by Alia Johnson
The giant wings flapped towards the ground, sending massive feathers through the crowd, which blocked the path of people trying to escape. The massive orik began a rapid descent from the sky, toward little Evie who was running, arms outstretched, to her parents. The parents were behind Odesha, running as fast as they could to save their child. Time seemed to turn slowly. Odesha measured the speed of the bird and the distance of Evie's parents in her mind.
They wouldn't make it in time.
But she could.
Odesha put out a burst of speed. Her legs pumped hard through the snow. She held arms out to reach Evie. The speed, gifted from her vampire side, pushed her forward, using a large amount of her energy. She enfolded Evie in her arms, holding her tight. Once Odesha turned her back on the bird, the giant wings brought it even closer. The horrid breath ruffled her hair and she knew she was out of time. Throwing Evie to her parents as best she could, she hoped they would catch her. They were almost in arm’s reach. The people continued to scream in terror around her, while trying to reach safety. It was so chaotic around them, Odesha couldn’t see if Evie had been caught or if she was safe.
The bird’s talons closed over Odesha, crushing her in its grip. Her scream of pain echoed across the clearing, while the bird screeched back in triumph.
Miravena watched in terror, held tight by Gamble, who was busy yelling obscenities at the bird. They felt helpless in the face of the giant beast. There was no way they could fight those giant talons. The people scattered, running for cover, trying to save their families. The guards, returning from retrieving the carriage, were blocked by mounds of feathers and the stampeding crowd. They tried pushing through them, shouting orders, trying desperately to reach Odesha. She thrashed in the bird’s grip, trying to loosen its hold. Blood began to drop to the snow from the hard struggle. The bird flapped its mighty wings to push off from the ground, holding tight to its captive.
And then they were gone.
Odesha felt disoriented when she woke up. Her head felt like a great anvil was on top of it, forcing her head down. The pressure change from the orik's takeoff was excruciating to get used to. Odesha felt her nails lengthen, her fangs extending, when she reached towards the bird’s leg to injure it.
She forgot the feet and legs were all metal plated.
Screams tore from her throat when her nails broke away from the tips of her fingers. The blood flowed from the damaged area. The metal was impenetrable, she realized. She used all her strength to pry apart the long talons holding her, but they snapped back just as quickly. She couldn't budge them. Terrified, she thrashed, until she felt a talon digging into her side. Her movement instantly stopped. She was stuck for the duration of the ride, positive she wouldn’t survive being cut in half. The blood loss would be her undoing. She shoved the talon aside, taking a breath of relief when the pain lessened. Dangling, she found some humor in the situation. She could always summon Vashti and they could fly together, but she doubted that was what her sister had in mind when she sent the necklace. It still made Odesha laugh at the thought. A realization made her delighted laughter stutter to a stop. When was the last time she laughed without Vashti? She couldn't remember, but it made her happy all the same.
Even if she was flying to her death.
Chapter 4
Odesha kept her eyes open while she dangled. The pain and vertigo became harder to ignore. Her head felt like she had been drinking too much of her father’s prized demon brew. If her eyes would hold still, she would be rolling them. In her blurred vision, she saw the salt mines disappear behind her. A large snow tree forest loomed in the dark distance. It looked menacing with its sharp branches reaching out to her.
So many trees, she thought vaguely. She could hide there…
The bird reached the forest and stayed high to avoid the sharper branches. The massive body wove in and out easily. She thought she was dizzy before, but this was even worse. They wove back and forth until the orik decided to slow. Groaning to herself, she lifted her head to peer into the forest to see where she had been taken. She felt like she was about to be sick. The orik suddenly surged upwards, forcing her head down, causing her to clench her teeth. This orik was lucky she was a vampire. If he would have snatched a human, they would have been dead by now. Snorting, she realized she was dizzier than she thought. The bird’s priority was not to keep her alive.
The orik abruptly shoved it wings forward, making her body swing helplessly. It began to descend while she watched where she was about to land, hoping to ease her fall.
