Sam's smile made me tremble where I stood.
I stumbled away as his free hand began to reach. I had barely taken a few frantic steps backwards when he had already managed to snake his hand in a c shape around me, just inches away. Before I could go any further, he had curled his fingers behind my back and began to prod me with his thumb. I instinctively backed away from it, not taking into account that it was merely pushing me straight into his hand. The huge thumb was on me quickly, shoving down on my chest so I fell backwards into his awaiting claw. My feet slipped of the ground and I tripped straight into his cupped hand, tensing up as the feel of warm skin surrounded me. I knew it was pointless, but I tried to squirm away from him.
"Come here." He shushed. Just one of his fingers would be enough to hold me down, but now, all four of them were about to wind themselves around me. To my dismay, four fingers curled around my body. He gave a low chuckle when I smacked at his skin, both of us knowing he had me trapped in the hand.
With a scowl, I pushed against the rough edges of the fingers, my stupid stubbornness coaxing me into putting up a fight. Getting picked up by giant people was getting old very quickly. But I immediately stopped when one of the fingers slipped tight around my waist. My arms had gone weak. Once I was in his hold, a smug smile spread on Sam's face, dominating my vision. He pulled me up off the table.
My knees were pinned together in his grip, only my chest and arms free to move. Now, I remembered just how stupid it was to fight against a giant whose hand was bigger than my entire body. My body became still as the table grew smaller beneath my feet, his fingers still latched tightly around me. He smiled at my face, still holding Micah in his other hand. Most likely I was pale.
Now that the giant had both of us at his mercy, he turned his attention to the scuffed jar that was lying pathetically on the table.
"Honestly, Mike..." he shook his head with a voice as loud as thunder, "You shouldn't have done that."
I was jolted around around in his grip as Sam leant over to him, "Here, you should apologise."
To my horror, he let little Micah slip into the grip of the other human.
"No- no," I stared to strain. Only, Mike didn't even frown. As soon as the tiny boy was dumped in his hand, Mike was leaning over to the mass of bags and equipment lying in the corner of the tent. My heart sunk, remembering that I had seen countless other jars there before. Confirming my suspicions, his hand swiftly found another empty prison.
"They just got on my nerves." Mike groaned from beside me.
A chill went up my spine, making my wings jitter nervously.
"Still." Sam watched him place the open jar on the table. Both of us were waiting to see what the human would do with the tiny boy.
After he had checked over Micah's trembling body for signs of harm, Mike simply placed the boy inside the crystal. Each movement of his fingers was gentle and slow; he cradled the tiny body in the dips of his fingers until the hand was close to the bottom of the jar. Only then did he nudge Micah into the prison, and even then he barely used an ounce of force. When Micah slid safely out of his fingers, he removed his hand from the jar. Slowly, so he didn't hurt the small body inside. Then turned to meet Sam's teasing look.
"That was a pretty shit apology."
Mike just shook his head, laughing quietly, "Shut up, Sam."
Now trapped inside the jar, the boy looked around frantically. He pressed his hands against fresh glass once he found me. Though he was clearly still angry with me, his face had twisted up with worry upon seeing me in the giant hand. As usual, Sam paid no attention.
I gave Micah my best brave face, trying to tell him that I was fine, but even I knew that it wasn't very convincing. How could I act like I was okay?
The small boy then went abruptly taut. Shaking a little, he took a few steps backwards and distanced himself. Not from me, but from the thing that was gripping me. I gulped, already feeling the eyes on the back of my head.
All of the attention was on me when I turned. Two spotlight eyes were staring down at me, watching my ever movement. I looked back at Sam, not daring move as he held me before him. What do you want now?
There was a chilling pressure running down the back of my head before I knew what was happening. I froze, feeling it tug at my messy hair. Not aggressive, but light... It stopped and started sequentially, smoothly gliding from the top to the bottom of my head. I shuddered, unable to turn to see what it was.
Sam's booming voice made me jump. "You're quite protective of that kid."
He looked down at his new prisoner. Micah inched further away, hands shaking. Sam then turned his attention back to me.
I don't think he realised, but his grip had tightened. It was then that I realised that the pressure on my head was the feel of him stroking my knotted hair.
I wrinkled my nose with every brush, despising the feel of his fingers on my head.
