Trilogy Of Fallen Stars ~ Book 1: The Blinding

Chapter 4: Humanoids

Waking up to a world of grey teardrops of rain, of the faint silver of the sky visible only slightly as the grey storm clouds parted to reveal it; it was a little surprising.

But, if there was anything I wasn't ready for, it was what was waiting just over the canopy of the trees. All you needed to do was walk to the mouth of the cave to see it, and once you'd seen it, the image remained fresh and chaotic in your mind's eye.

At last, after hours of traveling and what seemed like an eternity of imagining what this place would be like, we'd come to the capital of the humanoids.

Staring down at them with weary eyes, I could tell I wasn't going to fit in.

The trees were cleared out in a mile radius, giving way to the crowded houses and huts, the dusty roads and crowded areas. People were swarming in large numbers, walking along the roads and trading in the market squares.

I felt my heartbeat rise painfully, my eyes bulging from my head.

'Didn't realize there would be that many people, huh?' Aluwin asked me in my mind.

I frowned at him. "How would I guess something like that?"

He had come up behind me and was perched at my back, his nose inches from my shoulder. He tilted his head, about to speak, when something came into contact with something hard.

A loud thud followed, and closely tailed by that was a small throbbing of pain.

"W-What?" I asked, completely dumbfounded. I stared down at the feathered end of an arrow, as it protruded from my stomach.

I slowly touched the fabric of my shirt, my fingers dyed with grey liquid, which I assumed would be scarlet.

'Humanoids, they're here!' I distantly heard Aluwin yell, alerting the sleeping Sentry.

I collapsed onto my knees, feeling light headed. Aluwin dropped onto the ground beside me, flaring his wings defensively as a group of five approached the entrance.

My eyes started to roll up into my head, as I coughed up a pool of blood. I grasped the shaft of the arrow that protruded from my stomach, pulling it out with a muffled scream.

"Submit, and we won't shoot! We have you outnumbered, drop to the ground." One of the humanoids was directing us, but I could barely concentrate on his words.

Aluwin was shivering with rage, which wafted off of him in what seemed like visible clouds. I felt a growl from beside me, which told me Inaris was ready to defend and protect.

'You shot at us already, what's stopping you from doing it again?' Aluwin snarled, shifting his wings so that they shielded Inaris and I from sight.

"We shot her because of her eyes, do you see her eyes? What is she, how do you know she isn't going to stab you in your back, cut your throats while your sleeping?" A young girl, with chestnut eyes and dirty blonde hair growled at us.

"Lyric is no threat, she's actually really nice, you shot her without even knowing her!" Inaris said, as she lay over my stomach with her wings spread in an aggressive pose.

'Leave us be, we mean you no harm.' Aluwin said, glaring at the small group.

"Your coming with us to see our leader, whether you like it or not!" The leader, the boy who first spoke, said.

Aluwin nodded reluctantly, leaning down to lick the blood away from my wound. He pushed his snout into me softly, causing me to cough quietly.

I used the last of my strength to sit up, and Inaris helped me to my feet. I splayed my arms for balance, trying to keep my shaking legs from collapsing. I leaned on Aluwin for support, as he slowly led us down the rocky path to follow the humanoids.

They looked human, except a few of them had pale skin or glowing eyes, had pointed ears and sharp fangs, wicked talons or animal-like ears. It would have been a funny sight, except for the pain that constantly gnawed at my stomach.

Inaris rubbed against my leg supportively, a purr rumbling from her chest. I reached down and stroked her head, rubbing her ears as she pressed her head against the palm of my hand.

The humanoids led us through a forest trail, which was starting to be overgrown by persistent ferns and shrubs. Vines fell from the canopy above, threatening to entangle us as we pushed our way through.

It smelt sweet, almost like honey and sugar, but a strong metallic scent hung in the air, ruining the peaceful aroma.

And as we walked, I heard the jumbled mix of sounds nearing. I could smell the meat cooking on the fire, the acrid stench of herbs filling my nose. I could hear the chorus of conversations, and my hearing focused on one at a time.

It was like every voice was a thread, and I was the loom. I could choose which thread to pull, which thread to focus on. And I could choose which thread to snap, which ones to listen to and which to ignore completely.

Sorry for the little update, but I'll update in about two hours.

~Your weird wanna-be writer, Dawn.