Woooo I've already updated...I know you're shocked. I know that I am anyway... Please people, review my work, even if it's terrible, I'd love to hear your comments/criticism.

Disclaimer : Again, if you recognise any characters, they'll be the work of Tamora Pierce. However, Megal is mine..all mine Muahahaha...but not in a weird fetish kind of way...that'd be just weird

2 – The Metal and the Man

When Megal awoke, there was no sunlight as it had been replaced by a glowing moon. That's strange, were the only thoughts at this point that entered her head. Considering it was summer, it had gone dark very quickly. When she took a look at her surroundings, she gaped, immediately becoming confused as to where she was.

The open countryside she was laid down in looked nothing like back at home. There was actually the twit-twoo of an owl, and no noise of the congestion in London. She sat up slowly, and rubbed her eyes, trying to remember what had happened. The memories came flowing back quickly, just as her chest began to scream in pain. She tested the pain by touching her chest. It felt vaguely sticky. It was way too dark to see what it was exactly, but it didn't take a genius to note that it must be blood.

That was right, she remembered, Mr Lowrey had been drunk again. He had hit her and then he was unconscious. What had happened in between was a mystery to Megal. It was like a blind spot in her memory. Then she had run across the road. She gasped as the memory of the collision struck her. How was she alive? She pondered. Unless she was dead? Was this heaven? But then why would she be in pain?

She had no belongings on her except the clothes on her back and a mobile phone in her pocket. She knew though that it's battery was dead, and there had been no credit on it for a long time. It had no use at all. She began to wish she had brought a book. Laying back down she closed her eyes, and soon fell asleep with the calm chatter of owls around her.

When she awoke again, the sun had risen and it was a perfectly clear day. Well, if you discount the hoards of birds flying above her. These did not have the beautiful dulcet tones of the birds from the night before however. Squinting, she realised in horror that they looked like humans, only with various parts of their anatomy being covered in shiny metal. For instance, their wings looked just like scrapyard steel. As quickly as possible she stood, which she considered a feat as she had just been hit by a ten-tonne truck, and she theoretically should be dead.

After her strange thoughts from the night before, she decided to find a town, in order to figure out where the hell she was. Only problem being was how to explain her attire. Looking at her chest, she found it was, indeed blood that had soaked through her shirt. However, when she looked underneath the shirt, there were no cuts or slashes, only a large blue/yellow bruise, which had an indentation that looked strangely like a tyre mark.

Beginning her walk she soon found a path that would hopefully get her somewhere. The scenery was very green, she thought in wonder; nothing where she came from was that green, or natural. She couldn't see a single road, and there was no noise except the calling of the birds above.

She climbed over a wooden gate, and saw, to her horror, a mass of those metal-winged men and women. It was too her further sickness that she saw why they were there. There lay five people, or the remains of them. She also noticed the terrible smell which she guessed was either from the metal-winged people or the bodies. Or both. She began to hold her breath, and noticed a large dark cloak near by. Feeling nauseas and disgusting, she picked up the cloak, and wrapped it around her. This would, at least not show the blood. Megal ran through the mass of metal-winged people and over the next gatepost. If she had been thinking, maybe the questions like "how the hell are there people with metal wings, and why are there dead bodies, and how much trouble am I going to be in when I get home?" would have made her stop. Some of these thoughts did float into her head, but they quickly flew out as she saw a tall, dark stranger also walking away from the scene, who was slowly turning towards her.

Oooooh guess who this is??? A cliffie, sort of...I will update soooon I hope, but if you review I know it'll be quicker. OOOOh and i'm sorry this chapters kinda short. Hopefully next will be longer! I'll give cherry pie to all who review XD