Golden wings

Chapter 29 - Nothing

Please. Just, please, be there...

He could hear the water. It had been a comforting sound some time ago, but now it made him dread. He dreaded it was a lonely place again.

He kept going; he did not stop for a second. He was heading directly for his old refuge. It was the only other place he could head to. Ayako had never told him where her cabin was. He only knew it was somewhere in the south. She had always refused to clarify its exact location, because she feared that he ventured into human territory, she feared that he was found. She had forbid him of going south, of leaving these woods.

If he only knew where she was...

This place was his only option. Uriel could have fled here, where he thought he would not seek him.

Alexis landed some distance away from the clearing; his wings were exhausted. He forced himself to keep walking the rest of the way; he pushed away angrily every branch or bush to reach it. He would not stop until he arrived.

He took a deep breath, because he was near. It only took him a couple of minutes. He finally set foot in his clearing.

He did not keep on moving. His whole body stood frozen, his amber eyes watched tiredly and sadly. He glanced at every part of his former hideout, from the path he had come from. He could see his cave, how the curtains he made were rotten and fallen. The interior of the cave was full of dust and mud. His garden... was dead, because no one took care of it. The clearing was empty, his old tools were scattered where he left them, rusted.

There was no one here. There was no trace of those violet eyes, not even at the top of the waterfall.

"N-no-"

He walked blindly towards the cave, slowly. Once near, he laid a hand on the rocky wall, to lean against it and cry. He clenched his teeth painfully with a grimace, unable to ignore the noose in his throat, the burning in his chest.

He had no right to cry.

Even if he felt alone again... He wasn't. And it was not something good.

He barely got time to react to the other's presence.

Alexis gasped when he heard a loud hiss in the air. He turned around sharply, just in time to see an arrow fly directly towards his chest.

"Ah-h!"

He barely dodged it. He collided fiercely with the rocks behind him; because the arrow sunk into the rocky wall and pulled him with it; it quickly pinned him efficiently. It had pierced his clothes, just over his shoulder; it clawed at his skin and ripped some feathers off his wing.

He moved his head to look at the bolt with a scared heave, he quickly reached with a hand to try to pull it off and get free. And for that reason, he did not look at the distance, from where he had been shot at.

Ayako smiled with an angered and satisfied grin. She moved out of the shadows, with strong but sneaky steps. Her icy blue eyes were fixed on the angel, who was now pulling at the arrow, with force and panic.

Alexis halted for a moment, because he heard the sound of something metallic. He looked away from the arrow, to glare at his attacker. He remembered those three hunters; he could imagine anyone wanting him dead, anything... Except her. His wings shivered and visibly dropped once he saw her. Ayako had moved away her crossbow, only to unsheathe one of her sharp daggers.

"A-ay-?"

"Alexis..." Ayako took an offensive stance, and spat the next words with rancor. "You tried to kill him..."