Jaybird's Flight

Wavering Wings

The swamp is muddy, wet, and disgusting. It smells worse than last time. I tread through the mud, leading the group around the bog. Silence is key, who knows what gangs are hiding in the crevices of the mud.  Landon is in the back, just in case something sneaks up behind us. Paramine gave us the group with more elderly, so we can defend them better.

Suddenly, I hear heavy boots crunch against the ground. It is not the boots of our group, they have the same weight as the ones I heard at the shed. I put my clenched fist up to signal everyone to stop walking and unsheath one of my daggers.

"Yes, Sir--Lord Pollux, I am sure this is the quickest way to get out of Rotunda," says a deep, raspy voice. I turn my head around to Landon wide-eyed. My insides feel like they just turned to dust, and my skeleton is being crushed by the weight of an entire continent of lies. 

The group ducks in the muddy grass while I peer around the tree. There he is. There's Pollux with one of the gang members and... Shan! 

That continent of lies just got a whole lot heavier. Landon shakes his head and mouths, "don't do it," but primal rage takes over. 

I yell and throw the dagger directly at Shan; it whirls through the air and stabs his shoulder. Shan cries out in pain and stares at the dagger hilt in shock as he realizes it is a Jay Clan dagger. Pollux and the gang member turn to face the unexpected, angry block in their plans, me.

"Oh, what a sight. Ridley, dear, you-" I interrupt Pollux's fake speech.

"Save it Pollux! I trusted you, the entirety of Rotunda trusted you," I scream. My earpiece buzzes and Landon says something about "keep up the distraction" and he'll "get everyone around the murdering of multiple people", but I hardly notice. I turn to face my father, "And you Shan! What-what is wrong with you? What are you doing, I--uh." I am so confused and upset that my words falter.

"Oh dear Ridley, so young, so full of spirit, and so ignorant," sings Pollux. "Rotunda was never going to work, it is every man for himself now, and if you know the right people you could survive. The dictators were getting too powerful, we were never going to beat them. If you can't beat somebody, join them. The supplies were moving a little slow, and Shan was the only other person wise enough to know what I knew. He stalled the country long enough, and made them think it was for their own good." 

I look to Shan for an explanation, but he remains silent. His mouth and chin show guilt and remorse, but his eyes are power-hungry and only show pain, stubbornness, and pride. 

"Rotunda will now bleed into a new era and become the property of Orin under the rule of a new dictator, yours truly. Only if you'd understand."

Pollux says the last sentence through his teeth and nods to the gang member. Oh, I see where this is going. Gang members are well trained, well trained in the Art of Randomly Swinging Fists. However, this one seems to be more trained in an official fighting style, but he is no match for me, I wrench out my second dagger from my belt as he lunges at me. I do a quick sidestep to slice his leg. He whimpers in pain when he stumbles to his feet, clutching his now bleeding thigh. He's not shrewd. 

Instead of lunging at me again, he fires his fists toward my head so quickly I don't have time to react. There is more confusion than pain when he lands the blow. Luckily, my hand was already close to my head when he landed the blow, so I swiftly seize his squirming elbow, push as hard as I can, use it as leverage to get me on his shoulders. 

He struggles, but I lock my arms and legs into place. Then comes the sickening snap. The man crumbles to the ground and settles into the mud. 

My stomach turns as I accept what I just did, but I don't have time to hurl. I notice that Pollux, Shan, and, thankfully, Landon are gone. Screw you, Pollux. Screw you, Shan. They must have hidden or run when I was fighting, using this man as a distraction.

I come to my senses and take off sprinting through the swamps. I launch myself over every downed tree, slide under low hanging branches, and carefully avoid acid puddles. Landon must have gotten around the fight quickly because I see no sign of him. 

Finally, I come to where the swamp ends, where the unknown is just four steps away. I slowly pull back the vines and step out of the soupy muck into a grassy pasture. I see Landon and the others are resting. 

Once he notices me stumbling out of the swamps, he sprints toward me. When he sees I am hurt, he swings me off my feet, so he can safely carry me bridal style to the group. He sets me down where the hill starts to slope, giving a perfect view.

"That was too close to disaster. You were amazing," he says, we stare at the unknown mountains.

"Yeah, I don't feel amazing." He puts his arm around my waist and brings me closer.

"Did you get to the rendezvous point?" Paramine asks in my ear, Landon kisses my cheek. I press the button down on the earpiece.

"Copy That, the Jaybird has landed. I repeat, the Jaybird has landed."

Author's Note:

Thank you so much for reading this! Please let me know if you have any suggestions or any constructive criticism. I wanna know your thoughts like what was good and what was bad. I might add more to the story depending on whether you like this or not. Thank you!