Wednesday, March 16, 2005

Chapter 16
My whole life flashes before my eyes, all two-hundred years of it, as I struggle for air. Every feeling I had, every moment I was conscious, every person I met, every person I killed. Now I know what poison splashed around in that bottle, and I shall die soon. Fayla was probably wrong when she thought I would do great things because now I will not do any other things. I may have conscious thoughts again now, but I will probably never wake up. Then those steel blue eyes fill my head, and Fayla is obviously talking to me. “I predicted this would come. You must wake. You must tell them where to find Michael, or you shall die.”
“Why must I tell them where Michael is? I don’t see how that will help.”
“Just do it; don’t ask questions. I must go now, wake up! Wake up! WAKE UP!”

* * *
I shoot out of bed and gasp for breath. My purple skin stings and burns, and all of the things I see are dyed blue. “Is anyone here?”
“Oh my; yes dear, I’m here.” A nurse shot up from a table around a corner in the room and rushed over to the bed. “I would love to help you feel better, but honestly I cannot…unless you tell me of any werewolf friends you have and where they are. I do not have time to explain, just tell me.”
“I have one; his name is Michael. He lives back in human territory where I live. I…” A pang shoots through my abdomen, and I clutch it with as much force as I can. I must get it to go away. I pray for the first time in one-hundred ninety-nine years. Please let the pain go away. Then unconsciousness starts to take over. I’m drifting. I know I am…. “Go to my house, and then turn…;” too late.

* * *

Tyrrea rode on those huge sapphire dragon wings and conversed with her companion. Can you sense any dead dragons?
No, not one; we don’t dye often you know. It takes over a thousand years, just like for elves…unless…
Unless what? We have to do SOMETHING!
We couldn’t. If I did, I couldn’t live with myself…forget it…
What? Tell me.
…We might have to… The message in her mind paused again. She finally understood.
Now I understand Destina, don’t try to finish. It WILL NOT come to killing your own kind, I promise. We’ll find one, and one with hazel eyes.
Destina stopped in mid flap, and fell a few feet before the wind caught under her wings again. Then she regained her composure and answered.
Yes; Exactly. They continued on in silence, and flew for two hours before Tyrrea finally decided to search for something else, and just hope that a dead dragon jaw became available soon. She could not think of that though. She thought, and finally remembered the next requirement. They made a U turn and headed back to the mountain at full speed since no longer had to search for dragons.
When they had ridden close enough to see those nests at the peaks of the mountain, they climbed through the air to reach them, for even though they were hundreds of feet through the air, those nests were a few hundred feet higher. The foliage on the mountain transformed from a wide variety of plants, vines, trees, and flowers to just certain ones, all the way up till their was only one kind of tree left, evergreens. They stopped for a second to look at how ragged those trees looked compared to the ones on the ground, and also because it was becoming hard to breath, then sped forward. After a few more yards, they had to walk up the mountain because Destina could not struggle up enough air to fly. It wasn’t hard for them to hack their way through the foliage, because after about thirty yards, all of the trees had vanished. They hiked through the rocks, and tried not to think of how their now ragged feet itched and hurt after a few hours of hiking on those jagged rocks as sharp as knives.
Finally, long after the sun had dropped below the horizon, they reached the nesting ground. This may have been lucky, for the giant hawk’s had all gone to bed. Tyrrea tip toed through the nests while Destina watched from a distance, until she found one of the giant ones. Ever so carefully she plucked a few of its feathers, and finally decided that the process would take too long for her to get back in time with all of the ingredients. She thought for a moment, and weighed what the effects might be if she used magic. The hawk might wake, and she might never see daylight again, but if she didn’t, Brea and Timerian would definitely never see daylight again. So she straightened up, and clapped her hands quietly in front of her face, saying geiengtlya pluiuka. T he feathers all popped off, but the bird did not seem to stir. They all flew toward her had, and she lifted out a potato sack she had brought for the ingredients. They all fell gently down, and she thought she was safe, so she let out her breath, and one feather blew out of the sack and onto the beak of the giant beast. She immediately drew back her breath, but it was too late. The hawk’s honey eye opened to a fierce expression and it rose up on its talons; it would surely eat her.
“Stop,” came some voice from behind both of them. That gurgling whistling song could not have came from any other throat but Destina’s.
“Old friend, why are you going to hurt my friend here?”
Surprisingly, the bird stopped in mid swipe of its claw, and turned toward the dragon. “What do you…Destina? What are you doing here? I haven’t seen you for years. Do you remember how we met in the forest because I mistook the tip of you tail for a blue jay in the woods.” He began to laugh, and then saw her expression.
“Yes, well… I need your help.”
“Of course, why else would you come and visit an old friend like me?”
“I’m sorry about your feathers Aquilo; we need them to save a friend.”
“What do you mean ‘you’re sorry about my’…” He looked down and saw for the first time his nude frame. “What have you done with my feathers?” He exclaimed.
“As I said, we need them to save a friend.”
“And so you take my feathers. You are very lucky that our feathers grow back in a day’s time. Is there anything ELSE you will need?”
“Yes… the feathers of another giant hawk, but this one…dead.”
“Are you insane?” He huffed for a few moments then calmed down. “I would force you to leave, but it just so happens that a hawk was killed in the hunt today… You’re really lucky. He’s over here. We have to take away all of his feathers for the ceremony anyway.”
“Thank you, what is you name?” Tyrrea asked; she had habituated herself to Destina knowing different creatures.
“I am Aquilo, and if you don’t mind, could you make me a coat or something. It’s cold up here without my feathers.”
Destina made that gurgling laugh and said “You’re still that laid back optimist I always knew.”
“Yes well; it’s worth it to save a life.” They scuttled through the snoring lumps of feathers to the back of that ridge on the mountains, and into a cave at least ninety-seven feet tall and followed Aquilo to the back, where on a blue beaded mat, laid a somewhat small giant hawk. After a moment of respect for the dead, Tyrrea put her hands in that intricate design at her chest and chanted geientlya pluiuka. All of the feathers then flew straight into the open sack, and Tyrrea sat down. She had already used WAY to much magic for this expedition, and only gathered one ingredient. She did not know what to do. She sat for a moment then thought first, ill use some magic to make him a coat; I ows this Aquilo that much. Then we shall hunt for the Allamanda Cathartica! We will have to then collect the flitallaries, and then the blood orchid. After that…we must go back and see if Brea has awakened.

srry it took me so long to finish this one... ive been kinda busy...
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