Chapter 1

Dove and the Moon Door

Just after midnight on the first day of fall, a little boy named Mitchell slept soundly in his bedroom. He lived in Tampa, Florida with his parents and spent his days learning in school and playing with his friends. Most of his days were similar and never changed, except this day. For this day would be unlike any other in his entire life. This is the day Mitchell went on an adventure to a strange, far-off land. This is the day Mitchell discovered a whole new world of monsters, mystery, and magic.

Mitchell awoke to the sound of tapping at his bedroom window. He was very tired so he closed his eyes and nearly fell back asleep. Another round of tapping at his window woke him up again. It went on until Mitchell threw his bed covers off him, sleepily dragged himself over to the window and carefully peered between the window blinds.

Staring back at Mitchell was a white dove. It stood on a ledge outside his window, perfectly still, almost glowing in the light of the full moon. The white bird looked right at him.

“Go away,” Mitchell whispered.

The dove did not go away. Instead, it tapped once on the glass with its beak.

Mitchell whispered again, “Shoo. Get out of here.”

Again the dove tapped once and stared at Mitchell.

“What do you want?

The dove looked at Mitchell as it waddled over to the window lock on the inside and tapped once, never taking its eyes off him.

Mitchell raised the blinds. “I’m trying to sleep bird. Go away.”

Very quiet, so as not to wake his parents, Mitchell slid the window open. White milky light from the full moon flowed into his bedroom, lighting it as if it was daytime. He was about to shout at the bird when it hopped towards him and turned into white smoke that quickly snaked into Mitchell’s bedroom. The small cloud of white smoke then took on a solid form in the middle of Mitchell’s room.

The young boy could not believe what he was seeing and froze. He almost yelled for his parents when the solid form suddenly became a young woman. She wore a white hooded robe and held a tree-branch staff.

She smiled at him but he could only see her mouth, not her face.

Mitchell tried to speak, to shout, yet could only gulp air. He looked at her face and felt calm and peace wash over him. She looked at him. He could only do the same.

The young woman quietly said, “Do not be afraid Mitchell”.

He guessed she was older than his sitter, but not by much.

“Who… who are you?” He managed to whisper.

She answered softly, “My name is Dove.”

He asked, “How… how do you know my name?”

“I know of you. I am a magician. Well, in training,” Dove answered.

Mitchell nodded yet he was confused. “Ho kay. Why are you here?”

“On your world? Because I need you and you are here.”

“No, why Tampa?”

“Ah, yes. It just so happens there is a tree door nearby. A Moon Door, and I am fortunate that you happen to live near that tree door during a full moon. Very fortunate indeed.”

“Tree door?” Mitchell questioned. “Moon Door?”

“Yes. It is a door. In a tree. A tree door. It only appears during a full moon. You shall need it to find my world.”

“Wait. What? I need to sleep. I can’t-”

Dove cut him off and said, “Rest assured young Mitchell, all will be revealed in time. Yet time is something I have little of, so I must ask you a very simple question. Do you want to go on an adventure?”

“Now?”

“Yes.”

“Right now? No.”

“Why not?” Dove asked, frowning.

Mitchell explained, “Are you crazy? I have school. I have to sleep. I can’t just runoff. Wait, you said you’re a magician?”

“I did. I know magic. The good kind.”

Mitchell asked, “Like, magic tricks? Or you know magic magic?”

“I am a magician. Perhaps, a wizard one day. That is is up to the council.”

“Right. Okay, Dove, I have to sleep.”

“So no adventuring?”

“No, but thank you, Dove. Besides, I’d need my hearing aids.”

Dove repeated, not understanding. “Hearing? Aids.”

“Yeah, they’re small devices that help me hear.”

“Ah, I see. Well, if you were to go you would need companions. Such as them,” Dove said. The young woman in the white robe pointed her tree-branch staff towards Mitchell’s stuffed animals on his bed. “They can be your extra ears.”

