Greetings all around! Thanks for your interest in my story and, just to let you know, I've got most of it written already and have everything pretty much planned out, so this won't turn into a never-to-be finished teaser! That being said, I'd love to hear any and all ideas, theories, complaints, and complements!

Of the Wing

Ch. 1 Introductory Flight

Don't own 'em, just love 'em

Except Athena. She's all mine!

The air currents ripped and raged around me, tossing my already exhausted body violently over the lush forest. The white-tipped, rusty feathers were now soaked to a dark red; and the rain showed no signs of stopping. Just a few more miles. I could make it just a few more miles.

For three days I'd been flying desperately to put as much distance between myself and those men. The ones my mother had warned me about. The ones that had come from the shadows with nets and knives and fear. Something was wrong with them. They moved, but everything about them screamed death. How close they had come to taking me… Never. I was free, and they would never put me in a cage!

And so I flew. My hair whipping wildly through the air; my skin numb from the icy rain, sleep pulling on my eyelids; but not yet. Just a few more miles.

"What the hell was that?" Instantly, my mind snapped back to attention. I was falling; just a few short inches above the tree tops, and someone had seen me. Adrenaline raced into my veins and I pushed harder, faster, desperate to escape before they could be certain what they had seen. Just a big bird. If I could get away fast enough; surely they'd assume I was just a big bird.

I angled my wings to guide the air beneath me and push myself higher. A sudden, violent gust tossed me ten feet up before dying and dropping me fifteen. I flapped desperately to catch myself. Just as I was beginning to gain altitude, something shot from the trees. At first, panic threatened to overwhelm me, but another glance revealed it to be a raven, and again I focused on controlling the chaotic currents. Just a raven. A giant raven. That was following me. Watching me. Those eyes. Something wasn't right about those eyes.

Disregarding the probability of my own delusions, I quickly ducked to the left, away from the terrifying black bird that would surely, on any other day, have been beautiful. To my growing horror, it followed me. Escape. I had to get away. The all-too-familiar tingling alerted me to a particularly strong oncoming buffet. At the last second, I angled my wings to catch the angry burst and let it sweep me high above the raven. With an outraged squawk, it struggled to adapt to the sudden wall of air. Just as it managed to conquer the updraft and rise to meet me, the current passed and threw us down. I tucked my wings in and rocketed down maybe twenty-five feet before stretching to my full wingspan and catching the air in a tight pocket beneath me. In the same heartbeat, I tilted my wings and flapped hard, throwing me to the right.

Some new type of determination seemed to radiate from the raven as it swooped and cut through the air just behind me. Another current was coming. At the last second, I dropped a sudden fifteen feet before swooping up to catch the tail of the updraft. My upturned wings were nearly ripped off with the power of the violent gusts as it lifted me straight up over the forest. As I'd hoped, the raven had tried to follow me exactly, but the brief delay in its movements as it dove, had sent it into the air current at the worst angle. The wind screamed over its wings and shot him down like a bullet, straight into the trees.

There wasn't time to watch it disappear, though. The current had tossed me back and I was stalling out. Once it had passed, the sudden lack of force left me unsupported and I began to drop. Several hard flaps left my already sore muscles burning as I struggled to right myself, but another tiny gust proved just enough to push me in the right direction and I leveled out.

A large black streak caught my attention. The raven. It watched me curiously, mischievously, but not maliciously. And that fascinated me. How could a bird show such emotion in just a second's glance? No; this was no ordinary bird. I couldn't help but smirk as it managed to fly beside me. Alright; it wanted to play? I could play.

I subtly turned my body to the side and gave a violent flap, rocketing me away from the onyx bird, before lifting my wings high above my head and pushing down hard once, twice, three times, before gliding into another current. The stubborn raven followed. I wouldn't be able to travel those extra few miles, not after this; yet how could I pass up such a blatant challenge?

The current vanished. I tucked my wings back and shot down with dizzying speed, before steadily stretching them out to catch the air; just enough to guide me; to level out. With that speed, however, I caught the next raging gust and shot back up. He followed.

The wind changed subtly, but I could feel it. Hesitant; swirling. An invisible, horizontal spiral. I could catch it; I was certain I could. Delicately, I flew into the center of it; letting my wing tips just brush the sides; before rocking into it. The current caught my wing and gently spun my body with it. Suddenly the ground was above me and I looked down at the raging black clouds. With a sweeping dip, I leveled and looked back for the raven.

He flew into the center of the twister, but he tried to force the spin. The current caught him and threw him up and around and out of control. For a few hazardous feet, he was a ball of violent flaps as he desperately tried to right himself.

