Lysterac

Chapter Two

A gust of warm wind rustled the smouldering leaves, sending shivers down Siren's spine. Warm wind? She drew her bushy tail closer to her body, suddenly feeling very vulnerable. Glancing towards Ky's lean figure, she noticed a waft of smoke drifting from his messy hair.

"Your head's on fire." She said.

He jumped, swinging a hand to his head and feeling around frantically. After a moment he sighed in relief and let his arm fall to his side, giving her an amused look.

"We're called Smokedrifters for a reason." He said a matter-of-factly, grinning. "You seriously scared me there."

Her expression didn't change. "Why would you be scared?"

"Just because we're fine with smoke doesn't mean we're fireproof." He pointed out, running a hand through his hair.

She paused for a moment, an evil smile breaking out on her face. "That's good to know."

Ky backed away, hands raised in front of him. "Don't you dare..." He warned.

Her smile transformed into a devilish grin, her hand darting forwards as she plucked a fire fairy out of the air, holding it by its wings. Tail lashing in anticipation, she lunged just as he turned and sprinted away for dear life. Both of them dashed through the hazy forest in a chorus of laughter, shouting at each other to give up. Siren was more agile than Ky, and she caught up to him quickly. She was about to slap the squealing fire fairy onto his head when a ghastly screech pierced the air.

Siren felt the air being knocked out of her lungs as something extremely strong rammed into her side, her hand dropping the fairy. Letting out a startled yowl, her attacker pinned her down and released another ear-splitting shriek. With a menacing hiss, she slashed the side of her opponent's face and rolled away from its painful grasp.

"Siren!" Ky had skidded to a stop and rushed to her side, glancing at the thing which assaulted her. His eyes widened in shock. "What...?" His voice was tinted with fear and confusion.

A few hoarse coughs escaped her throat before she looked up to see what had made Ky so unsettled. Her blood ran cold. It felt like a block of ice had dropped in her stomach. There, just a few meters away, were the mangled black feathers of a Nightscreecher. The hairs on her tail bristled.

Ky took a step back, taking Siren with him. "What's a Nightscreecher doing here?!"

She didn't reply. A wave of anger washed over her, the desire to kill reviving her animal instincts. "It's going to die." She hissed menacingly and charged recklessly at the 'crow.' She landed a harsh blow on top of its head, causing the creature to shriek in pain. The Nightscreecher lurched forward in retaliation, its pointed beak plunging deep into her bicep. Snarling, she wrenched her arm away and kicked its side. She pinned it down and began clawing furiously, tearing out bloody feathers and stringy flesh. Her ears twitched at the sound of Ky running towards her.

That moment of distraction enabled the Nightscreecher to throw her off and dive in for the finishing blow, but it never had the chance to. Ky had hurled himself on top of it and shoved a small dagger into the side of its neck, blood spurting out of the wound as he pulled it out. The creature let out a hideous gurgle as crimson liquid dribbled down its beak. It staggered and fell to the ground, twitching once before lying still.

Ky instantly began checking Siren all over, closely inspecting the wound on her arm. It was soaked in blood, the ground below slowly darkening as the fluid dripped down from her fingers. "Geez you just heal from your burns and you get hurt again." He teased, the underlying concern apparent in his tone.

"Whoops." She shrugged nonchalantly.

"Who would say that after getting injured twice in a row?!" He cried in mock anger, grinning.