Mitchell looked back at his bed. “Them? My stuffed animals? They’re not even real.”

“Oh no? Are you so sure?” Dove asked him. As Mitchell watched, two tiny blue sparks shot out from Dove’s staff and each went into two of his favorite stuffed animals; a floppy, black and white long-tailed cat named Keller, and a tiny beige puppy named Maddie.

By the light of the full moon, Mitchell watched in amazement as both Keller and Maddie came to life on his bed. They both stretched and looked around them before they stared at Mitchell.

The young boy was absolutely amazed. He stood with his mouth wide open.

“How… how,” Mitchell stammered. “That’s impossible. They’re alive?”

Dove said, “Oh they are quite real. This is what magic is Mitchell.”

“But I don’t believe in magic.”

“That is the beauty of magic, it exists whether or not you are ready to believe. You see, they were already alive. I just let you see them as they really are. See, the magic I practice is good. It is also known as white magic. But there is also black magic. It is very, very bad. This black magic is taking over my world. I need your help to stop it.”

“Me? Why me?”

“I shall tell you why. Your mother and father lived in my world as children. They have no memory of their time as rulers, no memory of their lives spent in my world. Their memories have been wiped clean. They returned to your world many years ago and would be of no use now. But you can help me. I need your help to save my world.”

“No way. This is crazy. And also my parents know magic?”

Dove said, “Oh my no. But while living there they did happen to find one of the rarest magical items in my world. And I need your help in finding it again.”

Mitchell shook his head. “I can’t believe that.”

“It is true Mitchell. All of it. They found the White Cyclosa, a flower so rare it blooms in one place, producing only one seed at midday, every one thousand years. If eaten or boiled into a tea, its leaves grant extraordinary, absolutely unbelievable powers. Wars have been fought over one single seed of this flower. Somehow, your mother happened to find a White Cyclosa in the wild. She used it to keep balance as ruler in my world for decades. She ruled with your father and brought peace. She cannot help me now, but her offspring can. That’s where you come in young Mitchell. Will you help bring goodness and light back to my world?”

Mitchell began, “So you’re saying if I can help find this magic plant-”

“Flower,” Dove interrupted him.

“-magic flower, I can save your world?”

“That is correct. However, there is more to the story. Quite a bit more. No one knows where the White Cyclosa is, or if it even still lives. Those charged to protect its seeds have forgotten about it through the ages, the location lost to the long shadow of time. These Seed Keepers kept your mother’s flower safe, its seeds hidden safely away from evil. I need you to enter my world and find a Seed Keeper if there are any even left. Mitchell, I vow I will reveal the rest of the story in time yet, for now if you choose to go, you must leave at once.”

Mitchell thought about it for a moment, noticing now that his stuffed animals Keller and Maddie were both standing at his feet, looking up at him. He knelt down and carefully picked them both up. “This is insane guys. Are you really real?”

“We sure are kid,” Keller, the black and white cat softly said. Maddie, the tiny beige dog nodded yes.

Dove cocked her head to one side, awaiting Mitchell’s answer.

Mitchell peered down the dark hallway towards his parent’s bedroom. They were still sleeping and all was quiet. He made up his mind. “I’ll go.”

The young female wizard in training smiled broadly, her teeth almost glowing from within her white robe hood. “Truly wonderful Mitchell. We shall leave at once.”

“Should I change?”

Dove looked confused. “Change? But I rather like you for who you are.”

Mitchell shook his head. “No change my clothes,” he said, motioning to his shirt and shorts. “I wear these to bed. I can’t go on an adventure dressed like this. I’m wearing pajamas.”

Dove still looked confused. “What are… pajamas?” she asked.

He explained, “They’re clothes? You wear at night? When you sleep?”

“Do as you wish. Change into your adventure clothes.”

“No, we don’t call them adventure clothes. Just clothes. Nevermind.”

“Very well. Change your just clothes then. I shall turn around.”

