Chapter One.
Avians don't mix with serpientes.
History has proved it, hasn't it? The war was proof enough. The blood spilled. Even now, when it is supposed to be a time of peace, avians still look upon serpientes with a fearful eye, ready to fly away at the first opportunity. There is a reason we are different, why we are separated.
Wyvern's Court defies all the laws of nature. How is it possible to live together? Love might do the trick - my Tuuli Thea and their Diente live together, and they had a child, Oliza Shardae Cobriana. A wyvern. Wyvern's Court.
But can love truly bring nature together?
No, I didn't think so, either.
My father, Reed, doesn't trust the serpiente. He sees a few of them in our market from time to time, among the average avian, and has to turn his head with disgust. He makes musical instruments, and the occasional serpent enjoys looking at our goods. My mother, Desi, treats them with courtesy, at least. She is different for an avian, always filled with new ideas that she passed onto Elisa Beth, my adult sister.
I watch them every day, my brother Sal and I, when walking home from school. I see their sinuous movements, wondering how a people also derived from humans could be so different from us. We all have emotions - perhaps we are the same in a way.
But there has been a reason that we have been kept apart.
-
It was late spring and early summer all at once. I was humming the popular lullaby Hawksong, making my way through the avian half of the market. I had no work to do today, and thought I might engage myself in the culture of my people.
A hand brushed mine, and I looked over my shoulder, extremely surprised. Avians do not make contact - they stay behind their reserve. I sighed when I saw Revel, one of my best friends, and frowned. She was always breaking through the reserve, always expressing her emotions in such a free way it was frowned upon by most avians. But she was always so much herself…how could I not like a girl like her? I wondered if perhaps she would've been better off born a serpiente without a reserve in her culture, but I banished the thought from my head.
Revel grinned at me - literally grinned. "Hey Ama," she chirped, using my nickname. "What're you up to today?"
I shrugged. "Not much."
She rolled her eyes and leaned closer, bending down. Revel was taller than me, which was saying something, being I was fairly tall. I felt her soft black hair brush my cheek as she whispered in my ear words that caused me to widen my eyes with amazement.
"Emilihai visited the Wyvern's Nest the other day."
Wyvern's Nest was a dancer guild. Dancers was only very popular among the serpents, not the avians. To here my very reserved avian friend Emilihai had visited the Nest, well, it made me wonder. She loved the serpiente dances, however, so maybe it was not as much of a surprise as I had believed.
"That's crazy," I murmured.
Revel nodded, her inky curls bouncing. "It is!" Her eyes brightened. "But…dancing…doesn't it look wonderful?"
I'll admit, I had to agree. Revel, Emilihai, and I had often watched serpiente dances in secret, awed by what they could do. We all had toyed with the idea of actually training to be a dancer - it looked wonderful.
But I didn't know Emilihai had the courage to actually do it. She was among the most reserved avians I knew.
I sighed, shaking my head. "Revel, enough of the crazy talk. We'll never be dancers. My family would never let me."
Then I frowned. Elisa Beth had always told me to express myself, to castaway the reserve. Desi had done that, Ellie had done that, and now Ellie wanted me to. Dancing was a way to express yourself, wasn't it? Perhaps I could try.
Revel tugged on my arm, another gesture most avians were unused to. "Please, Amali? Can we at least visit the Wyvern's Nest?"
I bit my lip as she used my full name. I really didn't have anything to do today, and visiting Wyvern's Nest might prove to be fun… Sneaking in Wyvern's Nest, you mean, I corrected myself. Not proper for an avian lady…
But these were new times.
"I…well…all right."
The raven's eyes brightened, and she grinned happily. "Thanks!" she laughed, and ruffled my hair. "Come on, little sparrow, you'll have fun. I won't let a nasty snake eat you for supper."
"Very funny, Rev," I grumbled, pushing her hand away.
Just then, I caught a pair of familiar figures out of the corner of my eye. Two crows, one of them my friend, one of them…not so much. Kallithea and Cailys. Kal could be nice at times, but both of them were a bit too bubbly for me. Revel let out an audible groan when she caught sight of them. I knew for a fact she didn't like them, but to let herself reveal such a thing in public…
Only Revel would do such a thing.
I put on my polite avian reserve and nodded to the two of them as they drew closer. Kal smiled and nodded at me, as did Cailys. Revel frowned and crossed her arms.
"Hello Amali, Revel," Kal said pleasantly. "We" - she gestured to herself and Cailys - "heard you two use the term Wyvern's Nest a few times." She smiled angelically, her light brown eyes glittering, her light brown hair masking the smoky gray color of the crow feathers on the back of her neck. "Can we tag along?"
