Elk

by Elkconig

I am Elk. You might know me from when I was a boy, but I doubt it. Here is my story, the one filled of creatures of mist, and a boy, me, one of wings.

First off, I must say, Journeys are never easy. Hardly anyone actually finishes a journey, a real person that is, and in real life. Because of this, so many people dont realize how hard it is to start your own journey, and to keep it a journey. Want to know? Well its coming up.

.Elk.

Fallen.. fallen.. off the paths, light.. air.. breathe.. life.

.1.

I am Elk.

I was born. Easy enough to believe. I was born in my home village of Talikm. This village is found in the depths of the Nanjik mountains. The Nanjik Ridge that is. Our natural barrier from anything else. A place perfect for one such as me to grow up in, until I was five, but I shall not get into that yet. My mother, who was called Juili by my father, and Grace by the other villagers. She was the one who bore me, in our peaceful village, and raised me. My father, who was always known as FireHart, was there as well. He didnt raise me though, for he died soon after I was born, or so my mother told me.

Supposedly he was found selling our goods, as he always did each month, to the village closest to us, a village called Olai. The village was where many villagers came, along with friends and relatives, to sell food and other items. My father was one of these people, who I soon learned were called Merchants. They apparently were very common, so there was no reason for anyone to be interesting in my father, but they were.

It was one rainy day, well, I shall quote my mother as well as I can, it was a rainy day, not too heavy of rain though. Just enough to get the roads and forest paths wet. Nobody was out at this time, hardly anybody. The only people out were the Merchants, ones like my father. They were trying to sell their wares just like they had done before, before it was raining, to the few people they could find. My father was one, calling out into the rain, "Meat? Corn? Silk cloth anyone?" I could almost here his voice, then it vanished.

It was the fatal. The fatalness killed him. They did. Who are they? You ask. You jest. You disbelieve me, when I say.. it was them. It was everyone who had ever lived, everyone, come to one place. One time. Nobody believes. The devil in all of them came, it escaped one night, and unleashed itself before my father, consuming him. At least, this is what I heard from my mother, and the story tellers in my village. They say he brought it on himself. That he called the spirits to him, the devil. To destroy.

I wouldnt know myself, I was but a babe when this happened. Who knew anyway? The only person who saw was my fathers horse, a horse named Koche. We still have the horse, but even if it did speak, it probably wouldnt tell us what we needed to know. That is where I am, I am at the barn, sitting next to Koche in the hay, writing this story. My story.

I hear Koche crunching some hay above me, crunching away seemingly without a care in the world.. but Koche cared. She always cared. I knew that she had seen what had happened to my father, and was afraid and sad about it. She would never admit it though, especially not to my mother. Koche always spoke to me, never to my mother. As she is now.

Elk.. must you scratch against that paper so hard?

Her words. Koche's words. You, as well as everyone, must think I am crazy. A horse, talking to me? Impossible. Thats what you say, so you believe. I believe you all are wrong. Theres nothing wrong about me, I'm not crazy. At least.. Koche doesnt believe I'm crazy.

Elk.. you musnt say your crazy. None are crazy.

You see? Koche is always right. How she understood my thoughts without my speaking them is another matter. Since birth we had always been connected. Apparently we were siblings in the womb, the womb of life. Any who are siblings are immediatly bonded. As Koche and I am. Already I can see you not believing me, but what is there not to believe? A talking horse is all right, but she doesnt talk. She speaks.

.2.

Again I can hear you saying, 'Crazy crazy.. this boy is crazy.' You are wrong again. She speaks in our language. The ones, the devils language. The ones spawned of devils have a language, since we are siblings, we know it. My father knew it when I was born, when Koche was born. Not all devils are evil, you must know that. Most of us are quite nice, Koche and I are, certainly. Does my mother believe that? Certainly not.

"Elk! Get out of that stupids horses stall and do some decent chores around here!"

My mothers voice. Shes calling for me again. She always does, what have I done wrong to her? Brought her bad luck, thats what I've done. Or so she says. I got to my feet and brushed the hay off my shirt. I turned and patted Koche on the nose, whispering as I did so, "See you later my sister." She looked after me and replied, When the moon rises and the sun departs.

