I'll Be Your Wings

Hello! Thank you so so so much for reading. Criticism and suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Malificent and I saved a kingdom, raised a princess, and defeated human greed and lust for power. We accomplished the impossible, and we did it together.

Her story is quite beautiful; dark and sad and heartbreaking. I must have asked her to repeat it to me a thousand times. Each time she would sit in a swish of thick black robe and a deep frown would settle on her perfect, angled features. Hatred would glint in her gorgeous green eyes as she patiently retold the tale of how she was the protector of the wealthy, beautiful Moors kingdom and was deceived and harmed by the greed of a man.

Every time she retold her story, I couldn't imagine how a human could ever dream of harming Malificent. She was a kind and just ruler with a deep, dark story that made her who she is today.

My story was not as beautiful. I was born in a tree in a small village. When I emerged from my egg, my mother took care of me and my siblings. When I was old enough to fly, I set off in search of adventure, only to return to an empty nest. My parents were gone, my siblings were gone, and I was left alone. And so I began to search for them, the only family I ever had. I acquired knowledge of the world around me on my travels, I even spent months teaching myself how to read from the windowsill of a village library. I scavenged for food in lush fields and enjoyed the protests of angry farmers as they tried to catch me.

One day, though, I became too confident in my speed and agility and found myself in a net.

"I've got ye now, stupid bird!", I heard the farmer cry. "Ye can't eat me crops no more, now, can ye?"

Stupid illiterate peasant.

As he raised his club to end my life, I felt a chill in my spine. Sure I was dead, I stopped struggling for a moment. But no, I wasn't dead. I felt my bones grow long, my head grow large, and my wings disappear. I cawed, terrified, to find that I sounded like a human. The farmer had disappeared halfway through my metamorphosis, screaming "Demon! Demon!" As he fled the field.

I glanced around me, holding the net that was to be my doom. Out from the stalks of wheat stepped the most beautiful creature I had ever seen. Her hair was long and dark like the night sky, her eyes the color of emeralds, her lips like rubies. She had tall, magnificent horns like ebony that rose above her head. She was a bit shorter than I, because I was now a human. Her stare was solemn, but I saw her eyes flicker over my body for a split second and a flash of amusement shown deep within as a tiny smirk flashed on her face. It was then that I realized that I was naked.

"What do I call you?", she asked softly. I puffed my feathers up (or so I thought, I actually just stood up straighter) and replied.

"Diaval. You can call me Diaval."