Breed and Burn: Skinless

chapter 3- wings burn (I)

When the blindfold was finally pulled off by a spell The Things chanted in a language Axel did not understand, his eyes burned from the light and he quickly closed them. It was finally day, so The Underneath had become dark- not as dark as it did on Earth- but just enough to know it was day. As he adjusted to the light, his eyes flickered open. Shock registered on his face at what he saw. Mouth agape, he scanned his surroundings.

Although the surroundings were what he expected (a vast stretch of rocks that clacked disapprovingly under his feet crawled towards a makeshift village with buildings made of sticks and bones) something obstructed the landscape. It wasn't the light of The Underneath which hurt his eyes. It was from the carriage that was being pulled by what Axel would label as a horse although it didn't look much like one.

The carriage was roughly the shape of a pumpkin but a colour that Axel had not seen in a long time. It was transparent like it was made of glass but tinted a pale blue. Four large wheels jutted out from each corner. Large squares were cut above the doors which were roughly three quarters of his own height revealing two benches pressed against either side. On top of the benches were maroon cushions cut perfectly to fit in the space. A Faceless girl was tending to the horses which pulled the carriage along.

These horses weren't ordinary horses. For one, it was the kind of white that made freshly fallen snow look filthy. As it moved, their fur would catch an invisible light and gleam. Radiant and majestic. One of the horses had trotted to a far clearing. Whilst it reared, it spread two feathery wings that had been tucked away about twenty feet on each side. The underside of the wings were silver and glittered like a sun kissed ocean. Otherwise, they looked like ordinary horses.

"They are Pegasus. Close your mouth or otherwise creatures may fly through your lips. This is a carriage. Do not forget that this was not made for you. These carriages come from a land many distances away. You are to go there, on without us. We only take you so far.

"Not all of The Underneath is a desert, scorched beyond recognition. Not every building is made from the very bones of Faceless and humans. It does improve but make no mistake your comfort won't.

This is Subject Number Eleven but you already know her, do you not? She is the half sister of your friend. You may remember him."

Axel stared at them, blankly.

"Subject Number Eleven is Thorne Bellamy's half-sister. Although she is meant to be human, she was born here and was deemed by The Judge to be Faceless. It is a long story which she is likely to be unwilling to share. She is very experienced with Pegasus and will transport you to the next part of the trial.

We know what you are thinking. This means of transportation is not at our planet's expense. It is the Pegasus's job. We do not use fossil fuels that slowly destroy our world. We are not stupid."

"I... Fly," he said, faintly, in disbelief.

He did not understand why The Things had said he knew Eleven. No matter how much he tried to reach down the long, dark, cluttered pipe that was his memory, there was no recognition of her. Perhaps he knew her before his memories were taken away. In that case, The Things were what they were scared of being. Stupid.

"You must go. This is where we leave you."

Slowly, Axel glanced back at the cloaked figures before trudging towards the carriage. He could feel the stare of the Eleven fixated on him, pressing against him like shards of glass. Refusing to look up until the last moment, Axel recoiled as she stepped towards him.

"We meet again, Channing," she said, crossing her arms.

Axel glanced up at her. Something clicked deep within his strewed mind. "Thorne...You were on the train. He saw you."