Desert Wings

Attacked With Magic, Saved From Death

You should paint the world. The ground should match the fire of the sky....
I nod my head in silent agreement with the voice. I remain on the cliff top long enough for my battle wounds to heal a bit. At night the lone wolf that I allowed to survive howls mournfully, occasionally the voice of another beast echoes over the mountains, so loud it rattles the stars. A few days later the mountain peak is a vauge outline in front of the clouds. As I hike up the rocky slope I notice a path, still well developed extending to the right. I follow it.
As I walk I take out my sword, watching, waiting. After a while I feel eyes upon me, hear the whistle of an arrow slicing through the air. I step to the side and continue on. Another arrow, I pause, watching as it is buried deep in a tree in front of me. I continue.
Another arrow, poorly aimed glided past my shoulder. My patience wears. As the next arrow flies I swing my sword, surprising myself when the arrow falls to my feet, sliced cleanly in half. I hear a quickly silenced gasp to my left. I flare my wings, waiting, silent. More arrows fly, I launch into the air, alarmed as the arrows follow, dead set on hitting their target. I knock one down, it returns. I slice another in half, now I face another arrow. I quickly replace my sword to its sheath on my hip and remove a torch from my bag. I quickly light it and swing the flame towards the arrows, one blasted right through the fire and into my arm.
I scream as the arrow finally stops, setting my blood on fire, the other arrows seem to appear from no where. My arms, legs, burning. I scream viciously, climbing higher into the sky. I hear the snap of tree limbs and leaves brushed aside, but I do nothing to stop the pursuit my attacker makes.
Fire rips through me again as blood begins to drip down the shafts of the arrows, I scream again, wings jerking haphazardly. Then fire, real fire, everywhere, surrounding me. Not yet consuming me, I was caged. I was furious. I will live! Of coarse, why wouldn't you live? ...
I stayed in the air until the flames died out, searching the sky for my attackers. Nothing.
Relief flooded me, causing me to crash to the ground. I manage to angle my wings so that I can survive the fall by not crashing straight down. I tear through the trees, confusion whirling around me as leaves and animals scatter. I crash hard into the earth, dazed and hurting. I lay on the ground for a while, trembling slightly before forcing my self to stand. I immediately regret it, but I manage to stumble off into the trees, eventually finding a small stream. I allow my legs to collapse beside it and start a small fire to clean some water from the stream.
While I wait for the fire to heat I rummage in my bag for some bandages, finally locating some as the water starts to simmer. I wait awhile longer for the water in the small rounded and hollow stone I had found was cleaned beyond reasonable need.
I carefully remove the arrows, cleaning the wounds with water before bandaging them securely.
As I examined the arrows my blood ran cold, benith my blood the arrow heads had been dipped in something. I doubted it was anything good, well good or beneficial to me at least.
I stayed by the stream for the rest of the day, even though I knew my attackers could easily track me. So I stayed and I waited, fear pulsing through my veins, possibly beside a poison. Possibly beside my death.
As the light faded and the sun could no longer penetrate the thick canopy of leaves above me I fell into an uneasy sleep, taunted by nightmares. Then the nightmares came to life.
I was awoken by a hand being clapped over my mouth, muffling my scream. Something covered my eyes and held my head still, slightly limiting the rest of my range of motion. Someone else wrestled my feet to the ground and bound my ankles together, someone else captured my arms and bound by wrists behind my back. Any attempts I was still making to free myself surely made me look like a fish out of water, in addition to probably reopening my wounds.
"Stay still." A voice growled in my ear, low and dangerous. I could feel myself being lifted from the ground, my bag dangling from my shoulder.
"Anything we needed in there?"
"Nope." We started to move someone still cradling my head hiding if we rose or fell in altitude. How far or how long they carried me I don't know, after a while I heard stones crunch under my captors' boots. A door swung open on squeaking hinges and a cold wind followed into where ever we had gone. I was taken further into what I was guessing was a building, the sound of their boots hitting the stone floors filling my ears. Another door more halls. After a while I could no longer hear the doors, only a pause in the foot steps.
We stop, someone unbinds my hands, I place them on my stomach. My feet come unbound, I remain still.
Are they the same ones who hunted me down with arrows?
I feel a cool surface on my back, the hand is slowly removed from my eyes. I blink at the bright light of the room, I end up staring into the face of a man with kind looking eyes, quickly hidden behind a steely face. His honey brown hair hung in his eyes, causing him to constantly sweep it away. Another in the room had darker hair, his face displayed no emotions. The others I can hear but not see and I dare not move.
Should I speak to them? It might be dangerous... It might be dangerous anyways. I'm pretty sure that it is dangerous anyways. True.
I stared blatantly at the two who I could see, I couldn't see if they had wings or not though.
"Is she dead?"
"I don't know, let me see." The one with light hair came over.
"I'm alive." Why did I speak?!
"Good." He grinned for a second before placing two fingers on the side of my neck, just beneath my chin.
"Wha-"
He hushed me. I froze, unheeded fear creeping into me.
"Her pulse is okay for now."
The other simply nodded.
"You obviously have questions," I offer no reply,"And you can ask them later." He adds, turning to someone I can't see,"For now... Well, this may hurt, you did a bad job of dealing with those arrow wounds." He reached down and grabbed my shoulders, pinning them uncomfortably.
Someone lifts my arm, and judging by the searing pain that enters my arm, found a wound. I tried to hold back the scream, that fought to leap from me, barely successful. The fire faded momentarily before attacking again and again, only stopping once all of my arrow wounds had experienced the flames. I close my eyes, breathing heavily and not knowing why.
"Not done yet." I open my eyes to see sympathy glance across the face of the one holding me down.
"What?"
All I get is a smile before fire explores my entire body, setting my very blood on fire. My eyes slowly drift shut as darkness over takes me and hurried voices drift above me.