This is our greeting and goodbye. All of us creates one of our own. A simple one, but with lots of meaning. I smiled once and hurried back to my home, ready to do what my mother ordered.

Our house was a simple one, with only four rooms in the whole of it. My bedroom, my mothers, our restroom, and our kitchen. My mother owns the kitchen. If I make one mark upon the deep dark wood that makes up our house, she would whip me. A simple thing really, being whipped wasnt half as bad as being engulfed by demons or having the whole village stare at you, night and day. They did, they always stared at me. Perhaps my short black hair was messed, or something was wrong with my grey eyes. Who knew? The villagers certainly did, though they said nothing of it.

I stepped into our house, passing the tough wooden threshold we have set there. I looked around for my mother, and found her laboring away at the stove again. She was always there, to bake things to make enough money for us to live. At least for her to live, she always gave me scraps. I didnt mind, Koche always helped me find things to eat, I never starved.

As soon as she saw me, my mother called out, "Boy! Get over here and sweep out this awful hay! Then clean your room of that stupid collection you have." I sighed and picked up the broom. I began sweeping out the hay, with my mother hovering over me, yelling from time to time, "Your doing it wrong! You selfish brat!" I almost felt like saying, If I'm doing it wrong, then you do it. Though, of course, I didnt. My mother knew me too well, she could tell others.. that couldnt happen.

I finished the sweeping with a bit of time to spare before dusk, and walked to my room. The collection she was ruffering to was my bird feather collection. I had always been obsessed with birds, mainly their feathers, and collected the ones I could find. I looked around my room, and tiredly starting gathering feathers. I placed them in a small bag I had, and hurried back out to the barn.

My mother never came to the barn, so I felt I could keep my collection here without her knowing. Koche would guard it for me as well. She was always good like that. When I entered her stall, she threw up her head and neighed a greeting, Mother didnt destroy you I see. I chuckled, "Not yet my sweet Koche. Not yet. I have to go to town tonight though, somethings calling me.."

Not those awful kids again?

"Aye, those. They always want to make something or another."

I'm going with you this time Elk.

"You cant Koche, my mother would see us."

Then I'll make sure she wont.

I said nothing more. Would Koche come with me? Of course she would. She never didnt want to protect me. I smiled and stood, looking around, I placed my bag of feathers unneath Koche's unused saddle and saddleblanket, and started towards the heart of our village. Koche easily stepped past me and walked towards the town, passing me in a few feet. I would regret this night.

I sighed, and raced to keep up with her. Thats another thing the villagers feared. My speed. I could always keep up with a galloping horse, always. Something about me made me extremely fast. Koche threw up her head, happy to be out running in the wind. I grinned and called my war cry, keeping up with her. I didnt care who saw us, a wildchild and a raging horse, racing through the trees. Anyone who saw us would probably think we were ghosts, or spirits.. or even demons.

Easy enough to believe, for they were right. Easy enough.

.3.

We made it to the town with plenty of time to spare. The kids wanted me to come at 11, but I made it there at 10. I always came early so I could see the Merchants selling their wares, and to see any other odd people around. I would stare at them, and they would stare at me. A staring match I always won. Koche walked meekly beside me, knowing that if she raced away, people would catch her for their own. I would never let that happen to my sibling. Never.

I saw a few people I reconized, and a few others I didnt. These were wierd people.. who were they exactly? They wore these white shirts and pants, something of which I had never seen before. White clothing was very expensive, even more expensive than silk. They were staring at me, which was common for strangers in our village. I stared back, expecting them to back down, but they didnt. They continued to stare at the wildchild and raging horse.

Koche finally spotted the strangers and whispered to me softly, I dont like them. We should leave. I shook my head and replied just as softly, "No. They'll back down soon. I'm sure of it. How sure was I? Very sure.. very stupid of me.

The strangers did not back down, instead they approached me. I was surprised, but what was customary for our villagers, the kids mainly, was to bow to ones elders. So I bowed politely, expecting them to bow back as answer. When they didnt, I straightened, even more confused. Then it happened. I was knocked back by one of them.

Laying on the dirt trail, I stared up at them, anger beginning to boil. Koche reared, ready to attack the strangers, but I put out a hand to halt her. She dropped heavily, staring angrily at the men. Believe me, I was just as angry. One of them chuckled and spoke, "A fighter! I believe this is the one we have been searching for. He could survive it." Another one spoke, "The horse might be a problem." The one who had first spoke shook his head, "If the horse fights, tell the kid we'll kill it if he doesnt stop it."