Dove turned around, away from Mitchell while he quickly took off his pajamas. He fished around his dresser, taking out blue jogging pants with a single gray stripe down each leg, and socks before taking a shirt and a hoodie from his closet.

After Mitchell got dressed he tied his sneakers and asked Dove, “Where are we going?”

“You are going to Coral Cove, a tiny town in the southern part of the western kingdom of Ordovicia. Your adventure shall begin there. Estra is a large place after all. I need to keep you where you will be safe. Are we ready?”

“Do I need a bag or anything else? Mitchell asked Dove.

“No, the less you bring with you the better.”

Dove readied her tree branch staff, its thick knotted tip glowing blue in the darkness of Mitchell’s bedroom.

“Okay.” Michell looked around him one last time. He picked up Keller the cat and Maddie the tiny dog. “I guess I’m ready-” he began to say as a flash of blue blinded him.

A moment later he found himself in the woods behind his parent’s house, right at the base of The Big Tree. The Big Tree was the tallest and widest in the woods, used by kids all over the neighborhood to climb and play on.

“Why are we here? This is where your door hole is?

“Tree door, and yes, right there. Go on, take a look. See it?”

Even though the full moon lit the woods, they were standing in the shadow of The Big Tree and Mitchell saw nothing, at first. As he crept closer to the tree holding Keller and Maddie in his arms, he saw a tiny glowing white light from within the shadow. Mitchell was close enough to now see a fingernail-sized half-moon crescent symbol. It was on a small wooden door, also outlined in a wire-thin white light. “No way,” he whispered.

In a high pitched voice, Maddie said, “I don’t know about this.”

Keller added, “What are you kidding Mads? You see a glowy magic door in a tree every day? Oh yeah, we gotta check this out.”

From behind him them Dove said, “You will need some items to take with you on your journey.”

Mitchell reluctantly pulled his gaze away from the door. “How is it glowing like that?”

“Hmm? The moon door? It is enchanted with old elven magic, ancient and powerful.”

“Why did they make it?”

“No one knows. There is an entire field of study devoted to these old elven enchantments. They were especially fond of magic doors and holes, portals to somewhere else. Many are still hidden, even elves alive today do not know where most of them are.”

Mitchell said “Cool.”

“Yes, chilly indeed,” said Dove, reaching into her robe. “These are for you,” she said, handing Mitchell a small leather pouch. She touched the head of her tree branch staff and it glowed brighter blue so Mitchell could see.

He emptied the pouch into his palm as Keller and Maddie leaned over to see.

Dove also leaned in close and pointed to the spilled contents. “These coins are called Queens Coins and can be used everywhere for payment. As you see there are one, five, and ten-cent denominations. And those larger coins are worth one, ten, and one hundred. There is more than enough money here for you to find food, clothes, and lodging. Can you count money?”

Mitchell said, “No.”

Keller raised his paw. “I can, we totally got this.”

Dove smiled. “Very well. Lastly,” she said pointing to a wooden coin in his palm, “That is a Waycorn, made from the Grayven Tree in Ithendale. It was grown, enchanted by the white wizard Tala Thenthi, and lastly cut and carved into this small wooden coin. He only made five in his entire life, so do not lose this.”

“What does it do?” Mitchell asked.

“When floating in water the Waycorn points towards the direction you want to go in, just speak the name of your destination. It can be set on fire for warmth and to cook food, even when soaking wet. And it never burns.”

“Neat!” Mitchell exclaimed.

“Quite, never lose your Waycorn,” Dove warned. “You do not even know what I had to do to find this.”

Dove stood up. She grasped the long portion of her robe and walked over to The Big Tree, then gently used the glowing blue end of her tree branch staff to open the Moon Door. It swung open at the base of the massive tree and bathed them all in white light. “It is time young man. Make your way to the town of Coral Cove. Seek out the Dancing Dolphin Inn.”

“Wait, when will we see you again?” Asked Mitchell.

