The Birth (The Black Wing Book 1) (20 page)

H
er gentle eyes lit when they saw me, her blue eyes grew unsettled, now forming into a sea foam tone.

“Why have you returned?” she grumbled.

Her voice is no longer smooth, something is bothering her, or maybe she’s at the brink of tears. I forced a smile on my face.

“You know why.” I replied.

As if our words had a secret code, she nodded her disapproval. No one is forcing me to put my life on the line for an extraterrestrial alien. Then again, that might be a good thing. Maybe it’s because she’s not human, that I trust her.     

“This isn’t because you convinced me.” I stated. “I’m doing this because I chose to.”

“If you’re really going to do this.” said Avalon. “I wouldn’t dare question your reasons.”

The scariest idea, is that they do exist. Aliens from a distant planet, mammals on that matter. My first thoughts of an alien was that depicted from television or a comic book. Looking at her now, I realize how wrong we are. She looks just like me, in fact—she can easily pass as a normal girl. Her head isn’t long and oval, there is no wide black eyes, and certainly no green skin.

“I’m ready.” said Avalon. “Come close where I can reach your belly.”

I unbutton my thick jacket, my fleece sweater stretched over my swollen belly. Avalon pressed her hands against the warm fabric that keeps my baby warm. She didn’t seem to hint any instructions, she just gazed at my belly, then at me.

“You look nervous.” she hinted.

“I am.” I replied feeling shaky. “I should be.”

Avalon’s icy cold fingers spread across my belly. Her eyes closed but her hands are shaping my belly. My legs began to shake from the unwelcomed excitement. Avalon said that our children will be like twins, except mine will always be present, and Avalon’s daughter will reside in an alternate dimension. Ebon will preserve and reconstruct her body. Apparently, Ebon will also accompany us—that’s when my jumpiness stopped.

“You mean that entity is going to reside in me now?” I chirped.

“He won’t bother you.” swore Avalon. “But should anything happen, you must rely, and trust Ebon.”

Avalon’s tone is dark—I don’t think she’s joking. Adding Ebon to the picture pressured me to think. Is this something I should tell my child, to anyone of that manner? I gave Avalon my worries, and asked for her suggestions. As her hands continued to smooth over my belly she didn’t seem bothered by my concern.

“Do you want this to remain a secret?” she asked.

“Yes.” I replied.

“Then I will mute to Ebon and my daughter from ever mentioning this. Ebon and I are also under a heavy contract, I delivered a portion of my powers to give him the necessary authority to protect your womb.”

“Everything you say sounds impossible.”

Just the thought that they are more of people like Avalon is enough to make anyone want to protect our dear planet earth. Their Emperor is a tyrant immortal, their children explode into a killing spree at puberty. To add, their planet is cold for 9 years, and if their neighbors despise them…we need to be on the defense. Avalon’s cold touch has started to give off a sensual heat. The same heat I experience in the cabin, the heat that put me to sleep.

“Our species is not great.” replied Avalon. “Our ability is only passed genetically, even that doesn’t determine our strength or capabilities. My father was an Elite and in order to become an Elite’s you must carry a special skill and excel in practically everything.”

I want to know Avalon’s position in society, if the Emperor was so infatuated with her, and his advisors hated her. Where exactly does she stand among the Empire? Is she also an Elite?

“Avalon.” I lingered. “How strong are you?”

My curiosity broke out a laugh, Avalon’s shoulders shook as she bit her lip to keep herself from laughing. My cheeks got hot with embarrassment.

“I do not wish to speak so highly of myself, especially when I’m in the state of losing my life. Ebon has high compliments of me, but I do not expose my strength to anyone. That is why I’m feared among my own people, they cannot see nor decipher my self-created abilities.”

“You Lenurs scare me.” I admitted.

Avalon smiled, attempting to look less scary.

“Here I thought you humans were the scary ones. You treat this land like it cannot be wounded by the defective objects you craft. The nutrition consumed in your bellies is grown and alternated thoughtlessly. Your creatures are killed in ways we Lenurs could be heavily imprisoned for. Your wars and your entire lives revolve around currency. The young are lost, the old forgotten, and parents no longer have time. Possessions are worth more than the undying fate to meet the Creator. This world is so corrupted, but you rather live in that corruption than be freed by the truth. ”

“Okay—fair enough.” I let out.

Her speech convicted me, I have lived in my problems too long to worry about where this world is heading. I wish I could do something, but I wonder if that’s what everyone says.

“The moment I touched your belly, I have begun the transfer.” revealed Avalon. “I need you to remain calm.”

The sun has started to set, and sky is turning gray. Avalon has stopped talking to me, it seems all she wants to do is concentrate. Her head sunk low, exposing her long neck. I told her if everything was going alright but she dismissed it.

A prickly feeling came on my spine like needles. The temperature is growing hot, my jacket feels like it’s engulfed in flames. The strangest part is when a drop rolled down my cheeks. I touched my cheek, they’re tears.

These tears are not mine, this submerging immersing feeling isn’t me, and rather they belong to someone else — to Avalon. She looked up at me, and a stream of waterworks have flooded down her cheeks. It seems like Avalon’s thoughts are connecting to me. Our awareness of each other is separated by a thin delicate curtain, if I moved it, I will not just feel Avalon’s pain, but her joy, and sadness.

The prickling sensation only escalated, the temperature around me, has started to feel like a boiling pot of water. I moved my collar in hopes of letting some cold air in.

