The Forbidden Blood

Chapter 1

SIX YEARS LATER 

My heart was pounding in my chest, my lungs burning for air as I ran through these seemingly endless woods. I held Armondo's hand in a tight, firm grip. "Why would you steal a damn apple?!" I yelled.

"We needed more food," he said, struggling to catch his breath.

The officers were close, our only chance was to fly, but it had been two days since I had eaten, and there wasn't a great possibility I'd be strong enough to carry us both, or myself for that matter. Mere moments passed before an arrow landed at my feet. As I spun around, I saw three men coming up behind us. I threw Armondo onto my back and flared out my wings.

"Hold tight!"

I placed a firm grip on his knees and shot into the air as fast as I could, air whistling in my ears, Armondo's grip growing tighter as we increased in altitude. The pain in my legs from the running started to ease, and the yelling of the officers drifted away as we flew farther. "Mondo, you can ease up, ya know." His grip only lessened a tad. I knew he hated flying, I also knew he was likely not going to talk to me for several hours after we landed. I looked over my shoulder to see his face buried in my back. "We wouldn't have had to fly had you not gotten caught, or better yet, hadn't taken a damn apple, to begin with."

My words were met with only silence and a tighter grip around my neck. I chuckled just a bit so as not to scare him more. I kept my eyes on the ground, trying to find anywhere that we could stop for rest or a river to get food. Everything was so quiet up here, so peaceful. It was always my escape when I needed a distraction.

I heard snoring next to my ear after a few minutes, perhaps five or ten. The sun was still a good two or three hours away from setting, and Armondo was asleep. He always panicked until he passed out, yet I still could not locate a safe place where we could rest and still find food.

My wings began to ache, the small bit of strength I had depleting. Finally, I spotted a semi-open area with a stream only a few meters away. I descended to the area, gently placing Armondo on the ground, and began looking for spare wood to make a fire. I walked around our small campsite, looking over to ensure Mondo was okay and picking up whatever I could find to make the fire. Once I had a stack to my forehead I went back to find Armondo still fast asleep, his snoring loud enough to shake the trees around us. Stacking the sticks into a pile and trying to light it, I recalled the events of the day, all of it pure exhaustion.

~~~~~~

"Alright," I exclaimed, "we have just enough for a place for tonight and perhaps one meal."

"The old man said there's an inn on the square, we can start there," Armondo had suggested.

"No," I said shaking my head, "the ones near the center will cost more, We take the ones farther from there and there will be better deals."

He gave me a slight nod. We each took one side of the street, him going right and myself going left. The road was lined with different stands, some with fruits and vegetables, others had flowers, and I saw one that had an assortment of various jewels. Looking to the other side of the pavement I could see a flower shop with a large assortment of flowers from all over the world, many I had never seen, not even on any field trips with the orphanage. I stopped at the window, gazing at the many bundles of roses, lilacs, and a few flowers I knew came from the Holy City.

I looked around to find Mondo, who was talking to a man with a stubble. Knowing he wasn't far, I took myself into the small shop. The moment I entered, the aroma flooded my nose with a wave of memories, most of which I had long since buried. I walked around, looking at every flower present. I turned to see a beautiful golden glowing flower as memories started flooding back, memories of that orphanage, of the holy garden. My arm had extended forward to touch it, but was quickly slapped away by an unknown woman with a stern voice, "Only those who are of divine blood may touch the flower of Angles," the woman spat, "You appear to have closer ties to hell rather than heaven."