I stared down at a war camp that stretched out about as wide as half of Ouizwell. My gaze drifted from tent to tent but no warriors were in sight.
I felt the aggression bloom in the pit of my bird stomach, my wings flapping through the air as I circle back around the camp looking for any men that I might have the pleasure of tearing into.
The need to kill was consuming and I shrieked loudly into the wind.
No one was in sight, not even the cooks or the nurses. After circling for the third time, I gave up and began flying back toward the forest. I pass over a nearby lake, and I catch my reflection.
My wings are humongous, my body at least the size of twenty fae men or better. My silver eye stared back at me. Emotionless. Unfeeling. Bloodthirsty.
I am the Eagle Beast.
~.~.~.~.~
"She's up!" Clementine yelled and I stared at the ceiling, sweat clinging to me. I kick the covers off and my body is met with cool air that has me gasping. The cold felt lovely.
Heavy footsteps fall down the stairs before they reach my room. Haldis looked sleep deprived, had I kept them up all night? How long had this vision last?
I sit up panting. "They hid. No one was there when the Eagle Beast came by. It wasn't happy."
Haldis came to sit at the end of my bed. He took a breath and when he exhaled I saw about ten tons of stress release itself.
"Does this mean, they will stay in hiding or will they go back to camp?" Jade asked the smart question because it was very unlikely that this would be the only time The Eagle Beast came back now that it knew where they were.
Whatever forces were either chasing the creatures or using them now knew the location of the Aliee Warriors.
"It wouldn't be smart. To go back." I let my thoughts fly.
"Bolt would know that. He has to be planning to move camp the only problem is finding them." Haldis added while he ran his hand through his jet-black hair. I glance at the three of them and make notice that all of them had bags under their eyes. They hadn't got any sleep. I feel terrible.
"It shouldn't be hard to find that many fae men," Clementine added. She was right, there were thousands upon thousands of warriors, how Bolt hid all of them was a mystery. How had he even had time to move so many with such short notice?
Unless ...
"He didn't move them at all." I pull my knees up to my chest and tuck my gown around my feet.
"But you just said they weren't there?" Jade questioned me with raised eyebrows.
Haldis spoke before I had time to explain. "That sneaky son of a bitch." His lips tugged into a smile, and I couldn't help but laugh a little myself.
"Oberon is akin to the Eastern Witches. He must have received help and concealed the entire camp." I hadn't known about Oberon being kin to witches, but I knew that that the only logical explanation was that they had enlisted help from some magical creature to hide their bodies. It's a shame they couldn't hide the tents as well.
It would have saved them the trouble of having to move.
"Why didn't they hide the tents, then?" Clementine asked.
"It took a large amount of their strength just to hide that big of an army," Jade said, I wonder what and all she knew about the Eastern Witches.
We were all in our bedclothes, but no one seemed to care at moment. The girls were in nightgowns and Haldis was in nothing but a t-shirt and pants. "I'm sorry I kept you all up."
"I couldn't sleep anyways. Not know if my men were safe." Haldis says as he studies his hands intently, turning them over so that he could stare at his palms.
He was thinking about something intently, something that was bothering him.
"Don't apologize for a gift from the high gods," Jade said simply as she turned towards her bed and climbed in, throwing the thick quilt over her bare legs. It was freezing in here.
"I'm just glad we were able to warn them." Clementine added on before walking to the other side of the bed I was sleeping in. There were only two beds in the guest room, so we were sharing. Which I was used to considering me and my sister had to share a bed all of our childhood life.
I swung my legs letting my feet touch the floor at the same time Haldis stood up. "I need air."
"I'll walk with you."
We walked to the entrance of the mystical-looking home and opened the door causing me to almost change my mind when I felt the gust of cool air hit my bare legs. Haldis closed the door behind us trying to preserve the little bit of heat that the house had to offer.
"I'm sorry." Haldis started by saying. I rubbed my hands together and watches as my breath left clouds of white in the night air.
It was dimly lit by streetlamps up here, casting a little light on the both of us. "For what?"
It wasn't like he chose me to go along with him. It wasn't as if he is the one forcing me away from Ouizwell or the one gifting me the visions that deprived me of peaceful sleep. None of this was his fault.
"For not waking you up." Oh, I understood. He was watching me thrash around from the vision, but he needed to know about his men.
"It's fine. You needed to know." Even when I spoke the words, he still looked shameful. "You don't owe me anything. We've only known each other for a few months. You've known Bolt and Oberon I imagine decades upon decades."
"It still doesn't make it right. Y- You were asking for help. And I ... And I just told them not to touch you." His brows pinched together, and he glance at me for the first time since we stepped outside.
He looked conflicted and I wasn't used to seeing him this way. "It's okay. I'm fine."
I hold out my arms but quickly draw them back in when a cold gust caused my gown to float up. I laugh loudly, "Plus it makes me less stressed out to know there is a war camp we are traveling to and not ruins."
The weight being lifted off of my shoulders was freeing. Now everyone wouldn't be watching me like a hawk. I walked further out and spun around savoring the blissful cold instead of running from it.
"Ayumu you're going to catch a cold." Worry laced his tone but instead of dragging me back inside he walked out there besides me.
"Oh." I gasp out as I stared up at the sky. It was full of stars, brighter than I had ever seen. "It's beautiful."
"One of my favorite things about The Outer Wall." His massive frame came and stood beside me as we both stared up at the night sky.
Without thought, I turned around and threw myself into his arms. He barely had time to catch me. "You'll hold me for a little while?"
My voice came out shaky, remembrances of the nightmare still there. The bloodlust felt so real, and it didn't help the already tainted image I had of myself. I just wanted to feel safe for a few minutes and Haldis has always made me feel secure.
His body was warm despite the nearly freezing conditions the crack in the earth was causing, now that there wasn't a sun to warm it up.
His arms snaked around my lower back holding me to his and I rested my head on his chest.
"Always."