Made of Stone

And He Wept for the Living

A huge black raven sat on a branch and closely observed a wolf, whose eyes remained on the raven. The wolf bared its teeth and released a menacing growl, threatening the raven, who, unfazed, continued to simply stare at the wolf. After a couple seconds of this, the raven slowly extended her wings, looked at the wolf in the eyes, and took off. But the wolf wasn't finished. Enraged, it leaped into the air and caught the overconfident raven by the wings and pinned her down. With its ferocious claws the beast tore away her wings as slowly as she had previously dared extend them until the pop finally gave away and the wing was completely torn off, oozing rivers of blood...

"NO!" Aleyna groaned, falling to the ground and waking from the horrific dream. She began to convulse, her back arching under extreme pain.

"Aleyna? Aleyna!!?!" David called across the hall, startled by the thud that originated from her room. As soon as he burst through the door and saw Aleyna on the floor, he couldnt help but let worry tear away at his heart despite the fact her convulsions had occurred at least once every five months. He perfectly remembered the first time her convulsions had attacked her. It was the day after the twins had turned eleven on a rocky beach where the wind seemed to flirt with the calm water and the sunlight turned the water into a brilliant blue. Aleyna had dove into the calm waters in search of sea shells while David relaxed on their small boat, carving an angel. Suddenly, quite literally like a fish out of water, Aleyna began to thrash and convulse, not making it to the surface. David remembered the panic and utter terror that had paralyzed him for what seemed eternal seconds. Then, instinctually, he dove into the water after his sister and managed to row them back for help. The attacks themselves lasted for only minutes, while their effects lasted about a week or more, depending on their severity.

"Its ok, you'll be ok." He coaxed, picking her off of the cold ground and placing her back on her bed. It hurt him to see her go through her attacks, but nothing they had tried-from spells to herbs- would cure her.

"David!" Aleyna gasped, her body relaxing, "David, my wings... the raven...oh God its wings..."

He sighed and held her hand tightly. "Aleyna, it was just a dream, take a deep breath in...relax..."

He began to sing her her lullaby, hoping to relax her, aware that she had hallucinated wings many times before.

She seemed to quiet down when suddenly a new wave of pain stormed across her back near her spine. Aleyna yelled out in pain, red and black spots courting each other across her vision.

"David, I...you.." her sentence was interrupted by rapid gasps as she fought not to black out, "..just do it. I can't...it hurts..."

David understood immediately. "Aleyna, are you sure? Its dangerous."

"David," Aleyna pleaded as tears streamed down her cheeks, "I dont care, please!"

Grimly, he stood up and decided to comply with her demand.

As soon as he exited the room he took a moment to process everything. It didnt matter how many times they had done this before, he would never be mentally prepared to watch his sister in so much pain.
After regaining his composure, he rushed to the kitchen, crushed a leaf from a fire bush that grew near the arid mountains into a blood red powder, and ran back to his sister.

Aleyna was bathed in sweat and pale-well, even more pale than usual-her body trembling.

"Aleyna, can you help me by turning so your back is facing up?" He requested, helping her turn over. Quickly. He sprinkled the powder on her back. As he massaged it, he willed his healing gift to flow freely. A faint yellow glow covered her back where the red powder touched her skin and spread to her head. After a few seconds, Aleyna stopped trembling and her body relaxed. He wondered and hoped she would only remain unconscious for a single day and not four like she had last time...

Trembling himself, David set up at blanket at the foot of her bed, not caring that he would have to cancel his meeting with Reyna tomorrow. His chocolate brown eyes explored the rough texture of the roof and his eyelids grew heavier by the minute...