Odesha held her hair away from her face and saw a circular knot of snow trees bunched together. The black tree branches had been fused together to create large bundles that were bigger than Merdi castle’s courtyard. Her hope of getting free increased, until she glanced around and saw more knots spread out on the tops of trees.
Nests. The knots were orik nests. It was going to leave her in its nest, she realized. She was only feet above the nest when the orik opened its talons, threw back its head, and dropped her with a loud screech. She let out her own scream as she fell straight down, landing in an undignified heap in the dirty nest. The filthy gown flew over her head obstructing her view. She shoved it aside and quickly jumped into a squat position to defend herself. The only defenses she had were her broken nails and extended fangs. Her speed could help her run in circles around the nest, but it wouldn’t help for long. To her surprise, the orik flapped its mighty wings and flew off through the trees, out of view. She had thought the orik was going to try to eat her then and breathed a sigh of relief that it hadn’t. Her eyes darted around in panic at her surroundings, while she tried to reason with herself. She was in a giant bird nest. The survival training she had been forced to attend would have helped, if she hadn’t snuck off with Saphira and Vashti to ride horses that day. Giant mounds of feathers lined one side of the nest. Black egg shells covered the entire bottom. The broken shells crunched noisily under her booted feet when she had fallen. There wouldn’t be a chance to sneak out of the nest quietly.
And it looked like the baby orik had already hatched. Odesha tried to control her breathing as her panic escalated until she took a step backwards. A sharp pain in her side caused her to hunch over with a groan. The wetness she grasped felt cold. While searching for the source, her hand came away with blood from a wound in her side she hadn't felt yet. Oh, Freyja. The talon had pierced her side deeper than she had originally thought. It must have been the adrenaline that blocked her from noticing. The pain shooting up her side became more noticeable as the adrenaline faded away.
She pulled her gown away to get a better look at the wound. A long, dirty cut in her gown opened to a healing wound that ran down her waist to her thigh. The wound had caused a trail of blood that dripped down among the broken shells. No wonder she felt so dizzy. It was the blood loss. She needed blood. Standing, she tried to check for any sign of movement. Not seeing any, she moved towards the side of the nest without any feathers, hoping the baby orik were sleeping. Holding tightly to her wound, Odesha looked over the side of the nest. The branches from the neighboring trees obscured her view, but she could make it to the ground. She could climb down the branches then make her way back towards the salt mines, heading in the general direction of where the orik flew from. Maybe there would be an animal close by she could use for blood to heal herself.
Looking back at the feathered babies sleeping silently on the side of the nest, a musky smell reached Odesha. The horrid smell made her gag before she could stop herself. She slapped a hand over her mouth to stifle the noises she was making. The babies hadn't woken up from the sounds she had inadvertently made, thankfully. An opening in the cage of branches pulled her attention away from the babies. Taking hesitant steps, she tried placing her feet in areas where there were no broken shells. If she could reach the opening, Odesha knew she had a chance to make it home.
Movement from the corner of the nest stopped her advance, one of her feet held in the air about to
descend to the nest.
The mounds of feathers shifted. One of the babies facing away stood tall, fluffing the feathers behind it. The baby bird had already doubled its size after standing. She gulped, noticing they already towered over her, and realized she didn't want to wait around to see the front of it. Odesha smashed through broken shells in her haste to reach the opening in the nest.
“Oh hellfire,” she cursed. It was dinner time.
When Odesha reached the opening in the side of the nest, she thrust her leg over and grabbed the closest branch, swinging her body over the side, trying not to fall to the ground. She used her hands to push off the nest. Holding her arms out, she moved slowly, while balancing to reach the trunk. Moving her feet back and forth helped her find the strong points. The tree held her weight, so she kept moving down, the wound at her side forgotten in her terror. The babies wouldn’t leave their nest if she left, she hoped. Odesha swung to the next branch over and over, pushing past the pain, until a screech reached her from an adjacent nest. She hugged the dark tree she stood on, keeping silent, not wanting the birds to see her. The shadows of the feathered bundles moved quickly, the birds spreading out in waves throughout their homes above her.
