Sam jolted awake, sweat dripping down their face.
The nightmare felt so real giant shadow creatures with bright red eyes chasing them through dark clouds.
Their heart hammered against their ribs like a caught bird.
"Another bad dream?" Nana Rose whispered from the kitchen, her voice filled with worry. Sam nodded, pulling their cover tighter.
For the past week, the dreams had gotten worse. Every night, the same frightening images: creatures made of darkness, a figure with black wings, and screams echoing through the sky.
But Sam wasn't the only one having strange thoughts.
At breakfast, Nana Rose's hands shook as she poured tea. Dark rings shadowed her eyes.
"The whole kingdom is having nightmares, little star," she said softly.
"Mrs. Chen from next door came by yesterday. She's barely sleeping." Sam's stomach twisted.
Through their bedroom window, they could see the edges of Aetheria wrapped in thick, black clouds. The clouds hadn't been there a month ago. Now they grew thicker every day, like a dark blanket trying to drown their beautiful kingdom.
"Maybe it's just bad weather," Sam offered, but even they didn't believe it. Nana Rose shook her head.
"This isn't natural weather. Something bad is coming."
At school, things felt different too. Students talked in the hallways, their voices nervous and scared. Even the teachers looked worried, looking out windows at the growing darkness. During lunch, Sam sat with Riley in their normal spot by the crystal fountain.
Riley's silver wings were dimmer than normal, and she kept rubbing her temples.
"Did you have the nightmare again?" Sam asked, cutting into their sandwich. Riley nodded miserably.
"The one with the shadow animals. They were chasing me through the library, and I couldn't fly fast enough." She shivered.
"What if they're not just dreams, Sam? What if they're warnings?" Before Sam could answer, Alex landed beside their table with a heavy thud. Their golden wings, usually bright as sunshine, looked dull and tired.
"The Queen called an emergency meeting," Alex stated, their voice grim.
"Three more people fell last night. They're alive, but..." Alex stopped, looking around to make sure no one was listening.
"Their wings have lost all their color. They're completely gray." Sam's blood turned to ice.
"Gray wings?"
"Like something drained the magic right out of them," Alex continued.
"The doctors don't know what's causing it. But everyone who fell had the same nightmare shadow creatures stealing their wing colors." Riley grabbed Sam's arm.
"That's exactly what I dreamed last night!" As they talked, Sam felt a strange tingling feeling under their cloak.
They looked down and gasped. Beneath the thick fabric, their rainbow wings were glowing with soft, colored light.
The colors pulsed like a heartbeat red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple over and over. "Are you okay?" Riley asked, noticing Sam's shocked face.
Sam quickly pressed their hands against their coat, trying to hide the glow.
"I'm fine. Just... tired." But they weren't fine. The light was getting stronger, and they had no idea why.
That afternoon, flying practice was canceled. Professor Windsworth, their flight teacher, looked pale and exhausted.
"Go home early today," she stated to the class.
"Stay close to your families. Don't fly alone after dark." As students filed out of the school, Sam noticed something horrible. The dark clouds at the kingdom's edge were moving.
They crept closer to the crystal towers like reaching fingers.
"This is getting scary," Riley whispered, walking beside Sam toward the exit. Alex caught up with them, their golden wings folded tight against their back.
"I overheard the Queen talking to the Royal Council. They're talking evacuating the outer islands."
"Evacuating?" Sam's voice cracked.
"But this is our home!"
"Not if those clouds keep growing," Alex answered grimly. As they walked through the academy courtyard, a cold wind swept across the country.
The temperature dropped so fast that Sam could see their breath.
But more scary than the cold was the sound that came with the wind a low, haunting whisper that seemed to come from the dark clouds themselves.
"Did you hear that?" Riley asked, her silver wings shaking. They all heard it. The whisper grew louder, and suddenly Sam could make out words:
"Rainbow wings... rainbow wings... we're coming for you..." Sam's heart stopped.
The voice was speaking directly to them. Alex and Riley looked confused, looking around for the source of the whisper. But Sam realized with increasing horror that only they could understand the words.
Under their cloak, their rainbow wings blazed with bright light. The colors were so bright now that Sam worried their friends would notice, even through the thick cloth.
"We should get home," Sam said quickly, trying to keep their voice calm. As they hurried toward the school gates, the whispers grew louder and more insistent:
"You cannot hide forever, Rainbow Guardian... we know you're here... we're coming..." Sam stumbled, their legs shaking. Riley caught their arm, her face full of worry.
"Sam, what's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost."
"I... I just want to go home," Sam managed to say. Alex stepped closer, their golden eyes studying Sam's face.
"You're hiding something. I can tell." Before Sam could answer, a terrible sound split the air a roar so loud and frightening that every student in the courtyard froze.
The sound came from the dark clouds, and it was getting closer. Professor Windsworth burst out of the school building, her blue wings spread wide.
"Everyone inside! Now!" Students screamed and ran for the doors.
Sam, Alex, and Riley were swept along with the crowd, but as they reached the door, Sam looked back over their shoulder.
The dark clouds were moving faster now, rolling toward the school like a massive wave. And within the darkness, Sam could see shapes huge, terrible shapes with bright red eyes.
The shadow creatures from their dreams were real.
And they were coming. Sam's rainbow wings pulsed with such strong light that their cloak began to smoke.
The magic inside them was responding to the coming danger, but Sam didn't know how to control it.
As the academy doors slammed shut behind them, Sam realized with growing fear that whatever was coming for Aetheria, it was coming for them specifically.
The whispers had called them by name: Rainbow Guardian.
But Sam had never heard that name before in their life.
What did it mean? And why were the shadow things hunting them?
Outside, the roaring grew louder, and the first drops of black rain began to fall from the dark clouds, sizzling like acid against the crystal windows.
Sam's wings blazed brighter than ever, and they knew with cold certainty that their life was about to change forever.
The darkness had found them. And there was nowhere left to hide.