“That I cannot answer. However my friend will find you at the inn. You can trust her. Iris of Encelada shall be your guardian. She is a Day Ranger and will travel with you. She will also have a Waycorn and will present it to you. Remember, only enchanted Waycorns will stick to each other. If they do not, that person cannot be trusted.”

Mitchell said, “Got it.” He got down on his hands and knees and holding Maddie the tiny dog, began crawling through the Moon Door. Keller the black and white cat followed.

Watching Mitchell disappear through the magic door in the tree, Dove said to Keller, “Off you go then. And Keller, may you find the rest of your kind. Farewell for now Fennec.”

“Fennec? Wait what’s a...” Keller managed to shout as he was pulled through the Moon Door.

“There you are! You better get up now brother,” a familiar, male voice says. I hear him walk up to me, I feel him stand over me blocking the hot sun. I can hear his voice but cannot move, my body reluctant. “Goldbird? Goldbird!”

I open my eyes to look at him. It’s Warhog, my teammate. He’s a heavily armed 500-pound warthog who enjoys kicking ass, breaking bones, and watching competitive baking shows.

“Oh man, brother, you stink,” he informs me in a low baritone, gravelly voice, like two rocks grinding against each other.

“Ugh. So loud,” I say. “Wait, you look different.”

Warhog snorts, touching his intact tusk. “Awe, thanks for noticin. Got in a scrap. Dude broke my favorite tusk.”

“Crappy. What did you do to him?”

“Broke his face,” Warhog says and snorts again. “Come on brother, get up.”

“I need more time. Five minutes.”

“No way, it’s time to go,” he says.

I hear more voices nearby. I feel chunks of broken concrete under me. I must have hit the ground hard.

“You know, you aint supposed to drink and fly. Rule number one,” Warhog warns me.

“There aren’t any rules when you’re a superhero.” I see that I am in a wide alley between homes. My eye focuses on a group of young children who peek at me from behind an old woman standing in a nearby doorway. She is wearing a colorful dress and dark blue flats with a yellow bandana that keeps her long gray hair in place and away from her face. I really have to puke.

“Hey, you gotta wake up now brother,” Warhog repeats, nudging me with his massive hoof.

I respond by throwing up on the ground. The children hiding behind the old woman recoil and laugh at me. I try to move but I am dead weight. I have to get up. Summoning strength, I manage to rise up, pushing myself up to sit with my back against the wall. “Ugh, help me up, Hog.”

“I don’t know, brother. You gonna puke on me? You don’t look so good.”

Leaning against the rough cinder block wall, with both eyes open now, I look around. Up and down the alley people are looking at me. They are standing far away from me. People lean out of windows up above me. Further away I see a street where more people are gathered to look at me. Oh great.

Looking down at myself I see a costume, white with gold trim. A symbol on my chest is covered in vomit. And I pissed myself. Hours ago. My urine is cold and I am soaked in it, my nose burning with the smell.

I notice I am barefoot when a headache explodes like a neutron star. Ugh. I’m so hungover. More vomit followed by more laughter from those children. I use some fabric near me to wipe my face when a breeze picks up. The fabric begins to flap in the breeze and I realize it is connected to me, awkwardly wrapped around me. It is -- was -- a white and gold cape. And it too is soaked in urine. My head is killing me.

“Where am I?”

“Los Cabos, Mexico.”

“How the hell did I-”

“You don’t know?”

“No, it’s all foggy.”

“Oh. Yeah. You crashed here. Missed all these houses. Lucky you landed in this alley, brother.”

The alcohol fog bathing my brain is lifting now and I recall echoes of sobriety. I recall shots, then entire bottles of tequila. I feel for my mask. My mask. My mask is not on my face and they see me. “My mask.”

“Oh. Yeah. I don’t know where it is, brother. We gotta go.”

“They can see my face,” I say to Warhog. “We have to look for it.”

“Look, brother, that’s the least of your worries. Tank is looking for you. I didn’t check in yet so maybe we have some time. But you gotta get up. Now. We gotta go.”

