The Book of Bones and the Stars

Ikaros

The cool breeze flows through my brown wavy hair as I'm standing on the edge of the cliff. The thrill of being up here like I'm king of the world is ridiculous. The tattoos snaking down my arms reveal themselves as I pull off my shirt, leaving me standing in my black palm tree swimming trunks. My eyes are changing in anticipation at the thrill of flying off this cliff. A smile breaks out on my face when I hear my name.

    "Ikaros get your ass off the edge of that cliff!" My friend Becca yells. I turn around and grin as I spread out my arms and fall from the cliff and beneath the rocky waves.

    "Woooo!" I say rising up from the water and shake the water from my hair.

    "I swear Ikaros one of these days you're going to give me a damn stroke." Becca says from the edge of the cliff and I can only respond in a fit of laughter. I swim towards the small bank the cliff side offers and wait for Becca to scold me for cliff diving again. I climb out of the water and she is already standing there in a black tank top and jeans scolding me. She gives me a look like what the hell, but I shrug it off. I shake my hair like a wet dog and head back towards the village with her. That's when I saw it, part of a plane hurdling out of the sky and crashing across the horizon past the border.

    "Tell Loch to meet me down there and warn Dax to keep patrol tight." I say before taking off in a dead sprint towards the crashed plane. She wants to stop me, but knows that I won't stop till I know everyone is okay. My feet are pounding against the rocky ground causing blood to sprout on the soles of my feet, but I don't care. The only thought running through my mind is if there are survivors from that crash. I'm running so fast everything is passing me in a blur, until I see it. Fire licking up what's left of the plane and smoke barreling toward the sky darkening the path. My eyes start to change forms until my enhanced sight begins to settle in. Loch isn't anywhere in sight yet, but there isn't much time till the flames engulf the rest of the plane. I run to the crash, but can't get close enough to see if there are survivors. I start yelling, despite how dangerous it is, to see if anyone can here me. I run my fingers through my hair in frustration, until I here a faint yell. I yell again hopeful to hear that someone is alive. A yell is returned and I barrel myself through the flames surrounding the plane. I know I'm burned, but I don't feel it. Smoke fills the plane and the smell of burning flesh invades my nose. I begin to start coughing as I pass rows and rows of dead bodies, but when I come across a scorched mother holding a bundle in her arms, I retched. Finally composing myself I head towards where I heard the yelling from. I open my mouth to shout again when a hand grabbed my ankle from underneath piles of luggage and shrapnel. I jump in surprise, but quickly recover when I see an injured girl struggling against the weight of everything on top of her. I jump into action and start grabbing luggage after luggage until I see her. I pull one more bag off of her and blood started rapidly gushing from a wound on her abdomen caused by shrapnel. The girl was pale and was losing a lot of blood so I rip part of a her shirt to stop the bleeding. I'm searching to find something to keep the fabric in place, while trying not to pass out from smoke inhalation.

    The smoke is growing thicker by the minute and it's getting harder to breathe. I need to hurry so I start searching bag after bag until I come across something that will help. Throwing another empty bag at the side of the plane in frustration.

    "Hang on, I'm going to get you out of here.", I say to the girl. Flames are starting to find their way into the plane, so I pick up the girl and hope to get her to the village before she bleeds out. I head towards the way I came in, but the flames are burning everything in their path and making its way towards us. Scorched bodies are crumbling underneath the fires path, quickly reaching us. I hold her as tight as I can and run into the flames, but before they can touch her I turn around so I'll take the brunt of the flames. I grunt in pain as the flames whip at my skin, searing and burning the flesh on my arms and legs. My face buried in the crook of the girls' neck as I make my way off the plane. The minute my feet touched the sand I run until the smell of smoke and dead bodies didn't fill my senses. I fall to my knees in exhaustion while still gripping onto the girl in my arms. She needs medical attention I keep thinking to myself, but my mind is telling me to rest. My vision is hazy, but I make out a figure running towards us and that's all I see before the darkness covered me like a blanket.