Wings of War by Vera Gibson (books recommended by bts .TXT) 📕

of Zevra’s weak voice, and the dirt began to drift back into place.  Zane no longer had a face of hatred he became worried, sad, and interested in what she had to say all at once. He waited a few moments for her to stop coughing and her voice to rest “The tale of my brother hiding his twisted way until it was time to chose an successor is wrong” She started. “He was taken by that beast, and turned against me, I don’t know how that monster did it, but it did. The day my brother was banished he tried to take me with him, and when I refused that monster must have tried to kill me by ordering my brother to stick his talons in me.  I don’t know why but that beast wants me either dead or with him, and I think he’s going to try to capture me again. The thing it spoke to me in my memory I don’t know how but it did it pointed a long scaly claw at me and breathed the words ‘I see you’ and he was gone I turned to my brother and he was no longer evil he told me it wasn’t his fault and that he would always be there for me even if the only way he could do so is leaving me, then he turned evil and black, plunging his claws into my stomach like he did so many years ago.” She looked hard at the now settled dirt as if there was something extremely important about it.

“The beast’s voice is that of poison, even though it’s merely a sound it threatens to steal the air from your lungs.” He had little humor in the words he spoke.  She nodded but didn’t speak another word. “He made a connection, he knocked you out and entered your memory so that he could talk to you, that beast wasn’t there when it actually happened, but he can’t talk to you in person. He must have brought your brother and released him long enough so that he could tell you that it wasn’t his fault, then the memory took place again and you started coughing blood because of the extremity of it. Bait , Zevra that’s what your brother is…he’s bait. I’m so sorry but your brother may be fighting it but he’s losing and now you’re going to walk into a trap. I think your brother was trying to warn you without tipping off that dragon” Zane said before Zevra interrupted.

“Dragon is that what he was a Dragon? My father drove the dragons away when the attempted to slaughter every flying creature” Zevra declared in confused rage. “And if there’s any chance of saving my brother it doesn’t matter if he’s bait!” She declared bolting upright. Zane caught her and firmly shoved her down

“Zevra calm down!” Zane ordered

“Why Zane why should I calm down! My brother he’s”

“He’s gone Zevra” it was Zane’s turn to interrupt “He’s just gone and there’s nothing you can do especially while you just stopped spitting blood” His voice was strained as he tried to keep it from shaking with an emotion Zevra could not determine. He allowed himself to collapse next to her as if his speaking simply that took all his energy.

“Zane what happened between you and the dragon?” she asked, suddenly very quiet.

It was quiet for quite some time, no emotion showed on Zane’s face but his body shook ever so often. After staring into open space for so long he spread his wings and broke the silence with a loud griffin’s screech and the beat of his wings. He bolted into the sky trying to escape her question. Zevra attempted to fallow but it wasn’t long before her breathing turned ragged and she had to slow her pace. She flew a distance behind Zane unable to keep up with him before her lungs heal, And watched as he flew straight into a cave at the very edge of her kingdom. It was a griffins cave from the looks of old scattered feathers and straw. Blood was smeared on the cave entrance dried red-ish brown with time and there were chips off the sides were claws and talons were dragged across the rock.  The sight was enough to make Zevra want to keep flying but she landed despite herself.  Only the sound of her steps could be heard threw the silence as she approached a light caused by torches in the cave and she cringed at the sight that revealed itself. The stench hit her first, a smell of dead bodies, and she screeched despite herself when her eyes fell on a pair of griffin corpses lying in their own dried blood. Zane was not far from them his beak buried in a nest in the far corner oblivious to Zevra’s presence. Zevra was weary to disturb him but approached tapping one talloned finger on his back lightly to let him know she was there. He made no attempt to move from his spot but his voice came to her low and hard “what are you doing here?”

“I fallowed you” Zevra’s voice echoed through the cavern sounding strange and out of place like it didn’t belong in the strange place, and Zevra was half inclined to listen to it.

“You shouldn’t have come here” He said his voice like a growl of pain and disgust, but Zevra knew it wasn’t directed at her.

“But I did and you couldn’t have helped that” She retorted matter-of-factly though she tried to keep it from her voice. Zane whipped around to face her. His face distorted with pain, tears seeping through his feathers and he growled forcing Zevra back from him.

“I did not want you to fallow me here you need to go to your neighboring kingdom were its safe away from that cursed Dragon!” He snarled.

