Vogel Bloem-Chapter 1-the Raid

1-the Raid

She sat on the window seat looking down upon the tall men in uniform below in the clear field before the crystal river that encircled the house. Thick black drapes hung on wither side of her and behind her, cutting off view of her room. The soft folds of night curled around the moon outside.
Outside, tall strangers tramped upon her lawn, smashing her garden. They had already killed her friends and family, for the forest beyond the river was still smoldering from the fire and the animals of the far field were long since dead. The others who had lived in the building with her seemed to have disappeared, not that she felt any loss by their absence.
The only one who remained her familiar stood outside her door. She didn’t know him very well and didn’t like him at all. He was a pompous, squat man with a long shinny gun that he had made sure that she saw when he first arrived, breaking her solitude after the creator left.
Sudden movement on the front lawn jolted her from her thoughts. There was someone new entering from the forest ruins. She could barely see him in the dim light. Light suddenly shed upon him and she strained her sight. All she could see of his face were cruel eyes glaring up into her window. He was taller than most the men she saw in front of the house and leaner. She shivered.
A dark panther sidled up beside the tall newcomer. The girl gasped and leaned against the window pane, straining her sight and willing for the glass to be gone so she could be free of the room. The panther caught her eye, his glowing eyes comforting her in the darkness of her prison.

“My Whisperer…” Zuberi rumbled in his throat. He shifted his weight, readying himself to attack, his muscles twitching beneath his dark fur in anticipation.
“Morgan...” the man beside him muttered.
Zuberi glanced up at the tall man beside him. Zuberi didn’t know the man’s name, but he had been told that he was a friend. Being a panther, he’d never had much of a reason to trust mankind, but now he hoped that it was worth it.
As for the man, he’d never been too fond of anything in particular. Jet was the kind of person who just didn’t care that much. He didn’t know how exactly he had been dragged into this, but it concerned a favor that he owed. The panther that stood tensely beside him was the one he owed a favor to. They didn’t really know each other, but since they had met, fate had been having a ball intertwining their lives’ meanings with each other. If the panther died, then Jet had no comrade to help the girl and comrades were needed in this stage of the game. As of yet, Jet didn’t really have a clue what the girl looked like, so he needed the panther to identify her.
The building that they were to raid towered above them and the man followed the panther’s eyes to the window where he gazed. A pale, fragile face peered down at them from the shadows, a small candle glowing beside her. Towers upon towers of brick and metal made up the fortress walls and main gate. A small army of men stood in the way of the door, each decked out in full uniform with a good supply of ammunition and weapons at hand.
From behind the main wall a loud voice called, “Hold fire until my signal! Jet, is that you?” a fat man with no visible end to his face or stomach trundled into view. Chief Dodd frowned, the creases of fat on his forehead deepening and growing. A small mop of black hair lay plastered greasily to the top of his head, curling down into a curly beard and rising back up into overly bushy eyebrows that hid his beady eyes from sight. “Yep,” he grunted in a thick southern dialect. “Shoot ‘em.”
Zuberi dodged and wove his way opposite of the man’s direction, never taking his eyes from the girl in the window. Dozens of bullets that should’ve hit him were deflected with blue beams of light and air. From the corner of his eye, the panther spotted the man dodging just as well as he was.
Jet leapt across the river sprinting along the shore before disappearing. He chuckled at the confused look on the gun-wielders’ faces before snapping their guns away and tossing them all into the river with a jolt of the twine that he had wound around them. The men jerked forward as well, falling in a heap before him. There was a scream and Jet turned around. The panther had finally crossed the river. A heap of dead men lay before him and the big cat was already racing towards the next wave.

She watched them fight and before long they were in the castle. There was a commotion outside her door and quite suddenly, the guard outside began to scream until it was cut off just as suddenly. She turned, desperately searching for the gap in the curtains, remembering that there was none. They would not find her. She slumped against the glass and listened to the creaking of her door being opened and the sounds of footsteps upon the carpet.

