Soleil

The boy's sword clashed with the bird's beak.

Black sparks flew, and it spread its great dark wings, soaring back, ready to fly down towards him again.

That's when it caught sight of the girl. She was looking right at it, clutching her hands to her chest, staring into its beady eyes.

It spoke.

«Are you the one who will save me ? Even this appearance is hideous.»

The boy's eyes opened wide in alarm as the girl approached the great bird of darkness. She smiled, shining bright like the sun, and extended a hand towards it as she spoke.

«It's alright.»

Memories flooded the boy's mind as the girl took a step towards the black bird. That amulet, hidden among its feathers... He remembered it. It had belonged to the man who had taken care of them during their childhood.

Had the darkness taken him as well ?

Looking straight into its dark eyes, the girl continued.

«I shall take on your darkness.»

She took another step, touching its feathers lightly.

«And change your form into a white bird.»

The shadows surrounding the bird began to crumble, and briefly, its true form could be seen – a crying man extending his arms towards the smiling girl. Soon, the light surrounded him and shaped into a white bird.

«You can fly freely, go anywhere you wish to in the sky, and if you have no destination in mind, you can come with me.»

So the great white bird flapped its huge wings and flew above the girl, remaining there.

The girl turned back to the boy, smiling, a part of her face streaked with black.

Many more were waiting to be saved from their darkness and despair.

The girl reached out to every single one of them.

However...

Surrounded by white birds soaring in the sky, the girl fell, her figure as dark as the night.

She had been consumed by the darkness.

She used the last of her strength, and her body began to turn cold.

The boy, at the top of the cliff she had once stood on, jumped after her, dropping among the birds and clouds.

The grieving birds accompanying her consumed her darkness as the boy caught her in his arms, eyes closed.

Black wings erupted from his back, and his eyes shot open, a crimson red colour.

He flew up, but, unable to support her for long, they both fell, hitting the ground.

The boy fought to keep his eyes open, blinking as his vision of the world around him faltered and became blurry.

His eyes closed a final time.

In the sky filled with a flock of black birds, the girl had shone a bright gold.

She was

Soleil.