The Legacy of the Alliance

Chapter 2

Valerie's eyes fluttered open as she regained consciousness. She shot up, realizing where she was.

She sat in a clean white bed in a cozy wooden room with the warm summer breeze flowing in.

She found her burns had been carefully bandaged, and her brown coat was neatly folded on a chair beside the bed.

Valerie heard the door begin to creak open and instinctively threw herself back onto the bed, pretending to still be asleep.

"I still don't get why you brought her here..." A tough and stern voice muttered.

"Zeke! She's a kid! Probably... But still! We couldn't just walk into the nearest clinic and leave her!" A louder, sweeter voice snapped back.

"I could've..."

"Do you want me to get Celeste?"

"Jeez Lyra, chill out!"

Valerie started to look through her options. She could a) keep pretending to be asleep, b) make a run for it, or c) fight to the death. B sounded the best...

She shot up and darted between the man and woman to the open door. She found herself in a long hallway with multiple doors along the walls.

"Hey!" The man called out.

Suddenly, a black haired, black feathered avian burst out from the door in front of her. Startled, the avian let out a yelp and tried to grab Valerie.

However, she was slippery and slid under her talons.

"Kid!"

Valerie sprinted around the corner, sensing the other three on her tail.

A loud crash echoed throughout the house.

She had run right into a demon with a surprising lack of horns. She could still tell what he was due to his shining white eyes.

The demon held her in a hug.

"Celeste! A little help!" He called as Valerie desperately tried to break free.

The avian rushed over with two humans behind her.

Celeste grabbed Valerie's wrists.

"Kid, kid... Calm down. You're okay now..." Despite her intimidating appearance, Celeste spoke and acted so gentle and comforting.

The avian's dark grey eyes look deeply into Valerie's teal ones.

She began to slow her breathing down as she relaxed in the demon and avian's arms.

"What's your name?" Asked the demon calmly.

"Valerie... or Val. Val. Val is better."

"Alright, Val... I'm Atlan. The avian is my wife Celeste. The ginger is Lyra and Mr. Grumpy pants with blonde hair and heterochromia eyes is Zeke."

"Excuse you! There is nothing hetero about me," exclaimed Zeke.

Val chuckled slightly at the joke, only to start coughing again.

"Take it easy... You took in a lot of smoke." Celeste gently patted her back.

Through the coughing, Val managed to ask, "Where are we?".

"We're in avian territory. They value freedom. So naturally, they have the most secret hideouts that the government don't know about. It's how we can all be here in the first place," explained Lyra, her curious green eyes fixated on Val.

"Yay... Anarchy on a Tuesday just peachy..."

"It's Thursday..." muttered Atlan.