"Get off me." I spat. For some reason he seemed to find it funny when I tried to shove the touch away.
"Aww, don't be like that." He murmured, though he did stop.
Instead, he relaxed his hand, releasing my legs to hold me in his hand. I sat in the centre of his palm, refusing to let myself tremble. I made sure to keep my hands firmly tucked close to my chest and away from the fleshy floor below.
"You know, if you take us to this tribe of yours, you'll be with him again." Sam must have noticed my rigid body, must have watched my eyes widen at the mention of Aspen.
The laugh at the shaking I could no longer hold back sounded almost genuine, "I can't wait to meet him. The way you talk about him, he must be special."
The thought of him getting Aspen too... it made me feel sick. I turned away from him as an involuntary grimace struggled to break my composure. Fingers came towards me at an alarming speed not a second later. I managed to sip at the air, my shoulders tensing as the giant yanked my face to his.
"Do you miss him?"
I stared up, wide-eyed. He had me cupped in just one hand. There was no intent to pin me down or restrain me, he knew I wouldn't dare try anything but shudder. Not after all the threats, still looming.
Do I miss him?
Sam gave another smirk when he noticed the flushing behind my freckles. Slowly, he coiled his four fingers around my waist, not caring about the weak protest I gave.
"I can tell that you do. You really do." His eyes were effortlessly absorbing my every emotion. I turned my face away again, blushing horribly. The humiliation of helplessly having your emotions being picked apart was unbearable.
"Oh... I get it. It's like that."
The tone of his voice sent my skin crawling. The cry I gave meant nothing when he sharply squished my cheeks between his thumb and finger, then turned my face back to him. Stop doing that! Get off— just get off! The creature was grinning with a look that made me nauseous.
"You've been crying for your little boyfriend."
I opened my mouth with a mortified denial, but my muscles locked up when his fingertip brushed over my lip. A shush followed. The giant person smiled, "Don't even deny it. It's all over your face."
My hands that pushed at his fingers only made them press closer.
"He's no stronger than you, I bet," he teased on, "No doubt just as tiny. Aww, you two will be adorable together, won't you?"
I went rigid and emitted a pathetic little what? He didn't answer, and it didn't really need to be explained to me anyway. All I had to do was imagine Aspen in Sam's hand to know what he meant.
The giant person released my face after that. He knew that I wouldn't say anything else; I was frozen. I could see it in his face that he was considering what he could do with the tiny girl in his hand once he had somebody she cared about. My heart pounded. What he could do to Az...
He gave a chuckle, "You think he'll come and save you. I wonder if he's worrying about you now, hm?"
Stop it. I choked back a whine as the fingers pressed inwards. Of course he is, he's Aspen. He's always worrying, even when there's no reason to. And in another life, one without humans and birds and a hundred giant predators, I would have found it annoying.
I muffled a whimper when Sam delicately traced along the fold of wings, probably loving the way I broke at the touch.
"No. I bet he's forgotten all about you. So little..."
I wanted to cry or maybe scream. Get of, get off get off— it sent electric tingles throbbing through my every nerve, floods of emotion, a heat in my cheeks. Deep down, what I really wanted was to punch the giant creature, to make him leave me alone and save Micah. But that was impossible. So I would be satisfied with just being able to get home again. Only... that was starting to seem impossible too. I couldn't do anything at all against these people. Nothing to stop him from sliding disgusting fingers against my wings. Get off me.
Satisfied he had upset me enough, Sam shifted his hand high over the top of the jar and tipped his hand into a wall. I crashed down onto my knees with a weakening shriek of pain.
Micah's arms were immediately around me.
"Azure!" He squeezed me protectively, forgetting his anger. I was panting and quivering, with the bang of the drop throbbing through my legs. Probably I wouldn't be able to stand up for a minute. I didn't try it just incase.
Just outside the jar, he was peering in at me, watching the two of us curiously.
"I'm okay, Micah." I assured him in a breathless lie. I was painfully aware of Mike's eyes too as he gave Sam a look.
"Why do you always have to tease her?" He rolled his eyes, though still smiling.
Sam replied with a shrug, "Can't help it. Look at her. She's adorable."
My eyes widened at his words, heartbeat refusing to slow. Micah's heat was the only thing that kept me a bit calm.