He had courage; that I couldn't deny, but how far would he go? I angled my wings up drastically, just in time for the next angry current. Like before, it threw me back and up. This time, I didn't fight it. I let it push me up and up and over. And, as I looked up at the sky, I wrapped my wings around me, and, as the current completed it task, plummeted head first to the earth. The raven exclaimed in alarm and shot down after me. A small, victorious smirk toyed with my lips as I watched the ground shoot toward me with terrifying speed. I rolled just enough to dodge the numerous tree branches on my kamikaze drop. Forty feet separated me from the ground. Thirty. Twenty-five. Another shriek from the raven. Twenty. And I threw out my wings, catching the air with a loud slap. Ignoring the agonizing protest of my joints, I forced several desperate flaps to all but stop my descent, allowing me to gently touchdown.

Panting, I turned to see the bird. What I saw rekindled the panic and sent a fresh wave of adrenaline racing from my pounding heart. A man stepped out from the trees, panting but laughing hardily. His shaggy onyx hair stuck to his pale skin as he watched me with impossibly blue eyes. He braced himself against a tree and let out a few more chuckles as he waved a finger at me.

"You… you're good." He panted. "Whew!" His hands fell to his hips and he leaned back, stretching playfully.

"You're the raven." I gasped, "But how?"

"Oh, like you're one to ask." He retorted, the smile never fading. "I've heard of all kinds of animals morphs, but never a half morph. Much less one capable of flight; and what a flight that was. You'll have to show me how you did that little barrel role some time."

"What are you talking about?" I asked impatiently. He shot me a 'come on, drop the act' face, before drawing his brows together and really looking at me. Confusion stole across his eyes.

"Wait a minute… your heart's still beating." It was more a question that a statement. Panic threatened to overwhelm me and I couldn't help but take a step back. Yes, I could out-maneuver him in the sky, but my body was exhausted and my muscles worn out. If it came down to it, I could fight him, but he could change shapes… what other tricks did he have?

"What are you?" I barely breathed. He scoffed and crossed his arms across his chest.

"You mean I got out-flown by a human?" he asked in disbelief. "Man, I'm never going to live this down." There was a small pocket knife clasped to my bra that my mother had given me.

"What are you?" I asked again, just barely able to keep my voice from trembling. Could I grab the knife before he was on me?

"I think the real question here is 'what are you?'" He asked taking a few leisurely steps toward me. My body automatically readied itself for a fight. My shoulders dropped, my back rounded, my stance widened, and my wings flared. Would I be fast enough to defend myself before he overpowered me?

"Oh relax; I'm not going to attack you." I said dismissively. "So, is this some other Mayan curse thing?" he asked, motioning to my wings.

"Damn it, what the hell are you?" I nearly shouted. He threw his hands up in submission.

"Alright, alright; god." He exhaled sarcastically. "I'll tell if you tell." I said nothing. A smirk pulled at his lips. "I'm a vampire." At first I dismissed it; but something about his eyes… he wasn't lying. A Vampire. My mind raced. A vampire. Alive, but not. Moving, but screaming death. The men. The men with nets and knives.

"Relax, I'm not here to…" he made an exaggerated motion of grabbing something and biting it. "Alright, now it's your turn. I told, now you tell." I thought my heart would break free of my chest. I couldn't control my diaphragm and my body shook with panicked gasps.

"Hey; you know, you're kind of hyperventilating there. That tends to not be very helpful with things like; I don't know, staying conscious." Was he one of them? The ones that tried to take me? "Yeah, I know; vampire; very scary, but if you don't breathe, you're going to pass out."

"One of them." I gasped. Once again, confusion toyed with his face. He started to say something else, but he took another step toward me, and the panic took over. In a single heartbeat, I'd spun around and launched myself into the air; the exhaustion forgotten as my wings pumped frantically. A shout sounded from behind me, followed by an angry curse and a ruffle of feathers. I kicked off of each branch I passed, desperate to get free of the restricting trees as fast as I could. With each flap, my wings threatened to cave, but I could escape. Surely I could escape him, if I could just reach the sky.

A loud caw erupted to my right, instantly catching my attention just as I shot from the treetops. The moment of distraction cost me dearly as the sudden, angry winds threw me against the very tree I'd just escaped. The sudden collision forced the air form my lungs and sent daggers through my back. A tiny glimpse. The man, standing on a branch just below me; shouting.

Ignoring the agony in my back, the burning suffocation, the exhausted muscles; I threw myself into the storm. The determined raven followed. In my panic, I couldn't focus on the near unnoticeable hints foretelling sudden gusts and drops, and my body became the plaything of the currents. I was only barely able to stay level. And, always, the shrieking caw of the raven; demanding my descent. To both our horrors, he got his wish.

