Rainbow's Arc

Chapter 1 of 4

Rainbow crouched behind a boulder while the storm tore the world apart. She had left her painted galaxy house three days ago to chase a stolen brush. That brush could bind storms into colors and mend the balance of her land. Without it, the sky turned violent, like the wall of black wind now blocking her path. She could not go around it. She could not go back. Her pet pressed close against her side. The dragon's scales flashed rainbow and star-flecked, its wings splashed with wild color. It shivered each time thunder cracked. Rainbow held its neck and felt its heart pound against her palm. "We have to get through," she said. "The brush is out there. This storm is proof someone is using it wrong." The dragon huffed and shook its head. Rainbow understood. Flying into that wind would break its wings. She dug through her pack. Her fingers found the wand her grandmother had left her. Its surface swirled with painted galaxies and rainbow streaks. A crystal glowed at its tip. Rainbow had never used it against a storm this big. She only knew the old rule: calm, do not fight. She stood. The wind knocked her back a step. She planted her boots and raised the wand. "Stay low," she told the dragon. Rainbow closed her eyes and pictured the storm as spilled paint. She swept the wand in a slow circle. The crystal brightened. A thin ribbon of color streamed from the tip and touched the black wind. Nothing happened. The storm howled louder. Rainbow gritted her teeth and pushed harder, forcing the wand forward. That was the mistake. The crystal flared white. The wand kicked back and threw her flat on the wet ground. Pain shot up her arm. But the color held. Where the ribbon touched, the black wind thinned into a narrow passage. It glowed with soft blue and gold. The gap was small. It would not last. "Now!" Rainbow shouted. She scrambled onto the dragon's back. It lunged into the glowing passage. Wind clawed at them from both sides. The dragon beat its wings once, twice, and shot forward through the gap. They burst out the far side and crashed onto open ground. The storm sealed shut behind them with a boom. Rainbow rolled off the dragon and lay panting. She still gripped the wand. But its crystal had gone dark and dull. She tapped it. Nothing. The blast had drained it empty. She sat up and looked at the ruined tool in her hand. The storm was behind her now. The path ahead was open. But the wand was her only way to calm the next storm. And the brush that had made this one still lay somewhere ahead, in worse hands than hers. Rainbow climbed to her feet. She had passed the wall. Now she had to find whoever held the brush, before the next storm came and she had nothing left to stop it.