“No” She replied hard and cold.

“What do you mean no?!”

“I mean NO! I’m not going, you’re going to tell me what happened between you and that dragon” She snapped. Zane looked as if he was going to kill Zevra but finally his expression softened and looked closer to something of dull pain as he backed away from Zevra and sat down on the large nest. Zevra softened as well sitting next to him.

“He slaughtered them Zevra…my parents he slaughtered them when I was nothing but a chick.” He said hardily above a whisper. “One day I was playing around in this very nest, when suddenly my father was pushing me deeper into the cave his voice was hushed and desperate and scared when he spoke ‘you need to hide and you need to stay quite. And Zane, my son, don’t come out unless I come and get you’ it wasn’t long before he disappeared and the hushed voice of my mother started to speak... it was quiet for a long while. It was then I heard it a new voice, hard and venom filled, and he came just barely into view red as the blood he would soon spread his voice was as hushed as my parents were. Until my name was called I cringed the sound of my name in his voice was like death was clawing at me and I cringed further into the dark. I heard him whisper something unrecognizable, and then I heard my father ‘you won’t hurt him right?’ he asked. I’m assuming he said he won’t because I heard my father call me and I listened and walked from my place in the crevice. The dragon turned to me his strange lizard like lips curling into a wicked twisted smile… I still remember it; it still paralyzes me to think about it too hard. As if I was tied up with razors and not looking at a dragons wicked teeth gleam as a split tongue runs over them.  ‘Do you love your parents?’ he asked and it was all I could do to nod my head, he smiled wider and the imagined razor ropes tightened. ‘Do you know what I’m doing here boy?’ he continued now circling closer to my parents who went rigged as they approached fear consuming there usually gleaming eyes, I shook my head my own eyes I’m sure echoed there fear.” Zane stopped. Staring now it the corpses in the center of the room but Zevra remained staring into his golden eyes. She rested a paw on his back her talons brushing his feathers straight.

“You don’t have to continue” Her words made him tare his gaze from the corpses and look at her.

“You should know” he replied and Zevra simply nodded hiding the fear that her suspicions are right. He took a deep breath and continued his bleak story. “ the dragons next words horrified me ‘your parents there helping me destroy your precious griffin society’ it stretched out one of its horrifyingly long skin wings scorch marks and tares tattooed the wing and half way up the top of the wing three talloned fingers uncurled from the arm like wing he rested the three fingered hand on my shoulder the skin both cold as ice and hot as fire burned me  ‘they love you so much that they’d betray their king for your life’ I cringed at his touch but it was his words that caused me to shrink away but his talons dug into my shoulder as he stretched out his normal non-winged hand to my mother’s neck ‘I can’t let them betray me like they betrayed there king’ he turned his gaze back on me ‘I said id spare you I never said id spare them’ his smile grew as wide as it could and the imagined razor ropes tightened unbearably hard on me. My father practically jumped from his skin his talons clawed at the dragons face.  Three of his talons clipped the monsters eye and tore through the soft flesh just before the scales. He roared something horrid and threw my father into the dark of the cave near the entrance. I heard his body hit the wall of the cave and slump to the floor I stood there the razor ropes slithering down my skin replaced by the coldness of fear and shock. I listened hard for the ruffle of feathers but there was nothing. The dragons hand was still around my mother’s neck and his next kill was quick my mother gave me one last glance before the blood beast dug his talons in her throat and snapped her neck her body slumped down and he released her; her blood pooling around her and me. The dragon walked into the shadows were my father was and I heard another battle begin my father’s screeches mixed with the dragons roars but as quick as the battle began it ended and the dragon dragged the bloody form of what was once  my father next to my mother. He took one glance at my horrified and somewhat bloodied face and smiled satisfied disappearing out of the cave… that was the last I saw of him outside my nightmares. he taunts me using my memories to relive my pain, and I swore never to love again. No one should ever feel that pain.” he finished his voice shaking as well as his body.

Zevra looked at the dead griffins in the middle of the room the things that were once Zane’s family, it was only then Zevra noticed the trail of dried blood that must have been were the dragon had dragged Zane’s father. She sat speechless until the silence in the room was unbearable it was then she bolted upright grabbed one of the many torches that hung on the wall and headed for the entrance of the cave fallowing the trail of Zane’s father’s blood. “Zevra what are you doing?” he said shocked catching up with her before she reached the entrance. “I was ordered to bring you