vendethiel was just tall enough to poke her arm out of the open framework, to grasp her brother's hand. The rest of the family joined hands all around the circle.

Handion looked straight up to the top of the shaft. Inside the iron band were four oversized oak oars attached to the shaft by the ends of their handles. Square holes were cut into the upright beam to match the handle ends, which the oars were driven into, then secured with pitch. These oars served as blades for the flying machine. The bottom of the beam was firmly attached to a turntable built into the base of it. A strong spell would cause the blades on top to spin fast enough to lift the machine off the ground. Subsequent spells would guide it - he hoped.

"Make sure the chain of our clasped hands remains unbroken, so the strength of all of us as a family goes into the spell. We must concentrate very hard when we cast it. I have a spell that will take us above the forest, away from the dangers that await us on the ground if we stay. We need to fly far enough away to find a home and a better, safer future for ourselves. I do not know how widely this persecution has spread, but we will need a human who is willing to hide us until we can find permanent safety. Now hold onto each other tightly while we chant the spell. When we start moving, let go and hang onto the willow in front of you as hard as you can," Handion called out softly into the darkness.

As Handion closed his eyes to concentrate, he considered the possible consequence of his actions. There was no way of knowing where they would end up. He sighed deeply as he squared his shoulders and prepared to throw himself and his family into the abyss of uncertainty.