BLACKBIRD (NaNoWriMo 2014)
@GINGER442
Prologue: Dust on the Wind
The man swiftly cut through the night without making a sound, and he knew that he was running out of time. He needed to get to the academy within the next few minutes, not only because these woods were dangerous at night, but because the bundle in his arms was vulnerable to the forces that lurked in the shadows.
Why, you might ask, did he choose such a night and such a route? He didn’t even know. All he knew was that his window of opportunity was open, and that he would never get such a chance again because if he hesitated even a few seconds, this whole thing would be over, and the bundle in his arms would be dead without even getting a chance at life.
As he ran, dodging tree roots and branches blocking the path, he remembered the words that were spoken to him moments before this run had started. “Take her to the academy; it’s the only place that she will be safe.” Sure he didn’t agree with what was said to him, but there was no turning back for anyone this night. But that was weeks ago, and he had been running ever since he was sworn to do this insane run across the country side.
The wind was picking up, and tendrils of fog were creeping around his ankles. The man ran faster, even though he knew that going as long as he had been, he was weakened and wouldn’t be able to go on if that fog managed to surround him. Twigs snapped behind him where none had snapped before, and the dead branches above him shuddered and smashed together with the newly sprung wind. This was most definitely not good; not good at all, and he knew that the trees were going to fall and block his way forever if he didn’t hurry up. The spirits that inhabited this forest were not happy, and were very obviously looking for anything dumb enough to wander into it to suck the life out of. He knew that normally the spirits wouldn’t even look to kill him, but this night was entirely different. Darkness brewed in the air and infected them, and even though he was of the dark, they were threatening to reach out their prickly arms and claim him and the bundle in his arms as their own.
He could distantly see the field, up ahead through a break in the branches, and the creaking and groaning around him reached a newfound high. Even in his weakened state he could run faster than any mortal could, and yet the fog continued to creep up on his legs, reaching higher towards the bundle in his arms. Behind he could hear the trees falling and their roots ripping out of the ground, and he knew that the spirits were playing with him; taunting him with their proximity and just how easily they could reach out and kill him in an instant.
Before one of the spirit inhabited trees could reach out and crush him and the bundle like a bug, he dodged to the right. He swung around and continued on a different path, continually increasing his speed. As he vaulted over a log, one of the trees reached out lightning fast and managed to grab him by the leg, tripping him. He landed hard, but managed to cushion the fall for the bundle in his arms, although he did hear a little cry from it was he was dragged away from it and closer to the fog.
The man spun over, and yanked at the branch. There was an ear splitting scream, so loud in fact that he thought his eardrums were bleeding, and the branch broke off in his hands. Instantly the iron grip on his leg relaxed and he was up on his feet immediately. The fog had continued to rise and get thicker, and he grabbed the bundle and ran faster than ever before, even though when the spirit had grabbed him it had drained some of his energy. Through the gaps in the trees he could see the field illuminated faintly by the half moon, and he focused his last remaining ounces of energy to getting out of the forest.
The trees continued to crash behind him; the scream of one of their sisters had awoken many more of them, and they were determined to get him. They knew that he was not a mortal now, and they were acting quicker than before. As he neared the edge, he could feel their prickly fingers brush his back, but before they could grab him, he broke through the tree line and as the rough terrain turned to the smooth one of a farmer’s field, there was a horrid crunching sound. He turned to see what had happened, and he smiled as the branches clawed at what seemed to be an invisible wall. It was then that the creeping white fog hit it and flew skyward as if it was looking for a way over the invisible wall. The man knew that there was no way for it to escape, and he watched the branches scratch and slam at it, angry that their prey had escaped, until they faded into a white wall of opaqueness. It was then that he turned around to face the academy.
