"Don't be shy, click the vote button"
Music given above recommended with earphones....
A woman soared above the dusky clouds. Her wings created shadows on the land below. Her hand reached towards her bulging stomach, trying to settle the unsettling babe inside her.
Giving out occasional grunts, she continued flying in pain.
Finding a place to give birth deemed difficult as the skies above were not preferably a good choice.
She would've chose a house inhabited by the sons and daughters of men. But she had recognized the small peaceful village down below. Rudark.
If anyone saw her, she would be killed mercilessly, along with the child.
The sky is darkening too. Yes. Peaceful. Just what she would require. No. Something her child would require.
Suddenly she gave out a small cry of pain.
The woman immediately flew down and rushed to a small ditch that was made to dunk compost.
Definitely not hygienic but that's the only option. People seeing a being like her would cause extreme mayhem. Best to lay low.
She laid a long cloth underneath her and gave out raspy breaths of pain, when she felt the strong kick. She spotted a long thick branch nearby, picked it up and placed it on her mouth to bite down the outrageous pain.
She closed her eyes and murmured under her breath 'Oh lords of Almeria. Help thy descendant. Thy child. Let this old fool's offspring rise from the womb'.
Shutting her eyes and biting down on the stick, she pushed. Her extreme attempts making her weak. 'Oh lords!!!' she mumbled. She pushed. And pushed. Her wild cries successfully muffled.
Her nose started to bleed. Her wings quivering.
She gripped the dirt and compost for support. For a second she stopped pushing, looked up the sky and gave two heavy breaths and pushed.
she felt her womb contract and finally releasing the bawling babe.
She jumped and pulled the child to the warmth of her bosom and wings.
It was exceptionally dark but the new mother was able to see her daughter peacefully in slumber.
'The lords have granted me a beautiful daughter' she said while she rocked the babe and hummed a low lullaby.
She sighed in melancholy, when she remembered her true goal of her coming.
She lifted her wings and flew above the ditch. Ahh fresh air at last.
The illuminating lantern of the sky welcomed the child with its full glow. The sprinkled dust of the dark twinkling in joy. The wind blowing off the heaviness of the mother's pain.
The mother kept on. She walked to the village.
It was midnight.
All beings of the village sleeping peacefully. While the lands far away were at war.
She kept forward. Her eyes set on a small house with cows and horses, watched her in silence. The little child gurgled in her arms. 'Almost there my child' she whispered.
She kept her ears at the door of the house and listened. A peaceful house indeed.
She laid her wrapped up child in blankets, on the floor and knocked the door sharply several times.
She heard noices from inside.
'Someone is outside' said a woman's voice. 'Its bloody midnight' grunted a man, 'Hurry. Open the door before the children wake up'.
She heard distant footsteps. She backed away.
Lifting up her wings yet again. She looked at her child for the last time, smiled with tears rolling down her cold cheeks and took off to the skies.
And now the clouds consumed her.
A girl placed her glass down after downing a liquid dark tonic. Her face twisting is disgust.
'How does it taste Aerona?' asked the girl near her.
'Tastes like depression and bad choice' Aerona said while continuing, 'And yes that's what I dreamt last night'
'Unbelievable. Aerona do you expect us to believe that rubbish anytime soon..?' asked a young lad while drinking down a tankard himself.
'Hah. She thought we'd believe it' the girl said.
Aerona pushed back her dark locks of wavy hair and said 'That is why I had said it was a dream. Dreams, my dear dumb poppets, are figments of our imagination'.
'But certain times dreams do come true' said the girl while getting up.
'Certain dreams yes. But not impossible ones' said the lad helping Aerona up too.
'Yes' sighed Aerona. The dream had surprisingly started to haunt her. She expected it to vanish from her thoughts but it was like a sickness that refuses to go away.
Aerona walked back to her home, tired and in pain.
She pushed open the door and she was received in with a side hug from her older brother and a warm smile from her mother.
'You are late. You promised to brush the horses' said her older sister while she crossed her arms.
Aerona shrugged and replied 'I forgot'. Her remark got a glare from her sister and she stomped outside.
'Mama I think the lace behind my back has given me a cut' said Aerona while she walked towards her mother. 'Cut?' asked her mother turning her around.
The mother pulled down the zip and unbuttoned a small compartment of the dress. And suddenly from that hidden compartment of cloth arised a magnificent pair of lucious white feathered wings.
Aerona slowly stretched her sore wings in the small room.
Her brother eyed the wings and said 'It has grown quite large. What do you think would happen when you flap it fast'. 'I'd probably be lifted off the ground' said Aerona.
'Don't even think about it. Airen go fetch the mild ointment. It's the small blue bottle' the mother said checking for the cut.
'Agh mama right there at the scapular' winced Aerona while Airen walked in holding the blue bottle.
The mother pulled her shoulder and stretched the wings from the scapular and behold there was indeed a small cut. It was bleeding slightly and the surrounding feathers were stained.
The mother doused a cloth with water and dabbed the blood and cleaned it. She pulled open the cork of the bottle and slowly poured the content onto the cut.
Suddenly the wing jumped up in reflex, knocking a table over and hitting Airen squarely on his groin.
'Ahh sorry' whispered Aerona to her brother.
'Sorry my ass' said Airen while walking away a good distance and watching her from that distance.
'My...the wings have grown immensely strong too' said the mother resuming the process. 'It has' whispered Aerona, 'Mother why do I have to wear all these clothes to cover my wings. I want to walk proudly with my wings held high'.
'No. You know why I and your father hide your wings. If people see your wings, they'll have your head' said the mother without looking at her.
'Its better to die than to hide your true self from the people' Aerona argued angrily.
'Oh believe me we would have killed you if we never pitied you' the mother yelled but stopped suddenly when Airen and the older sister, who had come inside hearing the commotion, yelled 'Mama!!'.
The mother looked shocked at her own words. She quickly said 'You know I didn't mean it'.
Aerona looked at her adoptive mother with her eyes brimming with tears and said slowly 'I know you meant it all' and walked out of the house and ran to the forest.
Her siblings and mother trying to catch up with her but she being faster than any one of them disappeared from sight.
Aerona sat under the shade of a tree. Her wings was still in view. She ruffled her feathers while she sobbed.
It was true in a way.
Anyone would have killed her if it weren't for her adoptive family. They kept her in as their own member. Hiding all risks, keeping her safe from the outside. Aerona appreciated the love but hated the protection as this took a great toll on her both mentally and physically.
She bowed her head in shame.
She was born a freak. No wonder her birth parents left her.
As she hurt herself with these thoughts she did not sense a figure coming behind her. He was a holding a long knife. Poised up his head.
Aerona saw a shadow.
She suddenly looked up and her eyes went wide in shock. She screamed.