The Winged Ones

Chapter Seven

“Finally,” Electra cried as the group cleared the pass. The snow had stopped falling, and Husky was feeling better now that he had stopped bleeding real bad. Rohan’s jacket was soaked in blood, but that didn’t matter to him. Regan had helped to cut it with her dagger and make a bandage out of it to help the wound heal better. Husky was able to walk around, but not able to run or fight. It had taken several days to make their way through the pass, fighting Forgotten along the way.

            “That wasn’t near as bad as you made it seem, Regan,” Rohan accused while smirking.

            Regan looked back at him from where she walked by Electra’s side. “Well, that was the first time I had been through that pass, I only heard about it from others who had heard rumors.”

            Rohan suppressed the urge to point out that she had not called him ‘your highness’ or added ‘my prince’ to the end of that statement. He liked it, her not talking to him in any formal way. He was hardly a prince, even if he was by blood. He was not on any throne, and even if he was, he would not want anyone to start talking that way to him.

            “It should be easy to get to Imadh City from here,” Hali said from behind Rohan. She trotted out in front of him and started walking down the path that was covered with snow, only to stop in her tracks a few yards later as she peered around a curve in the rock.

            “What is it?” Husky asked from Rohan’s side.

            Hali backed away from the curve, turning around to face the others. “I think you need to come see this,” she said. Regan moved past her to look around the corner, and Rohan did the same.

            There was a city, a grand city in the valley beyond that curve in the rock. The city . . . it was almost deserted. No people were on the streets, no people were in the shops on the market. No people were near the grand castle that stood overshadowing the city. The only people that Rohan could see weren't even people at all.

            “Demons,” Regan whispered. “Those bloody demons have overrun the city!”

            “When did this happen?” Electra asked.

            “Obviously sometime when you were gone,” Husky answered.

            The castle stood tall and proud overshadowing the city.  The roofs were covered in snow while a great gate blocked the entrance. There was a fountain in the middle of the market in the center of town where a statue of a pair of wings stood. The fountain was frozen over, but Rohan somehow new that when spring would come around, the fountain would be an amazing sight. “Aleta Castle,” he whispered as he gazed at it. That was where he was supposed to be. That was where he would become the ruler of the Winged Ones. But at the moment, it was overrun with demons, demons that cared about nothing but getting their greedy hands on a great power that most people new about, but none knew where it was.

            “We need to chase them out,” Rohan said, kneeling to the ground and putting his hands on his knees.