Sam burst through their cottage door, gasping for breath.
The black rain was falling harder now, sizzling against the windows like angry snakes. Their rainbow wings were still glowing so bright that light seeped through their cloak like colored fire.
"Nana Rose!" Sam called out, their voice shaking with fear. But Nana Rose was already waiting in the living room, her face pale as moonlight.
On the table beside her lay an old book with a cover made of shimmering scales. Sam had never seen it before.
"Sit down, little star," Nana Rose said quietly.
"We need to talk." Sam's heart beat.
"The dark creatures they're real! And they know about me somehow. They called me Rainbow Guardian, but I don't understand"
"Because I never told you the truth," Nana Rose interrupted, her voice heavy with guilt.
"I thought I could protect you by keeping you unaware. I was wrong." She opened the ancient book, showing pages filled with beautiful drawings of people with rainbow wings.
The drawings seemed to move and shimmer as Sam stared at them.
"Your wings aren't just rare, Sam. They're famous." Nana Rose's finger traced one of the drawings a figure with rainbow wings standing before a massive shadow monster.
"Every thousand years, a Rainbow Guardian is born. They're the only ones who can stop the Shadow King." Sam's mouth went dry.
"Shadow King?"
"An old evil that feeds on fear and darkness. He was removed a thousand years ago by the last Rainbow Guardian." Nana Rose turned the page, showing a fight scene that made Sam's stomach twist.
"But victory came at a terrible price." The new page showed the Rainbow Guardian lying unmoving, their wings faded to gray.
Around them, the country celebrated, but the hero was gone.
"They... they died?" Sam whispered. Nana Rose nodded, tears streaming down her face.
"The Rainbow Guardian saved everyone, but using that much magic burned them out totally. Their wings lost all color, and their heart stopped beating." Sam jumped up from the chair, their covering falling away.
Their rainbow wings blazed with every color possible, casting dancing lights across the walls.
"I won't let that happen to me!" Sam shouted.
"I won't die for some stupid prophecy!"
"Listen to me!" Nana Rose grabbed Sam's shoulders.
"The Shadow King has back. Those dreams, the gray wings, the dark clouds it's all his doing. He's gaining power, and soon he'll be strong enough to destroy everything."
Outside, lightning cracked across the sky, but it was black lightning that left lines of darkness instead of light. The storm was getting worse.
"Why didn't you tell me before?" Sam ordered, their wings pulsing with angry red light.
"Because I hoped it wouldn't happen in your lifetime," Nana Rose said desperately.
"I thought maybe the prophecy was wrong, or that someone else would be picked. But your wings have been glowing for weeks, haven't they?"
Sam's anger deflated like a burst balloon.
They had noticed the glowing, especially when they felt strong feelings.
"How did you know?"
"Because mine did the same thing." Nana Rose stood up and walked to the window, looking out at the storm.
"Fifty years ago, I was the backup Guardian. If anything happened to the real one, I would have taken their place." Sam's jaw dropped.
"You have rainbow wings too?" Nana Rose smiled sadly and spread her wings for the first time Sam could remember.
They were beautiful silver wings, but as Sam watched, colors began to flow through them like liquid light faint rainbows that flashed and danced.
"I was never as powerful as you," Nana Rose revealed.
"My rainbow magic was weak, which is why I stayed hidden. But I learned everything about the Guardian's power, hoping I'd never need to use it."
A crash of thunder shook the house, and both Sam and Nana Rose looked toward the window. The black rain was falling so hard now that it was difficult to see outside.
"What am I supposed to do?" Sam asked, their voice small and scared.
"You're going to be careful," Nana Rose said strongly.
"The Shadow King is still weak from his thousand-year banishment. But every day he gets stronger, feeding on people's fear and stealing their wing magic." Sam remembered Alex's words about people falling with gray wings.
"He's the one draining people's colors?"
"Yes. And when he's powerful enough, he'll come for you directly." Nana Rose closed the old book and held it out to Sam.
"This contains everything I know about Rainbow Guardian magic. Study it, but don't try anything dangerous alone." Sam took the book, feeling its weight like a stone in their hands.
"What if I'm not strong enough? What if I can't save everyone?"
"Then we'll find another way," Nana Rose said, pulling Sam into a tight hug.
"I won't let you face this alone like the last Guardian did." As they hugged, Sam felt something strange happen to their wings.
The wild, jumbled colors began to settle into a steady, gentle glow.
Their grandmother's presence made the magic feel less scary.
"There's something else," Nana Rose whispered.
"The Shadow King isn't just trying to destroy the country. He's trying to steal your colorful magic for himself. If he wins, he'll become unstoppable." Sam shivered.
"How do you know all this?"
"Because I was there when the last Guardian fought him." Nana Rose's voice became detached, as if she were remembering something terrible.
"I was just a child, but I saw everything. The fight, the sacrifice, the way the Guardian's light saved us all." She paused, looking straight into Sam's eyes.
"But I also saw how the Shadow King escaped at the last moment. He wasn't truly defeated just weakened and expelled. And he's been planning his return ever since."
The lights in the cottage suddenly flickered and went out. In the darkness, Sam's rainbow wings provided the only light, casting colorful shadows on the walls.
"He's testing his power," Nana Rose whispered.
"The storm is just the beginning." As if called by her words, a new sound joined the howling wind a deep, menacing laughter that seemed to come from the storm itself.
The voice was ancient and cruel, filled with hate that made Sam's wings dim with fear.
"Soon, little Guardian," the voice whispered through the walls.
"Soon you'll understand what real power looks like." The laughter faded, but the threat remained in the air like poison. Sam clutched the old book tighter, their rainbow wings trembling.
"He knows where I am."
"He's always known," Nana Rose said sadly.
"Rainbow wings are like a signal to him. That's why I made you hide them all these years."
Another crash of thunder shook the house, and this time, Sam saw something that made their blood freeze.
Through the rain-streaked window, a massive shadow passed overhead something with wings so big they blocked out the lightning.
"Nana Rose," Sam whispered, pointing at the window. But when they looked again, the shadow was gone, leaving only the storm and the terrifying knowledge that something much worse than nightmares was coming to Aetheria.
The Shadow King was no longer just a tale. He was here. And he was hunting.