Something promptly fell on my head following their exchange. I immediately shied away and pushed Micah to my back, expecting prying fingers or a hand, but instead an object fell to the glass floor. Micah peeked at it from behind me. The two of us did nothing but stare at it for a long while, me in front of him, him clutching me. It was big and fluffy looking, almost white. I glared. It was probably some other torture device... like the tape.
I kept Micah behind me as I gave it a sharp kick. It wasn't heavy— that made it tumble all the way to the other side of the jar. It bounced fluffily across the glass floor, leaving bits of debris as it went.
I had never seen anything like it... what the hell was it?
"It's bread," Sam suddenly thundered above us, a hint of amusement playing on his tone.
I turned on my heel and looked back up at him. "Bread?" I repeated the strange word, narrowing my eyes. Nothing in the world would make me trust what he said.
"Food!" He let out a laugh, "To eat? I'm not trying to starve you!" Eyes flicked over me before he added, "You wouldn't be much fun dead, would you?"
I sunk into the floor. He said it so casually. Dead. Was that the only reason I was still alive; because I was fun? The sick feeling in my guts reminded me that I hadn't eaten since he captured me. Or maybe I was simply going to be sick.
Turning my attention back to this 'bread', both myself and Micah glared. I had never seen such a thing. The top was golden and firm, cracks tracing across it, yet the centre seemed to be soft, almost like the fresh moss on a wet log. I gulped, my mouth feeling dry and my stomach rumbling. The 'bread' was giving off a scent, a delicious smell that was enticing me. Yet still, I ignored the cravings and kept my distance.
Sam watched us for a few more moments before sighing, "Well, I'll leave it there for you. I suggest you eat it."
The chair gave an almighty creak as he stood up, casting a wide shadow across the table. The glass rattled around me as he took a slight step. With one swoop of his arm, the human had grabbed the lid and lifted it from the tabletop. I stared up uselessly as he clicked it in place and spun it round a few times, sealing us in our glass prison once again. All I could do was watch the familiar process with great bitterness. Trapped again.
"Coming?" He said to Mike.
The other giant nodded, rising slowly out of his chair.
"I'm going to get some stuff," he murmured to Sam rather pointlessly. I raised my head from within the glass. Did he really think that he could lower a voice as loud as his so that we couldn't hear it? Even their breathing was loud!
He gave me a glance, "If you do manage to find the rest of them, I'd like to have things ready."
I glared back at Mike, Micah still hidden behind me. Throw yourself off a tree, you dammed beast.
Sam nodded, "Good idea. Why don't we pack up some stuff too? We're not going to know what to do with them all."
Then he gave me a grin, loudening his tone, "Let them eat and get some energy, then we'll have a walk." His eyes bore into me, "You're leading, Azure."
Stupid as it was, I scowled. These people were worse than the stories, worse than the monsters my brothers had conjured to scare me, worse than the foxes that hunted us. Worse than anything. So yes, as stupid as it was, I glared at him, because all I wanted to do was go home to my family and he was the one keeping me here. I hated them. With everything I had inside me, I hated them.
I expected him to smile back. Everything seemed like a joke to to these creatures if it had something to do with me... but Sam didn't smile, he narrowed his eyes.
"You know what'll happen if you don't." Was his only response to my defiance. And then I remembered. He didn't need to look at my wings to remind me, but he did, and that only made it worse. Any glare on my face melted within seconds.
My heart was still pounding even after the two of them left and zipped the tent shut behind them. Everything was moving too fast, it all felt unreal. I ran my fingers through my matted hair, exhaling sharply and trying to calm myself.
Oh gods... what was I going to do? We didn't have long, that much I knew at least.
My wings jittered randomly on my back, worsening my mood. Tutting, I ran my fingers down the folds, relaxing myself as best I could. What in the world are you going to do?
I had no idea.
I blinked, smelling the bread once more. Suspiciously, I glanced at the tent's opening. There was no one there, they really had left. I turned back to the 'food', debating whether starving was better than being poisoned. The humans weren't watching us... perhaps it... wasn't a trap?
I turned, "Hey, Micah?"
The boy had his back to me, but in his hands a small clump of the bread was clutched.
I gasped sharply, "Don't eat that!" I grabbed his wrist, "It might be poisonous!"
