those bright crooked stars, man they're howlin’ out
thought you read them all right, had them all figured out
He was idly attached to his sister’s side, naked shoulder brushing against her and dark eyes watchful through the sleep deprivation burning the edges in redness. It felt odd to feel her there where his wings used to cover, uncomfortable and raw like the soft flesh beneath a fingernail torn off. Except that he needed to be near her and now he was even closer. Every few moments he slid an uncertain glance at her though, hoping she wasn’t bothered too much that they’d had to leave the sick woman behind.
As always, he was only concerned with his sister’s feelings.
The deep shroud of darkness toned his red skin into a faded purple, a lavender sheen of moonlight spreading over his pale tobiano as he pressed in against Brazen more firmly, reaching out to sweep velvet over her cheek. The mountains loomed larger and larger as they neared and he hated knowing they’d have to go through it. He wished she’d let him do it without her so he could be sure she stayed safe, but this was Brazen. She would never just sit back and watch. He both loved and hated that about her.
“Be careful, okay?” he murmured cautiously in warning. She wouldn’t, of course. It wasn’t in her nature, so bold and brash and beautiful. Saying it was only an attempt at easing his own nerves as looking after her seemed to do. He felt better when he was watching out for his sisters.
”Aren’t I always?” she teased back with a nudge, and his lips quirked in wry amusement.
They passed rather quietly through the sharp, jagged mountains, entwining between them and keeping as straight a course as they could manage. Straight through and done sounded ideal so they could get back home and he could sleep. And hopefully get his wings back. He rolled an itch from his shoulders at the fear that they may never return.
Everything was so eerily quiet like that deadly silence when a predator was near. It was the same the whole way through though, tingling between his shoulder blades and along his spine, and so he had no warning when the beast was suddenly there and charging them.
“I’ve been waiting for you,” it grinned through toothy, bloody fangs that made his heart tremor in instinctive terror. He leaned against his sister for comfort. They were better as a pair, larger numbers. As the monster bounded forward to circle them, he pushed against her harder, shoving her back protectively when something inside him snapped, clicked into place. Fear was consumed in a burning hunger for a fight and his dark eyes glinted like stormy blue steel.
He bared his young teeth and snarled, nowhere near as ferocious and intimidating as the creature before him. Its sharp gaze watched them for a vulnerable moment to pounce, and Dagen didn’t wait for one to arise. He lunged forward and moved to attack the thing’s shoulder, his neck craning for better reach.
Before he could get too close, he dodged suddenly to the side and danced away, arcing in a small semicircle and throwing himself at the monster’s hip, aiming a hard bite to the fleshy area between its hindleg and belly where it might cause it to limp if he can land it successfully. At the same time, he kicked his back legs up as hard as he could, just in case those mighty jaws were coming for him.
Should it retaliate against a willful and stupidly brave child, at least his immortality had been returned to him and he may yet survive or come back to life, though Dagen wasn’t aware of its existence in his genes.
learned every constellation, just to find where you're at
618
immortality
attacking