“No. I want her to find me like this.”

“Are you crazy? If she does, you’re done.”

“No, I’m not. It’ll all be fine.”

Warhog doesn’t disagree with me he just shakes his head.

The situation I’m in is fully formed now. I got super drunk last night. Or yesterday morning. Maybe. I crashed here. Could have killed a bunch of kids. And my mask is gone. My mask. Without my mask, they all know my identity. That’s it for me. Game over. No more super-heroing. Also, I pissed myself. Big time.

“Where’s the rest of the team?” I ask.

“They’re kinda done with you, brother. Sorry.”

“What about you, Hog?”

“I’m here ain’t I? Took awhile to track you down.”

“You shouldn’t have come looking for me.”

“We’re buds.”

“I don’t have friends, Hog.”

“You don’t have to be an ass.”

“I’m not, just the truth.” So, The Justifiers are done with me. My team. Whatever.

Warhog stiffens and says to me, “Okay, well, Tank is inbound.”

“Great, the bitch has landed.”

“Don’t call her that. You know what, Goldbird? Everyone is right. I defended you, but you ain’t worth it.”

“Never said I was.”

Warhog snorts. “I shouldn’t have come here. Waste of time.”

“Yes, I told you that.”

“You’re on your own. Have a shitty life.” And with that, Warhog plods away, his enormous frame taking up much of the alley.

I hear a familiar sound. It’s the team jet taking off fast, one street over.

Then I hear Tank. She is a black bullet ripping through clouds high up in the sky. Tank comes in hot, hovering above me. The gathering crowd near us moves back as she lands right near me, her suit’s jets burning bright and hot. She is protected by her armored gray and yellow exo-suit, a full-body weapon she developed. Tank is formidable. We fought years ago, back when we first met. She was wearing the original suit then. This thing must be new. Looks shiny and dangerous.

Tank is also the leader of The Justifiers, the inventor of all the tech we use, and the de facto spokesperson. I hear people cheering as they realize who she is. I look up to her. She stares at me from two slits in her facemask. I remember no one cheers for me anymore.

Tank says, “It was smart of Warhog to split before I got here.” Shaking her head she looks down at me, speaking low. “Well, Goldbird. You did it. You unbelievable piece of crap. You happy?”

“Not really sure what I did so-”

“Oh, let me guess, did you ‘black out’ again?” She asks, using air-quotes. “You gonna use that old gem?”

I look down to examine myself again. “Look Tank, I know this looks bad but...”

“You think this looks bad? Are you serious?” Tank asks. “Only you could make this about yourself. How about ‘I’m sorry I almost destroyed these homes’? Or, ‘I’m sorry I got drunk again’? Or, ‘How can I fix this, Tank?’ Anything that disproves what everyone thinks about you.”

“I-” I begin to say but cannot continue. She’s right. I don’t care about anybody except myself.

Tank says to me, “You are done, you hear me? Done.”

“Wait. What? This, this is no big deal! Look-”

“You don’t get it, do you? Remember three strikes and you’re out?”

“Uh, yeah, but listen-”

“You remember Saint Patrick’s Day 2017? You destroyed a city block in that drunken fight with Gorbo-Jorbo? And it cost us, what, about 60 million to fix your screw up?”

“Um...yes, yes, I do.”

“You remember Cinco de Mayo 2018? You literally used an aircraft carrier to smash Compaction into the Golden Gate Bridge?”

I grin at that one. “I do. Although in my defense that little turd was made of millions of nanobots that-”

“Shut the hell up! Don’t you dare defend that!” Tank shouts. “Do you realize how hard we had to work to evacuate that bridge? You put thousands of people at risk. They had to quarantine the bay area for weeks because of you. And surprise surprise, you missed it all after passing out.”

“Ugh, this again, Tank? No one got hurt. Except me. Once again I had to be the leader and selflessly put myself in danger to save lives. And it worked. You’re welcome.”

