by Nina Burman
“What do you mean?” Mo asked.
“After many trials and failures, they worked out a combination of drugs which to their mind speeded up the process that made the wings grow stronger and faster. After everything I had given up and told them it had made no difference, they still took him away from me, they took him and tried out this new drug. , Mmy boy who had been so loving and caring, overnight they turned him into a monster. Yes, his wings grew and so did he in less than half the time he should, but he became so angry and hateful. , Tthey stopped him from seeing me as he started to lash out and then the final humiliation, his wings are void of colour.”
“No colour?” Lordes gasped.
“They are all the same. Aall of those who have taken the drugs, once the white of the young feathers go the regrowth looks white, but not like a creamy white that some have here, just blank ,no colour, no flecks or anything. And my boy, I tried to reach out to him, to get him back, but he is lost to all of us now, his mind being filled with hate for me and all Volucris. , Aall he has been told all his life is to rule, to control and now that is what he intends to do.”
“They are still collecting young Volucris.” Lordes stated.
“Yes, to create an army to control everything that is left over. The one thing I did not tell them - that they would have no reason to ask - was about the gifts we can develop. Tthey have no idea about that, but now with Moria and her gift, what if he has the same, what a threat that could be?”
It was so much for Mo and Lordes to take in that they sat in silence for a long time not knowing how to respond.
“Did you tell them about Ety?”
“Yes, but they never asked where it was; they will never find us here. And I have seen many of these colourless winged Volucris, they have short bursts of very strong power and they are larger, but so large I would doubt they would have the stamina for such a long trip.”
“What did you call him?” Mo asked.
Iliana turned to her daughter, tears still wet on her face. “Michael.”
Mo was so confused. , Sshould she be happy that she had a brother or distraught that it sounded like he had turned into a monster?
“We need to stop this from happening.” Lordes broke the silence, “I did not spend years bringing the clans together to the detriment of my family and life for another one to reappear, we must live in harmony, it is the only way we will survive and now when we have the possibility of living freely, as it appears most humans are dead, you tell me that those who have survived just want to harvest all of the young ones and turn them into an army to control us. No, I will not let that happen.” He stormed out of the room leaving Mo and the sobbing Iliana.
“I am so sorry Moria to bring such bad news.”
“It’s ok it’s not your fault, maybe we can help? Do you think if I met with Michael we could change his mind, show him how Volucris really live, bring him here to Ety?”
“I don’t know Moria, they took him from me when he was only 10. Wwe had spent most of our time together before then and all of a sudden, to me it was heart breaking not to be with him, who knows what it did to him, what they told him to brainwash him. They would let me see him once a week and every time I saw him I could see a little less love in his eyes, until finally about a year ago, I went to reach out to him, to hold him and he just lashed out, it was like I had scolded him, I think he is truly lost”.
Mo tried to comfort her mother. They sat for a long while just holding each other, sobbing gently.
“At least I have found you and you are safe. , Yyou have grown into a beautiful Volucris, still white wings but they will change soon enough.” Iliana stroked the side of Mo’s face gazing in wonder at her beautiful daughter.
“Everyone is wondering if I will have gold like Lordes or red wings like you, I suppose if they are gold I will be expected to lead?”
“Yes, that is the tradition, gold or even silver wings tend to be clan leaders, it is an unusual trait. That reminds me, there is something I want to give you.”
Iliana stood and reached into a pouch that was tied around her waist.
“When Benji was brought here I helped prepare his body to be burned. , Hhe was a beautiful boy and most of his wings were white, but deep inside I could see they were starting to change here.”
She held out her hand and thereupon it was a single silver feather. Mo gasped.
“He would have been silver like his mother,.” Mo stated, tears blooming in her eyes.
“Yes, and if your wings turn gold you would have made the perfect couple to lead a clan, Lordes would have been so happy.”
Iliana gave her daughter the feather and they wept into each other’s arms.
Chapter 48
Mo had left Iliana after they realised Lordes was not coming back any time soon. , Mo had asked her what she wanted to happen, did she still want to search for Rebecca or did she want to look for her son? Iliana reassured her that she still wanted them both. Tto first look for Rebecca, she needed to know, as did Mo, that she was safe. She also wanted to look for Michael but that, she admitted, would be a lot trickier, they would need to do that with Lordes and she firmly believed only he could convince Michael of the right path. , Iliana said she would go and find Lordes and speak with him, find out what his intentions were and explain to him their plans to find Rebecca.
Mo was relieved to not have to see her father again. Sshe felt overwhelmed with the amount of information she had learned and she felt exhausted at not being able to share it with the only person who truly understood her. She went to her room, but rather than sit and continue to weep she resolved not to, she knew Benji would not approve, and although she would still hurt she would not let it take control of her. In her room, she found a long string of leather like a shoelace, she stripped it down with a knife to make it thinner and then with the same knife made a small hole at the tip of the bone on Benji’s feather. , Sshe threaded the leather through it and then tied it around her neck. She would now carry him with her close to her heart.