He shook me off harshly, almost smacking my hand away. "It's not." He growled through a mouthful of food.
I frowned with confusion. He still didn't turn to look at me, only moving when he was putting some of the bread in his mouth.
"Micah?" I repeated quietly, and still he didn't answer. I touched his arm, "Are you okay?"
The boy crushed the bread in a fist, "Of course not."
Understandable. I rested my head on the glass wall, "Hey, I know this is really scary, but..." my voice trailed off. He didn't seem to be listening to my words. He didn't seem... scared. I got the feeling that he wasn't acting up because of fear. Then, a thought dawned on me.
Slowly, I took a step towards him, "Are you... angry with me?"
He whipped around quicker than I had time to react, "YES!"
I blinked, my mouth open wide at the boy's angry face. The little child was furious. The purple of his eyes was scrunched into a scowl, cheeks red and agitated, his entire body tensed with emotion.
I stared back at him. "What- why?" I stammered, taken aback at his sudden rage. Was it because Sam had picked me up? I couldn't help that!
Micah let out a sarcastic laugh, crossing his arms, "Seriously? You don't know why?"
My own temper began to bubble. "No," I replied dryly, "Is it because Sam was holding me? I'm sorry if it scared you, but there was nothing I could do!" Sorry if it scared him? What about me?
"It's not that," he shot back, glaring at the floor.
"So can you tell me?" I demanded.
He groaned. The boy then sent the bread in his hand hurtling off to the side of our prison.
"You told them everything!" He cried, tears springing from the corners of his eyes. I stared back with silent shock. He's crying.
The yell echoed emptily in the sealed jar, ringing in my ears.
"You told them about the tribes," he sad, "About the Winged, about your friend the tree, the Hollow- they know everything now!" He stormed towards me, "Because of you!"
I took a step backwards, feeling the coldness of the wall on me. "I- Micah, I had no choice..." I murmured, shaking my head.
"Of course you had a choice!" His eyes were wide, "I wasn't going to tell them, no matter what. You came to my tribe to help my people, and now these humans are going to find us because you told them that there were more of us!"
"I had no choice," I repeated, clenching my fists as my voice rose, "It was either tell them, or let them do something horrible to you!"
Micah let out a cry of frustration, kicking the side of the jar, "So what?!"
I watched in bewildered amazement as he slammed his fist on the walls, "We're in a jar!" His hands waved around, "We're trapped in here..."
He turned back to me, his wide purple eyes shimmering. Micah's voice cracked slightly as he forced out the strained whisper, "Do you really think just because you told them all that, it's going to stop them from hurting us?"
I found that I had my back pressed against the wall.
"I..." I began, but I knew that he was right. "Sam had you in his hand, Micah, I..." I shook my head softly, eyes wide and my voice barely a whisper, "I thought he was going to kill you."
He barely even listened to the horror of what I said, "... you think that he's changed his mind now?"
I could only stare back at him. Unable to think of a response. The scary thing was that he might be right. But if that human hurt Micah... I wouldn't be able to bear it, even the thought of it hurt.
Micah groaned, rubbing his eyes, "Don't you get it? We can't get away now..." He faced me, "I'm done for. And you..."
"Me?" I repeated.
Now that his anger was simmering down, he was returning back to a young, frightened boy. Sure he was saying that he would have never told the humans anything, but Micah was only a child. He had no real imagination when it came to pain. To torture. He didn't realise that my refusing to speak would have caused him some slow agony I didn't dare think of.
"Sam... he's so big..." Micah grimaced weakly, his face turned a little whiter, "Even if they never find the Hollow, he'll never let you go..."
I gulped, feeling my chest going tight. Micah was vocalising the thing I had been doing my best to forget about. He will let you go, he will.
"I... it's like you said, I don't matter right now. I just want to protect everyone from them- including you, Micah."
The boy scowled at me, "Well you're messing that up too!"
The words stung, and the fact they they were coming from the timid little boy I tried to rescue just made it gash deeper. I could see it in his eyes. He hated me, truly. Maybe in the same way I hated our capturers.
A few tears came down Micah's face, "You've betrayed everyone. Even your best friend! It's too late, you ruined it all!"
I stepped forwards, exhaling. I brushed a strand of hair out of my face and pulled my hands into fists, "I don't want to 'betray' anyone. All I want is to get you safe."
