Fresh Starts: On Phantom Wings

Chapter 6, Broken Wings

Phantom couldn't tell how long it had been since when he, his sister, and his mother were captured by the creatures. He was often kept in the cage rarely being let out if ever. Sometimes when he was let out he was paraded around the creatures' territory by the masked one like some kind of prize. Despite the frequent whipping when he faltered, he looked forward to these excursions due to getting see his family. They didn't look much better than him, covered in scars and wounds from whips and chains. His mother walked with a limp and Koko had completely lost her left eye. Their horns were also damaged and their wings bound somehow being part of their mortal forms when they previously weren't. Never the less they supported each other when they could.

Phantom had changed internally through this time. He became more subtle with his emotions and more aware of his surroundings, noticing every whisper and sound. He didn't show his fear, his sorrow, his pain, his anger, or his hate for these things which harmed his family much to the masked one's ire. His expressions were stone cold to the world around him.

He noticed similar changes in his sister who became more angry and reclusive. The once sheepish spirit now lashed out at the creatures whenever they couldn't whip her, but the masked one always subdued her efforts. His mother still tried to exude strength, though he could tell she was suffering greatly on the inside.

The ground in the area became more jagged and harsh for the creatures and the sky offered little comfort for them. The masked one often used their magic to counteract this, but their efforts proved less and and less effective over time. Phantom could likely guess it was his grandparents showing their disapproval, but it offered no comfort to the leopard spirit.

The masked one often visited Phantom to torment him or practice spells on the helpless spirit. They had added a sword made from his horns which glowed with runes to their attire, possibly to show how much power they had over him. Ironically Phantom began to understand and even read the runes the creature used and understand their chants from spending so much time around them. He never made this known to the them, but made sure to read any runes he saw. They often were in a single sentence which described the enchantment or spell did. This allowed Phantom to find ways around the enchantments, but these were small and only helped him to avoid pain.

Some creatures came secretly to offer food or water, often leaving before Phantom or another creature could see them. These individuals were the exception though, and it happened less and less over time. He guessed that the masked one or another creature found and stopped them, but he never actually knew why.

It was then that the masked one came into the room, the runes on his attire glowing with power. This didn't surprise Phantom, but the next thing got him to flick his tail. The masked one dragged Koko through the door at the end of a chain. They then opened Phantom's cage and threw her in there before closing it again.

"Tomorrow you two will fulfill your role. This world wasss better before your kind changed it, you are pesssts to the earth and humanity!" The masked one yelled getting aggressive fear from Koko and a cold stare from Phantom. "That will be corrected sssoon enough, everything will start to return to how it Iwasss. Your monsters exterminated us, how ironic that monsters will pressserve us." they cackled before turning around and leaving the siblings alone in the dark."

Phantom looked over at his scarred sister. "How are you holding up?" He asked with small amounts of concern in his voice. It was the most he could show.

"Fine. You should be more worried about yourself since you're their favorite toy." Koko mewed curtly in response trying to hide her fear.

Phantom didn't really react at this, his tail flicking back and forth. "I'm the youngest, so they think they can intimidate or manipulate me. I don't give them what they want, they try harder." He mewed flatly in response.

"Easy for you to say! They don't try to make you mate with drugged males so they can see what happens! All you get is some weirdo playing with powers they shouldn't even have!" Koko growled trying to not seem weak compared to her younger brother, but tears poured out anyways.

Phantom blinked and tried to show sympathy, but it had grown hard. "Both of us have suffered differently. Their spells are often for testing out ways to mess with spirits or harm mortals. They don't care about how much harm they do since we can neither die or effect this area with our pain." He mewed with little emotion.

Koko laughed a pained angry laugh. "Guess that's why they mostly leave mother alone. She's to vital to be experimented on. Didn't stop them from showing her off and beating her more than both of us." She continued laughing till it devolved into crying meows. "What do you think they'll do to us?"

"I don't know, but we'll survive. We have so far." Phantom mewed trying to be supportive in the darkness.