A sudden, violent wind buffeted me. At first, it seemed tolerable, but my left wing began to tremble. And weaken. My body began to drift. And then the muscles went limp. And I fell. Another shriek. I tried desperately to compensate with my right wing, but my body plummeted wildly toward the trees. The raven dove after me. Just before it had caught up, the forest engulfed me. Horrified, I realized the magnitude of my situation. I couldn't even guide my descent. I was freefalling through a forest.

A branch slammed into my abdomen. I heard the sickening cracks and felt the air flee my lungs, but nothing seemed to register. My body snapped around it like a ragdoll before slipping off to continue the lethal descent. Darkness edged my vision. Damn. I didn't want to die like this. I still hadn't seen the ocean.

Something warm seemed to engulf me. The touch set my back and abdomen aflame, but I couldn't fight back. There was no strength left in my limbs. Blue eyes. Like ice. Cold. It was cold. We weren't falling anymore. But we were moving. He was carrying me. No. He was taking me to them; no! You can't have me! I managed just to struggle, but the tiniest movement sent white-hot pain shooting through me. Still, I wouldn't let them take me! I wouldn't be they're prisoner!

"Damn it, girl, stop!" He suddenly shouted, instantly demanding my attention. I struggled to keep my eyes open; to keep the world from melting and collapsing in on itself, but it was a losing battle. He said something else, but I couldn't make out any words. It felt like I was falling again. My eyes closed for just a moment.

"Damon; where'd you" the question stopped abruptly, "Damn it, what did you do?" I didn't know that voice. Vainly, I tried to see the speaker, but something restrained me.

"Thanks so much for the vote of confidence, little brother." The raven replied, almost annoyed. "Now, get out of the way." I struggled to rid myself of the restraints, but the instant I tensed my torso, the muscles screeched in agony. My arms instantly wrapped around my stomach as I gasped in pain. More voices. I couldn't focus on them. Trembling, I could only wait for the white hot daggers to stop digging through me.

Something soft caught me and the restraints retreated. Desperately, I tried to make sense of where I was, to find an escape, but all I could see was ice. The raven who wasn't a raven. Vampire. With nets and knives. They were coming. Surely they were coming. And they would take me and lock me up and hurt me. No! No, I wouldn't let them!

I threw out my wings, hoping to nock away the icy eyes. Someone gasped. Frantic questions. I flapped hard and threw myself from the bed. Shouted curses. Hands grabbing me; holding me down. Arms. Restraints. I shouted as I fought them; already knowing it was futile. Blue eyes.

"We're not going to hurt you. You need to relax." Something tried to overwhelm me, to calm my frantic muscles; but that only terrified me all the more and I redoubled my struggle.

"Careful of her wing!" He shouted.

"I'm trying! Damn it; hurry up and compel her!"

"I tried! She must have vervain in her system!" Another angry curse. "Just let go of her!"

"What?"

"Let go!" And the hands were gone. Trembling, I stood, poised to fight, but barely able to keep my feet beneath me. "Alright, now very slowly, get out of here, Stephen." The beginnings of a protest were instantly cut off with a quiet grunt. And one left. I managed to back a few steps away from the other; the raven.

"Alright; now it's just you and me." He started, "Think you can calm down a bit?" My body swayed violently, but I managed to find those icy blue eyes. And I couldn't look away.

"Where am I?" The words sounded slurred, but he understood them.

"At my house; well mine and my brother's house." He said, trying to lighten the atmosphere with his façade of nonchalance. "This is my room."

"Why?" The rest of my words failed me as the floor seemed to dip beneath me. Once the spell passed, he replied.

"Well, you kind of went a few rounds with a big pine tree. You lost." He added.

"You followed me." I tried to ask why, but I was already panting with the effort to simply stand. He shrugged dismissively.

"I've never seen anything like you. And that's saying something. I was curious." My mind started to spin. The adrenaline was beginning to fade and the pain was borderline debilitating. But the men, they were coming for me. For the same reasons? Curiosity? The same. He was with them.

"The men." I whispered.

"Yeah, you were mumbling something about that earlier." He took a casual step toward me, hoping I wouldn't notice. I saw it, but I could do nothing about it. If I moved at all, even just a tiny step back, I would crumble. "I'm afraid I don't know anything about these 'evil, shadow people,' but I can assure you, I'm not one of them." He said, but his face faltered and he added, "Unless, by 'shadow people' you mean vampires in general, which is a tad unfair. We're not all bad." I tried to glare at him, but the colors were spinning again.