I listened to their conversation with horror. They would kill Koche if she defended me? Impossible! They couldnt do that! I looked around at the villagers around me, and saw them just staring at me with eyes of nothing. No emotion. None would help me now. I scrambled to my feet, leaning on Koche. I turned to speak to the men, "You cannot do this! Its against custom! The only way you would be able to kill Koche would be if she was attacking you! If you dare lay a hand on me, she'll defend."

The men looked at me, scorn in their eyes. Apparently they didnt think I could speak. One grinned, "Then we'll kill her now! Simple as that." He nodded to one of the others beside him, and the other lifted something to his shoulder. Something I reconized as something I had seen before.. a gun.. one apparently newly brought to our village.

The other grimaced and pulled something on the gun, some sort of trigger. In a flash, Koche dropped to the ground, red blossoming on her chest. I gave a ragged cry and dropped next to her. She looked around, eyes wide with fright and pain, Elk.. pain.. what happened? I'm.. slipping away.. Elk.. I'll see you.. Nothing more. Koche's head fell onto the dirt, eyes still wide, but now glassing over in death.

Something ripped from me, leaving me gasping for breath on the ground. I felt like half of me had been ripped away and destroyed. The Koche half of me. I lay gasping when the men leaned over me, one of them commented, "Interesting.. it looked like that horse had talked to him, but look, no tears. Apparently the horse wasnt that important." There were no tears for I had never cried in my life. Devils didnt cry.

I struggled to my feet, gasping out in pain. A wild glint had gone into my eyes, I could tell because the men were staring at me with something like fear. I reached out and grabbed one of them, pulling them to my height, I spoke into the persons ear, "You shall.. pay.. for that.." In one quick moment, I broke the mans neck. An instant later, the others backed away. The apparent leader of them called to the man with the gun, "Shoot him! With the sleep you idiot!"

The man nodded and loaded something different into his gun. I lurched towards this man, grimacing still with pain. I was bleeding from the heart, though no blood was shown. Behind me, Koche's body grew a bright white, then vanished. I didnt look back, I knew what had happened. She had been called back. I would too, once I died.

I felt a white flash of pain hit me in the leg. I looked down and found something enbedded in my leg. A vial of some sort. I tried to pour it out, but suddenly grew sleepy. Angry at myself, I whipped around to strike another man down, but they were all out of my reach. Another sharp pain, this time in my chest, next to my heart. That pain added to the pain already there, then all pain vanished. The world vanished around me, I vanished.

.4.

When I awoke, I found myself not in the village. I could hardly see my surroundings for a second. Grimacing with pain still lingering I looked around and saw only white. Getting to my feet, still painful, I touched the walls around me. A solid room, nothing around. No windows, no doors of which I could see... but I heard voices, ones saying, "He's awake. Test the gas."

In an instant, this greenish gas came pouring into the room by way of invisible vents. I watched it pool around my feet, then felt my muscles relax, I tried to lift an arm, but I couldnt. I was paralyzed. I tried to call out, without luck. The voices returned, "Good. It worked. Bring the others in. Let us experiment right away." Experiment on what?

On me? I couldnt.. not let them.. cant.. Koche! With that word I broke down. My sanity left me, and suddenly the paralysis was gone. I struck the walls with hands now cut and bleeding. Whipping around, I felt a new breeze in the room, and knew some kind of door had opened. I twisted my head to look in every direction, but found no exit, then the paralysis returned.

Finding myself not being able to move again, I watched, anger boiling even greater, as three men entered the room. One injected me with something, and I fell again into a dreamless sleep.

When I awoke again, I was still in the room, being held up with chains to the wall. I tried to break the chains, but for some reason, my muscles were groggy. I could hardly move, the paralysis had worn off, but something was lingering in my system. In an instant, the chains broke, leaving me fallen onto the ground. I tiredly pushed myself to my feet and tried to find anything different.

The room was the same, but something was different with me. As I always never wore a shirt, the feel of something like cloth on my back was odd. I reached a hand to touch my back, and found something that felt almost like the feathers I always collected. One brushed my hand, and it felt like it was coming from the ceiling. I looked up, expecting to see feathers falling from some sort of hole in the ceiling, but it was just as solid as the walls around me.

