Obsidian

Prologue

A failure. That's what she was. That's what the winged creature thought as she thrust forward with each push of her aching wings. Not that it felt any different from the rest of her aching body. Her eyes were wet from the sting of the wind. Her breathing her was ragged, chest heaving for what little breath she could suck in. Her body felt weaker by the second, but she kept pushing. No, she kept running away. New surges of pain made her scream. When she peered down, a long scratch was along her navel, making a slit in her robe. She was too close to the ground and more trees began scraping her skin. Must fly up, she chanted as she tilted her head up to the sky. The barren forest below whizzed by to the point where it stretched and warped. She knew she was showering the dead trees with her inky black blood, but she couldn't stop. She made a promise not to.

She could feel herself dying. Every pulse that rang through her awful body added a new layer of pain and fuzz surrounding her. Her body felt so cold, so lifeless, so empty, like a husk. Her chest was barren; she needed to feed.

Through her hazy vision, she could make out a sort of change in the landscape. Instead of barren forests with decaying trees, she saw light brown dust and rocks. When she lifted her head, more came into view.

Dry mountains were sculpted high into the black sky like they could touch the murky clouds in gorgeous pyramidal peak fashion. The moonlight illuminated the buttles that stretched along the floors, combining with the flattness of mesas to create a sort of chaotic rocky terrian. Streaks of orange and red ran across the floor, along with craters that uncovered grey rock beneath the sand. It would've been breathtaking if her breath wasn't already gone from how hysterical she was flying. Where there's mountains, there's caves.

She desperately scrambled in the air to reach one. Any cave would do as long as she could rest her screaming bones.

There! There, she panted. In the distance she saw a glistening cave and like a lightening bolt, she made a flash of bright like from how hard she launched herself into that cave.

Her body hit the floor, bouncing almost and slammed into a wall, knocking pebbles and dust onto her. The last thing she saw was the sun fading out of view, much like everything else until it all went dark.

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