Chapter 2
This one is a bit longer, but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless. Enjoy! (P.S. It's still Max's POV.)
Chapter 2
"Max!" I could barely hear the flock screaming my name, but that was enough. Even with our wings all tangled together, I managed to place my knees in the right place, and with a huge "grunt" kneed her right in the stomach. Her breath left her with a painful gasp, and I was free. My wings were above my head, waving uselessly, so I had to use all my efforts to snap them back open again, fighting against the rush of wind. I was still falling downward, so I pushed down with some heavy strokes that were surprisingly painful, but still not as surprising as it was when I felt strong arms grip around my waist and helped to support me. I glanced back, around my shoulder. Fang. Of course.
Instead of looking in his scrutinizing and worried gaze, I franticly glanced around, searching for the source of this problem. Then, I saw her. She was already flying away, not fazed at all. "Iggy! Nudge! Go!" I pointed to her, and with a nod, they zoomed after her.
I tried wiggling my way out of Fang's arms, but he wouldn't budge. "Don't you think you should sit this one out?" He questioned.
"NO! Let me go or I'll hurt you!" I struggled harder. He released, so I sped as fast as my tired wings would go towards the chase. To my dismay, she was ahead, yet again. But not for long, I thought silently, and belted on the speed.
It took me a little longer to catch up to her, and I had my brakes on ready, and she was similarly prepared. She whirled around, and catching me by surprise, hissed. I had never heard a human hiss so fiercely, and I was so taken aback, that she had the advantage of first strike. She hit me with what felt like a ton of bricks, right in my gut, and then withdrew before I could blink. I kneeled over in mid-air, and then I felt a searing pain on my back, like it was being roughly ripped to pieces. Red pain blurred my eyesight, and I could feel my warm blood trickle down my side. But I was tougher than that, and I straightened my back to face my opponent, against the pain, which worsened at the movement.
I couldn't see her very well in the dark, even with my raptor vision, and I was exactly focusing in on her, blinded by pain. But I could see her smile. Smile at the thought of how much pain I was in, how hard I was trying to keep flying, and how little more of a beating I would take before I would fall. I hated her already. Before I could take a meager attempt at injuring her, Nudge had tackled her in the air, to both our surprises, followed by Iggy, trying to pry the Demon Flier out of Nudge's arms before she did hurt Nudge. When Iggy managed to get a firm grip on her, and Nudge was dodging her flailing arms, Fang seemed to materialize out of thin air, as if he was there the whole time, and just waiting for the right time to appear.
I quickly scanned the area, and saw that Gazzy and Angel were zooming over as fast as their wings could carry them, which was not good. "Nudge!" I yelled over the frantic hissing and spitting of our captive. Her head snapped up at my call, and I knew how she wanted to stay and fight. But, I couldn't let her. "Go with Gazzy and Angel! Keep them away!" She franticly shook her head, pleading with her eyes. "Just do it! Land under us! We'll be down soon!" She hesitated, and I was getting ready to yell again, when she bowed her head and weakly flew away.
I would have to apologize later, I thought, as I faced the fugitive. She had stopped wiggling, and was glaring at me with hatred; I could feel the heat of her gaze piercing me through the night. Suddenly, she burst, flailing so hard, I thought she would've definitely hurt Iggy if he hadn't let his grip slip, releasing her. She lunged at me, and I sense that there was more than bird DNA in her body. Her hands were outstretched towards my throat, and I could see in the faint moonlight, claws extending from her fingers.
I felt panic flash up my throat with every millisecond as she drew nearer. Luckily, Fang was faster, and tackled her when she was an inch away from touching me. I was frozen, breathing raggedly, trying to calm my racing heart before it burst out of my chest, (which would've been gross and highly embarrassing). When I had calmed myself down enough to move, I glanced over and saw the girl had gone limp in Fang's arms, obviously giving up. When I drew nearer, I could hear her breathing was fast and harsh, as if her throat was closing up, like in asthma attacks. She didn't look at me or anyone, just towards the ground.
"We are going to let you go now." I whispered, soothingly. "We want you to land with us so we can talk. If you try to escape, we will catch you."
I look up to see Iggy shaking his head. He murmured to the captive "We just want to talk. We aren't from the lab. We escaped, too."
At this, she looked up. I still couldn't see much, only a silhouette, but I could tell she was staring at Iggy. Fang slowly let go, and she extended her wings and beat them to stay afloat. She started to descend, with Fang close behind, making sure she wouldn't try to get away.
I turned to Iggy. "How would you know she was from the School?"
His blank eyes were fixed straight ahead. "Because, only the School would create monsters like us. Like her." He started to descend.
He was right. I didn't know how he knew she was a girl, or how he knew she was a "monster", but that was just Iggy.
I started my descend, my head reeling with thoughts and questions I couldn't answer quite yet. In fact, I didn't know if I ever could.