The wind howled all around. It grasped at my hair, and flew under my fingertips. My newly found wings fluttered erratically, the new nerves signalling to my body suddenly brought to life and flickering. I ran with the wind at my heels, feeling more alive than I'd ever felt in my life. The air was warm, my cheeks were cool from the rushing air, and my breath hitched in gasps as I ran faster than I thought possible. My cloak streamed out behind me, and I felt like a shadow darting across the fields.
I ran for as long as I could, as if my life depended on it— and perhaps it did. My freedom and my own path lay on this decision, but if what I had seen in the memory was true, the King would kill me if he knew I was alive.
Did he know his daughter was alive too?
Had Reia followed me to get away from him – or do his bidding?
No, I thought grimly, recollecting the dream of the cell only shortly before. It seemed like hours. I can't doubt Reia yet. Not until I have proof.
Tall, dark woods grew before my eyes. They were all dark silhouettes, no greens or browns in this darkness. The trees swayed with the oncoming storm that I brought. I could hear the rustle of leaves building as I reached.
I burst through the first line of trees and pushed through, trying to continue the pace. However I was distressed to find that I destroyed the wood where I passed; branches tore from the trees, leaves skittered into the air and the path was uprooted. The foil at my hip snagged on an overgrown weed, and my cloak was catching the trees as it billowed. I cried out desperately. If Fabian was following me— if anyone was following me— they had a direct trail to follow.
I glanced back subconsciously, and noted that I hadn't come far enough to stop running yet. I could still see the fields beyond the trees, and beyond that, in the distance, was Fabian's tower.
As I came to a halt, the storm surrounded me, swirling like a vortex. I could feel the air shifting with my mood, and it both terrified me and thrilled me. When I contemplated the short distance I had only just managed to cover, I panicked, and the wind— strangely— drew closer to me, gently pressing at my elbows until my arms hugged my body. The wind wrapped itself around me, and I realised that it was a source of comfort.
I relaxed a little. Was this how Fabian felt? Whenever I had been around him, he seemed as though he was in constant control. And when I looked closely, the wind never left him, an unwavering companion.
How did I get this power? I thought. This power is Fabian's.
But I had touched him, and I had taken his power from him. He hadn't been able to follow, because I had taken his power.
I frowned; had that been it? Could we have somehow swapped powers? Or maybe I had copied his?
I realised that I was desperately trying to squash the truth that was rapidly making more sense in my mind. When I had manipulated Scarlett's power, taking it from her control and using it to probe Fabian's memories, and when I had touched the Opal in desperation and flames had sprung from it. Those times, I hadn't taken those powers and kept them.
But this time I had. This time I had felt that fury, that desperation, that burst of power right before I had to make a steal...
I dropped to my knees, hugging them in shock. I was conscious of the weight of the weapons on my back, the damp earth beneath my feet. I was conscious that I needed to run, to carry on moving— but all I could think about was repeating that one word, over and over, in my head.
Thief.
I had black wings. Scarlett told me that black wings were Disablers: powers that negatively affected another's. I hadn't particularly paid attention. At the time, it crossed my mind that of all the powers, they seemed like the worst. And I had been confident that if I did get powers, I would have these beautiful silvery wings that meant I was an Element wielder, like the old Lumina.
It was just one more thing that made me feel unfit to be a Queen. I could not run from my own crimes. I had stolen food to live, and now I stole other Angels' powers.
The realisation hit me strongly; a sense of agony in my chest that I found was guilt. I knew how hard this would be for Fabian, but I hadn't thought about stealing in this way before. I hadn't felt guilt when I stole bread from a market seller.
My eyes misted. Droplets fell from my nose, hitting the ground with a faint drop.
Maybe I should have felt guilty.
I had been raised not to question the stealing. No, I had raised myself not to question the stealing. From a young age, we had been greedy for more food. We had been told the people we stole from were rich, that they could spare the extra. But what if it had been Fabian I had stolen bread from? Would I have felt the guilt I felt now? Did it really matter what I stole from him, the fact it was stolen was enough?
