Ravenwings (Imaged + Completed) [1st in Trilogy]

Part II: Chapter 18

I hurt all over, throbbing and aching.

"Raven! Raven!" I exclaimed, crawling out from under his wing.

He didn't stir.

"Raven!"

He wasn't moving.

"No...no no no, nonononono! Raven! Please, Raven, come back to me!"

I took one of his hands in mine and put two fingers to his neck to check for a pulse.

He blinked his eyes open.

I breathed a huge sigh of relief. "Raven, oh my god, I'm so sorry, are you okay?!"

"Yeah, yeah..." he groaned. "I think so."

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry... We have to get you back inside...oh, your wings!"

"No, they're alright, just...strained." He gave them an experimental flap and winced a little. "See, just fine." 

They didn't look completely mutilated...just a bit stiff and uncomfortable. Many feathers were bending in a strange directions, but Raven seemed to have figured out how to do impacts. He had minimal damage possible done to him, his wings, and me. 

"We have to go, now," he said, the tension in his voice revealing his urgency as he sat up with a groan.

I chewed at my lip, a sinking feeling in my stomach. He'd be fine with a day or two of recuperation. At least it's not too bad... "Here, let's get you up and–"

He was knocked to the ground with a sudden gut-wrenching screech of pain.

I jumped back, lost my footing, and fell, terrified, as three angry shapes attacked him. I scrambled back up, with no idea what to do or what was going on.

"Melody, run!" he screamed, barely able to make words out of that sound of piercing agony.

The three dogs tore into his wings, growling, snarling, dragging him across the ground towards the forest.

"No!" I screamed, and ran after him. Raven was thrashing his wings like a trapped bird, flailing like a drowning man, screaming like a banshee.

The dogs ripped his black shirt until it was just a few scraps on him, showing that many of the scars that had healed had been reopened. They took the occasional massive bite on his arms, his ankles, his face, and clamping down on his wings...

"Give them...a command...augh...f*ck!" Raven yelled between gasps.

How is that supposed to work?! Dogs are only supposed to respond to their owners, aren't they?! But of course, I still tried the most cliche trick in the book.

"Hey! Bad dogs! Sit!"

The dogs immediately froze...and stared at me. 

But they didn't sit.

Oh my god... "D-d-drop...drop it," I stuttered.

They started to growl at me and refused.

"Uhh...stay!"

The dogs kept growling, but didn't move.

Two of the brown dogs each had its black-muzzled jaw clamped on each of Raven's wings, the third had his upper arm. A long red drop of blood rolled down his forearm... 

Raven took trembling, shaky breaths, trying to not spook the dogs into another round, slowly trying to reach for his pocket while they were holding still.

Those dogs were Black-mouth Curs. Naturally strong and muscular, also good at attacking, but really good at hunting. They were bird dogs.

I was afraid to break that short pause of partial safety, but I had to if I wanted to get anywhere.

"G-good dogs..." I held my hands out to them defensively. "Raven why is this working..."

"They're...specially trained...to only ignore...me..." he hissed through clenched teeth.

"You know these dogs?!"

"You could...say so," Raven admitted through clenched teeth.

"Why do they listen to me?"

"He lets...his friends...borrow his...bird dogs..."

Wait...the he? These are his dogs?! "Well...how do I tell them to let you go?!"

"It won't...work. They only...release me...on his command. You can...only use basic...commands."

"Then what do I do?"

The dogs were getting impatient. One of them started gnawing hungry on Raven's wing, who tensed and gasped in pain as it throbbed.

"Stop it!" I immediately yelled at them.

Clearly I'd said the wrong thing, something that wasn't a known command, because the dogs snapped right back into action in tearing Raven open. "Gah!"

"No! Sit! Stay!" I screamed at them, but they weren't listening to me anymore. I wanted to jump in and save him so bad, but their sharp jaws were snapping angrily amongst a sea of feathers... They grabbed Raven's wings and shook it hard, and slowly his wings began to stop thrashing.

I knew it was bad that I could see the red reflecting off his bloody black feathers.

Raven was still clawing at his pocket. My eyes widened as he found our solution; in a desperate struggle, he pulled out the pepper spray.