Dark Wings - Chapter Four

Waves roared far below, crashing and breaking against the time-worn cliff base. Their intensity and ferociousness picked up as the roiling grey clouds crept in ever closer from the north, their bulging folds promising rain.

Keira sat on a grassy overhang; arms wrapped around one propped leg while the other hung limp over the edge. Her mind was distant, sapphire eyes unblinking. She watched, indifferent, as the gray sheet of clouds engulfed the warm hued sun that was drifting toward the horizon and purged the ocean and land of light.

The concept of time had been discarded long ago, leaving a tenuous sense of calm. Here, away from accusing eyes and biting words, she could let her mind slip away into nothingness and just be.

Solitude was her escape; she would be thrown into madness without it.

She rose to her feet, staring past the raging ocean to the horizon, unperturbed by the swirling galls that threatened the steadiness of her precarious position.

Smiling wistfully, she imagined having wings, regal and black with smooth, downy feathers. In her mind, she spread them out behind her, stretching them far, air gathering underneath.

Unconsciously, she lifted her arms, holding them horizontal to the ground, tilting her head back and letting her eyes slip shut.

Freedom was only a few powerful flaps of her wings away. They straightened, flexed. The muscles in her back would tighten and tense. One downwards thrust, then another, and…

“Whoa now, princess, what are we doing? Gonna fly without wings?”

Illusion shattered, she whirled on the voice, the speed of her action unbalancing her. Hastily regaining her feet, she glared poison at the unwelcome disturbance.

Chale stood mere feet before her, eyebrow raised in amusement. His smirk, however, looked uncharacteristically strained. “Sorry, but I don’t think you’d make it too far."

As they stood staring each other down, a drop of rain landed on Keira’s cheek, causing her to flinch at the suddenness. More chilling drops followed, and soon there was a steady drizzle falling around them.

The lithe brunette couldn’t fight the slight curve of her lips as a distressed Chale attempted to press his golden wings as close to his back as possible to keep as much rain out of them as he could.

‘I guess there’s at least one advantage to not having wings...’

She crossed her arms before her chest loosely, finding her shirt thoroughly dampened already. Brushing her soggy hair away from her face, she addressed him as coolly as she could, “What are you doing here, Chale? Really. Every time I turn you’re there.”

The blonde ruffled his wings in a fruitless attempt to rid them of some water. He snorted derisively. “Damn rain. Come on, why are you just standing there? Let’s go find a tree, or, preferably, a nice, big, dry house.”

Keira had to tear her eyes away from the way his thin t-shirt clung to his chest. Turning her head to the side stubbornly, her cheeks tinted a faint pink, she shot, “I rather like the rain, actually.”

As he gave her an incredulous stare, she tried to reason why the blonde was standing in front of her, infuriating and maddeningly stunning as usual, in the rain, telling her to find shelter with him. Frustration and confusion bubbled to the surface as she tried and tried but couldn’t possibly fathom why.

“You’re crazy, Keira. There’s a tree right over there-”

Her name spilled out of his lips like the finest wine; the first time she’d ever heard him say it. It was an immense change compared to the usual ‘princess’ or ‘dark one’. It gave her butterflies that she wanted to tear out of her stomach and smash into little tiny pieces for fluttering around for Chale of all people.

“Why are you here, Chale? What are you doing? What do you want?” Her voice was tired, edged with agitation and helplessness. There was a violent thrust of wind that sent the bottoms of her soaked chocolate hair drifting to the side. Finally feeling the cold of her body, she wrapped her arms around her protectively, imagining another pair of strong arms encircling her instead of her own…

‘Stupid!’

Chale opened his mouth to give a response but no words were formed. He looked like he was struggling with something; she almost felt sympathy for him – almost. His mouth and jaw worked open and shut a few times before she turned around to gaze out at the gray tempest of the ocean and sky.

“Just leave, okay? I don’t know why you’re here. I don’t even think you know why you’re here. I don’t know what you want, but you should just go back to your life and leave me to mine.”

The rain sounded like a wave crashing into her ear as she waited for a reaction. Inside, her heart and mind were playing a violent game of tug-of-war, her mind putting up warning signs that her heart full heartedly disregarded.

He’s no different than the rest.

‘Yes he is! He is, he is, he is! He has to be…please…somebody…’

Her heart was beating up her throat as she stood with her back to the blonde, dreading and anticipating his response. Rain continued to fall around them. It clung to the brunette’s eyelashes and dripped off her nose, running down her face in rivulets. The drizzle had picked up into a downpour while she had been consumed in her thoughts.

She felt her heart plummet when she heard Chale’s footsteps retreating quickly the other way. Of course; she should have known. She wasn’t worth anyone’s time and devotion. Not even false affection, it seemed.

Knees crumpled under her and she dissolved to a heap on the drenched ground. The walls she had so meticulously erected around her heart and mind had been under attack for too long, and they just couldn’t resist the force any longer. She gripped slick strands of grass as an anchor as she cried her anguish to the raging maelstrom.

So caught up in her grief, she failed to notice the ground she was perched on quake beneath her weight. The earthen outcrop couldn’t keep a grip on the more supported ground and began to slide down toward the crashing waters.

Keira was thrust back into reality when she finally felt the land she was on drifting downwards, slowly at first, then more rapidly as it completely detached from the rest of the land. She twisted around and clawed for purchase but found none in the muddy earth, arm outstretched and reaching for salvation.