"I thought you didn't want to be dancers," Revel retorted, arching an eyebrow.
"No, Cail and I just want to see it," Kal supplied brightly, and Cailys nodded in affirmation.
"This is more of a two-bird journey," Revel insisted. "Run along, I'm sure Penelope's lonely somewhere." Penelope was the name of a crow none of us particularly liked, though Emilihai tolerated her.
Cailys giggled, nudging Kallithea in the side. "But we want to see some pretty serpiente boys!"
At that, I had to roll my eyes. An extreme drop of reserve there, if you please. Not to mention absolutely scandalous; how could she say such a thing in public?
But then, that was Cailys for you.
Revel snorted and let out an almost caw-like laugh, so much like her raven's call. "Whore," she stated derisively.
Everyone stared at her.
"…what?"
"Absolutely nothing, Rev," I assured her. "Just you being yourself again."
-
We caught Emilihai in the middle of the market, the avian reserve unable to entirely mask the excitement sparkling in her eyes. "You're coming?" she gushed in a whisper when we had reached an audible range.
I nodded, then winced as her gaze flicked to Cailys and Kal. She greeted them politely, however, nothing able to mar her feverish excitement. But then, Em was always polite to everyone, no matter the circumstance. She was just a sweet girl like that.
It was a time when most folks avoided the center of the market, so we avoided stares by quickly trooping through, trying not to draw attention to ourselves. Our families were among the first few to move to Wyvern's Court, watching as more had steadily moved in. I had been born in Hawk's Keep, but lived here most of my life.
We didn't make a direct beeline for the Nest, realizing it would be too conspicuous, but we crept in one at a time. When someone would leave, one of us would slip in and meander in the shadows, waiting for the other birds to join us. Normally, Em did it alone, and Rev and I had tagged along perhaps once. But now, with Kal and Cail insisting on joining us, we had to work fairly hard not to be conspicuous.
It was still the early years of Wyvern's Court, so in fact Wyvern's Nest was fairly new. There weren't a whole lot of dancers hanging around, but they were all serpiente, which made me feel more than a little ill at ease. The war was past, but Elisa Beth still remembered it from when she was a little girl, and her stories she had woven had been casting the serpientes in a frightening light.
But all the same, I would never forget her words at the ends of these stories:
"We must learn to forgive and forget, Little Beau," she had said to me, using my nickname from my childhood days, a term that meant beautiful. "Otherwise, there is no humanity separating us from truly becoming birds and snakes."
Perhaps Ellie was right.
I was shaken from my reverie by the slow, sensual beat of a drum, and my eyes snapped to the present. My eyes widened, and I watched with baited breath as a dancer and her instructor prepared to dance.
The dance took my breath away, and I would occasionally listen to the sensual lilting of the flute that accompanied the piece, but I could not draw my eyes away from the dance in front of me. It seemed fairly simple to the instructor, yet I caught myself eyeing the pupil with something akin to jealousy - she looked so beautiful, so much herself up there, with her short black hair streaked with blonde and stunningly sapphire-jeweled eyes.
The girl stumbled, yet she laughed, and a couple of her friends came up onto the raised platform with her, the instructor stepping aside, shaking her head at the theatrics. I was trapped in the beauty of it, the black-haired girl performing with her friends.
Revel, next to me, let out a tiny, "Wow."
That was when everything went wrong.
The blazing, jeweled eyes of the dancers snapped over to us. Revel instantly looked contrite, but I was past that, the feathers on the back of my neck rising. Everything inside me screamed, predator!
After all, I was merely a sparrow - no match for snakes.
They moved over with sinuous speed, but by that time Cailys and Kal had already shifted to crow form and bolted out the door. Em swallowed, but I saw from her stance she was prepared to deal with justice. Revel, on the other hand, seemed more prepared to fight her way out (and I knew Rev could deal out a good brawl when she wanted to). I…I only wished to stay for my friends, to make sure they'd be all right, though I'd rather be out the door and blocks away by now.
But I forced myself to remain utterly still, and swallowed back the acid fear building up in my throat as the serpents drew closer.
AN: I hope you enjoyed reading chapter one. ^^ This story is based off some things that really did happen in the lives of my friends and I, but some things were tailored to fit the story. I'm going without an editor for now, just merely writing down how I feel about it and not really working on making it a beautiful and marvelous work of art.
Because, after all, we all know life isn't just a beautiful and marvelous little story. It's a whole lot more than that.
--Amy (WinterLoveSong)
