I am a notice writer so I probably have quite a few grammar mistakes that I didn't see. This is the most romantic story I've written so far, and yes I know it's not much, but I specialize in action/adventure and medieval fantasy novels.
The Winged Ones
Chapter 1
Escapee Or Not?
I was running, running as fast as I could through forests and pastures. Everything quickly became a blur around me, except the straight dirt path in front of me. I continued running up the path, climbing higher and higher. I was panting joyfully as it began to level out, going a few hundred feet out and then stopping and dropping off into a dead cliff.
Feet burning at which the speed I was going, wind blowing in my fur and feathers, and I slowly began to open up my wings. My tongue was lagging out of my mouth, and I opened up my wings completely so that they slowed down my speed a little. I flapped my wings a couple of times, and then kept them completely level and at my side. I was almost there.
I raised my wings up, jumped off the ridge and into the air; the wonderfulness of being airborne came back to me and then—
ZAP!
Sharp energy jolted my body, pain following it in close step. A horrible burning scent filled my nose and I awoke sharply, breathing shallowly and quickly.
“The dream again?” Topaz asked me, his voice calm and caring as he stared across at me, his eyes bright, attentive and loving.
“Yes.” I whispered back, getting up quietly and walking over to where Topaz was lying down. I leaned down and gave him a little “wolf’s kiss”—we called it that but it wasn’t really a kiss, just a lick on the snout—and lied down next to him. He grinned widely.
“Were you awake all night, watching me?” I asked, cocking my head at him.
“No, I woke up about an hour ago. I was watching you though,”
“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” I laughed.
“A good thing I think,” he said, his beautiful golden eyes falling on me and I couldn’t help but smile. I looked around; the other wolves were all asleep. That was a very good thing. If anyone saw that Topaz and I were in love, others might be jealous. I didn’t know whom, but someone. You could never take chances.
I looked over at Angel, whom had both of her eyes closed. I smile spread across her face slowly, and her leg twitched. At least she was having pleasant dreams. We called her Angel, but the humans had named her White Angel, because she was completely white, all her feathers on her wings, every bit of fur on her body, every tooth in her mouth, except for the pupils in her eyes. Those were black.
I leaned over on my side and looked up at Topaz who licked my nose. My tail swished back and forth over the concrete floor.
“Someone’s happy.” Topaz said.
“So, what did you dream about?” I asked.
“Oh, nothing much, I just dreamed of flying over an ocean, and then suddenly something would be chasing me and I would dive down into the ocean as far as I could before floating back up to the surface. Then the creature would look at me with red eyes, and dive underwater, and then I woke up.”
“What did the creature look like?” I asked curiously.
“Um, well, it almost looked like a seal or something, except the outline was clear, but it was just darkness.”
“Hmm, probably something evil?”
“You think?” He laughed.
I saw Ocean Spray get up and panic filled me, and Topaz saw it.
“Just. Stay. Still.” Topaz said, gritting his teeth. Ocean Spray was a great friend of Blood Diamond, the one who considered himself the alpha dog over all of us. I hated Ocean Spray now, I hated his blue wings, the flecks of blue in his fur, and if he ever found out Topaz and I loved each other he would make a huge deal about that to Blood Diamond.
Ocean Spray got up kind of clumsily as if he was just a pup who was learning to stand. I rolled over into a crouching position, ready to spring if said anything about Topaz and me. He looked at us, his eyes almost glassy and dreamy-like. He cocked his head and looked confused as he stared at us.
“Bunnies?” He said, leaning closer to us.
“We’re not bunnies you idiot!” I growled and lunged at him, but Topaz bit my leg.
“Hey!” I said, a low growling in my chest.
“He’s not awake.” Topaz said, and got up, walking up and saying in Ocean Spray’s ear, “Emerald and I love each other.”
“What? Mermaid and land judge each other?” Ocean Spray suddenly collapsed on the floor, his legs giving out beneath him and I looked at Topaz.
“Is he OK?” I asked.
“Yes, perfectly fine. He was just asleep and awake at the same time, and then he fell asleep again.”
“Good.” I said, my breathing slowed and I relaxed again lying down on the floor. Topaz settled down next to me and I looked at him. We stared at each other for a couple of minutes before I lied down on my side like I had before.
“So, how much longer do you think it is until morning?” I asked.
“Probably not much longer.” He looked around our little concrete room that was always under surveillance and observation. “That light in that room turned on twenty minutes ago in cause you didn’t notice.” He pointed out.
