Part Two arriveth!
By the time they hit the seventeenth stone, Juniper’s legs were stiff and leaden. Jasmine had fallen asleep. Her slight body was a deadweight in Juniper’s arms, although she was small for her six years. Juniper remembered the birth. She had been nine then, crouched in a dark corner of the village birthing hut as her mother screamed and writhed. The midwife had refused to attend a Darkling birth, so Juniper had watched, helpless, as her mother labored, green-black skin slick with sweat. A nearly perfect baby girl had been born, pale curls plastered to her tiny skull. A pair of dark green nubs grew from the crown of her head. When she opened her eyes, Juniper saw the candlelight glint off her red irises. She instantly knew that that her sister was doomed to a life full of muttered curses and sideling glares, just as she herself was. The Darkling woman had only time to murmur Jasmine’s name before she died, and Juniper was left to carry her baby sister home through the drifted snow that buried the village. She couldn’t carry her mother. When they went back for her, she was gone, and all that was left of her was a heap of bloodied straw where she had lain.
Up ahead in a black stretch of shadows, something snarled. Juniper started, stumbling over a tree root and nearly losing her grasp on Jasmine. She peered into the darkness, trying to see what might have made the noise. She had excellent night vision, thanks to her Tainted blood, but the shadows were deep.
A pair of slitted eyes glared back at her. Another snarl ripped through the night.
Dead leaves rustled on the forest floor as Juniper unfurled her wings and lofted into the air. She hovered a few yards above the ground, her heart pounding. Jasmine was startled awake. “Juni, what’s going on?”
“Hush,” Juniper breathed. She beat her wings steadily and listened with sharp Tainted ears.
Snarl. Snarl-snap. Whoosh.
Juniper flung herself to the side as a dark shape hurled up towards them. Jasmine’s scream echoed shrill in her ear as she gave a powerful flap and shot up out of the tree cover.
The moon blazed down on them, illuminating the treetops. Juniper clutched Jasmine to her, casting about for the dark shape that had nearly knocked them out of the air. A branch creaked down below, then a figure burst up out of the leaves, green-black wings spread wide.
Darklings males are not nice to look at, and this one was no exception. His reptilian body was hunched and wiry. Two twisting horns crowned his skull, looming over an elongated face with narrow red eyes. Even in the moonlight, his dark green skin looked black.
The Darkling hovered, his tail lashing back and forth in the biting wind, and stared at the girls. Juniper prepared to bolt. “Min,” she whispered in her sister’s ear, “wrap your legs around my waist and your arms around my neck and whatever you do, don’t let go.”
Jasmine whimpered and did as she was told.
Four more Darklings emerged from the shadowed woods below. Two of them hefted bone clubs. All of them sneered. Needle-sharp teeth glistened in gaping jaws. Juniper’s heart sank down into her numb toes. She might have been able to evade one of the creatures, but five? She and Jasmine were as good as dead.
The Darklings rose in unison until they were level with the sisters. The one in the middle spoke, his voice grating in his throat as if it were rusted by disuse.
“Children of darkness,” he growled, pointing a long, talon-tipped finger at them. Juniper held herself as still as she could, wafting her wings to stay airborne, and did her best to quiet her racing pulse. Darklings detested Tainted as much as humans did. They considered the Tainted to be a dishonor to their culture. I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if these five were sent specifically to hunt us. Oh, Papa, why did you have to marry a Darkling woman?
She had barely completed the thought when the Darklings attacked. They shot forward in an arrowhead formatting with the speaker in the lead. Keeping a tight hold on Jasmine, Juniper went into a screaming dive, folding her wings in close to her back and streaking towards the trees at a terrible speed. A split-second glance over her shoulder confirmed that they were following, wheeling in the air, then diving down in her wake. Jasmine’s slender limbs were clamped about her waist and neck tight enough to leave bruises. At the last possible second, Juniper gritted her teeth and snapped open her wings, wrenching her shoulders. The painful maneuver halted her descent a few feet above the canopy. She spun to face the oncoming Darklings, three of which streaked past to crash into the upper branches of a tree. The other two backed air furiously and came to a stop before the girls. One smacked the end of a bone club into his fist and grinned, showing his fangs.
“Let. Us. Alone,” Juniper growled, trying to sound braver than she felt. She wrapped herself protectively around Jasmine, glad of her sister’s firm warmth. Juniper’s nightgown snapped in the breeze. Her hair streamed out around her. Don’t attack, please don’t attack…
One of the Darklings snarled, lurching forward. “Tainted!”
Juniper tried again, raising her voice to a near shout. “Let us alone!”
The Darklings lunged. Juniper ducked under a whistling swipe of talons, only to catch the second Darkling’s club in the shoulder. She screamed as she felt bone shatter. Her instinct was to curl into a ball and hide, but they were in the air and there were no concealing shadows. A Darkling muzzle darted toward her face, teeth snapping. Barely staying aloft, Juniper jerked back and ran into the other Darkling. A pair of ropy, scaled arms crushed her wings to her sides. Jasmine was ripped out of her arms, her eyes wide and mouth open, too frightened to scream. Juniper tried to reach for her and realized that she couldn’t lift her left arm. The other three Darklings lofted up to join the melee, two of them producing lengths of coarse rope. Juniper screamed herself raw as they bound her arms and wings to her body, her shoulder a throbbing mass of splintered bones. Through the tears blurring her eyes, she could see them trussing Jasmine like a spider trussing a fly. Jasmine was silent throughout the entire ordeal. Juniper could only assume that her sister was in shock.
She was tossed roughly over a bony set of shoulders and the Darklings descended. Their flight was far from smooth; they lurched through the air, sometimes dropping several feet straight down without warning. Juniper gasped as her broken shoulder was jostled. Have to fight them off! Have to do something! She struggled against her bonds, feeling herself growing weaker and weaker as unconsciousness crept in. No… have to stay awake… save Jasmine… have… to…
OOH, CLIFFIE!! *cackles* Evil, aren't I? And no, Juniper doesn't spend the rest of the story with a shattered shoulder. I wouldn't know how to write it. XD
Leavin' fer Warrensburg for Missouri State today! Luckily I don't play till tomorrow morning, which is why we're driving up this afternoon. Wish me luck!
Commander Kip
Yeah, I'm cryin' about that...
Normal is overrated!
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