Jet pushed open the door with his good arm, the other having been grazed with a bullet. The panther panted wearily, but moved on without injury. They entered a dark room with a grey carpet. The walls were red, but the curtains and bed sheets were black. The ceiling had no light hanging from it, but only an empty chain where one would’ve swung. In the corner, by the bed stand, sat a small jar with a glorious flower growing from the dirt.
Zuberi looked around, his calmness slowly slipping away. This was her room, but he couldn’t see her. He looked around wildly for a place where they might’ve kept her, about to break down completely when the man strode forward to the curtains. With a gentle hand he pulled them back.
The girl was small, just less than three feet tall and weighed about 35 pounds. She wore a black t-shirt that drooped around her shoulders and pink pajama pants with socks on her feet. Her hair was long, curling down her back, nearly to her feet in light green featherings. Her eyes were deep emerald and her lashes were dark against her pale skin. Her lips were thin and pink, but not as pink as the tears that soaked her cheeks. Her thin legs were pulled up to her chest and her arms wrapped around them. A tiny metal bird perched calmly on her shoulder, twitching like it was real, though it’s glowing red eyes proved it not to be.
Jet stared. The panther heaved a deep sigh and padded up to the window seat, purring as kindly as a cat of his species could. The girl looked up, first to the panther, then to Jet.
Zuberi looked up at her with overwhelming happiness and she stared at him, almost blankly. He opened his mouth slightly and placed one paw upon the window seat, pulling himself up to look her in the eye. The human placed a hand on Zuberi’s shoulder, pointing. A long silver cord wound around her neck, wrists and ankles. Zuberi made to rip them away.
“Don’t!” she cried, placing a gentle hand on the panther’s head. “It’s poisoned.”
From the silver cord, thick bark began to form. Soon a glowing shell was formed around her from behind. Jet rolled his eyes and snatched the bird from her shoulder, crushing it and disabling the cords attached to its tail feathers. The panther stared.
The girl lurched and wrapped her arms around the panther’s neck. He purred, still looking at the man.
“My Whisperer,” Zuberi purred, licking her arm that threatened to choke him. He stopped and his eyes widened.

“No!” the girl screamed, pounding at her prison wall that has just become transparent. The android that had been at the window portrayed her no longer as its ‘skin’ fell away revealing thick metal. A heavy robotic arm was wrapped around Zuberi’s neck, cutting off his air, “No! Stop!”
The panther screamed and ripped away the metal that encircled him. The man picked up the still writhing mass of metal and fake flesh and flung it out the window, showering glass upon the beaten men below.
Jagged gashes were visible around Zuberi’s neck and he coughed roughly. Jet went to the window and watched the metal thing crash into the ground.
The girl stopped now and was silent. They couldn’t do anything without her name. That was the key. She sighed and curled into a ball, gathering all heat to her chest in the cold black.
“Morgan,” the man said.
The girl sat up, letting the warmth all slip away. Through half lidded eyes she encouraged the man to continue.
“What are you talking about?” snarled the panther.
“Morgan is the girl’s name.”
“How would you know that?” the big cat scoffed.
“Because I know names. Your name is Zuberi Asim; ‘strong protector’ in Swahili. My name is Jet.”
“Morgan?” Zuberi rolled his golden eyes and flicked his tail.
There was a soft ‘flump’ and they looked to the bed. A glowing maiden lay beneath the covers, long green tresses covering her naked body. Zuberi leapt up and screamed (panthers do not growl or roar, but scream) until Jet rap him roughly up-side the head. The maiden slept peacefully as the tall man gathered her up in his cloak, seeing as how the blanket was too heavy to carry and thick footsteps were already echoing from down the hallway.
Zuberi pushed the door shut with a heavy paw, latching it with the heavy bolt. Jet looked at him.
“How are we going to get out?” Jet snapped.
“Come on,” Zuberi leapt up onto the window seat where the android had lain. He sneered at Jet’s fearful look. “It’s not just the wolves who feel the power of the moon.” The panther said. He turned and leapt from the high window, turning to look back at them from the ground. “Toss her, I’ll catch her!” he called.
Jet grinned and shook his head, following the panther’s actions as the first attack on the door began.
Once on the ground, Jet followed the panther across the river and deep into the tall grasses of the fields beyond the forest. As he ran, he could not feel the girl he cradled breathe or move at all. Her green hair whipped around behind him as he ran. Before long they were to the last tree and Zuberi stopped before it. It was massive.
“We need the vogel bloem.” He rumbled, swishing his tail impatiently. He strode up to Jet. “Do you trust me?”
“Should I?” Jet asked.
“Your call. Just…trust me on this. We have to get in before they come.”
“In where?”
“You’ll see. Let me see her.” Zuberi said desperately. Jet hesitantly lowered her to the panther’s level. Zuberi quickly gripped the nape of her neck in his jaws. She gasped slightly as he dragged her to the tree and tossed her at its base. Green blood pooled beneath her and Zuberi spat some from his mouth into Jet’s hand. He grimaced. Then, they all began to glow and with a crack of light, they were all gone.

to be continued...