He had made it at last. After all those weeks of running and being hunted, he had made it alive, and with his precious cargo still breathing in his arms. He had beaten the odds, and they were unharmed. Well, relatively. The man was looking pretty rough, and had multiple cuts and scrapes all over his body, but they only added to the other scars he had before he had started his run. He sighed as he remembered the violence he had left behind, and walked towards the academy that lay to his right. Gravity seemed to weigh on him as he waded through the frost bitten grasses, and he knew that even though he had made it through the forest, he wasn’t exactly safe yet. The two of them were still vulnerable and in the open, and the man knew that the moment that he walked through the grand doors up ahead the protection the school offered would spread and umbrella them. That is, if the headmistress let them in.
Even in the dim light, he could see the front doors opening, and a very angry looking woman stepped out of them. She was dressed for bed, but she managed to look intimidating despite her haphazard appearance. The man knew that she was probably going to send him away because of what he was, but he had to try and get Dani in there and safe.
She met him at the bottom of the stairs, and he got the mental image that her name was Anderson. Ella Anderson, and she hated her first name a lot.
“Is there a reason that you went through my forest and made them angry?” Her voice was cold as ice, and it sent shivers down the man’s spine. Her eyes weren’t much better, and he knew that if he wasn’t careful with what he said he would be taken down right there, right then.
“Yes, there is. I, we, need help.” He was trying to look harmless, but he knew that she wasn’t going to believe that he wasn’t the dangerous thing that he was.
“And why should I help you?” Anderson’s eyes narrowed, and the man could practically feel the hair on his head freeze.
“Her parents are both dead, and if you don’t help us something very bad is going to happen to everyone.”
Anderson’s eyes softened a little, but her gaze was still frigid. The man knew that he wasn’t convincing her.
“You’ve got to help us. We’ve come all this way, heck, I even went through your forest. If I was planning to kill you I would’ve already, so why don’t you just let us in, Ella?”
Her face went slack, and all the blood drained out of it. “How do you know my name?” She whispered, going up a step.
The man didn’t answer her.
“I said, how do you know my name?” Anderson was getting mad now. Her frigid stare had turned hot, and her teeth were tightly clenched.
“You know why.” The man was ready to run if he had to. He knew that Anderson now knew what he was, and she could kill him anytime she wanted to. She reached her hand out, and he had the sick feeling that she was going to kill him right on the spot. He knew what she was capable of, and what she said next shocked him.
“Well why didn’t you just say so?” Her face broke into a smile, and she took the bundle out of his arms. The man tensed for a moment, but relaxed because he knew that it was in Anderson’s best interest to help her.
“Because I thought you’d turn me away.”
“Me, turn you away?” Anderson laughed. “You obviously didn’t pry hard enough. You’re the best thing that’s happened to me all night.”
The man was puzzled. If it had been anyone else, they would have turned him away. Did Anderson have a soft spot for his kind?
She looked down at what was in the bundle, and her smile became even broader. “Well, hello, there. What’s your name?”
“Her name is Dani Blackbird.”
“Well, isn’t that just a splendid name?” Anderson said as she turned to go into the academy. She turned to the man. “We have a lot to discuss.”
The man nodded, and followed her in the door. Before the heavy wooden doors shut, he took one last look at the outside, and all of the frozen grass rippled in the wind, and some flakes of snow blew in the gust like dust on the wind. The man frowned, because all that was left of his old life was dust. Dust on the wind, blowing away from the ashes.
He closed the doors before he could think of anything that he had left behind, and it seemed symbolic. The man was closing a door on the previous chapter of his life, and was starting on his new one, and he could only wish that would have less heart break.
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Many years went by, and no one knew exactly how Dani Blackbird had ended up at Spence, except Anderson and one other trusted associate. As far as anyone knew, Dani had always been at the academy, and it always puzzled people to why she was there, because she had nothing unusual about her. The poor child was surrounded by people with extraordinary powers her entire life, and yet she had none. She was completely, utterly, normal, and this caused quite a lot of controversy, but Anderson was not to be moved on her decision to keep Dani where she was. No one knew why Anderson was so attached to the child, but in the end it was ruled that Dani was to stay at Spence, powers or not.
So, in other words, Dani there to stay.
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