Wings of Fire: A Destiny Found

~CHAPTER 37~

       It was late in the night when they arrived. Corona was in a nest made of grass and moss being cared for by Evenstar and Willow. Kite was sitting in the corner silently, Condor draping a wing over him. The MudWing and SeaWing had a slew of questions to ask the group from their journey, but they were already tired and already overwhelmed by everything that happened. Evenstar got Whitecap's pliers and finally removed the hanging tooth from Glow's injured jaw, as well as the broken stump left behind. While it still hurt (a lot) afterwards, her jaw felt infinitely better. Ore, Combustion, and Charcoal had already left before Glow woke up, and she felt much better after sleeping the whole flight.

       Glow took the courtesy to spare the others from having to say everything. She summarized everything that happened, and everyone understood. She left out what Glow had gone through, mostly because she wasn't really all that comfortable talking about it yet. One day I'll be okay, but...not right now. I need time. Frigga and Condor were sitting outside and Whitecap had just come back with a freshly caught fish. Glow recoiled at the scent and gagged.

       "I know seafood isn't really your thing, but that's the best I can give you until your jaw heals." He apologized sincerely.

       Glow was definitely not appealed by the stinky soft meat in front of her, but it wasn't like she had much of a choice at this point. Stupid Morrowseer. She bit delicately at the fish, tearing off its loose scaly skin and tossed it aside. She never really liked skin, anyway.

       "Hey," Corona wheezed. "At least it's not pears, right?" She joked, but then coughed weakly.

       Evenstar tapped her snout harshly. "Hey, stop that. You need to rest, and that includes making hilarious jokes." He ordered.

       "Evenstar's right." Willow scolded. "I can't believe you'd make jokes while you're in this condition. You need to be more careful, what would we do if you got yourself killed?" The pale MudWing huffed and shook her wings irritably. Glow recoiled. She was back to reality, but she still guiltily felt that she'd rather be dead than live with what had happened to her earlier that evening.

       Corona merely scoffed. "Can't blame me for trying to lighten the mood." She chuckled. Heh, even in this condition, she's still the same Corona I know and love. Glow didn't have that luxury. She started to feel guilty as she stared at her fish. She couldn't stop thinking about that soldier. The way he grabbed her and forced her into his personal plaything and tried to take advantage of her for his own sexual gratification. The way he forced himself in-between her legs against her will, her tears, and her cries.

       She started trembling at the memory. She tried so hard to push the memory out of her head, but it wouldn't let her. Despite the strong visceral feeling of wanting to die, she was grateful that it didn't go further than that. Thank the moons that Frigga got there just in time. She never appreciated the IceWing more in her life. Frigga watched a fellow IceWing murder and violate her mother's corpse, and killed him on sight. It makes sense that it was her first instinct this time. She couldn't even finish the thought before her head started to spin and she started to grow numb again. No matter how Glow tried to make herself feel better or see the light side, the reality still wanted to sink itself deep into her. She was assaulted by a soldier who was stronger and more capable than her. No matter how far it didn't go, he still attempted to rape her, and she was still affected by it. And it would take a while for her to come to terms with the realities and the affect it had on her with patience and care.

       Wanting to just distract herself, she carefully chewed the strips of meat from the ocean catch and swallowed them quickly, trying not to gag. Yuck! I know I did this to myself, but...ugh! As she was chewing, she noticed Kite sitting quietly in the corner. He was staring blankly, unable to cry any more. Glow sighed. I know how that feels, Kite. Glow suddenly realized with horror that she could now accurately say that. She could no longer only sympathize with him, Corona, or Frigga. Now she had the personal experience to actually empathize with them.