Oddly, the birds moved silently for being so large; their screech was the only thing that gave them away. She continued her frantic climb down, even though her hair caught on the branches and tore from her scalp. It slowed her descent when she tried to pull free of them. Stiff branches pulled at her dress, ripping away that protection. A branch broke away from a tree when she stepped on it, falling to the ground. She looked up to see if the cracking sound was as loud as she thought. A feathered head peered over the side of the nest to confirm it was.
Unable to see the bird’s face, Odesha prayed to Freyja that it hadn’t spotted her. She whimpered, hugging the tree tightly. Cold breaths puffed from her mouth.
The orik sounded a warning. Its screech alerted the others. They had found her. Odesha bared her fangs in challenge to the winged beast and continued the climb down.
They wouldn't take her down without a fight. The birds were leaving their nest when she reached the last branch on the tree, jumping down to the snow-covered ground, landing in a tight crouch. Branches snapped above her head, but she didn't look up to see what she already knew.
They were still coming.
Trying not to panic more, she tore a ribbon off her bodice to bind her side, needing to stem the flow of blood before she ran. She looked up to see how far the babies had traveled. Astonishment raced through her at the speed they moved at.
No, these were monkeys, not birds, she was sure of it.
Finding her bearings, she took off running as fast as her side would allow, but a feathered bundle dropped from a tree to block the path in front of her. Was the whole forest trying to eat her now? There wasn't enough of her to go around!
She narrowly missed the orik as she turned a different direction, her legs pumping, her feet moving so fast across the landscape they were only a blur. The pain in her side continued, making her grit her teeth in agony. She tried not to cry out, but the pain was excruciating. There were no birds around her. Their screams came from high above the trees. She dodged a giant snow tree and saw a cave in the near distance. The dark cave opened under a small hill. Get in the cave, figure out where she was, find a blood source, and make it home. She could do that, she promised herself.
At the entrance of the cave, a large rock formation grew. The rocks would protect her from view. She could hide easily among the peaks. She sprinted towards the largest rock. Odesha’s body was tired and the pain in her side stabbing. But her safety came first. Turning around to face the rock, keeping her hands on the cool stone, she inched from behind her hiding place, peering into the forest. Her hands were shaking she was so scared at what she would see.
No movement could be seen through the trees. She backed up slowly, but a neighboring rock brushed against her side. A yelp of pain was wrenched from her mouth at the feeling it caused. Holding tightly to her side, she gasped, knowing something was missing. Her bandage was gone, the wound reopened. Her face lost its color when she realized…
She had left a blood trail. They would be coming.
Searching the back of the cave, she found nothing she could use to defend herself. Scooping up snow, she packed her wound tightly to stem the new blood seeping from it. If she could make it to another cave, she could get away from the trail she had left. The baby orik would think she was somewhere inside the cave and search for her there. Small pebbles littered the ground. She couldn’t try to move the heavy boulders stuck in the snow. There were no weapons. She had to leave. She was an easy kill where she was.
Odesha whirled around in a flurry and bolted towards the entrance in a panic. A giant body stepped out from behind the large boulder and in her momentum, she couldn't stop. Holding her hands out to lessen the impact, it felt like she had hit a tree. The wind was knocked from her when her bottom hit the snow.
Odesha moaned in pain. A large feathered body loomed over her. More feathered birds than she could count stepped out from behind the trees. They watched her silently, their oddly shaped faces moving in a strange way. Her blinking eyes couldn't fathom the number.
A silent army waited for her in the forest for their next meal. A dull roaring sound, like a stampede, sounded in her ears. The pounding noise was getting louder. A soft puff of snow fell in front of her face, obscuring her view. Her eyes shot up to see a mass of snow ripple down from the top of the cave.
