ɖɛċɛɨʋɛɖ

twenty two

I do not know how long it is that I lay hidden between the roots of the tree in a tight ball of pain and misery, before he comes to take me away, but by the time he finds me I am covered in new gashes that had come from the rogue beating Ryo once again. Yet even as I lay between the trees roots with my blood spilling out of me, the only pain I feel is the pain that was caused by Saxon. I hear Dako walk as close to me as he can without stepping on my large wings as they lay splayed out behind me.

Once he gets close enough to me I feel the warmth of his hand travel up the length of my spine before I feel his hand lay right in between the stems of my wing and for a moment he does nothing as he waits for them to choose to attack or stay calm, but when they do nothing, not even bristle, I hear his teeth grind in his anger, then he removes his hand and gently lifts me from the ground with one of his arms under my shoulders, and the other under my knees. I want to do now just as I would have done when I was a child and curl up against his chest, I want to wrap my arms around him and breathe him in as deeply as I can just as I would have done when I was sad or even scared as a child, but now I can't even find it in me to open my eyes.

After a moment I can feel the warmth of his magic just barely touch my leg before it quickly fades, and I know that he had sent a message to the others probably telling them all that he has found me. I'm not sure if the darkness takes me or if I lose track of time, but it feels as if only a few split seconds have passed before I feel the harsh anger that rolls off of the others, and a second later Dako steps out of the trees making their anger quickly fade into worry. I know that they are just as scared for me as they are worried as they take me in. My limbs are limp as they dangle around Dakos body and gently sway with each of his movements, my wings are just as limp as they trail in the mud behind us, the hair that isn't soaked to my skin by rain, mud, and blood, is swaying towards the muddy ground, and blood seeps from the fresh wounds that cover my body making it seem as if I were nearly dead.

But even with the worry that fills them they act calm, moving away from the trees and to the house as they open the door for Dako to carry me then quickly follow behind him. I hear the others gasp, sob, and even give harsh growls of anger as Dako carries me into the house, then I hear someone else rush past us and a split second later glass shatters on the floor and I'm laid on top of a table. I feel one of them ripping my soaked shirt in half and pulling it off as another does the same to my pants and Dako slowly touches my wings but when they do nothing to move he lets out a low growl and rearranges them so that they lay in a more comfortable way. "Has she always had wings?" Nyx asks and I hear Dako pulling things out of the med kit that Echo quickly hands him.

"Yes."

"Why has she never used them?" Raven asks and Dako sighs.

"Because they are Demon wings, black with a silver shine always means Demon, while white with the golden shine means Angel."

"So they are Demon wings, why hide them?" Cierra asks and I hear Dako grind his teeth.

"Because she thought that maybe if she hid them then her fath- then Cerim would forgive her, and show her the love a father is supposed to show his child." Everyone goes quiet and I feel the cold of the needle as it pierces my skin. "She did everything she could have ever done to gain his love but he never did, if he ever did love her, he never showed it. And as if that was not bad enough her brother got taken, she has been taking his injuries for the last five years, and now on top of all of that Saxon had just rejected her as if this is all some game to him." His growls get more pronounced with each word that leaves his lips and I feel more hands as they take the needle from Dakos own shaking hands.

"I've got it Dake." Reed says and Dako lets him take the needle as he moves to my side and begins to brush my soaked hair from my face making the darkness finally swell around me.