I sniffled. It was almost silly to compare bread to powers, but I felt ashamed at taking Fabian's hospitality, and then his closest ally. And because I knew how much it meant to him, I knew the hurt he would be feeling. I hadn't known how much the market sellers had needed their wares. It dawned on me that perhaps all stealing caused varying degrees of betrayal.
Go, I pleaded with the wind, leave me.
But it stayed hugging me, determined not to be cast out. It was as though Fabian were there, comforting me, telling me that I had to keep moving.
And so I stood and wiped my eyes. I readjusted my weapons, and I stood a little straighter.
I was a thief that would survive. I couldn't give up yet.
And, the wind now calmed, I began a brisk jog through the woods.
Eventually, the trees faded away, and I stood at the foot of the town I had seen earlier.
I had been jogging for a while before I slowed, and slowed, until I was walking. My path had zigzagged, which I hoped would keep me hidden if any pursuers were likely to have more fitness than I did and catch up, which was mostly probable. And although the wind was calmer, I didn't dare use it to fly. I was fatigued, and I had used up all of my brave points today. I felt guilty enough when the air nuzzled my face, like a faithfully puppy, unaware that its master was a cheat.
Hours had passed, and the night grew darker. I estimated it was around early hours, between midnight and four. I struggled to make out the pretty buildings I had glimpsed from the tower because the night seemed so black. Lamps, like a trail of fireflies, lit the path all the way up the cobbled street. Their hazy orange glows cast shadows against the three-storey houses stood playfully on either side. I couldn't make out much in the dark, but it seemed a pretty place; wonderfully blue stones which reflected the starry sky up above.
As I continued to weave my way through the streets, I couldn't make out a single building alive. The night was utterly silent, and I began to worry that I stood out far too much on my own.
The streets looked all the same in the dark, and I couldn't read the maps that were posted on bulletins. I stumbled across what might have been the main square, with a large fountain turned off in the middle, the pools of water that it was made up of still and full of stars from their reflections. Conscious that I was too in the open, I turned to go down one of the intersecting streets, and stopped dead.
Bile rose up from my stomach. The image of Reia, dying, rose up before me, and the smell of burning shrine filled my nostrils. One of the creatures, as monstrous as the one I left to die, was swaying down the road, away from me.
A murderous and savage intent welled up within me; I had killed one before, so why couldn't I do it again? It had taken Reia from me! They all deserved to die!
Almost blindly, my feet began to move, my heart pounding and my mouth dry. Each thud of my heart I mentally prepared myself to kill. Kill. Kill.
A part of me tried to reason. I was always the calculated mover; I would wait, and bide my time, rather than rush and regret.
Maybe there are more.
Where did it come from?
Why is it here?
Is this why nobody is outside?
Questions began to pop, uncontrollably, into my mind. Furiously I tried to push them away, wanting to do something, prove to Fabian and Scarlett that I wasn't a hopeless girl. I was entering down the same street as the monster when I heard the beating of hooves, and I jumped, scarpering fast. To my dismay, the monster turned, and spotted me— but I had already dashed away, into a side alley, and was breathing heavily.
The alley was dark, and I was terrified once more. The wind furled around me, trying to defend me, but I was crushing from the weight of the last alley I had gone down, only to have faced the monster that was following me now.
Had I not learnt to stay away from dark alleyways?
Pressed against the wall, I tried to edge back into the street, but I paused as I saw who was heading down the street. Riding on a great white horse, wearing a dark red cloak, silver hair steaming handsomely, was Fabian, and behind him, a group of three men followed on horseback.
I flinched, my nose edging beyond the alley walls just enough for me to watch the ensuing scene.
'My Lord!' one of the men behind him was addressing him in a pleading voice. 'As your Commanding Officer, I strongly suggest we return. If we are caught after curfew—'
'You may return, Elgar,' Fabian said shortly, his voice resigned, 'but I will not stop searching. She could die alone at night.'
'So could you, my Lord,' the second rider spoke, and this was a woman's voice. Her voice was low and steady, but behind her helmet, I could make nothing of her head except a short brown ponytail. Next to her, the Commanding Officer called Elgar, a young man with pale yellow hair, was nodding his assent. He had lifted his visor to stare hard at Fabian, as if to betray the honesty of his emotions.