“You asshole! You are not the leader of our team! I was helping evacuate the bridge. That’s what leaders do. Leaders think of others first, they think of their teammates second. Like always you just charged in. And are you capable of taking responsibility? Ever? It’s never your fault, right? Well, guess what Goldbird, you can’t play the hero and be the victim.”

Tank points a finger at me as she takes a step forward, the motors in her exo-suit quietly whirring. “We saved everyone without you. Like every other time we were left to pick up the pieces. We saved lives because you alone couldn’t. Or wouldn’t. You’re no hero. You’re a mean drunk with superpowers. And guess what? You’re fired.”

And there it is. I can’t believe this.

She waits a moment before speaking. “No snappy comeback? No shitty comment blaming this on someone else? That’s a first. You know what Goldbird? I’d feel sorry for you if I knew that you cared. That you in some way actually gave a crap about anyone but yourself. But you don’t. So I don’t. This is all your fault. You’re a burden to us. To everyone.”

Tank moves toward me again, motors whirring in her suit as she kneels in front of me. She leans in and says, “I want to tell you something Goldbird. Hey, look at me when I talk to you, Greg.”

I look up, barely able to look in her eyes.

Tank whispers, “Like everyone else, I used to think you were a god. I saw you put the moon back. I saw you smash the alien ships like mosquitos. I saw you close a black hole. I saw you save billions of people over and over. I’ve seen parades dedicated to you, statues made in your honor, schools and colleges and parks named after you. For years I’ve seen little boys and girls dress like you for Halloween. People looked to you to be strong because they couldn’t. People looked up to you for hope and salvation. You were what they aspired to be. But those days are over. The truth is you saved billions of people but you couldn’t save yourself.”

I stare at her in disbelief. Not that I don’t believe her, I do. It’s that I’ve been blind… to the truth.

“I loved you Greg Goldberg. I loved you before you learned to fly. I loved you when you became Goldbird. I loved you hard. I loved you with all my heart and then some. But this monster you turned into, this person is a stranger to me. You’re filled with so much self-hate, so much false ego and unearned narcissism, I don’t know who you are anymore. And you don’t either. Kids around the world don’t want to be like you anymore. They laugh at you because you’re a joke. They make fun of you. They call you Superdrunk. They sing songs about you and your drinking.”

Tank looks like she’s about to cry but does not. She whispers, “You were given these special powers, these gifts that let you walk across the sun, but you ended up crawling into a bottle.”

She holds back tears as she continues softly. “I can’t ever be with someone like that. I don’t want someone like that on my team. And I certainly don’t want our daughter to be around someone like you. It’s not fair to her. For whatever reason, you can’t bring yourself to be in her life. You sure can arrive at photo ops and conventions so your ego gets stroked, but you can’t even manage to make it to your own daughter’s birthday party. So you know what I do? I lie. To my own child. Not for you but to protect her.”

“I hate that you put me in that position but what else can I do? Let her stay up once again waiting for you? You can’t do that to a child, Greg, and you shouldn’t do that to your own. I started telling her you’re not her real daddy but she’s smart. She’s smart and she knows. And she’s starting to use her own powers. I don’t have any so she got them from you and I’m scared.”

“She does?” I ask weakly. “I… I didn’t know.”

“How would you? You haven’t seen her in months. And once again out of all I’ve just said to you, the only thing you hear is about you.”

Tank shakes her head and stands up. Stepping back, she says, “No. No more. I’m tired of feeling like this. So fly away little bird. Fly away to another world. Do us all a favor and don’t come back.” With that she looks at me one last time before flying off into the blue sky.

She’s right. The least I can do is leave. So I fly away. I leave Earth and fly straight on till sobriety. Weeks pass before I get bored and find a pretty blue planet like Earth. I land, bury my costume and begin to remember who I was, who I wanted to be.

I am a superhero. I am a living god. I am Goldbird.