Mo left her room and the mountain, she needed to fly. , Hher wings ached to be in the sky, it had felt like such a long time. She ran from the mountain and out onto the plains flapping her wings as she went. They quickly lifted her into the air, it was a struggle though. , Tto have not flown for a few days had already taken its tol,ltoll she should have stopped for some blood before flying but she had needed to get out and up. She found a thermal that quickly bore her higher without so much effort. It was cathartic being out here, the wind clearing her mind of all the grief and pain. She thought about her brother and it still seemed so alien to her that it was even true. , Sshe had no desire to seek him out, although she could see why the others would. , Ffrom what she had seen of her new-found gift it scared her, the power she had. She did not understand it but she knew in time she would be able to control it. She had known when she had felled the soldiers that she had not killed them, only stunned. Sshe also knew, however, that she could have if she had wanted to kill them all. Would her brother have this same power and if he wanted to control people there would be no stopping him. These thoughts circled her mind as she circled Ety. After a time, she came in to land. Ethan was waiting for her.
He handed her a flask.
“Thought you may need this.”
She took the flask of blood and drank greedily.
“I have spoken with Lordes.” Ethan remarked.
“So you know.”
“Yes, a brother and an evil twin at that.”
Both Ethan and Mo burst out laughing. Iit was the kind of thing Benji would have said and not Ethan, but she was grateful to him for making a joke. Iit was the first time either of them had laughed since Benji, if felt good, like something Benji would have wanted them to do.
“Iliana would like me to go with her to find Rebecca.”
Ethan looked out to sea “I thought she might, I suppose you also know that Rebecca is your sister.”
“Yes, why didn’t you tell m
e?”
“It wasn’t my place to, I thought Lordes may have but he was so keen to get you here where he could make sure you were safe, I imagine he thought it would be harder to convince you to leave if you knew the truth.”
“We are going to leave no matter what Lordes says, he can’t force me to stay.”
“I thought you would say that too. , I think I have an idea that would keep everyone happy.”
“Which is?”
“If you and Iliana agree to me coming along, I can help if there is any trouble and also start your training with your gift. , Tthat is what Lordes will really be concerned about, that now you have found this gift it really is important that you are trained in it properly, and I can help you with that.”
Mo nodded. Sshe liked the idea of Ethan coming with them, they had had a rocky relationship in the past but now she respected him for what he was, she also knew what Benji had meant to him and he understood how badly it hurt that he was gone, this was a great comfort to her.
“Sounds like a plan, I like you as a trainer.”
“You sure, you were not so keen when we first started.”
“I know but you won me round I guess.”
They both smiled and looked out over the sea, the sun glinting off the crest of the waves.
“Do you think you know what my gift is?”
“Only you can know that Mo.”
“Your gift is easy to understand, you can read minds. , Benji’s was easy too, he had an unusually great sense of smell, but how would you describe mine, what can I do?”
“How would you describe it; can you go back to the two times you used it?”
Mo didn’t want to think about the first time she used it, it was so painful reliving Benji’s death, but she needed to understand.
“It’s hard to explain, seeing Benji fall.” Her voice cracked.
“We don’t have to do this now.” Ethan offered.
“No, it’s ok, I want to understand.” Mo gathered herself. “The pain, I felt it, like my heart breaking and I saw what had happened, that they had shot him, and the pain turned to anger and I could feel it throb through my body. I could feel this immense power and somehow I could pinpoint every one of them, their minds and I knew instantly I could knock them out. , I could have stopped their hearts from beating but I didn’t, something in me stopped me from killing them, but I could have, instead I knocked them all out. It all happened so quickly, in a matter of seconds, much quicker than I am explaining it to you now.”
Ethan was concerned but he did not show that to Mo.
“It sounds to me like you can control things with your mind, a kind of telekinesis. , Aand what of when you pinned me to the wall?.”
Mo looked at her feet, embarrassed.
“I don’t know what happened then, I can’t remember, it was just the feeling of pain of wanting to push everything away.”
“And that is what you did quite literally. We have a long journey with this I think Mo. , Wwhat you can do, as you have already described, is lethal and so we must tread carefully.”
“Have you ever seen this kind of gift before?”
“No.”
“I don’t want to hurt anyone Ethan, especially unintentionally.”
“And you won’t, together we will make sure you don’t. Remember Mo, when you watched Benji die you could have so easily killed those men, but in that grief fuelled instant your brain, even your subconscious brain, said no. , Yyou are inherently good Mo, I saw that for myself the first time I read your mind, I have no doubt that together we will be able to train you to use your gift for only good.”
Mo felt heartened at Ethan’s words, she trusted him, she knew he would be able to help her control this new-found power.
They stood for a while looking out over the ocean, Mo felt optimistic for the first time in days. , Sshe knew she would feel the pain of Benji’s death forever, but she was finally going to find Rebecca and after that, maybe even find a brother. Ethan would help her train. , Sshe was not sure how she would use her gift. , Iif she could move things, control things with her thoughts, what would that mean? , Sshe shook her head, she did not have the will to think through this now. Right now, she needed to find her mother and tell her Ethan would be joining them.
Thank you so much for reading my book, this is my first novel and I am overwhelmed if even one person reads and likes it. Please leave feedback good or bad I wish to get better! I am in the process of writing book two in the Volucris series, please visit my Facebook page to leave comment interact and make any suggestions you would like! https://www.facebook.com/ninaburmanauthor/.