'Lady Scarlett is not searching for her,' the female rider volleyed, but Fabian ignored her. The third rider spoke up. The man's voice was old and wizened, but he raised a trembling finger.
'Look down there!' he said warningly, 'Something that is no Angel approaches. My Lord, we must go now – without your power, we cannot take one of the King's Demons on.'
Fabian faltered, glancing backwards at the shape slowly approaching them. It appeared blind, and more haggard than the last monster I had seen; smaller, and bonier, it moved on all fours towards the group by sniffing along the ground. Its teeth, protruding through its gums, were too sharp and large to fit within its small mouth, and instead jutted out, so that it appeared as if it was wearing a horrible grin. Its eyes were shut, and mauled; judging by it using its senses, it was blind, as I had thought. But its remaining senses were sharp.
And it was fast honing in on Fabian's group.
Fabian hissed.
'I never told her—' he protested, but to my great surprise, his commanding officer threw out his hand, cuffing him under his ear. Fabian's eyes rolled and he dropped forwards onto his horse, which bayed in protest.
'Easy, easy!' the officer breathed, as he gently calmed the horse. The lady rider steered both her horse and Fabian's, whilst the officer lifted Fabian nimbly onto his own horse. The whole process took less than thirty seconds, but the monster had begun to run, confident that it had caught wind of its prey. Trying not to scream out, I watched as it ran, on all fours, with its limbs uncoordinated but fast, and snarling all the way. The horses screamed, and the riders desperately tried to wheel them around as the monster gained upon them.
I clenched my teeth and cast the comforting wind around me away. It rushed towards the monster, throwing it off its legs and sending it skidding across the cobblestones, letting out a howl of frustration that sent the horses into action. Before I could turn, I saw that the Commanding Officer, still clutching the unconscious Fabian, had noticed the wind, and was glancing at Fabian in confusion. But his horse was turning, and soon he and the two other riders were galloping away at full speed.
I, too, turned and fled down the alleyway, desperate to hide from the monster that was picking up its feet. The wind still gripped it as I ran, losing sight of it in the minutes that passed as I raced through the backstreets. Here, it was easier to see which establishments were still open; inns and taverns played music, and inside the houses, people were happily living their lives, unaware of the danger outside.
Taking the idea that they were safe because they were inside, I rounded upon the next back door I found cracked open. It was a stable next to an inn, and I was hit by the smell of horse and manure once I was inside. But it was nothing compared to the relief I felt as I bolted the door shut and slid down it, breathing hard. I thought, for a tiny moment, that the wind had left me; but as I paused, it skittered the straw that covered the floor of the stable, and made the only horse there sneeze.
I stood up gingerly, dusting off my butt. The front door to the stable was shut, and I had no desire to open it. Lanterns burned in their brackets, filling the room with light and warmth. I crossed the cramped room to where an old horse, leisurely chewing, blinked at me, and gave a snort. Respectfully I patted it gently, before examining what was next to it.
A traveller's wagon, perfect for a runaway like myself, was next to the horse. It was made of wood, with rusting iron wheels that my appraising eye could have fixed up. There were no windows, just room for a coachman to sit up front with the horse pulling it, and carry his wares in the back.
Too exhausted to care, I pulled open the wagon doors to find large crates, empty. I frowned at them, until it dawned on me that this wagon was used to pick up supplies for the inn. Figuring that this might be my only chance, I shut the doors, and hauled myself into one of the large crates. For a few moments, I lay, curled and cramped, at the bottom, eyeing the stray patch of light that was sneaking in through the cracks in the wood. Then, with a sigh, I pulled the lid of the crate back over, and darkness shut all around.
A/N: Thank you again for all your votes and reads so far, but I am still relying on you for your continued support! Vote, vote, vote please....and I am still dying to hear your comments!
Dedication to magicolebooks because her comments kept me giggling throughout, check out her book It ends With Shadow, entering the Wattys this year and deserves an award!!
Larissa xx