Seething anger boiled in the pit of his heart. He ran, faster than a human could ever run. Pain was erupting in his arms. Not even gasping for breath, he ran up a hill, never slowing his pace. An eagle's cry sounded over him. Glancing up, he grimaced at it.
Sprinting over the terrain, he glanced over his bloody shoulder. A quarrel came shooting from one of the men's crossbow. He glared at them and kept running. The men could clearly not keep up with him, but they were trying anyway.
The boy came to the end of his ground. Skidding to a stop, he looked over the edge of a cliff. A few pebbles dropped over the edge of a steep drop. Turning around the boy faced his enemies, hot in pursuit. Still glaring, he held out his arms, and fell backwards off the cliff.
One of the men leaped and tried to grab at his shirt, but his hands caught empty air.
With the wind whistling in his ears, he closed his eyes. Anger still burned in his heart and soul. He was a little surprised that they couldn't feel it.
Another cry of an eagle followed him. He felt sharp talons cutting into his aching arm…
"LET GO SAPHIllIEN!" he bellowed at the eagle, but the eagle clung on. A warm feeling spread across his back, pleasant at first but it grew hotter and hotter, until he was screaming in pain. A ripping, tearing sound came through the back of his shirt, as feathery lumps pushed out of his back.
The boy opened his eyes. Brimming with tears, he fluttered the wings. They slowed his plunge slightly. Giving them a full flap, he zoomed away from his death, and went zooming into the sky. There was a bellow behind him, as his enemies cried out in dismay.
Sobbing uncontrollably, the boy ran water from the pretty deep stream onto his arm, where the eagles' talons cut in his skin.
His arm burned a strange feeling to him. Biting his lip as to not yell in pain, he tasted blood in his mouth. There was a soft flutter of wings.
"Here, let me do it," the boy growled as he stuck out his arm, almost hitting the eagle. But wait! The eagle was now a large wolf, resting his head on the injured arm. The wolf's body seemed to pulse. Oily tears ran out of his eyes, dripping down onto the arm.
A tiny column of smoke billowed up from his arm. He grimaced and growled, yanking his arm back.
"I don't see why you're so upset," The wolf was now an eagle again. The boy spat angrily, but the eagle calmly looked at him.
"Sapheillien, why do you always have to ruin things?" The eagle blinked, and softly fluttered his wings.
"You would have died! Did you see how sharp those ro-"
"I CAN'T DIE!" the boy bellowed, throwing a kick at his guardian. The eagle hopped out of the way just in time.
"There is a wa-"
"NOT BY PLUNGING TO SOME SHARP ROCKS! IT TAKES-" The eagle gave a shrill cry. "Yes Nikko it takes dragon flame, phoenix blood, and your blood!" the calm eagle finally sounded impatient. "Now if you can civilly tell me why your angry-"
The boy-Nikko-pulled up his ripped up sleeve and thrust out his arm. "THIS!" he screamed. Intricate black symbols were jotted on his scratched and bleeding arm. The eagle's eyes went glazed, as his beak opened and closed, making no noise.
"The….Time-Curse?" He finally gasped. "Nikko, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!" The shout came out as a roar. Turning into a huge lion, and his back touched the roof of the cave that Nikko was resting in.
Nikko cowered from his guardian's rage. "I-it was from them." Sapheillien, nodded. Shrinking to a bat, he fluttered to Nikko's shoulder.
"We must get to Kail," his voice wavered in a high-pitched squeak. Nikko nodded. The anger of Sapheillien seemed to have done the trick to calm his rage down. Pain seared his arms again, and a human-sized bat-like creature flapped from the small cave a few seconds later.
Nikko tumbled through the air in a downdraft. Careful, Sapheillien murmured into his mind. Giving a shrill squeak of exasperation, he flapped again.
"You try to be a bat in rough winds!" Nikko's fingers had curled into one single claw on each wing. Two tufts of ears sprouted out of his windswept chocolate brown hair. Little fangs replaced some of his teeth.
Swooping blow some clouds, he scanned the landscape. A beautiful beach spread out before him. Scanning the deserted paradise, he saw a little cave. "There!" He shrilled as he spiraled in a dizzying plunge.
Crashing into the ground, Nikko tumbled in the sand. The ears, teeth, claws, and wings disappeared. A limp Sapheillien seemed to meld from Nikko's arm. Brushing sand off his clothes, Nikko scooped the drowsy guardian into his hands.
Trotting towards the cave, he examined the silent beach. So peaceful! He was happy that Kail had a nice place to live. Suddenly Sapheillien broke through his thoughts.
"Uh oh," he murmured. Nikko snapped his focus to the cave. He stopped short, and looked like the breath had been swept from him. A small stream of blood was dripping out of the entrance, and into the warm sand.
"Kail," Nikko whispered. "KAIL!" he dropped his guardian and ran. Sprinting to the cave, he tried not to think of what happened. "KAIL! Kail-?" He stopped at the entrance and peered in.
It took a minute for his eyes to adjust. As soon as the shadows came naturally to his eyes, he saw a bundle in a corner of the cave. The blood streamed thickened and stopped in a pool at the bundle.
"Kail?" He shuffled slowly over to the bundle. A pile of ashes lay next to her. Nikko grabbed her, and flipped her over. Her face was milk white, with hers eyes closed.
He dragged the non-moving girl out into the sunshine. Her eyes flickered when the sunlight hit her face. They opened.
"Kail! Hang on, SAPHEILLIEN! GET OVER HERE NOW!" an eagle fluttered over. Real tears seemed to be forming in his liquid-black eyes. "Nikko…it's too late." He said gently.
Kail looked at her brother. "Nikko. It's nice to feel the sunshine once again."
Nikko shoved the bloody girl towards the bird. "Sapheillien…now. Heal her." He sobbed, tears splashing on her chocolate brown hair. Kail grasped his hand.
"Nikko, it's too late. They got me. I-please. For me. Be good. I love you, and don't worry about me. I'll finally see mommy and daddy." With a sigh, her hand went slack, and all light faded out of her brown eyes.
Nikko gasped. Grasping the object protruding out of her chest, he pulled out an arrow, soaked in a deep violet blood. Flame still licked around the edges, and her own crimson blood was dripping off of it.
Reaching up with his other blood-soaked hand, he snapped the arrow in half. Chucking it down on the sand, he bent over his big sister, sorrow and anger flaring up like a volcano. Throwing his head back, he opened his mouth so wide, you could see his molars.
"NOOOOOOO!" the sea reared up in a huge wave, flooding the entire beach, except where he was sitting with his dead sibling.
"NOOOOOOOOO!" black clouds came swirling out of nowhere, darkening the day.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" the cave collapsed, disappearing into the water-infested beach.
"!"
I snapped awake, sweat drenching my cow-printed pajamas. The echoing anger of Nikko still rang in my ears. I wiped away tears from my own eyes, and pulled some of my auburn hair out of my dry mouth. I peered over the edge of my bunk. One of Niki's arms was dangling off her bed at an odd angle, fingers brushing the floor.
But what really caught my attention were the same weaving patterns that were laced into her skin. "So that's what it is," I muttered. "A time curse. The same as Nikko has." I unfolded myh brown wings pinned to my back, and stroked the soft feathers.
Whoever this Nikko was, he was definitely not human!