Little Miss Wingless

The young server was clearly taken aback and hesitant to serve Kyro as he nervously tried to dig some change out of his coin purse. Kyro seemed either unaware or was pretending to not notice the look of dread on her face. She eagerly backed down as an older man, who she was staffing the food stall with, offered to take over from her. The older gentleman carefully passed some of the product to Kyro, not bothering to force a smile and refusing to take payment. He swiftly sent Kyro on his way.

Melanie’s heart hurt as she watched the interaction. Kyro however was looking chuffed as he returned with the stall food held triumphantly in his grip.

“Look Mel! I did it!” He exclaimed cheerfully to Melanie, showing off the prize for his bravery.

Melanie smiled back at him. “I knew you could do it.”She was proud of the boy, but had noticed the glares, stares and revulsion of people around them had increased in the time they had lingered in the food market. She was beginning to feel uncharacteristically timid.

“Let’s eat somewhere with less people,” Melanie suggested, trying to shove away her negative feelings.

“I know a good spot.” Kyro offered blissfully.

Melanie nodded and followed him out of the marketplace, past the big fountain which had seized to ice, and down the slope of the embankment. While the music and chatter from the events could still be heard in the background, the two children were now out of the sight of the festivities and the crowd.

Kyro had taken them to the water’s edge. Highways of lanky streams met here into the large lake. Its contents beginning to freeze over at the edges, but the centre still flowed and glistened against the bright lights from the Lanera festival.

Back on land, where the grass ceased to grow, a carpet of glowing moss was partially covered by sleety ground It grew up the uneven surfaces of natural rocky debris and deciduous trees. Melanie was instantly fascinated by the luminous glow and she poked at it. It was cold, but velvety soft on her fingertips. She imagined it would be spongy to lay against.

“Don’t sit on it,” Kyro said while catching her by the elbow. “If you squash the moon moss, your bum will start glowing.”

Melanie giggled at the mental image of her butt lighting up in the dark of night, as she plonked herself beside Kyro on a craggy rock instead.

Melanie did not hesitate to take a bite of one of the morsels Kyro offered her. The circular-shaped food was a light brown colour with a sweet, soft, spongy texture, like cake. The inside hid a delicious, hot fruity caramel that warmed her tongue. Melanie shovelled its entirety into her mouth and wiped her chin before the rich filling dripped all the way down.

“They’re really yummy,” Melanie exclaimed through mouthfuls, her lips smacking together in delight. “What are these?”

Kyro giggled at the sight, him eating his own treat with far more poise.

“They’re sweet larch cakes. They’re made using flour from rutabaga and larch tree bark, along with fruit and... Some other things.” Kyro’s eyebrows furrowed together as he tried to correctly remember all the ingredients.

Melanie happily accepted the remaining cake. She looked up to the young night sky as she finished off the last of the sweet treat. The moon looked tiny compared to the one she always saw at home. But the impressive stars were bright and abundant. They glistened magnificently from the heavens, like twinkling glitter smeared against the evening backdrop.

“The sky looks so pretty” She observed as she lay back to continue to take the view in.

“It always looks like that,” Kyro replied as he wiped crumbs from his hands and then lay back parallel to her.

“So many sparkly stars.” Melanie smiled as she reached her hand out, imagining she could touch them.

Melanie let out a shriek as a much larger hand emerged out of the dim light and clenched her outstretched one. She was pulled uncomfortably upwards off of her rock lounge.

Kyro quickly moved to avoid the opposite hand that also reached for him. He slid down from the boulder, stumbled, and then cowered up at the dour face of the man who stood over him and had Melanie dangling in his grip.

The hair on this man was loose and a messy shoulder length. A grisly scar started on his chin and travelled all the way down her neck. His long horns curved widely out to the sides of his face and one of the horns had a splintered chunk missing from the end. His clothing was not the same style as the majority of the other population Melanie had thus far encountered. It seemed to be made from a lighter fabric and consisted of mostly green and brown colours.

“What is this? Convoking more cursed wretches now, are you?” His voice was deep and hoarse as he questioned Kyro. The disgust in it apparent.

