Winged

Chapter 11

"Oh do be alright, dear. Are you okay?"

"She's fine, Flora. Please back away."

"Prodontis is right. Your fussing is only making it worse."

"Shh, she's coming to."

Rising from her slumber was Uroda, like a chick just hatched from an egg, her hair was a mess and her body was cold and sore.  Around her were vibrant colors of green and fauna next to shimmering, deep blues that reflected the sky above. She had no clue where she was, but a fragrant smell of dirt hung on her nose - covering the stench of blood and the taste of it on the back of her tongue.

She pushed off the ground, climbing her own weariness to get a better view of who surrounded her. She saw the Queen, and three slayers. Before she could recognize the shadows that were coming to focus, her ears picked up on an explanation.

"We've dispersed the group. We need to look for a way to save our home, and Stracony. So we decided to send Wojna, Frykas, Hosh, and Piekno away."

Uroda could barely process the information, but as her vision cleared she saw Prodontis crouching over her, waiting for a response. 

"Uh, yeah. Okay. What happened?"

"You were out cold. We brought you here so you could recoup. Rest up and eat your rations, we need to move." Prodontis said in a cold tone, getting to his feet and stomping away to tend to other (more important) things. The messy Sokol grunted as she got to her feet, when firm hand smacked her square in the shoulder.

"You were crazy for doing that. Keeping the queen safe is TOP PRIORITY. TOP. You understand?" The female sokol was up close and personal, her eyes bulging from her skull. If there was such a thing as feeling like prey, Uroda now understood how that felt. She backed away from the lunatic, shrinking in her skin and wrapping her feathers close to her.

"Okay, sorry. I didn't want to be left behind, and the queen insisted." Uroda defended herself, which seemed to induce a red hue on the Slayers face that might have indicated that response only made her angrier. Flora danced in, no longer wearing a complete dress; instead, donning a tattered skirt with colorful leggings and a form fitting suit of armor. Her hair was done up in a ponytail, and her eyes were painted black... Uroda guessed it was to be intimidating, though there wasn't much need to help in that department.

"Now now, Swan, be a darling to the Sokol who saved me. I'm flattered you care." Flora said, reaching for Swan's hand. The Slayer, however, was now stone faced in complete and utter horror. She leapt to her hands and knees and began profusely apologizing, groveling at the Queens feet. Uroda, feeling extremely uncomfortable at the amused look on Floras face, quickly slinked towards the final slayer. Batol spun around and looked up at Uroda. He smiled,

"Yoh scared me for a second there, lass!" Uroda traced her eyes around his gray stubble and messy hair, his red wings looking stiff and uncomfortable at rest. The smaller Sokol threw a ration to her, and she graciously bit into it. It was a form of meat, though she wasn't sure where. It wasn't like the food she was used to, it was tougher and juicer. It tasted weird as well, almost like the meat was unclean. She was too hungry to complain; however.

"I've never seen anything like it. Yoh pierced the barrier like a stone through a puft of stratus, bathing in the sky's grace. Yoh really made a name for yourself, I've never seen Prodontis that impressed!" 

"Prodontis was impressed?" Uroda gasped, thinking back to his face. Nope, it was stone. She had no idea what this little man was talking about, he has probably never been impressed with anything ever.