White Wings

Chapter Eight

At first I think Cole will refuse, but he sets his jaw and nods. Rilind wastes no time in leaving. He eases a shirt down over his body, wincing. I stare at the two holes in his shirt. Holes that should be filled by wings, but instead reveal Rilind's freshly-sewn wounds. He looks wrong standing there with his back so empty.

I can't think of a single thing that I would be willing to suffer for like that. The price is too high.

Rilind's handicap requires us to walk the whole way there. The place he takes us to is new to me. Further than I've ever been from home, but still within the city limits. The clouds hang lower in the sky; it's suffocating and dark. Not completely pitch black, however. Tall, cylindered shapes loom out of the Darkness, coming up from the under the ground. I try to count them but they go on, and on, until it's impossible to make them out anymore in the blackness.

The entire scene is surrounded by a high fence with spiked wire coiling in an ugly twisted spiral along the top of it.

At least the width of my wingspan, each ghostly pillar puffs up and forms a seamless connection with the sky. I step up to the fence and immediately the air makes my eyes water and my throat dry.

Rilind holds the front of his shirt over his nose. Whatever it is started affecting him too. He staggers slightly, still trying to figure out his balance. I squint, trying to see further past the fence.

"What-" my voice catches in my throat and I'm hit with a painful coughing spell, "What is this place?" My skin prickles with goosebumps and I shiver. Whispering tickles my ear and I spin around, but no one is there. A powerful chill runs down my spine and darts through my wings. I tighten my wings against my back for comfort and move away from the fence. It doesn't feel safe to be here anymore.

"Should your dragon be over there?" Cole gestures inside the fence. Leaf, the dragon, crawls around leisurely, ignoring Rilind's calls for his pet to come back. It sniffs at one of the larger pillars and immediately shrinks back, shaking his head. Smoke curls around Leaf's nostrils and he sneezes. Sparks fly from his muzzle and the pillar catches fire and erupts in a burst of flames with a loud pop. We all lurch back, gaping as the fire burns hotter. Leaf flies out of there and dives to Rilind's shoulder to cower in shame.

  "Get back!" Rilind shouts. The fire climbs higher at alarming speed, spreading across the thick black blanket of sky when it should have died out.

"Why-" Cole's question is cut short by his own scream. 

A sharp, blinding, sensation explodes in front of my eyes. I scream in surprise and pain, turning away. Cole swears and hits the ground, his wings snapping open as a shield. My head fills with white heat. I press the palms of my hands over my eyes to try and block it out. It attacks like fine rain; I can feel it on my skin.

Urged on by terror, I run blindly. I don't stop until I've outrun the heat. My outstretched hands find the dried dead bark of a tree and I fall behind it, breathing hard. The pain subsides enough that I can open my eyes again. Everything looks strange and blotchy. The unnatural pattern in my vision isn't going away no matter how many times I blink.

I peer around the tree but I can't see much. Everything looks white and harsh. My eyes won't stop watering. I shut them tight and don't move.

The sky is angry now. Thunder shatters above me, threatening to dump acid rain on the city.

I stare at my hands and blink hard. The weird pattern in my vision seems to be fading—barely.

I bolt from my hiding place. Home. I need to get home. Flying is too risky, so I run until I stumble to my glasshouse door. I lock myself in let out a long and shaky breath before releasing the handle.