Maleficent and all its content belongs to Disney. References and other mentioned names, products, brands and all other licenses belong to their respective owners. I only own my OC's and storyline. This story is purely written for entertainment and hobby purposes. English is not my native language.
Thank you for giving this read a chance, and I hope you'll enjoy reading this.

Summary : When Stefan takes her wings, Maleficent vows her revenge on all things human. When she wanders alone and wounded she encounters another victim of his betrayal. The only problem : this victim is human and he decides to stick around. A human who is so tempting to take, to kill, to destroy… But to betray? Never. AU; eventual Maleficent/OC

Hominis Proditam.

But soon she once more found her step and dragged herself on beyond the borders of the Moors. She would have to see what the humans were up to in case the treants, the forest warriors needed to focus more on this part of the border. She would have to find Stefan, before he could get away with her wings. She needed them back. And she would find out why, why he had defiled her like this.

And then she would make him wish he had never done it.

Chapter 2 : An Unexpected Encounter.

Maleficent was wandering around in the fields. She knew it was dangerous and foolish of her to leave the Moors in her current predicament. She was still wounded and the wounds inflicted by Stefan had not yet healed. How could they? How could her powerful wings heal after being reduced to two bloody stomps? Her pain was still taking a toll on her.

Her magic was returning, now, steadily but slowly. But not yet enough to completely heal herself. She couldn't afford to tire out of magic here, in the human lands, out of her home. The ground here did not possess as much magic either, which slowed down her healing process and return of magic. What magic reserves she had, she had to spare if she came in contact with humans.

Humans. She didn't need to speak it out loud to feel, no taste the rancid foulness the blasted word possessed on her tongue. She should have known better, the fool that she was to trust one. The humans had waged war on the Moors so many times now through the course of history, she should have seen it coming. She knew that Stefan had changed but against better judgement, she allowed some good memories to cloud her mind.

She knew the single absolute truth, that would never change and had once again, proven true. That humans, above all else that the world had to offer them, desired and craved for power.

But she was wasting time. She needed to find Stefan. If she could stop him, she could perhaps have her wings back too, though she was beginning to lose hope for that. But she had to confront him nonetheless. She would need to hear his reasons, what could possibly have driven to this ruthless and heinous act?

While wandering on a small dirt road she soon spotted something curious. A dog, barking like mad towards the ground. What was driving him to- ah. On the ground was a net and beneath that net was a black bird. The dog's owner had set a trap for some smaller innocent creature – human nature was truly disgusting.

She heard a voice beginning to call out. Oh dear, the farmer was making his way over, croaking and puffing and heaving every two steps.

"Go'on, get'm boy! Rip an shred tha blasted bird, don't let 'im flee agan, ye hear me!

'Truly, a magnificent display of compassion and empathy. Mankind's 'great culture' seemed to produce… not much, if this was the standard, really.' She mused.
She idly wondered whether he would manage to succeed in actually defeating the bird. He didn't seem to possess any real skill beyond getting lucky with a net, probably not even placed or made by himself.

The bird on the other hand could very well pick out his eyeballs or his jugular perhaps. She'd place her bet on the bird. It was clearly the more intelligent animal of the two.

She focused on the black mess of feather on the ground once more that seemed to panic now, desperate to make his way out but he was simply not strong enough for the heavy net. A raven, she guessed. Oh look, the pathetic farmer was picking up a club now to squash his winged adversary. A crude weapon for a cruder idiot. How fitting.

She felt a twinge of pity for the raven. It did not deserve such a fate, to be bashed by a brute like that. Then she decided that it was more than a pitiful situation. It was an opportunity. If she could convince that raven to search for her… that would make things easier. Then she could return to the Moors to heal and recover, and she could still hear new of what happened in the human kingdom…

She called her magic to her and felt its familiar heat run its course through her veins, filling her body with a pleasant warmth before she gave shape to her magic. She felt it intensify in her hands and shot it to the raven, willing his shape to change.

The effect was immediate. The raven grew, wings became arms with hands and finger, his legs grew feathers became black hair and clothing, and his beak shrank. And a few seconds later a man crawled out underneath the net and threw it off.

The farmer gave an high-pitched squeak and screamed like a little girl. "D'mon! D'mon! Tha's a bl'sted d'mon, tha is! Attack, Bobby, bite!" And with that he ran off to barricade himself in his barn. His dog didn't heed the command his master's command and ran off with his tail between his legs now that the tasty bird had changed into creature like master. Birdmen were too weird for his tastes.

