Wings In The Mist

Raven was running again, the purple-blue spiral on her hand that coiled down her arm catching her eye. She must have bruised her hand on the rocks. Yes. That was it. Not a shrine – that was ridiculous. She carried on running, exiting the temple and landing on rocky mountain again. Raven only just saw the edge and back pedalled crazily, only just managing to keep her balance. She looked around. Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, with a murderous-looking bird-man behind and nothing in front except a sheer drop. Raven began looking for crevasses, or anywhere else to hide. Nothing. Except – a ledge, easily missed. She cautiously edged along it, looking back towards the temple as she did so. Unfortunately, the ledge narrowed, but Raven didn’t notice until her feet overhung and it was quite impossible to turn back. Loose pebbles skittered down the mountainside, just missing Raven’s face. It was a long time until they hit the ground. The seriousness of the situation suddenly hit Raven pushing her to the brink of hysteria. Her breath was ragged and she couldn’t move – it was if she had become part of the mountain. So there perched Raven, unable to move, paralysed with terror, with the bird-man still hunting her.

Raven’s eyes snapped open. There was that cry again – the shadow bird had caught up with her. She turned her face away from the sound – she wasn’t going to let it rip her eyes out! It bore down on her, and lifted her up again, delivering her to it’s waiting master. Raven backed away, but was stopped by the cliff-face behind her. She glanced behind, looking down, but feeling…calm. It looked peaceful down there – it would be her sanctuary from the bird-man. So she took a deep breath, turned around, held out her arms and threw herself into the abyss. Her hair whipped around, fanning out behind her. The sky rushed past, the sound filling her head – a moment of tranquillity. Raven shuddered slightly, thinking about death. It would hurt. And her body would be a real mess. Raven’s back started tingling – it must be all the thought of death. Suddenly, she was yanked from the behind – no, not the bird again! She stopped plummeting as quickly as if she had opened a parachute. She looked up and screamed. There, attached to her back were two deep purple-black wings, three times the size of Raven! They were catching the air, making her glide – she was flying!

Raven woke up in bed, bright golden sunlight streaming through the curtains, dappling her bedspread. Oh. Just a dream. She threw back the covers and froze – what was that on her hand?