“I hadn’t noticed that.” I said and all of a sudden the loud trumpet noise that was our morning bell came from one of the black devices hanging on the wall. The humans called them speakers.
No one stirred or moved or did anything. Topaz spread his right wing over me as if he were protecting me. A second and much louder trumpeting noise came from the speakers again.
“Time to get up.” Topaz said, yawning and stretching, and I did the same. He folded his wings back against him again, and I stretched my dark green wings out, flapping them a little so that I could stretch them out before Blood Diamond woke up. Folding them back up, another loud blast from the speakers and there was a little shuffling from Angel as she slowly got up. She yawned, stretched out her wings and smiled at us.
“Hello early birds. Or is it early wolves?” She laughed. “Everyone is in a really deep sleep, deeper than usual.”
“I know there’s been three bells so far.” I said, shuffling my feet and accidently stepped on Amethyst’s purple-colored foot. She growled and her leg twitched, and she appeared to be waking up. Good, they weren’t dead.
“No, I can sense life from them; their breath and heart beat are there, Emerald.”
“OK, good.” The humans were trying new tests on us to try and give us powers, and they had given Angel mind-reading powers. I wondered when they were going to do power-tests on me. I hoped I would get something good out of it.
“Can you wake them up?” Topaz asked.
Angel shook her head. “I would recommend waking Ocean Spray up so he can wake up all the others.”
I walked over to Ocean Spray, Topaz by my side. Angel nudged me with her nose.
What? I thought.
“I want to talk with you.”
What about?
“Something,” she said, dragging me to an empty corner in the room.
“I know you love Topaz.”
WHAT?! That’s crazy! I mean . . . I mean!
“Shhh.” She whispered. “I heard you in the night. I could hear your thoughts; I’ve heard them for weeks. But recently you’ve become more worried.”
What, are you some kind of stalker who can still hear thoughts in your sleep?
“No, but--”
You were asleep! I saw you . . . you were asleep! You were smiling.
“Not everything is what it may seem.” She did the same exact smile and I growled.
“Whoa, calm down.” She said, a little unsure of herself because I had never been mad at her before.
Sorry, I hung my head. My eyes flickered to her face. I guess, you won’t tell anyone right?
“I wouldn’t dream of it.” She said. This time I knew she wasn’t playing a trick.
Thanks. So much. I looked at her and smiled gratefully. A low growl interrupted our almost silent conversation.
It was Ocean Spray; Topaz had managed to wake him up. Just then, an ear splitting screech of the trumpet sounded and Blood Diamond awoke cursing. Blood Diamond was a cursing wolf. I flattened down my ears in a failed attempt to cut out the cursing. When I heard the word “horn” my ears went back up. I breathed a sign of relief.
“I hate that he curses so much.” Angel replied. I nodded in response.
“Well, you weren’t there when he got shot in the right wing. He was cursing up a storm. The creatures at the ends and corners of the earth would’ve heard him. I was about a mile or so away and it felt as if I were standing next to him.”
Growls and groans soon filled the room. A human voice came over the speaker. It was low and rough.
“Experiment Room 0001. Take the Blood Diamond wolf.” There was a scratchy noise and the man cleared his throat. “Winged wolf sorry.”
Blood Diamond was half-awake so I was sure he hadn’t heard us. He just stumbled around the room, growling and shaking his head. I looked at Angel.
Did he hear them? I thought.
Angel shook her head.
“Then let the games begin!” I laughed.
“Indeed.” Angel said and we both watched Blood Diamond. The humans came out through the one metal door in the corner. They looked somewhat small compared to us; they called us ‘as big as horses’ once, so I guess that’s how big we were. They had chains that they threw over Blood Diamond who was still half-awake, but that changed very quickly.
The chains tightened around his ribs, across his chest, and a chain looped around his jaws so he couldn’t bite anyone. He snarled loudly as he threw his head from side to side, feet flying everywhere at once and claws cutting a few people. They threw a chain that managed to wrap itself around Blood Diamond’s feet and that’s when Blood Diamond got really mad.
He threw himself around on the ground, snarling and flattening his ears at the humans. They dragged him across the ground and surprisingly Blood Diamond didn’t struggle from then on. Another group of scientists appeared by the open door and followed Blood Diamond, slamming the door loudly.
I looked at Angel, confused.
“He couldn’t fight because the chain on his chest was tightening so much that he could barely breathe. He decided that maybe if he stopped that the humans would loosen the chains, and they did. The humans want to run tests on his strength and tolerance.”
I laughed. “In a few seconds, they’ll find out he doesn’t have much tolerance for anything.”