He looked up at me, his face a mixture of anger, sadness, and above all else, fear. At times, I forgot that the boy was only a child. Of course he was lashing out like this. He was scared.
Micah. I dropped to my knees and took his small shoulders under my hands. He wouldn't look at me, but I spoke nevertheless, "Micah. I won't let them take anyone from the Hollow, or any other tribe. Even yours. Alright?"
A moment of silence. When the boy turned his shiny eyes to me it was the most miserable look I had ever seen.
"You've already messed everything up, Azure..." He pushed my hands off his shoulders and I let them swing back down to my side. The boy simply sunk to the floor, leaning against the wall and scrubbing at his tears. He couldn't keep his emotion contained any longer.
"You can't fix it now," he said though the crying, "We're all deader than dead."
No, I pursed my lips, no, I won't accept that.
"Micah," I continued, feeling my heart pound a little stronger, "Don't say that again please. You're going to be okay. We're all going to be fine."
The boy took another bite out of the small bread piece, letting strands of black hair tumble about his face. I could see that my words hadn't resonated with him just by the way he turned his face away. His breath, raspy and defeated echoed in the cool jar, making me feel as if I was at the bottom of a lake. Drowning.
Lowering my head, I let out my own soft breath. I stared at my feet. Smooth, flat glass mocked me, reminding me I was a prisoner to the two humans. In the shiny floor, I could see a ghost of what I once looked like. My cheeks were still red, I still had freckles, my eyes were blue like always, even my hair, though messy, was still red. The only difference was that I looked small. I felt small. Powerless, in a way. It was written on my face. I turned away from the reflection, shutting my eyes and trying to block it out. I could hear the beat of my own heart in my ears and the sound of my breath echoing around me. What I had said to the boy was true— I wouldn't lead them to the Hollow. How could I? I wouldn't let Aspen, the Elder, my brothers, everyone be captured like this. I opened my eye a crack, looking at the small boy that was trapped with me. Micah had his knees drawn to his chest and had wrapped his arms underneath them, occasionally forcing himself to eat a bite of the human food. Tears spilled silently down his face after every breath. Though he had yelled, I knew that he was even more scared than me.
Slipping down into a sitting position, I took a small chunk of the bread. It was almost sweet when it entered my mouth, the sponginess melting into a delicious lump. Food. Human food, but still, I had never been so hungry. I continued to refill my energy with another piece.
I knew what I needed to do. How I was going to do it, I wasn't very sure... but I had an idea. A terrible idea, an idea I didn't want to come true.
We're deader than dead. If this worked... well, if it worked, then everyone would be safe. Nobody would be deader than dead. The Elders and the tribes, the scouts, everyone. My hand hovered over another bit of the bread. My eyes felt dry from all the crying. If this idea— this plan— worked, it would probably change everything about this situation. Actually, there was no 'probably' about it. If it worked, I would never see any of them again. Maybe I would be the only one who fit in with Micah's morbid statement.
I forced down the food, determined to have enough energy to carry out my idea. Next time one of the giants open the jar, I was going to get Micah out. How, I didn't know, but I had to. I frowned and fiddled with my hair. Once he was gone, there would be no way for the giant beasts to make me tell them anything about us. I tried to keep my breathing even. They would be furious with me, no doubt. I didn't question that they would do anything they could to make me talk. Anything? I almost began to tremble, but I didn't. There was a scared boy in here with me. Instead, I pursed my lips, shutting my eyes tight and wincing. As long as everyone else is safe, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. You don't matter.
There were families in my tribe. Aspen's own mother was there. My brothers would be on patrol, maybe looking for me, maybe trying to calm Aspen down. I loved those people with all my heart. I loved them, and so didn't I have to protect them?
Thinking brutally, I really didn't matter. Because my brothers were not my real brothers— there was no blood relation— and my only family had died a long time ago. So... so one life compared to the safety of the entire tribe— of real families— was nothing. Right? Right. I knew that. And yet it didn't stop me from being terrified. Because if I helped Micah escaped and then refused to tell the humans where the Hollow was on top of that... don't think about it.
