Her mouth opened and closed wordlessly several times, did he want her to sing? She looked at him questioningly, then down at his thick black boots with the red lacing that nearly matched the color of his palm. She knew that animals considered looking directly into their eyes a challenge of sorts and feared it may have been the same with his kind. Fennix didn't know anything about his kind, that much was blatantly obvious because nothing so far had been anything like the books and the last thing she wanted to do was challenge him when he was so docile.

"Sing." he repeated.

Ignatius sensed that she wasn't like the others, she didn't have the hardness inside her or the darkness of spirit. Fennix's spirit was large and bright as an angel's wings. That must have been why they trapped the little bird in a cage. His large hand reached for her mouth but Fennix shrank away in fear.

"You want me to sss-sing?" she stuttered.

She could sing, fairly well actually, but why...what? She shook her head, not in refusal but trying to discern if she was misunderstanding his demand. Was this really happening or had the food deprivation finally driven her to hallucinations? Ignatius nodded his affirmation. He wondered if perhaps he was misspeaking their language or if Fennix was still afraid. He wasn't trying to frighten her anymore than he already had but he'd never heard a bird sing, had only heard of it. Ignatius badly wanted to hear a song with his own ears.

"Fennix sing." he said in a very firm tone and crossed his arms over his chest.

There was no mistaking his tone, he would settle for nothing less than a song, she realized, a lump forming in her throat. What kind of song would a demon want to hear, did they even have music proper? There was a long pause as she feverishly racked her brain and the demon quirked his brow impatiently.

Heart aflutter with nerves, Fennix chose a soothing lullaby that her mother used to sing to her when she was small, hoping against hope that it would please Ignatius. Her voice quavered a bit at first, trying to hold back more tears, but he didn't seem to notice or mind. The demon closed his eyes as he listened intently, all the ferocity and intensity disappearing from his visage and just the ghost of a smile grazed its lips. Emboldened, Fennix continued to sing, voice stronger and hitting its normally melodious glory and Ignatius' smile widened. It must have been true what they said about music soothing the savage beast, she thought. When she finished the lullaby Ignatius opened his eyes and gently brushed the tip of his roughened finger over her lips almost affectionately.

"My bird." he told the little bird, completely enamored with the magic of her voice. Ignatius instantly knew that he needed Fennix to be his, such a rare and wondrous creature needed to be protected and adored. Where he came from was dull and desolate, nothing there was half so beautiful as she.

Her heart ceased beating for a long moment at his declaration. What did it mean, did they eat birds?

"No, no I'm not a real bird." she protested.

"Bird." he replied with a firm nod.

"No." Fennix protested. "See, no wings." she turned her back slightly so that Ignatius could see her winglessness. "I'm a woman."

The demon looked and nodded. He'd never seen a bird before so he wasn't at all sure what they looked like. It didn't really matter to him that she was wingless, Fennix was still the perfect specimen.

"No wings." he repeated and shrugged. "Fennix mine."

Ignatius grabbed her hand firmly and began tugging his little bird along, out of the jail and into the maelstrom. Fennix was too frightened to struggle as she was dragged past bodies, blood and the miscellaneous gore adorning the land. Everywhere she looked there was another creature and she doubted any of them would hesitate to kill her for a song. She wasn't sure why Ignatius had. There were screams off in the distance and random entrails strewn about that made her want to vomit. Where was he taking her?

The demon stopped at the cobblestone street and turned to his bird, eyes flickering with excitement. It was beyond belief that he'd found a bird and was able to take her home, he'd been so lucky to get there before the blasphemers had killed her.

"But I'm not a bird!" Fennix argued, when he swept an arm around her thin waist and pulled her close.

"Ignatius understand."

Perhaps the heathens hadn't even told her that she was special. It was no wonder the Supreme had demanded their lands be reset, there was very little good to be had.

"If you want a bird why are you taking me?" Fennix squeaked, still fearing that he was going to eat her and imagining herself over a spitfire. She would much rather have died swiftly like all the others.

She began squirming and pushing at him, fiercely trying to wriggle herself free.

"Want Fennix." Ignatius replied, annoyance lacing his voice.

He didn't want to struggle with the little bird and possibly harm her, but his work was unfinished. He needed to get Fennix home and come back before anyone realized he was gone. There were punishments for disobedience.

"No hurt Fennix." he whispered before sweeping her right off her feet and cradling Fennix in his arms.

Panicking now, she began struggling fiercely, kicking and screaming, though most of her screams just blended in with the others. The demon wished he could better explain his intentions but he was not so good at their language and consequently his bird seemed to think he was going to harm her. It was a shame but not much could be done about it now, he had to move.

"No, put me down!" Fennix yelled, beating against his chest and squirming her body, though it was futile.

She was just left to wonder what was going to happen, was she food or meant to be a part of some demonic ritual? She hadn't been half so scared when the judges had sentenced her to be hanged, at least she'd known what was coming.

The next scream died on her lips when his massive, powerful wings began flapping, sending out gusts strong enough to roll a nearby body away. Ignatius lifted them off the ground with ease and her body froze in his arms, eyes looking between his face and the hastily receding ground in mind numbing terror. Cold wind was billowing through her long hair and up her dress and Fennix felt so fragile like she could just be whisked away like a feather. As they ascended higher and higher towards the light blue sky she found herself perversely clinging to her accoster for dear life. Body quaking in terror, heart lodged in her throat, Fennix wrapped her arms around the demon's neck and buried her head in the warmth of his chest. Around them the demon's great wings swooped thunderously as they spiraled higher and higher away from the turmoil below. Ignatius gently shushed her and whispered soft encouragements that, while she couldn't quite understand, actually helped calm her frazzled nerves. His voice blocked out the harsh wind and with her eyes closed Fennix didn't even realize when they crossed the land borders.