The remaining man turned around several times clumsily to take in the entirely different perspective. He craned his neck to inspect his back only to find out he couldn't. He simply stared at his hands and limbs and felt on his new face. His messy black hair consisted both of messy, spiky hair and feathers that betrayed his actual origins. It was only after several shocking and sudden movements of him that he noticed the still figure nearby.

"Who? What? What have you done with my beautiful self? Why have you done this?" he sputtered indignantly.

"I changed you into a man." She stated, pointing out the obvious.

"Why? Why would you turn me into such an ugly twolegger? I'd much rather have my beautiful black feathers, my strong wings and my gizzard! Now I'm just big and… and clumsy and slow! How am I supposed to collect glittering shiny things now for my collection?"

"Oh be quiet, my magic saved your life."

"My life perhaps, but what of my beautiful self?"

"Would you rather have been a bloody paste on that brute's club? He would have fed you the dog."

"Ew, no, no, no. NO dogs! The hairy, stinky, ugly mutts! Stupid mongrels, the lot of them! With their stinky breath, their slimy tongues, always heaving and sniffing around! They even ignore beautiful shinies! They'd rather sniff and eat their own po-"

"Oh shut it already, will you?"

"…"

"Better."

"…You want something of me, don't you?" he asked shrewdly.

"Correct."

"I will not give my shiny trinkets! I worked way too hard to collect them!"

"Oh please, I do not care for your trash."

That shut him up. Now that his treasure was apparently not in danger he was getting curious.

"Then what do you wish?"

"I wish for you to be my eyes and ears. You will be my wings."

Now there was something more hidden in that sentence. What did that lady mean by 'her wings'? Almost as if she should have them. Preposterous of course, no twolegger should have wings. They wrecked already far too much havoc with just two legs. They really didn't need two wings either. But he bit his tongue and held his comment for himself this time. His instincts told him it would be very unwise and dangerous to do otherwise.

Maleficent observed how the bird-turned-man really wanted to ask about it, but stayed his comments to himself. She was right, he was clearly the more intelligent animal.

"Very well, I suppose I owe you my life, even if it changed me into this stupid twolegger. So hereby, I pledge myself to be your servant, until you send me away."

"Good. What is your name?"

"Name? I know that some of the other birds call me 'Young Croak', while the humans seem to tend more towards 'That Blasted Black Thief'. But why should I be anything than Raven?

"I cannot call you 'Raven'. It is what you are, not your name."

"Well, than what shall be my name?"

"I shall call you… Diaval." She said after a moment of thinking.

"… But I don't like it."

"Tough luck."

"Very well" he sighed. "So what is it you wish me to do."

"Find a human called Stefan. When you find out where he is, and in what condition come back and tell me. My magic will help you identify him. I will be back at the Moors."

With that, he changed him back to a raven. The newly named Diaval looked around for a few seconds before giving a thankful caw. He liked being himself in his trusty feathered form much more, thank you very much. And with that, he took off to the skies, onwards to the nearest villages to search for the man.

Maleficent watched him fly off for a while and had to suppress a bit of jealousy. Oh, how she wished she could still fly… But dwelling on such idly thought would do her no good out here. It was clear she would not be able to fly for a long while, if ever. Better she got used to the idea soon enough, lest it would disrupt her focus on other matters.

She decided that it was best to get back to the Moors, and as fast as possible. Changing Diaval back and forth had taken a bit out of her. With the loss of her wings, her magic had taken a shock too, because her very core had practically changed by her emotional distress. It would still be some time before she had the same magic reserves as she used to. Healing a tree wouldn't be a problem, such things were easy. Transforming living creatures into entirely different forms was a much more complex matter though.

She had reason to hurry though she didn't know it yet. But soon the howls of dogs were heard and shouts followed them soon. She was being chased. And they had spotted her. It was an open field here, there was nowhere to hide.

She cursed violently and tried to run. She didn't need to turn around to see the standard pitchforks. But the wounds on her back were still fresh and hadn't really closed yet, so the sudden movement tore them back open.

It caused a new wave of pain that couldn't be numbed easily, but she bit through and clenched her teeth. She would not get captured by some humans who brandished her as some demonic spawn to be burned at the stake. She heaved herself up and tried to go as fast as she could, using her staff for support frequently. But she couldn't go fast enough and she knew it. The dogs had her trail and would soon be upon her and the humans would be soon after.

Then her hope resurfaced. There! The thick woods that she knew so well were only a few fields further, the outline of the Moors! If she could reach that… yes, the ambient magic would keep the dogs' instincts away and she could call for the forest guardians. Just a bit further now…

If only she had watched her footing better than the woods that were supposed to be her safe haven.

Snap!

Maleficent screamed as her leg burned. It had to be, her leg had to be burning by two hellish jaws. Nothing else could cause such pain. On the ground she managed to turn and look what was causing her agony.

