The Roselands

Chapter 5

   We rushed down as fast as we could and encountered a scene neither of us probably expected. My mother was on the floor, pinned by a huge humanoid figure with brownish skin and thick coarse bristles all over its body. Scars crisscrossed over its hog snout like spider webs and tattoos adorned his arms just as plentifully. It looked as though it was trying to rape her, but was having difficulties trying to undo its torn pants while trying to keep her down. It sounded like a wild boar the way it squealed when she kicked it in its rotund belly.

   It was a Beerth, half man, half wart hog. The hybrids that came from Beerths were usually ugly people with enlarged front teeth, unnatural body hair and a terrible odor. It made me glad I was a Zytrey's son instead.

   Thyte didn't even pause. He gave a hawk like shriek before leaping forward and grabbing the Beerth around its neck. He hurled it into the wall and went to break its neck when it leapt up and kicked out with one of its pig like hooves. It caught Thyte in the stomach and when he went down, the Beerth was upon him.

   I was frozen in shock for a moment, seeing this thing trying to rape my mother, but the shock died out and I yelled, leaping onto the Beerths back and, out of total instinct, I flexed my shoulders and grabbed its neck, yanking my hands in opposite directions. The horrendous snap that I heard made me shiver, but the feeling of it happening in my hands made me gag. I dropped the Beerth and Thyte kicked it away, standing up again.

   Seeing its dead body suddenly took its toll on me and I sank to my knees in shock. "I killed it."

   Thyte knelt down beside me and held my shoulders. "It's alright. It was for the greater good. It was him or us."

   I still shivered as I hugged my arms around me. "I killed it."

   I had just ripped the life and breath out of another living creature. Guilt and shame were riding the wave of shock that was going through my body. Mother came over and hugged my neck and then looked at Thyte. "Maybe you should take that body elsewhere. It's not gonna help him. Now come on Zeek. Let's go upstairs. A little time in your nest will make you feel better."

   I followed in numb silence, staring at the floor and not responding to anything. She led me into my room and helped me to my nest where I laid down and balled up, putting my arms over my head. She took a blanket from the side and draped it over me gently, stroking my head. "It's alright sweetpea. It was just a Beerth. You wouldn't want him to rape me would you?"

   I shook my head and looked up at her. "But…I just don't feel comfortable with the knowledge that I killed it. I feel like I murdered it."

   She shook her head and kissed my cheek, pressing her forehead to my temple. "No. Of course it wasn't murder. It was self defense. No one blames you and no one says you shouldn't have done it. Actually, I thank you for it. It's just my luck that this would happen. I was almost raped by a Focks, I bore the son of a Zytrey, and now a Beerth tried to get me. I must be attractive to the Roseland creatures."

    "I'll say."

   We both turned to see Thyte standing in the door, a formidable figure with his wings and stature filling up the doorway. He came over and sat down in the nest, flipping his wings so they could lay sort of flat around him. "So, any questions before I have to leave?"

   Sadness overtook my heart as he said this. I'd forgotten that he'd have to leave. "Yeah. One more. You're half bird. Does that mean you hatch from eggs?"

   Thyte chuckled and shook his head. "No. We're born live and our wings aren't fully developed until three years old. When we're born, they look like elongated shoulder blades with a sort of thin baby down on them. Oh, and most humans of Killhar collect the teeth their children lose, we collect the baby down and add it to the nest as insulation."

   Fay chuckled and patted Thyte's arm. "Well, I guess that's all the questions for now. He'll probably have a million more the next time you come by."

   He nodded and bent his head, kissing her mouth sweetly and then passionately, getting more loving than I wanted to see, but I merely turned away. Mother must've had it hard. She had to wait an entire month to see her husband. I could wait just as long if she could.

   Once they got done, we walked into the woods and got back to the clearing. Thyte gave me a quick hug before turning and stretching out his wings. He thrust them down as hard as he could and it lifted him into the air. He flapped away and once he was in the cloud cover, all we could hear was the sound of his wings in the distance. Once the sound faded, I sighed and looked at mother who gave me a sad smile. "He'll be back. Don't worry."

   "He might be back, but he won't see you again."

   We heard the voice, but only mother saw what was behind me. She screamed and leapt out of the way. I was knocked forward by a huge weighted net. I grunted and shoved at the netting, but its weights had coiled beneath me and I was stuck. Almost a dozen soldiers flooded the clearing and my first instinct was to protect mother. "Mother, run!"

   She only looked at me once, but did as I requested and ran off in the direction Thyte had gone. The soldier who had spoken looked down at me and chuckled. "So you're the spawn of a Zytrey, huh? Not much to prove it, that's for sure. Well he's a hybrid anyway and so we should take him elsewhere, aye boys?"

   The soldiers all grabbed a bit of the net and hauled me up. Their helmets' visors prevented me from seeing their faces, but from the looks of their decorated armor, they were obviously under the command of the king and his imperial army. One soldier, whose curved breast plate proved she was a woman, pulled a cloth from her satchel and grabbed me by the hair. "He may be a hybrid, but he's a hot one isn't he?"

   She pressed the cloth to my nose and the sharp smell of assorted herbs was all that went through my brain before everything went black.