Tainted Wings

Chap. 39: Jasmine

We ate, and rested. Now our next move is to go straight to the tower the president is staying. We already talked about it, and they believe that he’s expecting us. I don’t expect any less. We walk through the greenery to the tower. No one talks, because they’re probably getting themselves prepared for what’s ahead. I don’t blame them either.

We finally come to a clearing after a few minutes. It’s a giant clearing, but it looks just like a meadow. With long flowing grasses still covered in the morning dew, flowers spotting it, and a few animals wandering about. These aren’t any normal animals though. They’re ones created by the government, and they are mainly found in one region. Jushi region, the one meant for government purposes. I was never told much about them though.

“Here we are, Kilika Tower. This is where my father awaits us.” Akaito says spreading his arms as if he’s giving us a tour. “Watch out for the Zixians. Some are very aggressive and attack whatever comes in sight.”

“Zixian?” I ask being the first to enter the area after him.

“Another species created by the government. These are more animal based though, but they only have elemental controls and sometimes able to shoot out some kind of beams or lift things with their minds.” The others come up behind us.

“Sounds a lot like Haldrin powers.” I say as I another step into the field, causing one of the creatures to pop their head up. “Crap.” I say as it starts to run towards me. It’s moving so fast I can barely tell what it looks like, until it’s on top of me. I mean literally on top of me. I laying on the ground with it’s glowing yellow eyes staring down at me.

Now that it’s closer I can see that it looks somewhat like a Jaguar, but purple with a yellow underneath, and way bigger. Its mouth is open and its breath smells horrible, but its teeth are pure white. I stay still, because if I do I assume it won’t do anything. I cringe as it leans down closer and sniffs my face.

“Please don’t get that close.” I whisper to it. It jerks back its head, and growls at me. “What? I didn’t do anything.” It scowls at me, and next thing I know, I’m being shocked with an electric current. I can’t think at all, all I know is that I’m not going to last long underneath this.

Someone tackles the creature, and I gasp for air. I can hear the creature growling and thrashing, and it soon stops. I just lay here breathing heavily and staring at the stars. I could’ve sworn that was the last time I would see them, but it wasn’t. Akaito’s face appears above mine.

“You OK?” He bends down and picks me up. I can’t bring myself to speak, I can’t even think straight just yet. “I told you to be careful, but you never really listened in the first place have you?” He looks off into the distance, then back down at me. “Can you close your eyes for a moment?” I do as says. “You can open them now, I’m just going to set you here until I get everyone else across.” I open my eyes just as he’s setting me on the ground. I lean up against something. I look up and find that it’s the tower that had once been at least half a mile away.

Akaito evaporates into the air, I wait a few minutes, and then he’s right back in front of me with Skylar. “Stay here you two. I know you aren’t the best at following orders, but I need you to just this once.” Then he disappears again. I turn to Skylar.

“When do you plan on telling Kadaj?” She looks at me shocked.

“How did you find out?”

“Akaito told me to save you the trouble. Don’t be mad at him though, he was only thinking of you, and I promised not to tell anyone.” She smiles.

“I know I have nothing to worry about.” She turns her attention to across the field. “To tell you the truth though, I don’t think I have the guts to tell him. He thinks I’m my twin brother, which I don’t even have. He even told me some things because he said he needed to get it out, and he couldn’t trust anyone else. So I feel that if I tell him, that trust won’t exist anymore.” I watch her as she explains all this, and it seems like she really doesn’t want to hurt him. She’s always been so considerate for the few days that I’ve known her. Always thinking about the others before herself.