Not too far to the East of the town of Barton, the long grass undulated lazily in the fields lining the road. Just over the horizon, the smoky sprawl that was Aekea was visible, the occasional distant clank or rumble rolling across the fields.
A grey and white cat stalked silently through the grass, tracking the birds whose singing he could hear eminating from the small bush on the roadside. Though perfectly content to spend his time sleeping, the bustle and noise of customers had prevented him from doing so today. Rudely dislodged from his spot on the counter, he had stalked out of the flap in the back door, head held high with injured feline dignity.
The Barton East Gate was the first thing that met his eyes, the Aekea Road stretching away into the distance almost invitingly. Tantalisingly. Yes, that'd show them. He'd go and get himself good and lost in the long, soft grass of Gaia. Then when a couple of days had gone by, and they were missing him terribly, he'd bound joyfully through the back door with a mew of delight, and they'd be so hap-
A square black brick interrupted the cat's reverie. It seemed to fall out of nowhere, plummeting from a clear sky and landing in the grass with a soft thump and fountain of coal dust. The cat leapt a good foot in the air, then set off towards Barton at a terrific speed. Absense may make the heart grow fonder, but at least eating catfood meant that vengeful bird gods didn't try to squash you with coal bricks.
The brick lay still on the grass, as bricks are wont to do. One of the small red birds, chirping smugly in the face of the vanquished feline menace, fluttered down from the bush and pecked curiously at the brick. A tiny sky-blue flame, no bigger than the flame of a birthday cake candle, bloomed out of a crack in the brick. The bird hopped backwards as a tiny orange flicker within the blue opened, like an eye.
A tiny tendril of the blue flame snaked out and waved shakily at the bird, as if trying to shoo it away. The bird hopped back further, and cocked its head. The tiny orange flames seemed to roll as if despairing of all birds. The brick shuddered, then pivoted onto one corner. The bird took a much larger hop backwards. It had spent a little time in Aekea, and knew enough to know that this was unusual behaviour for a brick.
The brick began to spin, the flame whipping crazily around in a thin arc. The flame rose higher, filling out into a hot blue whirlwind. As it did, the brick seemed to multiply like an amoeba. First it was one brick, then two, four, eight, on and on until it was a huge, blocky monolith surrounded by a sky blue tornado, rattling like a hundred sacks of coal falling down a spiral staircase.
The bird had retreated to the bush, where it cowered beneath the leaves with its fellows. They watched as the whole firey noisy mess started to slow down, the rattling becoming quieter. As it slowed, the black shape was revealled to be a towering black castle, with four great chimney-like turrets. The castle came to a halt with a great shudder, that seemed to signify that it had arrived at its destination. The blue tornado spiralled into the sky, then divided itself into four. The four whirls of flame circled the castle three times, then each dived down one of the four turrets.
The modest wooden door at the rear of the castle flew open, and a handsome face under a mop of unnaturally blond hair poked out and looked around. Leaning halfway out of the door, the face was revealled to belong to a tall man in a handsome blue and silver frock coat. He gave a great whoop of triumph then shouted into the shadowy recesses beyond the door.
"This looks like the right place. Start the castle, Calcifer!"
With another great shudder, smoke curling up from its four chimney-turrets, the castle started to rumble slowly North, towards the glittering blue sea on the horizon.
Howell Jenkins Community Member 
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Community Member