Time seemed to move slowly when the snow fell, but where could she go?
She murmured, “Avalanche,” and let the snow take her.
And then…Odesha's world went dark…
Chapter 5
A piercing feeling cramped Odesha’s stomach, waking her from her slumber. Her eyes fluttered open and she sat up gently. Wooden walls of the domain surrounded her. They were packed with ice. Shelves were full of an assortment of crude items. A wooden roof loomed over top of her.
She was in a storage room. A feather cot sat underneath her, surprisingly soft. Wooden, thick chains bound her wrists. Her injured side felt tight, wrapped with a new bandage. A rough wooden door stood in the front of the room. Her soiled, torn gown had been replaced with a short white cloth. Somebody must have undressed her and tried to heal her side, she reasoned. The feeling in her belly intensified, causing her to gasp. It twisted and turned in distress. Shoving herself over, she spewed the contents of her belly across the wooden floor. She threw up what looked like broth and small pieces of meat. She hadn't had human food in so long she had forgotten what it tasted like, but she remembered the sick feeling in her belly. The rest of the food was purged from her body. After her Reawakening, food was poison to her now, but whoever had fed her hadn’t known that. After all the food was gone, her belly settled. Hunger pains for blood roared through her. The blood loss took over her needs. The faint smell of blood reached her, the copper scent wafting through her nose. The back part of the storage room came into focus, the smell coming from that direction. Hanks of meat hung from the ceiling, drying. Buckets underneath the meat caught the dripping blood to keep the floor clean.
Testing the bonds, she was able to pull the chain holding her hands together, and she moved to the bucket. Odesha let out a sigh, relieved, when she took a drink of the blood. She was careful not to spill a drop. Her body began to heal instantly from the inside out, her mind clearing of confusion, and now she was wondering where she was. The storage room didn’t give any hints, so she turned her attention elsewhere. The dressing on her healed side was easy to remove even while cuffed. She tore the tight bonds away. Underneath the dressing was pale, clean skin. Stuffing the cloth in the bottom of the bucket, she returned to her original spot on the bed. After her near-death experience, the pain from the ice circling her heart returned, freezing her. She felt almost normal again. Calm in the storm, just like at home.
A noise sounded from outside, a shuffling
of feet. She sat upright, worried at who she was about to meet. A slight scrape on the door was the only warning she had before it was slammed open, bouncing against the wooden frame. The rafters rained with bits of earth and dust knocked free of their perch.
Her eyes swung upwards to see a giant…yeti…in the doorway. There was no such thing as a yeti, she tried to remind herself, blinking hard. But one was standing in front of her.
The large head bowed forward to come inside, bringing it closer for her to see it. There were many similarities between them, but he was bigger and hairier than her. Short gray hair sprouted from the yeti's head, giving him a serious, military look. The large pointed ears swiveled to lie on the side of its head as if listening for something. Its face was sharp, holding a narrow nose similar to her own. The outfit it was wearing had plates that looked like they were removed from an orik. The plates fastened around the yeti’s thick neck and covered the arms and legs. Its back had a gray feathered cape that fell to the ground. It wore a giant bone necklace, while bone piercings lined the large pointy ears.
The dark eyes studied her intensely. When it raised a hairless gray finger to her face, harsh grunts spilled from the thin mouth. Odesha’s worry intensified. She knew quite a few languages, but this was something different. Maybe she should grunt back? Deciding that was a bad idea, she waited for it to do something else, continuing to stare at it blankly. She didn't speak yeti and wasn't sure if he was friendly or not. It raised a furry eyebrow. The harsh mouth tightened like it swallowed something sour. She tensed, worried he would strike out.
Oh, great Freyja, she worried. She had probably just insulted him somehow. Him?
Glancing down to its groin, her gaze quickly returned to its face, but couldn't confirm that it was a him. The plates hid his anatomy. He narrowed his eyes at her, looking annoyed.