What was it then? I turned my head, and realized new muscles were at my shoulderblades. I moved the muscles delicately, and found more feathers had moved across my back. I tried a different muscle, and felt two great wings unfurl at my back. Wings. I had wings. I was a demon in an angels body. I tested the wings with caution, unsure of what had happened.

This must be a dream. I'll wake up next to Koche in the barn, listening to her munch hay above me. Then I thought, Koche's gone. She has moved on, left me here, with wings. I closed my eyes and opened them, expecting to find nothing had changed about me... but the rustling of feathers continued. The strangers had changed me. They had experimented, turned me into more of a freak than I was, a winged boy.

I pounded my fists against the wall, newly healed wounds opening again. I grimaced in pain, but didnt pause. Soon I crumbled to the floor, staring at the white ground beneath my feet. I stayed like this for many hours, staring at nothing, staring at everything. Thinking.. Koche.. my mother.. my father.. the strangers.. they will.. die.

I believe it was a day before they next came. Apparently to give me food. By this time I was standing, staring at the ceiling, wings randomly rustling behind me. I wasnt hungry, at this moment in time I felt like I'd never be hungry, but they came. The invisible door opened again, and the paralysis gas entered the room. I didnt try to move, knowing that my muscles were dead at the moment.

The men were talking about me... I could hear them. "He's done better than the others have. Seemed to accept it." a voice I reconized. The man who had been the one to capture me, the one who killed Koche. At this, I whipped around, paralysis gone. It would never conquere me again. With the great white wings at their full length, I approaching the men, sanity gone for good this time, eyes burning a fierce red.

They tried to close the door before I got out. Silly humans. They couldnt keep me here anymore. I easily stepped out the door before they shut it. I stared at them, eyes burning still, and struck out. One man was unfortunate enough to be close to my wrath, and died. Another black mark on my record, or was it a red mark? The mans blood was red enough. I grinned evilly and stepped closer to the men before me.

I felt things peppering me, and knew they were those sleep things. I simply ignored them, and knocked past two of the strangers in my way. My wings whacked them to the walls, leaving them bloody and beaten up. I knew this was bad.. good I mean. Always, they killed Koche, I kill them.

I raced through the halls, running as fast as any horse, passing cell after cell with people like me. Some with wings, though those ones I could tell were dead. Others with other things attached to them. I saw a flash of a girl who looked somewhat familiar, inside a cell of water. She had a fishtail. A mermaid that one was. I saw that she had spotted me, and was cheering me on. None escaped this building, seeing me, the others were happier. Had hope, at least the ones still alive.

The last few cells I passed had kids my age, or at least they looked like kids. They were randomly changing into wolves.. Werewolves, I thought. The strangers who created this building were monsters. Even more of monsters than I was. Or, at least I thought. None were as fierce and terrifying as I was.

.5.

After I passed the last few cells, I burst through a door, and found myself on a mountain. I guessed the place I was in was near my village, but it turned out it was way up high in the Nanjik Ridge. I was standing at the edge of a cliff, wind pulling at me, inviting me to jump. I spread my wings, wondering if they would take my weight. They would. Hearing voices behind me, and feeling the wake of the door slamming open, I jumped.

The wind pulled me. I barely flapped my wings, just glided down and down. I felt shots go by me, missing by inches, some of them. One shot down and hit my side. Went straight through. Trying not to cry out in pain, I tried to continue my glide, but my wings folded and I fell. Straight down I fell. Above me, the strangers watched, seeing me crash into the forests below. One commented, "Stupid fool. No way he would have survived that. Too bad though, he seemed like a good one." The others nodded agreement and went back into the building.

They were the stupid fools. I had survived, barely. I had crashed down and landed in a small stream. With my lifes blood pouring into the stream, I fell unconsicous. This time I dreamed. I dreamed Koche was there, greeting me like she always did, My brother. Where did you go? I pined without you. In my dream, I had my wings, and I waved them at Koche. She nodded, Your winged now. Thats means I am winged now. You know you shall join me, and we shall soar together. Together forever, but first, you must go. Find freedom my brother.

At these words, I awoke.