"Just a heads up, you're going to fall in about five seconds, and I'm going to catch you, so don't freak out, okay?" I tried to question him, but my leg collapsed. Before I'd even begun to fall, warmth enveloped me. I gasped and tried to jump back, but my entire torso was suddenly burning. I bit hard, but couldn't silence the whimper as my hands tightened around his jacket.

"Well, that was better than before. Now, I'm going to put you on the bed." He explained calmly.

"No," I tried to object, to beg him to wait just a moment; just until the pain faded a little, but I couldn't form the words. Still; even without my explaining, he waited before pressing the matter.

"It's a nice bed. Picked it out myself. Nice a squishy." He tempted; tightening his arms to support more of my weight.

"Hurts." I finally gasped; cursing myself for sounding so weak, but unable to do anything else. Something in him instantly changed. I couldn't tell what it was, but it made me feel safe.

"Alright, we're going to go nice and slow, okay?" he almost whispered; already gently pulling me back. That miniscule movement was all it took for my knees to cave. He didn't catch me; merely guided me down slowly, as quiet words danced from his lips. I don't know if it was his intention, but that saved me, I was sure, from the agony I knew accompanied such a jar; either from being caught or from falling.

"Listen, I'm going to lift you up for just a second and sit you on the bed. Alright?" He asked. I expected him to move instantly, but he didn't. Finally, I managed to find his eyes. He was waiting for me to give him permission. My hands tightened on his jacket, but I nodded. So carefully, he held me against him and stood. Where his arm crossed my back screamed in agony, and I couldn't help but groan.

"I know," he whispered as he set me down. "See? Nice and squishy." I couldn't help but chuckle. "I'm going to take a look at your back now, alright?" I understood only a few words as my lids began to droop. "Hey?" he drawled out, trying to get my attention. "Come on, little bird girl, focus. I'm ever-so-subtly asking permission to take your shirt off." My grip on his jacket weakened and my hands slid to the bed. "Can you tell me your name?" He asked, touching his thumb to my chin. I fought hard to see his eyes. My name. Yes, I could tell him my name.

"A-Athena," I breathed. "Athena Allansri." Even that left me panting, and each pant sent daggers into my ribs and stomach.

"Athena; Goddess of love and war. Fantastic." He said with exaggerated euphemism. "You got a nickname?" His other hand moved to the back of my head. Vaguely, I realized he was gently probing for injuries.

"Thea." I whispered. The raven. The raven with ice blue eyes. "Who?" I couldn't finish forming the words in my mind, much less my mouth.

"Damon Salvator, at your service." He gave a little bow and slid his hand down to my neck. "You don't have any kind of attachment to this shirt, do you?" he asked, stepping to my side. I started to question him, but was interrupted by a loud ripping sound, followed immediately by a freezing gust of air. Immediately, my arms flung around my torso and my body trembled. That movement, however, jarred my back and stomach, sending flashes of white hot pain shooting through me; like I was being ground between two great glaciers.

"Easy, little Thea; don't go getting all prudish on me, now." Even as he said it, his warm hands gently glided over my back; like tiny wisps of fire.

"Cold." I gasped as another shiver shot down my spine. His hands stilled.

"Ah; well, that's easy enough to fix." Almost instantly, the heavy scarlet comforter was wrapped around me. "Well, your back's bruised pretty bad, but it should be fine. It's going to turn all kinds of pretty colors though." Gently, he guided me back against a wall of down pillows. "I'm going to take a look at your stomach now, okay?" I nodded; anxiously pulling my wings tight against my back.

Without a word, he pulled back the blanket and shredded shirt to just reveal my abdomen. Again his hands ghosted across the tender skin.

"A little pressure." He warned as he carefully prodded my ribs. I couldn't help but balk violently and cry out at the sudden agony that raged from my wretched body, and my hands shot down to lock around his wrists. "Alright, alright," he whispered, "No more." He tried to pull his hands back, but I couldn't release them. Every muscle was tensed, anxiously waiting for the pain to subside.

"Thea?" he called; trying half-heartedly to get my attention. I couldn't respond. I couldn't think. Please, just make it stop. A whimper sounded from my throat. Damon sighed quietly.

"Come on; let's get you a little more comfortable." As gently as he could, he guided my hands down and carefully rolled me on my side. My body instantly curled into a ball. Something warm touched the side of my face. "Easy; just try to sleep." No; I couldn't sleep. The men were coming. They wanted to take me away. "Hey; come on, Thea; look at me." He delicately caught my chin between his thumb and forefinger. "Athena." He drawled. I just barely managed to slit my eyes and meet his gaze. "I'm won't let them take you." He promised. And I believed him. And my eyes slid closed.