Micah and I sat in silence for a while, finishing the bread after a few minutes. It was nice to not be starving for once, but the silence in the jar was louder than any hunger I once had. I wanted to say something, anything to the boy, but how could I? Outside, I could hear various bumps and laughs as the giants gathered their things up. I wondered at the back of my mind what Mike had meant when he said that he would 'get everything ready', but I tried not to think on it too much. I knew that it wouldn't be long before Sam unzipped the tent doors and grabbed us up in his huge hand. I knew that he would then command me to lead him to the Hollow. I would, for a bit, but not too close. Until then, I could do nothing but try to force the idea in my head into reality.
All I could do now was wait.
———
After around half and hour of the terrible silence, a series of booming footsteps grew closer to the tent. Then, a shrieking zipping sound came from the door, jolting both myself and Micah from our daydreams. I stood up quickly as natural light flooded the tent, wind hitting the jar lightly. It made a whistling sound. The fact that I couldn't feel it upset me, for some reason... stupid.
I hid Micah behind me as Sam's enormous figure stepped through the doorway, not caring if the boy still hated me. The human was already putting me on edge. He crossed his arms when he was in the tent, his eyes finding my face.
"Oh," he remarked, seeing that the bread was gone, "I see that you two decided not to starve."
I glared back at him. "Guess not..." I murmured cautiously.
He stomped towards us, every footstep racking the floor with dull shakes. His hand flew towards the jar and slapped itself around the outside, almost knocking me off balance. Something deep inside me lurched with fear. Now that his hand was gripping our prison, Sam lifted us upwards, making the walls and floor shake around me. I gritted my teeth as the ground dropped away from my feet. Before I knew it we were at his eye-line.
His snake-like eyes fell on my flushed face, "Alright..." He gave the jar a precise jolt, throwing me onto my knees. I stifled a terrified gasp as his face grew close.
"You're going to show me where your Aspen is." The voice was teasing, but he wasn't joking about this. That I knew. His brown hair blew about his ears as he went on, "Is that right?"
Micah's heavy breathing came from behind me. Maybe angry, maybe scared. I nodded slowly, sliding cautiously away from the giant face.
A content smile spread across his cheeks, "Good."
Micah and I gave a cry as Sam began to stomp again, taking us with him. The jar swayed from side to side as he held it to his chest, rattling with each footstep. My heart quickened when I saw that he was bringing us to the exit of the tent, but I tried to keep my cool.
"Azure-" Micah panicked, grabbing my arm as he tumbled around. I didn't reply.
Moments laters, daylight flooded my vision, making me wince and groan. I blinked, my vision fuzzy. When my eyes adjusted, the familiar clearing arose in front of me.
Gods, how strange it was to be outside again.
The other tents were gone now, packed up into their containers and thrown into a pile of various other bags. In fact, only the tent where the giants had been keeping us was still up. Sam paused momentarily, letting me look around at the now empty campsite.
"We're almost ready to go now," his voice informed me, "We're going to leave the last tent up so we can store all of your little friends in there."
I looked up at his face with horror only to be met with his laughter. He wasn't joking.
"Are you going?" Mike's chilling tone rang out. Micah visibly froze upon the sound of a second voice, his hands rushing to grab me. He could be angry and try to be brave all he wanted, but that didn't stop the fact that he was petrified of the humans. As everyone was. I tucked the boy quickly behind my wings when the other giant strolled towards us. Mike soon came into view, his blonde hair and blue eyes seeming brighter in the open light.
Sam nodded, "Yeah, just leaving now."
Above me, two taps of his finger sounded on the lid. "This little thing agreed to show me where to go."
That made me scowl. I did not agree.
Mike's blue eyes found me, making my body go rigid. "Well then, I suppose I should get ready for you to get back." All I could do was frown back at him, knowing that Micah was safely tucked in my wings, knowing secretly that I had no intentions of leading Sam anywhere.
Sam's voice resonated in a goodbye when his friend turned. Then he raised the jar up to his face again.
I unfolded my wings and held Micah behind my back as Sam peered in at us.
"So." He stated. With a tilt of his wrist he had tipped the jar so that I would slide towards him again. I smacked against the wall and emitted a small cry. Micah slid forwards and hit into my back sharply.
Sam smirked, "Which way to the Hollow?"
I touched my back, cringing when it stung.