“No, not that kind of tolerance. They used another word I don’t recognize.”
Then we heard one gunshot immediately followed by three more. There was a loud growling and then another gunshot. A clear whimpering echoed through the room. All heads turned to Angel.
SO? What’s going on?
“Well, those weren’t blanks or misses, there were all hits, but I can’t figure out where. Maybe they figured he was too much trouble, maybe they killed him.”
That would make tons of sense, but were they all planning to get tired of us, figure us ‘not useful’?
“Wait, wait,” Angel said, tail swishing silently back and forth. “He’s been shot in the legs. He’s actually given in, he’s submitting to the humans! I actually don’t know whether this is a different world or what!” she said jumping up and down excitedly.
Then Dark Angel’s wings rose straight up into the air and everyone froze, even Angel. He slowly got up and stretched, flapping his wings and then he folded them against his sides. Everyone, even Blood Diamond if he had been here, was scared of Dark Angel. Angel wasn’t frightened into a freezing position like us all the time. After all, Angel and Dark Angel are absolute opposites.
Dark Angel was completely black like Angel was completely white, even Dark Angel’s teeth were black. Everything was black except his pupils. They were white. Dark Angel walked past Angel and she licked his ear. He didn’t take this teasing lightly.
Dark Angel spun around snarling and eyes narrowed.
“Don’t. Do. That.” He said, voice dark, rough and eerie. Dark Angel barely even talked, so it was a huge surprise to hear him speaking now. He often didn’t talk because of his voice. He knew how it affected other creatures. Dark Angel had been given the uncanny ability to give off an evil aura and to influence the minds of other creatures to turn evil, but I believed he had been born with it.
“Aw, come on Dark Angel have a sense of humor.” Angel said happily, and Dark Angel just snarled loudly again and walked over to a corner to lie down. Dark Angel had this weird stare that was said if you stared back at him long enough you’d either go crazy or he’ll be able to control your mind.
And the day went on as it normally would. Amethyst kept trying to flirt with the other wolves, which was typical of her. Ocean Spray liked her, but Angel said he didn’t love her and he was just playing games, and that he considered romance a huge game that if you play just right, you can be one step from winning.
Of course, I didn’t entirely agree with that. Love is a game in a way, but not something to be constantly played around with. Love can be very strong or very weak. It all depended on the one you loved. I knew that our love bond was strong between Topaz and me, Angel had never told me this because of course I had never asked, but I believed it was strong. And that’s when my mind would start worrying.
What is our love wasn’t strong? It couldn’t be. Maybe I should ask Angel, I thought.
“Ask me about what?” She said from across the room, walking towards me.
Hey mind-reading completely white wolf that knows my love-secret, wouldn’t you know what I was going to ask you about?
“Sadly, no.” She smiled.
Well, should I really tell you?
“Possibly.” She answered.
“Possibly what?” Lapis Lazuli asked. He was another blue wolf that had darker blue wings and a lot more blue fur. He wasn’t as bad as Ocean Spray, and he could be trusted, but I certainly couldn’t tell him this. I liked him as a friend, and he was okay, but I only trusted secrets with Angel.
Angel knew what I was considering. She stared at Lapis Lazuli.
“I think it’s something that needs to be kept out of the ears of other wolves.” She said bluntly.
“Well she obviously is telling you.” Lapis Lazuli pointed out, sounding a bit angry.
“Not technically,” she laughed.
“Oh yes, the mind-reading thing right?” Lapis Lazuli said.
“Yep.” Angel nodded and swished her tail as Lapis Lazuli left, walking towards Amethyst as she tried to ‘chat him up’.
I was a little disgusted with Amethyst.
“I am too, a little bit,” Angel then cut back to the chase, where she was about to catch up with me. “So what were you going to ask me about before Lapis Lazuli showed up?”
Well, um . . . Are Topaz and I, is our love um . . . strong? I mean like, what are Topaz’s thoughts on me? Is it just another game?
“Of course not!” Angel almost sounded insulted. “Topaz always thinks about you, and you to him. He adores you and you love him. It’s a strong relationship no doubt. It’s NOT another game like Ocean Spray plays, I could tell you that even when Topaz and you are fighting.”
I nodded, encouraged by Angel’s word. They had to be the truth. Are they? My mind seemed to question me.
“They are.” Angel said, almost gritting her teeth.
“What?” I asked.
“It’s Dark Angel’s voice.” I looked over at Dark Angel who was actually wearing a smug grin, and Angel snarled a little bit.
“I hate when he messes with minds. It’s the one thing I hate, and he knows it.” Okay, so Angel apparently had hatred again something. Was that good or bad?