An iron hunting trap. Two crude jaws had snapped themselves closed on her right leg and the huge cast teeth buried themselves in her flesh. The natural allergy against iron of her kind made the iron searing with heat. The cruel jaws were red from the intense heat and they burned, they burned so much. Why wasn't she on fire? Such burning had to be nothing less than that.

Was this what Stefan once described as purgatory? The hellish flames that would burn all heathens and foul creatures that didn't fit for them for all eternity? It certainly felt like it. Stefan had been a god-fearing man and told her once that according to the church, she would be a demon and hunted down. She had idly laughed it off, back then, convinced such a crazy thing could never happen. Now, it suddenly wasn't so unimaginable anymore.

She couldn't run anymore. Damn it all! Curse her blasted fate! The Moors were so close, yet they never seemed further away. She didn't have the strength to remove the jaws from her leg and even if she could do that, her leg would be far too wounded to even consider running on. She could only helplessly await her fate.

No. Not helplessly. She wasn't going to go down that easily, as some little child that had no means to defend herself. She still had some of her magic. And she was going to use it. If this was her end, she would make sure that she would take them with her, if nothing else. She was trapped in the corner, but he still had some of her claws.

The men had arrived. She counted twenty. A few were soldiers, but most didn't seem to possess a real uniforms. Thugs, criminals and opportunistic hunters, all eager to slay a demon and get their hands on a share that the king would no doubt grant them for her head. No innocent folk. Just mindless brutes, with gold and greed on their mind, not minding the life they would need to take for it.

She tensed and called her magic forth as much as possible and it manifested once more in her hands. The normally golden colour of her spells had a more greenish shine to it, making it look like haunted gold. The ten closest to her were unfortunate. They were lifted up and knocked against each other, helplessly flailing their limbs in the air. Maleficent groaned, she couldn't levitate them for too long. So she gathered more power behind it and in a burst flung them back down, with much more sheer power than they would have had by just falling. Their bones snapped under the impact with a sick sound.

The remaining ten were more cautious. They had the Fairy, but realised that she wasn't down just yet. Still, she could not escape them and they knew it. They could bide their time and wait for the moment to strike, while she would only grow weaker.

Maleficent knew that. She knew that the longer the fight would drag on, the greater her disadvantage would be. So she shot out another burst of magic, catching a small group of three that had huddled together by surprise. Their armour offered protection against iron and wood and steel. But against magic, it was of little use. The spell caused a grievous wound that they would not survive to their organs.

She felt dizzy, nauseous and exhausted. Her magic reserve was nearly empty, and without her magic, she would most likely lose her conscience too and then she was a bird for the cat. Or a fairy for the sword.

A unfortunate mercenary found himself too close to a cut-down tree and paid the price when its roots dragged him down. She still managed to change the mud of a shallow pool on of the heavier soldiers stood in and he sank quickly, thrashing around to free him and only making his position worse.

But that was the utter last of her magic. The pain was still burning its course through her but she was too exhausted to thrash and writhe around. She tried to reach for her energy, scraped at her reserves once more in her desperation but found nothing. The last three seemed to realise it too as they closed in on her.

A sword was slowly raised in the air.

She closed her eyes, awaiting the inevitable. She idly wondered if she would see her parents again…

The horrible sound of a pointy metal end that tore through soft flesh resounded on the fields, a wet gurgle that gasped for breath for a few seconds, made itself heard.

A thud resounded when the victim finally gave in.

Maleficent groaned and looked sideways to see the soldier lying on the ground with an arrow protruding from his throat, blood slipping out of his mouth.

A second man fell with a shriek of pain. The last one decided to better be a living coward than a dead hero and took off as fast as his legs could carry him.

She couldn't keep her eyes open anymore. She knew something had happened that shouldn't have occurred, but her mind was too overtaken by her inner turmoil to process exactly what. She noticed things darken though, and a shadow was cast over her face. She could make out a silhouette stalking over her. 'Friend or foe' she wanted to ask, but had no strength for that anymore.

The last thing she heard was "You're safe now." But she didn't recognise the voice or its owner. Was it Stefan, she wondered?

Blackness overtook her however and she fell down in the deep slumber of unconsciousness.

Second chapter done! Man, I'm going to need a new dictionary for Maleficent's sass and long range insults, especially in the coming times.

And I feel filthy for that cliffhanger at the end. I seem to make it a habit of ending the second chapter of my stories with such a teaser.
The chapter was planned to be longer and not end on this note, but then it would take too long before i posted something again. OC material next chapter!

Thank you once again for reading, and please leave a review! I appreciate them greatly, each and every one of 'em.