A God Named Sin

By Heather Anderson

Chapter I - Fractured Beginnings

"If Adam and Eve were the first two people on earth, wouldn't that make everyone in the world related?" Rylie asked, putting her sketchbook back in her backpack.

"Uhh..." Maia hesitated to respond for a second. "I guess."

"Then everyone is marrying a sibling when they get married," Cherry said after a second.

Cade almost spit out his water as he laughed but managed not to. "What?"

"It would be more like a very, very distant cousin that a sibling," Arres said, not looking up from his math book.

Rylie pushed her lunch tray out of the way to rest her arms on the lunch table. Most her food was still on it, but she didn't like the food, so she just didn't eat it. A few minutes of talking later, the group of friends -- Rylie, Maia, Cherry, Terria, and Arres -- got up to throw their food away. They put their trays up at the dishwasher station and started making their way outside. Rylie ruffled her golden amber hair, which was in a short, Korean leaf hairstyle. It was very messy hair, but Rylie liked having this hairstyle. She only cut her hair short because she hates the feeling of hair rubbing against her neck. Even if her brother had gotten a little upset because he could no longer braid her hair, she was happy with it.

As the group of 6 were walking, there was suddenly a flash of white light that blinded them, and the floor felt like it disappeared from beneath them. Rylie could feel air whipping past her for a second or two before she hit something solid -- the ground.  She heard a loud crack from somewhere and a sharp, burning pain erupted in her leg. It caused her to cry out in pain and tears involuntarily fell from her eyes and down her cheeks. For a minute, all Rylie could think about was the pain from her leg. But as her vision came back to her, her thoughts shifted.

The first thing she noticed was that she was no longer in her school building. She couldn't see much, through her tears, but she was able to make out that her surroundings were green, like plants. Rylie blinked her eyes and wiped away the tears in them with the back of her hand. After that, her vision became clearer, and she was able to better make out her surroundings.

Rylie was surrounded by trees and plants. The trees had dark bark and leaves, and were massive in size, almost like redwoods. The plants around her were lush and green, and there were lots of brightly colored flowers and berries on lots of them. The sounds of animals and running water filled Rylie's ears through her hearing aids. Rylie was shocked, confused, and a bit scared. As she tried to sit up, she felt a burst of pain from her leg that caused her to groan and close her eye as a few more tears fell from them.

When Rylie opened her eyes again, she looked down at her leg, only to quickly look away a second later. Her tan pant leg was now red with blood. She didn't even want to look at the rest of her injury and she felt like throwing up. She sat up again, but this time, she felt a weight on her back. She looked and saw her backpack was still on. Then it clicked that she still had her phone, and she could call for help. She took off her backpack and pulled her phone out of her back pocket, but her heart dropped when she saw the screen was shattered and many pieces were broken off.

Then Rylie heard a sharp snap of a stick. Her head shot up and she looked around quickly to find the source of the sound. She shoved her phone into a side pouch on her backpack, even if it was useless now. After looking for a second, she saw a figure -- a person -- approaching her. She couldn't see them very well at first but could slowly make out their features after they got closer.

Based on their body shape, Rylie guessed they were male, and they looked normal for the most part. He looked to have a well-toned body and was wearing a deep gray outfit that looked like a uniform. There were lots of black bags of varying sizes hanging from his shoulders and his belt. There looked to be weapon sheaths on his belt too, but Rylie couldn't be sure. He had black hair that loosely framed his face and looked slightly unkept. His eyes were a deep blue in color, like Rylie's own eyes, and had very small bags under them. His skin was slightly dark, like someone of Asian descent, with a few darker spots around his fingers.

But, the man also had wings. His wings were large and looked like a bat's wings and were a deep blue in color, folded neatly behind him. He also had a demon-like tail that was the same deep blue and trailing behind them. A pair of horns coming out of their head were also the deep blue color and looked almost a foot long.

When the man got within a couple feet of Rylie, they paused and just stood there, staring at Rylie. Their eyes moved up and down her, like they were examining her. After a few seconds, he spoke.

