The Legends of the Nizon

            Danny wasn’t too excited about going home. His dad was coming in from his house on Lake Manatwo, just outside Daze city limits. His mom and dad had been separated for almost a year. Danny’s dad Jay Knox, Esq. was a career man. He was a successful lawyer with political dreams and worked hard at being the best he could be. Caleb would often tease Danny about his dad being the original “Opportunity Knox”—until Caleb realized that it was really the truth and that it hurt Danny when he talked like that. Jay was a good lawyer but a very poor father and a worse husband. Danny was still numb from the split. He loved his dad but resented him leaving his mom. Danny’s grandma Eunice stayed at the house with them. She was a little white-haired lady, hunched over at the shoulders and rather inclined to mumble. She was a sweet old woman with a wonderful laugh that sometimes shook the house. “There won’t be a lot of laughing tonight,” Danny thought. Whenever Jay came to visit there was a fight, the kind of fight that took days to get over. As Danny walked over to the front of the house he could hear shouting. “Here we go, home sweet home.” He pushed open the door. As he walked in, he was blasted with a blinding light and heard the sound of something… ripping.

            As his eyes adjusted, he could see that he was standing at the edge of a field. Three large birdlike creatures swooped into the field from Danny’s left. He ducked down behind tall clumps of grass. Two were decidedly smaller then the other one. They were magnificent. They were full of fire and they altered from red to orange and then to blue and back to red. Danny was petrified. The creatures spoke in low gargling voices, and after a quick exchange they flew off. From the other side of the field Danny could hear a strange sound. He peered between the blades of grass to get a better look. Across the field he could see a strange, spindly-legged creature with large cones on its head. They reminded him of trumpets. They played music, sweet, beautiful music. But not like any Danny had ever heard. Suddenly the two small bird-creatures came crashing to the ground. They hit with a thud just a few feet from where Danny was hiding. The other bigger creature was angered by the noise and blue flames shot from its nostrils. Another creature came into view from across the field. Watery sludge came spewing from it with great force, slamming the larger firebird out of the sky. Frustrated and obviously hurt, it shook loose from the goo that covered it and flew out of sight. The other two, though groggy, made their way to their feet and followed their frightened leader. Danny watched closely as they left, still shocked at what he was witnessing. A shadow caught his eye. As he turned, he saw someone disappear into the forest on the other side of the field. With no warning everything vanished and Danny stepped into the entryway of his house.