last time I had done anything more than just fill myself with the joy of flight, but something about last night’s attack set my thoughts ablaze. The mark on the back of the attacker’s hand as he clung to my arms high above the city last night before I ended his life, the horns and fangs…there was a familiarity to it…
So lost in my own thoughts was I that when a sudden wave of panic flared out from the woman somewhere nearby, my chest knotted like a fist balling up, catching me off my guard and driving me to my knees.
The surface of the roof beneath me cracked from the impact, and I did not bother trying to stand back up. The woman’s panic radiated with intensity directly from somewhere on the floor below. I lifted my fists high over my head and brought them down hard on the rooftop, over and over.
I did not know what I would find below. One of the rules screamed out to me—
Conceal myself from humanity
—but
Protect the family
was the master rule, and if it meant revealing myself in that endeavor, then so be it. Her primal call for help was a compulsion like no other I had ever felt. Cracks spread out beneath me as the old tar, stone, wood, and plaster finally gave way from each passing blow. The roof shifted beneath me, caved, and I dropped into the dark room below, my wings spreading to slow my fall. Time slowed as I took in the situation. A lone male figure stood directly behind the woman, his arms wrapped around her as she struggled to break free. I arced my wings, aiming for the man, then narrowed my wingspan to speed up.
With perfect accuracy, my stone form hit the man
hard
—as I had intended—driving his body away from the woman, the sound of cracking running through him.
So fragile, these creatures.
The man shuddered in shock on the floor as the lifeblood left his body and he went still. The woman watched him, her own body shaking, but she did not move, the two of us standing there as he jerked and fell silent. As she was distracted and had her back to me, there was still a chance I could keep to the rules if I left quick enough. I turned, seeking out the hole I had left in the roof. I stepped across the broken wood and crumbled stone debris I had created from my entrance to better position myself, but that effort alone had it crunching underneath my feet, breaking the brief silence.
“Wait,” the woman said, her voice shaky. Despite my desire to leave, I found I could not, held in place by a force unseen. “Let me see you.”
I turned to her, getting my first look at the girl’s face up close. There was something familiar to her features, but I was not sure what it was. The dark eyes, wide with wonder now, the sharp angle of her chin, the slow and steady slope of her nose…
“Th-thank you,” she managed to get out, quiet and barely able to speak while she stared at me standing there in the darkened room. A mix of fear and calm emanated from her, its blast washing over me in confusion.
“You are…welcome,” I said.
She stepped toward me. “You helped me the other night, didn’t you?” she asked. “In that alley in the Village…?”
I nodded.
She looked down at the remains of her attacker, shock and the hint of fear filling her eyes. “You…
killed
that other man and this one. Why?”
“They would have done the same to you,” I said without hesitation.
She leaned over the man, staring into his wide, unmoving eyes. “Would they?”
“Yes,” I said. “That is what I believe.”
“Why me?” she asked. “Why are they trying to hurt my family?”
I stepped forward into the light that came down from the hole I had left in the ceiling. The woman seemed to notice the wings rising up behind me for the first time and gasped. I pulled them close against my body, leaning down to lift up one of the attacker’s arms. I turned it back and forth in my hands until I found what I was looking for.
“There,” I said, pointing one of my clawed fingers to the closed fist at the
So lost in my own thoughts was I that when a sudden wave of panic flared out from the woman somewhere nearby, my chest knotted like a fist balling up, catching me off my guard and driving me to my knees.
The surface of the roof beneath me cracked from the impact, and I did not bother trying to stand back up. The woman’s panic radiated with intensity directly from somewhere on the floor below. I lifted my fists high over my head and brought them down hard on the rooftop, over and over.
I did not know what I would find below. One of the rules screamed out to me—
Conceal myself from humanity
—but
Protect the family
was the master rule, and if it meant revealing myself in that endeavor, then so be it. Her primal call for help was a compulsion like no other I had ever felt. Cracks spread out beneath me as the old tar, stone, wood, and plaster finally gave way from each passing blow. The roof shifted beneath me, caved, and I dropped into the dark room below, my wings spreading to slow my fall. Time slowed as I took in the situation. A lone male figure stood directly behind the woman, his arms wrapped around her as she struggled to break free. I arced my wings, aiming for the man, then narrowed my wingspan to speed up.
With perfect accuracy, my stone form hit the man
hard
—as I had intended—driving his body away from the woman, the sound of cracking running through him.
So fragile, these creatures.
The man shuddered in shock on the floor as the lifeblood left his body and he went still. The woman watched him, her own body shaking, but she did not move, the two of us standing there as he jerked and fell silent. As she was distracted and had her back to me, there was still a chance I could keep to the rules if I left quick enough. I turned, seeking out the hole I had left in the roof. I stepped across the broken wood and crumbled stone debris I had created from my entrance to better position myself, but that effort alone had it crunching underneath my feet, breaking the brief silence.
“Wait,” the woman said, her voice shaky. Despite my desire to leave, I found I could not, held in place by a force unseen. “Let me see you.”
I turned to her, getting my first look at the girl’s face up close. There was something familiar to her features, but I was not sure what it was. The dark eyes, wide with wonder now, the sharp angle of her chin, the slow and steady slope of her nose…
“Th-thank you,” she managed to get out, quiet and barely able to speak while she stared at me standing there in the darkened room. A mix of fear and calm emanated from her, its blast washing over me in confusion.
“You are…welcome,” I said.
She stepped toward me. “You helped me the other night, didn’t you?” she asked. “In that alley in the Village…?”
I nodded.
She looked down at the remains of her attacker, shock and the hint of fear filling her eyes. “You…
killed
that other man and this one. Why?”
“They would have done the same to you,” I said without hesitation.
She leaned over the man, staring into his wide, unmoving eyes. “Would they?”
“Yes,” I said. “That is what I believe.”
“Why me?” she asked. “Why are they trying to hurt my family?”
I stepped forward into the light that came down from the hole I had left in the ceiling. The woman seemed to notice the wings rising up behind me for the first time and gasped. I pulled them close against my body, leaning down to lift up one of the attacker’s arms. I turned it back and forth in my hands until I found what I was looking for.
“There,” I said, pointing one of my clawed fingers to the closed fist at the
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