Emily

The alarm rang much to early. She wished to stay under her warm blankets but she knew this was her only chance. She silenced it quickly, rolled out of bed and pulled on her boots. Her legs were stiff from sleeping in her jeans. She eased them into movement as she snuck across the house. From the chair she grabbed her bag and in its place she set the letter. As she slipped out the front door her wild mane of long auburn hair bounced behind her. She second guessed the decision to leave like this but she knew conversion would never get anywhere. Her long powerful legs crossed the rocky path effortlessly. In a blink she stood before the barn. Her equine friend barely noted her presences, the saddle, the bridle, but he shifted at her nerves. Soon she stood at the open field, working up to a striding trot she needed some distance before sunrise. The rhythmic bounce of the horse would probably jostle the thoughts of most but she had always found the rhythm like a metronome, it keeps her thoughts in balance and steady. Her breathing aligned and the smell of horse flooded her nostrils. Her athletic arms rested with a loose reign. Everyone in town had noticed she was different despite the effort to blend, to be "normal" but they talked when she walked by. She had learned to ride very quickly because out here she didn't have to hide. Her heart was wild, untamed, and that flame glowed like hot embers in her green eyes. Her hands and feet burned with idleness. Over the last few weeks she had collected all the information she could. Every rumor and every whisper she had heard pointed North, to the mountains. Somewhere within the snow peaks lay clues to where she was from, why she was here, and more importantly what she was. She was finally far enough that she knew no one would follow and no one would know. She let her sweater slide off her arms. She felt the stretch and ache that came with the lack of motion as her wings unfolded from her back, tilting in and out of the wind. Extending out past her open arms the feathers ruffled in the first beaming raise of sun. Freedom in all its majesty.

Death

“I’m just so tired.” Emily shrugged. “What is the point anyway.”

“It’s the fight of good and evil, the fate of the world.” Lee answered so matter of fact. “And I can feel your eyes rolling.”

Emily shook her auburn tresses and flexed her body. She hurt all over. She knew it was a noble cause, she knew that so many others had given so much more than her, but it didn’t make the burden any lighter. It didn’t ease the heart ache, the loss. She was just so tired. It felt like she had nothing left.

She stood on the canyon edge next to Lee and leaned over, further, further, further…. “Fine,” she growled at him, and she fell over the edge.

The wind howled in her ears as the cold air rushed around her body, but she hardly noticed it through her thermal. She plummeted four hundred or so feet before she unfurled her wings and jerked up on the wind currents, like a parachuter. Lee took his time to catch up, but soon they flew tip to tip. Riding the currents down the mountain side. The new moon left the night beyond dark, ideal for the trip as they never knew who was watching. They flew in absolute silence, knowing the risk, but occasionally Lee would drift above her to trace the small of her back, or flip her hair. She pretended indifference but he knew better. Ugh, why was she so cold shouldered, why couldn’t she just give in to the affection and fall into… she couldn’t even think the word. Before her thoughts could travel any further, she sensed it, and Lee did too. He hard dived, heading for the ground, but she hesitated. How could they know. A bolt slammed through her left wing, the pain an incredibly heavy price for the hesitation. She dove after Lee, her injured wing unable to point she fought to stay on course. It also didn’t work properly when she went to pull out of the dive and land. Slamming hard into the ground, Emily’s legs buckled, and she had to roll out the momentum. Lee was beside her before she could orientate.

“They must have known,” he was stammering, staring at her wing. “How did they know”

“It doesn’t matter now,” she pulled the bolt out, grimacing. She already knew the plan, he knew too. “I can’t fly, you have to finish it alone.”

Their eyes met and she could see the pieces fit into place. Tears filled his eyes; he shook his head, but she just resolutely fixed her shoulders. “I’m tired, its ok.”

“I love you, Emily.” He broke eye contact and turned away, starting to jog. “Find you on the other side”

“I’ll love you there too.” But she didn’t know if he heard. His black wings unfurled as he ran fast. She took off in the opposite direction, her wings starting to glow… And the hoards fixed on her. She felt the bolts come raining down. Thumping into the ground around her and she ran faster. She had the fleeting thought that she didn’t want the pain of death, but she left it behind her. Then one struck, an intense searing pain in her neck that lasted a fraction of a second.

That was fortuitously quick she thought. And there she was, staring at the bolt protruding from her neck, pooling blood, a severed spine. She wondered how long she would sit with her body. Would she forget everything before she even left? Would she forget Lee? Even now her memories were sliding away, like sand from a sieve. Lee, she thought of the name, Lee, over and over, Lee. She thought it so odd looking down at that poor dead girl on the ground. Lee, it repeated. Lee. But she was forgetting why it was so important. Lee. She felt a pull deep in her chest. Flying forward her essences streamed through the world. Lee. Gliding on the fibers that built time and all its constructs. Until she forgot that she even was.

Somewhere, a small girl washed up on the shores of a lake. A fisherman ran to the frail body, throwing his jacket over her, he scooped her up in his arms. “Please be alive,” he whispered.

Her eyes fluttered, trying to focus on him. “Lee”