"North..." I managed, my voice small, then added, "If you even know which way that is." Dangerous. Stupidly dangerous, and I regretted the comment as soon as I made it.
Sam tilted his head at my words, eyes glinting, "Be very careful, girl. Remember what I can do to you."
With that, the jar was lowered back to his chest, jolting Micah and I around inside. To my dismay, he began waking exactly north, exactly where I didn't want him to go. The entire forest shot past us in a blur, each step he took equal to about a hundred of mine. The sun shone down through the greens and yellows of the treetops, casting shadows dancing across the floor in the soft breeze. Inside the jar, I could only hear the hiss of the wind outside, not feel the coolness on my skin or in my hair. The crunching leaves were barely audible, only our own breathing and gasps when Sam's hand jolted us around seemed loud in my ears. He moved quicker than I anticipated, the realisation that I would have to act sooner than I thought dawning on me.
"Azure," Micah mumbled in a tense tone, "What do we do?"
I held his hand, "It's alright. Trust me."
Soon the campsite was far behind us. We were now at the trees were I used to train with Rosin and Aspen, an all too familiar sight for me. I knew exactly where we were. And that was terrible news. Using muscle memory, my eyes quickly found a small, red smudge on the tree, signalling towards the Hollow. As the path became more thick with bush and shrub, Sam's brisk pace slowed to a stop. To a human, there was no indication of where to go. To me, the Hollow was far too easy to find now...
He lifted the jar again.
"Where to, butterfly?" He smirked. Gods how I wanted to punch that face.
Hiding my trembling hands behind my back, I pretended to look around at the trails. My eyes scanned the area for a few moments, but I never let my gaze wander near the real trail. I continue the facade before I put on my best confused look.
"I... can't tell," I replied, barely able to keep my voice level.
His voice gave a low, chilling chuckle, "Now, Azure," Sam narrowed his eyes, "I thought that you were going to behave."
I nodded frantically, "I-I..." My fear wasn't fake, and it only made the cry sound more real, "It's just... hard to see from in here. The glass gets foggy and... the trails have grown a bit since I last saw them."
I looked up at him nervously. My palms were sweating as I hid them behind my back, almost breaking into a tremble as the giant peered at me suspiciously. After a moment of Sam's great eyes studying my face, he produced a hm. Then, his face grew into a smile.
"Perhaps," he began, bringing his other hand up to the jar, "You would be able to see better if I was holding you."
"No." Normally, that would have been the last thing I wanted. But now... this was just what I needed.
His hand began to unscrew the lid.
I exhaled deeply, time slowing down. This was perfect. Turning, I took the small boy's shoulders. I made sure that he was looking at my face with those beautiful, purple eyes.
"Micah," I whispered frantically, "You've been so brave and-" no time, "I need you to be brave now, okay?"
He looked back at me with wide eyes, confused and undoubtedly frightened by my sudden outburst, "Wh-what?"
I didn't stop, "I'm sorry that I made you go through this-" I pulled him into a hug.
I muffled a small cry as tears pricked my eyes, feeling against his whispy black hair for just a few moments longer.
My voice cracked, "I'll handle it now- please just run."
My arms around his waist and I bent down low to the floor. Then, as the lid began to fall away from the top of the jar, I spread my wings out wide.
His eyes grew big, "Wait- Azure, what are you doing?"
I scowled, summoning all my strength into my back. This is it.
"Run." I hissed.
Then, letting out a furious cry, I shot off the floor, Micah clutched in my arms.
Sam gave a surprised yelp when I leapt up though the opening of the jar. My wings were screaming with pain and my back lurched and heaved with each flap, but I gritted my teeth through the burning and searing. We were quickly soaring down to the ground, Sam's surprised voice thundering above us. I winced, pulling Micah close to my chest.
"I'm sorry." I managed, hugging him one last time.
The confused boy shook his head in disbelief, "Hey- wait-"
Letting out a pained cry, I kicked the boy away from me and directly into a mass of moss and leaves. Micah's horrified face met mine once as he realised that I was essentially sacrificing myself for him. I tried my best smile as he fell further away from me, rocketing into the bushes and away from Sam's clutches.
"Azure- no!" He screamed, reaching out to grab me. But he was already gone, disappeared and hidden away in the thick bush. I smiled, tears in my eyes as the floor zoomed towards me. He's safe.