"Well, I'll be damned to the abyss. That's a human," the man said. His voice was deep and young, with a bit of a hiss to some words. He spoke like he was talking to himself while examining Rylie.

Rylie looked at the man with confusion. There were still some tears lacing her cheeks and her eyes from the burning pain in her leg. "Ummm... Hello...?" Rylie said after a second.

The man jumped slightly when Rylie spoke, his eyes widening as he took a few steps back. "You... You can speak?" the man asked, sounding shocked.

"Yes...?" Rylie responded.

The man eyed Rylie for a second, their face softening slightly after a second. "How...? I'm speaking Va'Lian... You should not be able to understand me, you're a human..."

Rylie was even more confused. "Va'Lian...? I'm speaking English," Rylie said.

The man looked puzzled for a second before they knelt down to Rylie's eye level. "Interesting," he said, "you think you're speaking English, yet it sounds like Va'Lian to me... I suppose it doesn't matter."

The man started examining Rylie more closely as they spoke. "Though, you seem to be in a bit of a situation," they said, looking Rylie's broken leg and wincing slightly.

Rylie looked at her leg as well. "I guess I am. But y'know, that's what happens when you fall from the sky."

The person just stared at Rylie for a second. "You fell from the sky? Could you please elaborate on that please," he asked.

"How am I supposed to elaborate? I fell from the sky," Rylie responded.

The man's expression changed to a semi-annoyed one. "I mean how did you fall from the sky? Humans obviously don't have wings, and I doubt humans have made a flying machine."

Rylie looked at the man with a dumbfounded expression. "I... What?"

"The sky. You said you fell from the sky. How did you fall from the sky? And don't say I fell again," the man said.

"What else am I supposed to say? Other than I don't know how I fell from the sky. I just did," Rylie answered with slight annoyance.

The man sighed and pinched the bridge of their nose. "Fine. Let's drop this subject. I need to help you with your damned leg anyways," the man said. He then stood and walked closer to Rylie, until he was right next to her. When he got close enough, he kneeled down and picked Rylie up in his arms bridal style. Rylie winced and bit back a cry of pain when the man picked her up, since he moved her leg and caused her another burst of pain. The man then grabbed Rylie's backpack and slung it over his shoulder.

The man hummed and readjusted Rylie in his arms so he wasn't touching her leg. Once he was holding Rylie in a more comfortable position, he started walking through the forest. He moved very easily, like he had done this several times before. After a minute or so, he spoke.

"Since you can talk, you must have a name, correct? I'd like to know your name if I'm carrying you like this," the man asked.

Rylie looked at the man. "I'll tell you my name if you tell me yours."

The man sighed in annoyance. "My name is Xevik. Now are you going to tell me your name or are you going to be difficult?"

"No, I'm not going to be difficult," Rylie scoffed. "My name is Rylie."

"Rylie," Xevik repeated. They were silent for a second before speaking again. "You know, you say you aren't going to be difficult, and yet you've been quite the opposite of cooperative since we've started talking..."

Rylie scoffed again. "Well, you don't have to be rude about it."

Xevik chuckled before responding. "Oh, and you have been oh so polite to me..." Xevik rolled his eyes before speaking again, this time jokingly. "Oh, and my apologies, oh dear injured one, for my oh so rude manners."

"Well now youre being rude to me!" Rylie said while shooting a small glare at Xevik. Xevik just chuckled.

"I'm just matching your energy," Xevik said. "If you start being nice to me, then I'll be nice to you."

Rylie rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, which got another chuckle from Xevik. After a few more minutes, Rylie saw something up ahead through the trees. She couldn't tell what is was, but before she could ask, Xevik spoke.

"Ah, here we are. Dixi. Now I suggest that you don't talk when we get into the camp. I'm already bringing a human into camp. Everyone would probably freak out if you started talking," Xevik said.

Rylie was confused, but managed to utter a response. "O-Okay..."

"Good," Xevik said before walking out of the trees.