Melanie let out a cry of pain as she felt the pressure from the weight overloading in her shoulder.“Let me go!” she yelled out between her high-pitched screams.

Melanie swung her feet out which caused the man to lose his grip. She scrambled out of his hold and was instantly over to Kyro’s side to help him up, intending for them to flee from the frightening encounter.

Melanie was unable to get far when the man grabbed a fistful of her pig-tailed hair and used it to forcefully throw her to the ground. She fell heavily, her body skidding and agitating the surface of dirt, icy grass and patches of cool moss. She gave herself a moment to recover from the sting of the hit before she sat up. She wiped at the mess that had stained against her clothes and skin, leaving them with a slight glowing tinge from the crushed moon moss.

The aggressor was physically strong. He had yanked Kyro up into the air, once again one-handed, picking him up by the nape of his coat. Kyro remained frozen in fear and did not utter a word.

“Since when do you just freely walk around, disgusting everyone with your presence?” The scarred man hissed at him. His lemon-coloured eyes did not reflect any hint of good character.Kyro only responded with fear deepening in his expression.

Melanie felt chills trickle up her spine as Ito trudged up to the bank of the lake. Loose shards of thin ice and frozen flora crackled under Ito’s animal skin boots.

“Let him go, Ito!” A voice yelled from up on the embankment.

Melanie felt relief as she attached the voice to a figure. With the luminance of the market glowing behind him, Kyro’s brother, Tabastian, effortlessly slid down the slope towards the conflict. His teenage companion momentarily hesitated, before he hurried off in the opposite direction, back towards the market.

“Tabastian, it’s been a while.” Ito acknowledged, but seemed unhappy with the additional company. “Here to protect this damned cursed thing, are we, young prince?” He responded with a sadistic grin.

Kyro whimpered as his clothes bunched up even tighter into Ito’s grip. Ito did not back down as Tabastian approached, but instead eased off of the thicker sections of the frozen water, testing where the ice began thinning out and threatened to break.

“Ito, stop!” Tabastian yelled at the man, ceasing his own steps in compromise. The boy was a third of the size against Ito’s bulk, but he extruded confidence.

Ito ignored the gesture and continued to prattle.

“I can’t fathom why that would be? His mere existence only brings misfortune to Karada, and the longer he lives; the harsh and further that misfortune will spread. Heck, he’s the reason why your mother, my sister, lost her life. That should be justification enough to extinguish his existence. Don’t you agree?”

Melanie gritted her teeth as she pushed herself to her feet. Her heart beat like crazy, willing her to move. The fight or flight response was intermittently conflicted. Her brain could not seem to decide on her next step, except for the obvious intention to help Kyro. Confront Ito herself? Hide while Tabastian dealt with the situation? Perhaps run back to the market to ask some adults at the event for help? As her mind whirled Melanie fidgeted with the plastic bracelet latched around her wrist, encouraging the little beads to click against each other.

Tabastian noticed her mulling. He briefly put a hand out to signal her to stay where she was, making a decision for her. Melanie nodded, silently acknowledging the instruction and pushed back her adrenaline. She nibbled at her thumb to ease her anxiety.

“No. I don’t agree. Kyro is not responsible for Karada’s problems. I thought you were smarter than to believe in foolish superstitions.”

“Don’t talk back to me, boy.” Ito threatened. Kyro whimpered again at the aggression in his abductor’s tone. He was shaking as he tried to hold back tears.

“I know out of everyone; mother fought the hardest for Kyro,” Tabastian added in Kyro’s defence.

“Oh, come now. Ilona never even met the boy. You sound just like your ignorant father. I thought you were smarter than that.” Ito’s tongue clicked in disappointment.

Tabastian drew his wooden training sword in response and repositioned his feet. His wings arched out of the loose braces, readying his stance.“Shut up and put my brother down.” he snapped back.

“Tsk. As you wish.” Ito said to him through clenched teeth. With his free hand, Ito drew his own sword that had been partially concealed in his coat. It was a steel weapon, as scarred and haggard as its wielder, with an exaggeratedly hooked tip.

Then he threw Kyro into the partially frozen lake.