Chapter 4- Saved

Sorry everybody I don't update all that frequently, I was just out of it for the past couple days. So yeah, read on.

Max

Angel cried even in her sleep. Her soft tear-stained red cheeks glistened in the soft light of the rising sun. Mom held her, both of them curled up together, their breathing was irregular. They hiccupped, disturbing their own dreams. I put a hand on mama's shoulder tentatively. They didn't sleep well; maybe I should let them rest.

But if I did, it would be more likely we'd be caught.

I kissed both of their foreheads and made a small fire. It was safe now that the sun was coming up. Mom and Angel moved instinctively closer to the fire for its warmth. I added a few more twigs and watched them, warming my own hands over the fire. Last night was a rough night. They refused to fall asleep and let me keep watch but I told them I'd wake them when I got tired. I never did.

I rubbed my eyes and went to the river for water to wash my face. I was exhausted but I could handle it. They couldn't. Mom and Angel were broken-hearted. I am too, but I had longer to cope with it. I carried the despair on my shoulders longer than they have; it was almost nothing but a heavy weight now. I wish I could carry it for them too. I have to be strong for them. They seemed so fragile in this state.

"Max?" Mom called out quietly as I came back. She was sitting up with Angel's head on her lap, "Where did you go?"

"I went to the river," I tell her truthfully. I take a seat next to her, curling my legs next to me. She felt ice cold.

"I was worried when I woke up and you weren't here."

"It's okay, mom," I soothed her, "I won't leave you two ever again."

Angel stirred in her sleep and her eyes fluttered open. Her eyes were still red from crying, "Mom? Max?"

"Yeah, we're here, sweetie," Mom says in a voice soft as a butterfly.

"I was thinking," I tell the both of them, "We should go north, to the Cardinal City. I was planning to go there before I found you two."

"Okay," Angel yawns.

"Mom?"

"Okay, sweetie," she combs a hand through my tangled hair.

"We can go after we hunt, okay?"

Fang

"What about your family, Fang?" Iggy yelled at me, "What about Nudge and Ella?"

I turned around and grabbed his collar, "Don't you dare bring them up," I hissed, "Don't you think I already thought about them? Don't you think I know how much my leaving hurt them?"

"You could've stayed. It doesn't matter that you're no longer the prince. You could've stayed in the city or- or-"

"Or what? You know she'd never forgive me. She'd hunt me down just like the shifters. You don't know her like me," I whirl back around, towards the charred village.

"So you'd choose that shifter over your family," Iggy says disgusted, "You barely know her."

"What if they're not like that? What if everything we know about them are all lies? Ella and Nudge will be fine," I put a hand on his shoulder wearily, "I'd feel better if you went to stay with them." Then I smirk, thinking about Iggy's secret, "I bet Ella will be happy to see you."

He rolled his eyes.

"So, are you staying or leaving?" I ask.

He took a breath and then grinned, "I'm staying."

Max

Dawn's first light was our signal to fly. We never flew so hard. Our goal was to find the ruins of a city. We camped out on trees and avoided all human villages until we came to the very city I had visited over three years ago. The artificial streams were polluted with the dead. I averted my eyes and I felt Angel clutch onto me as we passed them.

The entire city was rubble. Where there once was perfectly carved marble stone, was broken down, charred, and crumbled down to gravel. I looked down at it in despair. Ribbons of red ran through the streets. How long ago was this?

"Max," Angel says shakily.

"Come here," I sweep her up into my arms and hold Mom's hand, "It's okay, just close your eyes."

She buried her face into my side and closed her eyes, whimpering a little. I rub her back.

"What are we looking for?" Mom asks.

"Survivors," I tell them, "I'll look over there, you two look over there."

They look at me and then shift, flying over to the Residence Area. I fly off towards the Cardinal's Palace. There has to be someone there to help me. The sight made me hopeless. The entire second story was broken. Only some walls remained. But in courtyard of the Palace was a statue of the Cardinal I've never seen before below an old dead oak. An engraving at its base was, for those in need, bring this statue to light.

I went to get them, "I found something," I tell them.

They helped me bring the statue to the top of a barely standing tower in the city.

Suddenly a golden glow erupted from the stone. Shocked, I leapt back and fell from the tower. I waited for blinding pain but instead a mattress of the softest reddest feathers cushioned my fall and set me gently on the ground. I looked up in surprise and a tall majestic phoenix stood before me, his head encircled by a very familiar crown of markings.

I bowed low, "Your Grace." It was one of the Cardinals.

Fang

"What happened here?" Iggy says shocked. The entire village was charred. There were hawk feathers on the ground among rotten bodies and skeletons. My mind flashes to the shifter, with her glossy feathers in the night.

"This was her village," I said.

Iggy looks at me with sympathy. I look away. How did she survive this? It's unfair for me to think, but I think it would've been better off for her to have died then to live being hunted down.

"How do you plan on finding her?" Iggy asks.

"We're going to-" Oh. Well I didn't think of that. I pinched the bridge of my nose and exhaled, chuckling. He eyed me suspiciously.

"You don't have a plan to do," he growls, "Stupid."

"What was that?" I growl right back, pulling my fist back for a punch.

"Stupid," he says louder and blocks my punch, shoving me right back.

I tackle him to the ground and he kicks me off. I laugh. It felt like when we were younger, when we sparred in the training room.

"C'mon," I get up, "If we keep moving, we'll find her."