Page 162 of Scars Like Wings

None of my wounds are healing. These weapons must be magicked to halt my healing. I still can’t feel Forrest. When did they get such magic?—?

It doesn’t matter now.

None of that matters.

I’m… I’m not going to make it. I’m never going to see my husband or my daughter again.

Oh, Byrd. My baby Byrdie. I hope you find some way to fare better than I did?—

“We just need patience. She’ll bleed out soon. Look. She’s almost dead as is. Once she’s gone, we can take her.”I heard a male voice say, interrupting what must be Mom’s thoughts.

That line… That voice….

My hands shook involuntarily. A feeling of nausea came over me as I couldn’t decide if the feeling I had was one where I wanted to punch a tree or sob relentlessly.

“Mom,please.” I felt my lips form around the words as I whispered—no, begged. I had done this before. I had said that before.

This wasn’t how I remembered it, though.What was this?

When I blinked, the scene came to life in front of me. It was like something from a fantasy movie. Bodies were strewn everywhere, bleeding, bent, burned, or covered in a thick layer of lava. Raindrops sizzled on the hardening and cooling magma. And the smell… I covered my nose and gagged.

Then there was my mom.

I knew her. I knew it was her. But I didn’t recognize her in this state. She was not human, not… My brain struggled to form what I knew was the truth.

Her skin was dry and pale, the glow she had from within her was gone and dull. She had scales across her body that were similar to mine, but hers were a pale yellow and lifeless maroon. Arrows stuck out from her, and she had so many wounds from knives and guns that were bleeding out onto the grass. Her blood was glittery as it mixed with the mud and the rain. There was a horn missing, and her hands and feet were missing talons. Her set of wings were broken, crooked, and torn with holes in them like a moth-eaten blanket. She had a tail with spikes that were broken, too, as the tail lay limply. Her breathing was coming out in a rattle, like it was too hard to take the next one.

Mom’s pointed elf-like ears perked up. I saw her dark-brown slitted eyes shift to another version of me on the other side of the clearing. I was young, wide-eyed, andfuckingterrified. My hair was black then and in box braids. I hardly recognized my old self. But as Mom looked at me, her eyes were full of fear.

Mom never felt fear.

Mom was invincible, powerful, strong.

Mom could do anything.

Mom could keep me safe always because she was?—

No. This can’t be real. Byrdcan’tbe here. Sheshouldn’tbe here. No. My baby. My only baby Byrd. No, she can’t be here. She can’t be here. She can’t be here. If they see her, they will—No no no no no, BYRD, NO!

“RUN!”

At the same time, Mom’s thoughts and words reverberated through the woodlands, shaking the trees and making the earth feel like it was quaking about to split apart. It shook me to my essence.

“Byrd, go! I’ll hold them off as long as I can! Get out of here!” Everett snarled at younger me as he prepared to shift. While he was shifting mid-air into his griffin-form, the group all looked at younger me before I took off deep into the woods.

Then the world exploded with sound and action.

A man shouted commands and orders as Mom and Everett roared. Everett’s monstrous half-lion and half-eagle form swooped down to grab and claw at everyone within his reach. Mom found energy deep within her to stand but remained partially shifted. Her earth-splitting command toward me was more than just a feeling. The edge of the clearing closest to where younger me had run away opened up to a large gap over nine feet wide full of lava and magma. Anyone close to it got sprayed with flame and molten rock as it spewed like a geyser at them. Their screams and the smell of burning hair and skin filled the air alongside the agony of those Everett had grabbed to tear apart or drop from high onto the ground with a sickening thwack. Despite Mom’s pained state, she was able to hold her own for a while. She whipped her crooked tail at anyone who threatened her from behind, used her good wing to toss back assailants, and had her fire-breath—yes, fire-breath—to alsokeep them at a distance. For a time, it worked. It looked like the two of them might have the upper hand. They could win?—

Everett was avoiding being speared and shot. He was distracted. A group of at least five splintered off in the direction younger me had run away. Mom was so focused on them—so focused on saving me—she didn’t sense the tall masked man until?—

Until.

No.

NO!I screamed so loud my own ears started to ring. I wanted to throw up. I wanted to run to her and stop this. I wanted this to be over. No. No no no. This wasn’t happening. This couldn’t be real. This had to be a nightmare.

He stabbed Mom in the stomach.

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