Birds of Shadow

PROLOGUE

AUTHORS NOTE - Hi all!! This is my first book ever to write or to publish on wattpad! This is an unedited sample of the book, which is about 5 chapters into being :) let me know what you think!

- Aspen♡

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My breath was coming in swift, rasping heaves and the metallic taste of blood and viscid mucus coated the inside of my throat. The pounding footsteps of my pursuers behind me quickened the already leaping beat of my heart. 

The sepia and beige streaked walls of the canyon pressed in from all sides as I darted here and there, barely a hairs length ahead of my captors. I dodged a scraggly tree with no leaves and sprinted towards a small crack in the rock wall. 

My heart lifted. I was going to make it. A black gloved hand came into the edge of my vision and I just barely dodged. Touching the glove would mean certain death, and I wouldn't let that happen. Not with freedom so close. 

At the last possible second, I changed into my alternate form, sleek tan, white and grey feathers covering my body and my clothes melting away. My nose enlarged and my mouth smoothed into my nose. I flew into the small crack and I could hear the crunch of bones hitting rock behind me. My carnivorous instincts swelled up inside of me, but I had gotten better at controlling the urges. 

I streaked through the small ravine, the feather tips of my wings brushing the wall and tipping me unsteadily. I tilted my wingspan the slightest to carry me to the summit of the little gully. When I crested the ridge, the pure azure of the sky, untouched by clouds, took my breath away. With my newly enhanced vision, I could see several vultures speeding my way, and a peregrine falcon above me, diving in for the kill. 

They all had the same thing in common, the terrible thing that had brought the death of millions. The mark of the Irokar. 

Up on the top of the canyon, the rocks rose and fell, and it was hardly ever flat. Just my luck that I flew to one of the only spots that is a plateau on top, with no places to hide. I extended my wings as far as they would go, and an updraft caught them and whisked me along much faster than before. The edge of the cliff was in my sights, and out of the corner of my eye I could see the peregrine falcon zooming down to me. 

He was aiming for were I was going to be, not where I was. He was coming closer by the second. Right before he would have torn into me with his sharp talons and beak, I tilted my wings in front of me, forcing the momentum and wind current I was traveling to push me back a few feet. My muscles strained with the effort and my feathers trembled, but I held firm. The falcon clashed against the rock and tumbled, head over talons, toward the edge of the cliff I so desperately wanted to dive off of. I caught a glimpse of one of his wings and could see that his bone had been bent the wrong way, probably broken. He let out a long, horrible screech and plummeted down to the earth. I knew there was no way he would survive, not with his broken wing. 

I flapped my wings, slightly unsteady, and took off into the sky. Vultures are typically slow, so I figured I would have a decent amount of time to go into hiding before they caught up with me. I had climbed almost as high as the column of rock next to me, and I could see the cave I housed in cleverly hidden underneath a rock overhang, impossible to see from air or ground. I glided smoothly toward it and flapped precariously when coming in for the landing. 

I changed back into my other form and dragged the huge boulder beside me in front of the cave and darkness came almost immediately. I tried to calm myself with deep breaths, but my heart was still pulsing rapidly. Safe, I thought. I'm safe. I almost didn't believe it. 

I turned and was about to light a match when I heard a rustling from the back. I froze. As far as I knew, no one else knew where my hideout was. No land animal could reach the top of the rock, and the opening was impossible to spot unless you were exactly at eye level. But there was definitely something there. I

 tried to hold my breath, not give myself away, but it was no use. I let it all out in a soft "Huff." I dared not move. The suspense was killing me, and I was about to call out when a whoosh came from the direction of the sound and something cold and sharp pierced my forearm. 

My vision blurred and I fell to my knees. 

A sedative. 

My hands shook, and I gasped, feeling my chest restrict with panic, and through the murk I could hear the attacker coming out from the back of the cave. 

They knelt down beside me and whispered in my ear, their breath hot and unpleasant, "You think you could run from me Tessia? You stood no chance. You're still gullible." 

I recognized that voice. How could I not? My brain turned to mush, and the world spun. The shocking, glaring truth was lodged in my numb brain. 

I sank down into the inky blackness and my unwilling eyelids fluttered closed.