Wingless Illyrian

Part one

"Papa."

The young girl watched out the window as three large Illyrians landed on the grass. She half hid behind the thick curtains but it was not enough to shield herself from the eyes of the shadowsinger.

"Papa."

She was met with complete silence. The small cabin was small enough that her father should have heard her calls and yet he gave no response.

She shrugged her small shoulders as she walked to open the door. He had never told her not to open the door before, but she was usually sent to her room when they appeared on the grass.

The handle was high enough that she had to stretch to open the door, her small, chubby fingers grasping the cool metal handle.

They had been turned away from the door to leave when she pulled it open.

She winced at the bright light came through the trees. Her father liked the house dark.

The shadowsinger nudged his companions to turn. They looked down at the small girl who had grown distracted from them as she picked flowers from the grass.

"That's one way to get in," the shadowsinger muttered. They walked towards the open door, leaving the girl in the grass.

Each Illyrian took a different room in search of the man they had come for. He was meant to be giving them information.

The general stopped in his tracks, a smell radiated from the bedroom, so pungent he was surprised to have not scented it before.
He opened the door slowly to reveal the room painted in splatters of black blood. The smell only got worse with the open door, but his eyes stopped on the body on the center of the bed. Inches-deep gashes were cut across his chest and neck. The window had been broken open, glass shattered across the floor.

He sensed his two companions come up behind him, taking in the details of the scene as he had done.

"Let's go," his High Lord said quietly as he made for his way out the house. The general and shadowsinger followed behind.

The child was where they had left her in the grass, a pile of flowers in her lap.

"What do we do with her?" The general asked, looking at the child.
"Being her, someone in Velaris will care for her."
The general walked over to the child slowly, trying not to scare her with the weapons spanning his body. She looked up at him and smiled widely.

"Knife," she laughed.

The general looked back to his companions who answered with a brief shrug. She held out her arms to him as she tried to get to her feet.

"Up."

The general waited a second before picking her up with caution. She continued laughing as he held her away from his body. She kept a few flowers crushed in her hand.

"We need to go, Cassian." The High Lord urged, not wanting to linger.

The general brought her closer to him, shielding her from the wind that was picking up. He had her cradled in his arms, her small body proving she was no older than a couple years.

They launched themselves back into the sky, flying back to their city.