Moon Angel

Chapter 36: Get Out of There

Chapter 36: Get Out of There

I held up my hands in astonishment. Had that been me? The Elvirans didn't stir, and I wondered if I had knocked them out. I heard a groan from one of them that signalled they were at least still alive.

I took the opportunity and ran into the dense bush. I didn't have time to ponder what had just happened. The cover of the bush would provide me with more opportunities to escape. I couldn't fly, not in this state, and I was sure that they would just come after me again. After all, they could fly too, and the sky provided me with no cover.

The rain continued to pour down on me as I ran. I was soaked through but I was past the point of caring. The wind had picked up and swept my wet hair into my face.

By now, the sun had started to rise and I rested for a moment behind a clump of shrubs. With the Moon gone down again, the pain in my body intensified slightly. I hadn't realised how battered and bruised I was.

Hopefully the sun would slow the group down. It was brighter on Earth than it was on Elvira, and they wouldn't be used to it. I also hoped that whatever I had done with the wind had stopped them for a while. I doubted it, having seen how strong they were, but I could hope.

Had the wind been me though? I knew that Lunairs had abilities, but I hadn't noticed anything before. To be honest, I had never really thought about it. Amongst the humans, wings and night vision had been ability enough. But if the other Elvirans who were after me, were anything like the bunch that had just attacked me, then I would need a lot more than just wings.

I pushed my hands in front of me again, replicating the motion that I had made earlier, picturing the way the wind blew past and knocked them to the ground.

I felt the wind wrap around my sitting form before racing through the forest as if on my command. I could see the leaves and branches moving as it passed by. It almost looked as if it were living.

A smaller breeze, a natural one I think, blew past and made me shiver. I needed to keep moving.

I noticed that the rain had eased off, and the sky was starting to clear, as if the storm had never come.

If I could control the wind, could I control the rain? Had I created a storm just through my emotions? As much as I hated to admit it, I had been frightened and overwhelmed. I had never been attacked like that before, but it seemed like my abilities, if that's what it was, had surfaced just in time.

I should have felt excited that my abilities had finally turned up, but I didn't feel like celebrating. Not in these circumstances.

I had lost my backpack at some point during the fight, but I couldn't go back and retrieve it yet. It was too much of a risk that they were still behind me somewhere. I moved forward. I knew roughly how far I had run. I covered my tracks as best as I could as I walked, looping around a couple of times. I left marks in the trees as I went so that I wouldn't get lost.

I started to make my way back towards where I had started. As it was late into the day by now, I was sure that if they hadn't found me yet, they wouldn't come after me again for a while. Maybe the wind had spooked them. Maybe they were just biding their time.

The clearing was empty when I finally got there. My backpack sat where I had dropped it. I picked it up. It was soaked and muddy. If it looked anything like I did, I must have been a mess. I slung it over my shoulder and started the walk back. It would take a lot longer walking, but I didn't like to fly during the day.

I got back to the hostel about an hour later. I went straight to my room, trying to ignore the stares that I got as I walked into town. I went into the bathroom to try and clean some of the mud off myself. My eyes caught in the mirror. I could understand why everyone had stared now. Bruises were starting to turn up on my face and I was sure there would be bruises on my arms. Mud was splattered across my face and through my hair. My shirt and trousers had been torn and were covered in patches of now-dried mud. My lip was cracked and swollen.

I got undressed and, sure enough, bruises ran down my side from hitting the ground so many times. I spread out my wings and some of the feathers had been torn. They too were covered in mud. I had left my jacket in my bag when I had been training and so it hadn't been on in the fight. My wings were bedraggled. They may not have been any use, even if I had wanted to fly.

I turned on the shower, and stood under it, letting the water wash away the dirt.