There was the bang of a gate as Blood diamond entered again, collapsing on the floor. Many rushed to his side, but then the door opened again and was kept open.
Come on Angel, let’s go! Go over and tell Topaz that I said to make a break for it!
I saw Angel dash out towards Topaz, almost barreling him over. Hey! I didn’t say ‘Run him over’ did I?
I ran towards the door and the humans tackled me. At least ten humans were grabbing my legs and one slipped some weird collar-like device over my head and on my neck. I shook my head from side to side violently but it wouldn’t come off. Then I remembered, the outside. It was there, a pasture with no trees in sight. It was a wonderful place to take off. I ran out and slowly unfolded my wings, still running. I enjoyed the wind in my face, the cool summer breeze blowing my fur. I was going to be free, finally!
I jumped into the air, flapping my wings and soaring into the air. My flying was a little rusty, but my wing muscles were strong enough to hold me up. Then I remembered the dream, me flying up into the air and being electrocuted. I stopped, hovering in the air and seeing Topaz and Angel running and fluttering up into the air. Angel was as graceful as a bird; it looked as if she had flown all her life.
As they came closer, I realized they had the same collars as me. Angel’s had a more advanced look. I thought I saw a little screen on her collar.
“How do we get these things off?” I said angrily ascending higher into the air.
“I don’t know,” Angel replied as she flew next to me.
“Where’s Topaz?” I asked, and Angel threw her head to the right where Topaz was soaring beside her.
The air grew frigid, but our thick coats protected us from the brutal temperature. A strange beeping noise came from the collars, and then it started to buzz.
“Here. Let me help. I have an idea,” Angel offered. “Now stay absolutely still,”
She slowly flew towards me and reached out towards my collar with her snout. She suddenly bit down on the collar and it snapped, falling in two pieces off my neck.
“Thanks,” I said. I flapped my wings and looked at Angel. “Let me help you.”
“No, the humans think you have suddenly died and dropped out of the sky. My collar has a video recorder on it. If they see you they will know that we are smarter than they think. Topaz, I need you to look aggressive and dive towards me, and bite it in two. Be very careful and run into me if you have to, to give the full impression.”
“All right,” He flew out behind a cloud.
“I take it they can’t hear you on that video thing?”
Angel shook her head.
“You guys ready?” Topaz yelled.
“Yes! Now on three, one, two, three!” Angel yelled back and Topaz came running out of the sky in a steep dive. He wore a really angry expression that would’ve easily fooled the humans, but I could tell Topaz was about to laugh.
He charged towards Angel and tackled her out of her hovering position, flying and tumbling through the air. There was a loud snapping down and the collar broke in two and starting falling the ground like mine had. Angel laughed loudly.
“Nice job Topaz! The humans are completely panicked! They think we’re both dead. Now for Topaz,” I flew slowly over towards him and tore his collar off easily and it began plummeting to the ground.
“Now we leave before anyone catches up.” I said bluntly, and Angel nodded.
“They will come looking for our bodies come nightfall. We must hurry away from this place.”
And so we flew for miles and miles of pasture until we spotted a small group of trees. We figured it must have been the borderline of the human’s territory, and that the pasture was theirs, and that we would be safe in the trees.
“I’m really tired,” I mumbled, for we were still flying up high in the freezing temperature atmosphere and it wore you out quicker than when you flew lower down. I dove in a steep dive, the cold air blasted into my face and I had difficulty opening my wings.
Open! Open! I screamed at myself. My wings were barely off my frozen fur and I must have been only a thousand feet from the ground.
Topaz! Angel! Someone! I did a mental scream.
I felt someone’s claws dig into my shoulders and pull my up enough so that my plummeting ride was smoothed out a bit, but the landing was still rough. I ran into the ground and got a mouthful of dirt and wood. I got up and turned around. My head throbbed, but nothing felt broken. Angel was just landing, and Topaz looked a little scratched up.
I trotted over to him and nuzzled him affectionately, licking his face and he smiled.
Angel smiled and said, “I will. Besides, I can hear their thoughts farther away then I can see them.” Topaz yawned and lied down close to me.
I closed my eyes and fell asleep.
“Come on, wake up,” Topaz nudged me lightly. I growled grumpily and got to my feet. Topaz lied down in my spot and smiled as I walked towards the front of the trees. I turned around to see Angel, who looked as noticeable as Dark Angel in the daytime. She seemed to almost glow in the darkness.
Then I thought, were we really away from our danger, or were just in a whole new mess?