I thought Avalon would start chanting like a witch, but she kept silent. There’s not the slightest proof to make me believe in magic. Is this is what she meant by her abilities being secret only to her? I ran across another sensation, this one is small—barely there. It wrapped me with a voice holding no sound. The voice repeated continuously. If I’m not mistaken, it’s a real word.

“Serenata.” I muttered.

Avalon’s eyes dotted out.

“That’s her name!” she exclaimed. “We are linked!”

Overwhelmed, I laughed at the beauty of our emotional connection and she laughed in response to mine. I can almost drink the feelings, but not without tasting some bitterness. Avalon grew even more focused. If we really are linked in some way, then I want to know more about Avalon. If I venture outside of my thoughts into hers, I can locate things she couldn’t explain. The knowledge came to me instantaneously. This information is quick, I absorbed for more.

According to her awareness, Avalon has out-lived many human lives, many were spent with her grandmother. This new piece of information is not enough. I dug deeper, and opened more gates. I want to know more, and she submitted them to me. Among her memory lane, a hurt began to fill up inside me. It’s a deep dark secret Avalon has never told a soul.

In exchange for Avalon’s life, the Emperor’s advisors had her grandmother sentenced to death. Her parent’s didn’t just die in battle. They were aware of Avalon’s imprisonment in the Empire. It was during their combat with the neighboring enemies, that their own comrades turned on them and killed them. Once again, the mastermind are the Emperor’s advisors. These awful advisors want to get rid of the special gene in Avalon’s blood, but doing so is a hard task. That is why Avalon, without her knowing at the time, was the only candidate capable of eliminating her twin brothers.

Because Avalon has lived so long, dying is new to her—terrible in fact. I brushed her thoughts away like the curtain that they felt. When Avalon grunted, I opened my eyes and finally saw an unordinary sight. Her hair is beginning to resist gravity. I closed my eyes again, hoping I wouldn’t distract her.

“Lola.” interrupted Avalon. “You’ve been through a lot.”

I paused.

Avalon has been prying into my feelings. She too searched through my feelings like I did to her. I immediately felt naked. I don’t want her to see how horrible my husband, and family treated me. Now it’s too late, in a matter of seconds Avalon drew in the timeline of my painful life, to the few things that made me laugh.

“Don’t be so frightened.” said Avalon. “You don’t realize it now, but you are no longer the person you thought you were. You are strong now.”

Unexpectedly my stomach began throbbing, my baby is starting to twist in inside belly. My ribs are getting punched and shoved—my organs are smashed and cornered. I held on to my knees to keep myself from falling. Whatever is happening, it’s causing a lot of stress to my baby, Avalon continued, she’s focused on her task. 

“Please, stop." I begged. "It hurts.”

In a way, my body doesn’t want to welcome the soul of an extraterrestrial. The unwanted touch of Avalon’s hand gave me goose bumps. Avalon barked in pain, she bit her lip and to keep her composure. My baby reacted in union with her throbs of pain, shoving and kicking every time Avalon made a wounded expression. It’s as if my child’s soul is being defiled, evaded, and raided by the presence of a stranger. If so, then how will I be forgiven? What must I do in the future so that none of this turns into a complete mess?

Within seconds, the cold temperature returned. The warm connection with Avalon disappeared. Her hands pulled away from me and she fell on her back. Her eyes gazed at the remaining orange sky mixing with the dark clouds. She looks like she froze, like she’s dead. A pool of blood emitted between her legs soaking her clothes and the sheets I brought. Her body has miscarried her baby, a small tiny baby, no bigger than my hand.

The natural glow in Avalon’s eyes have dimmed, they’re no longer sparkling. Her tears grew and rolled to her ear. She looked at me this time, and smiled.

“Thank you.” she wheezed.

I can’t even tell her you’re welcome. My body has never gone under such stress, and my baby didn’t like it one bit. Her gratitude cannot replace the hard within my womb.

“It was nothing.” I replied, finding there is no decency in that.

“It’s not for what you did.” she said, correcting me. “Those years I spent in the mountains of
Sei
, I felt very alone. One of the things I wanted the most was a friend. In the Empire, nobody fulfilled that role. I thought the idea didn’t exist, but my wish came true. We didn’t grow up together, and yet I know your entire life, as you know all of mine. In my heart, I’m content. I have finally—finally found a true friend.”

Every few seconds Avalon’s body twitched and settled. The rapid reflexes are starting to scare me, it’s the movements my hamster did before it passed away. I took her stillborn baby, just lifting tiny body hurt, she’s so small and frail. She looks like any other developing baby. A large head, and tiny body. I placed the baby into Avalon’s arms. She immediately wrapped her frozen child and kissed her forehead repeatedly. 

“I’ll keep her with me.” shivered Avalon.

“We should bury her.”

“No.”

“Why not?”

Avalon is in no mood to explain. Her eyes pressed at her lifeless baby, she examined every inch of her. The sun has set and the temperature significantly dropped. I asked Avalon about her jolting body. It looks like she’s being electrocuted. 

“Don’t be alarmed, I’m in shock from my miscarriage.” she said “I plan to stay alive until you have a safe delivery.”

“You’ll wait another month?” I said hopeful.

“I am more capable of waiting now than I did trying to preserve two lives. I have performed a difficult, intolerable task. With Serenata no longer with me, I will sustain my own vital organs until your child is born.”

Avalon reached out for my hand, when she took them, she pressed my hand towards her forward. It’s a sign of gratitude.

“Although I stand at death’s door, I can’t help but wish we could talk more. I’m starting to wish you were a Lenur, if we met as little girls, we would have so much fun in the Mountains of
Sei.
Now my time is cut short, I have live for a long time, but I’m still petrified of the idea of dying.”