When A Life Is Lost (NaNoWriMo 2013)

Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Ania was surprised to say the least, but it only took her a moment to regain her senses.

“What?” she managed to spit out.

“There’s no time to explain,” He said, pulling her out, before stopping for a moment, “But there is time for you to grab your stuff.”

She looked at him incredulously, before running quickly in and grabbing her bag. She slipped the dagger into the side pocket again and pulled it onto her shoulder. As soon as Malus had seen she was ready, he grabbed her arm and pulled her out. She stumbled for a moment, and he looked concerned and apologised.

“I’m sorry,” he said, “But we need to get somewhere fast, Ania.”

He knows me as Aurelia. How could he...?

“How-” she faltered for a moment before continuing, “How do you know my name?”

Malus ignored her question, but continued to pull her – albeit a little slower than before.

He pulled her through the restaurant (Ania was able to give the receptionist the payment for the room quickly, with a brief apology to the stunned man at the desk) and down an alleyway and into another street. As soon as they stopped, Malus started to look around. Ania mimicked him – there was no-one to be seen.

“How do you know my name?” she asked again, hoping he would answer this time, as he seemed in less of a rush.

He smiled briefly – the first smile that had displayed on his face since she had seen him – but ignored her question. He bent his knees slightly and leapt into the air. Ania started to laugh – it was almost comical – until she saw him in the air, and her laugh stuck in her throat.

He had wings. Malus had wings! There were like hers, but instead of being covered in pure white feathers, they were jet black. Instead of the gold streaks that adorned her wings, Malus had light brown streaks running across his. It was both fascinating and terrifying. She also felt a deep sense of betrayal – it was obvious that Malus knew what she was, and didn’t tell her that he was the same.

“Come on, Ania!” Malus shouted down to her, angling his wings so he was looking straight down.

Ania shook her head to clear her thoughts – questions and consequences could wait until later. She mimicked his movement and leapt into the air, shooting her wings out in synchronisation. She adjusted the feathers as she rose, coming closer to Malus’s altitude. Her wing muscles groaned – they were still aching from the last flight – but kept their rhythm. When she got up to Malus’s height, he turned without a word in the opposite direction and flew off – obviously expecting Ania to follow. She held the strap of her bag on her shoulder and moved it, so it wouldn’t obstruct the movement of her wings.

She took a final look back at the houses behind her, and then flew in the direction which Malus was travelling.

* * * * *

The flight took many hours, and they did not speak much during the flight. Malus was concentrating on getting there as quickly as he could, and Ania was still angry with him.

How could he hide something this important from me?

Malus did try to speak to her sometimes. Once Geramina had faded from view, and they were over the mountains, he seemed to relax, slowly his movements. He looked over to Ania, and smiled in relief – as if he was worried that she had not been able to keep up or had refused to carry on.

Great, smile-y Malus is back.

“Are you okay?”

So now he was concerned with her well-being. She ignored him and flew to the side – still making sure that he could be seen – the worst thing would be to get lost in the mountains around Geramina. She wrapped her arms around herself and shivered. Not only was it freezing, but she felt both angry and upset at what Malus had done – or hadn’t done.

She knew it wasn’t a huge deal, but...He had lied to her, almost. He withheld important information that would have been good for her to know. Yes, it was his life and his secrets. Yes, she barely knew the guy. But it was still knowledge that he should have given her.

Ania wanted to ask him more about what had happened, but she could not face him yet.

Was he present at the Fall?

She shook her head; she had to wrap her head around the fact that she was not alone first.

Malus seemed concerned by her behaviour, asking her more questions as the journey went along. From every unanswered question, Ania could see that he was becoming more and more agitated, although there was only a little leaking into his voice. He seemed to know that she was angry and felt betrayed. Even so, his efforts to get her to talk to him were unceasing, although Ania never replied.

Finally – after what seemed like hours travelling, she was exhausted, cold and hungry.

“How much further is it?” she asked quietly, turning slightly to face him.

He smiled a little, and pointed to a small shack on the edge of the forest. He started to descend and Ania followed him, both landing on the soft, tall grass outside the property.

Now that she could see it more clearly, she realised that it was more of a cottage than a shack. There was ivy climbing up the side of the house, and wildflowers grew everywhere. The whole place gave the air that it was either extremely neglected – or even abandoned.

Malus stood for a moment, watching Ania survey the area. He nodded slightly, indicating that it was safe to stay here, even with the wild looking landscape.

Malus gave a whistle which echoed into the air, scaring Ania.

They both waited, listening to the echo of the whistle. Malus seemed to be waiting for someone. Just as Ania was about to ask Malus what was going on, a woman came out of the cottage.