Memoir of Xayah - The lost sparrow and the lonley fox

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A shapeless crowd was standing in front of her, blurred shadows growing on a poor and dusty square. She would have focused on every face, so she could show them that she was not afraid and that she was above them. She would have never lowered his head in front of a crowd of slippery humans. She would have never surrendered to their game.

But this wasn't the reality.

She had been a fool, she had been too confident and reckless. She had been sure that she could have eliminated those mercenaries and taken their belongings. But instead, she had felt in a trap built by herself, ending stunned and captured.

How could she hope to find her family if she was making such stupid mistakes?

She was retching and she tasted better the blood inside her mouth. When she had tried to rebel, they have beaten her and now she was looking like a rag. They did not care about the state of her body, they just need one part in perfect conditions: her purple shaded feathers, so soft and shiny, but also sharp and deadly.

She spat some blood, trying not to retch. The bitter taste left in her mouth did not help her but, after a big effort, she drove everything back inside her stomach.

She turned her head left and the bruise on her face stung. That was nothing compared to the battering on her belly and along the length of her back. All her body was in pain, she could stand only thanks to her force of will. The only thing that nobody could ever break.

A skinny little girl with long black shaggy hair was standing beside her, probably she was going to be sold as a slave. Sometimes she was bawling, shedding some thin teardrops down her dirty face.

She glanced again to the crowd, irritated by such behavior. At least she could be proud: she had fought for her freedom until the end. In fact, she would have still done that, if she had been able to reach her feathers.

Some wooden handcuff, chained to the platform, was blocking her. She could bring her wing close to her hands, but it would have taken too much time. And a split of second more was enough to gain the attention of the man behind her. He had already beaten her when she had refused to climb the stairs, she would have done it again if she didn't stay calm and silent.

His dark eyes were watching her, they were ready to catch every single movement. His hand was steady on the staff and they were trembling: he could not hide his desire to punish her.

Probably he was still mad for that bite that pinched off the bottom of his ear.

She had no regrets, that was the least treatment for those people. And she was ready to reserve them even more, along with all the people that were attending condescending to that slave market of little kids. If only she could have realized how to free herself.

« And now ladies and gentlemen, here we have a very special piece, that you could use both as labor force and as profit. »

A man fat and bald talked, with the face furrowed by tiny wrinkles. He was wearing an ochre garment, with a stiff collar and some white edges. He was too elegant for that poor square, probably a place only for the shadiest people and the riches' henchmen.

He had just sold the young boy next to her, with a body really developed for his age. On his arms, she could see some whip marks, signs that slavery wasn't new for him.

The man came near, extending his round hands to her wing. An angry rage raised up inside her and it gave her the strength to move away from him. She would have never let him touch her feathers with his dirty hands. No human was allowed to do that, they were only worthy to be stabbed by them.

But her noble ideals were stopped by the guard with the staff, that strongly punched her in the face.

The pain now was too much and it was impossible for her to say on her feet. He felt on her knees, while her mouth was again full of blood. She spat again and she tried to suppress the sickness created by that terrible taste.

The situation went worse when her head started to swirl, she was stunned by that punch. Everything became more confused, she could not realize what was happening around her. It was like a dream, she was not able to make her body react. That was not the reality, but something more distant and hollow.

A woman with a bright red dress seemed to raise her hand, probably she was making an offer.

She tried to turn to the seller, but some strong dizziness stopped her. Nausea came back and she tried to swallow the saliva mixed with blood that was coming out of her mouth. She should not throw up, she had to bite the bullet and try to find a solution.

A soft and smooth item caressed her nose and, with great surprise, she saw that her violet feathers were in front of her.

She looked up and she realized that the seller had dared to open her wing, showing it as a good to sell. He had to pay, he with all the people that had reduced her in that state. And, lucky for her, he had signed his sentence.

She had just to collect some magic energy, enough for a single feather. Only one and she could have escaped that nightmare.

She concentrated and she tried not to think about the pain of her bruises. She felt a weak force flew through her body, crisp and vigorous. It was the best she could get, but it was enough.

She reached out to her wing, letting the chain of her handcuff jingle.

« Hey, you! »

It was the voice of the guard, he should have noticed her movement.

She smiled, so far as her damaged lips allowed that. He was thinking to hold off her, unaware of the surprise she was preparing for him.

Comparing to that, the ear would have been just a pat.

She took quickly a feather, but her head started to swirl again, forcing her to lower her head. She had lost a split second, too much time for her situation.

She held her weapon in her hands, ready to not let it go. He could beat her again, but she would have never lost her key to freedom. She had just to resist and endure.

She was ready to receive another hit, biting her teeth and digging her fingernails on her hands.

But nothing touched her. She was just reached by a distant echo that became a deafening rumble of screams.

She turned to the guard and when she noticed that he was looking at the scene in front of him, she trowed her fatal shot.

The feather resonated and cut his throat, turning his neck purplish red. The man tired to safe himself closing the wound with his big hands, but there was just a faint hope.

With a grin on her face, she called her feather back, cutting with a single shot also the chains. She was ready to eliminate also the seller, but the magic energy ran out, draining out a part of the vital one. She had miscalculated, she was too weak to carry out her plan.

Her vision was even more blurred when she felt on the wooden platform, panting. In front of her, a shapeless black crowd was getting longer and than it split, accompanied by those annoying screams.

She would have also wanted to run away, but she could not control her actions anymore. She did not care about what was happening on that square, she even did not care about the seller, probably on the run.

She just wanted to sleep and close her eyes, hoping that she could end all the pain and the dizziness.

She felt her eyelids heavy e she did nothing to stop them.

It seemed that someone lifted her from the ground as if she was weightless. It was her last memory after there was only darkness.