The Darkness Beyond the Stars

Chapter 25: The Seventh Son

I paced across the landing, not even looking down at the drop. The horn was cool in my hands, and I rubbed it.

It had been at least a half an hour since Morok left. The stars were spread out overhead, through the trees that stretched higher than the house.

A long high cry rang out from below the house, and an icy finger trailed up my spine.

There was the sound of something moving fast, and then one of the walls cracked, and something thudded to the floor.

I ran inside, and in the light from the fire saw a crumpled shape on the floor, in front of a splintered window. "Raon? What happened?" I went closer, then recoiled in horror. The room seemed to freeze.

It was Raon, but...it was not.

Long black feathers mixed with his white hair, splattered with red, running across his back, and at his shoulders, massive midnight wings were furled, curling around his body.

His body was convulsing, the feathers scritching across the floor. He turned over, and the wings spread across the floor. His head was thrown back, chest bare and bloody. Black feathers covered his forearms and legs, slashing across his torso like cuts of a knife.

His eyes were wide and unseeing, the pupils huge. One hand was lying limp at his side, the other pressed to his ribs, where a twisted piece of metal jutted out.

He groaned, and I jolted as if I had been asleep. I scrambled for the horn, and put it to my lips and blew.

A high note rang out, urgent and cold.

I blew until my lungs were empty, then I fell to my knees next to Raon.

He twisted, his face agonized. Then his eyes lit on me, and he lifted his arm, reached out a hand.

I took it, and scooted closer, until I could lift his head and put it on my lap.

"You probably...weren't...expecting...this." His voice was tight, jawline sharp.

His wings were pressed against my legs, warm and very real.

"What...are you?" I asked, my voice full of wonder.

"Seventh." He coughed, and his hold on my hand tightened. "I'll be alright."

I stroked his head with my other hand. "Don't talk."

Blood streamed from beneath his hand, the piece of metal rising and falling with each breath.

His jaw clenched, and the hand over the wound trembled. I reached and put my hand over his.

"Careful." He muttered.

"I know." I felt ice crawling up my limbs. If Morok didn't get here soon I would have to figure out how to help him.

His right wing curled up from the ground until it covered the wound. The feathers glimmered in the candlelight, blue and violet. He had wings. He could fly.

Then, the feathers began to lighten. They seemed to dissolve from the air, leaving nothing behind. The pressure against my legs vanished, and the wings were gone. Had they been my imagination?

I let go of his hand, and grabbed a nearby blanket, throwing it over him.

The only sounds were my heart beating, the candle hissing slightly across the room, his short breaths.

Someone thudded onto the landing outside, and Morok came through the door. He looked from the wound to Raon's face, then knelt on the ground.

"Raon." He pulled back the blanket, then put a hand on each side of his face. "You awake?"

Raon nodded slightly. He moved his hand away from the metal.

Morok looked at me. "I need you to help me with this."

I nodded quickly.

"Good. Get me those candles."

I moved Raon's head onto a pillow, and brought all the candles I could find, arranging them around him.

"It looks like just a knife, so as soon as I take it out, blood is going to go everywhere." Morok scooted closer, and pulled a bundle out of his side bag. "As soon as I do, put these over the wound, and lean your weight on it." He put a hand on the metal, and Raon flinched. But he kept his eyes closed.

"One, two, three." He pulled up, and slowly drew the knife out.

Raon groaned, but stayed still. Fresh blood welled around the blade. It seemed to take an eternity, but the knife narrowed, and came out completely.

I put the cloth over the wound, and leaned on it. Raon grabbed my wrist with an iron grip.

"Who was it?" Morok set a glass bottle on the ground.

"The experiment...failed." He gasped as I shifted.

"I'm sorry." I whispered.

He opened his eyes, and looked at me, his blue eyes flickering in the light.

Morok lifted the bottle. "It shouldn't have hit your organs, or you'd have died by now. And the blade didn't look poisoned.

"You think." Raon said shortly.

Morok touched my arm. "You can move now."

I leaned back, and lifted the cloth. The two sides of the wound were open slightly.

Morok poured the contents of the bottle on the wound, and Raon jerked, and muttered something under his breath. Then Morok placed a pad of cloth over the wound, and laid a strip of cloth over it.

"Help me have him sit up."

I put an arm under Raon's head, and he put an arm across my back. He sat up a little, but after a moment leaned on me heavily. Morok wound the bandage around his back until it was secure. My legs trembled, trying not to slip on the slick floor.

I could feel Raon trying to breath, but he trembled with every inhale. He rested his forehead against my neck, slick with sweat.

"Raon." Morok said sharply. "Are you hurt anywhere else?"

Raon lifted his shoulders slightly.

"Did they follow you back here?"

He shook his head, his breath hot against my chest.

Morok took another cloth, and began to clean other small wounds. Eventually he stood, and I heard him moving things across the floor. He pulled the soaked blanket out from beneath Raon, and pushed a pile of pillows behind my back, then draped a blanket across us. The candles went out one by one.

"Don't cry." Raon said softly.

I blinked, and realized my face was wet. I ground it against my other shoulder, and took a deep breath. Raon's hand rested in mine.

"He should stay there tonight." Morok lifted a heavy tapestry that had fallen and draped it across the broken window.

I nodded slightly.

"I'll be close by, patrolling around the house. I'll leave the horn here. If anything happens, call for me." He went to the door, looked back for a moment, then closed the door behind him.

I shifted, trying to get up, but felt Raon's breathing ease. He was asleep, his forehead was warm against my neck. I didn't dare get up.

A cool breeze lifted the tapestry, and the tap of rain began on the roof. Raon shivered and settled closer against me.

My fingers tightened on his hand. Weariness pulled at my thoughts, but when I closed my eyes, they were drawn open, always focusing on the head resting on my chest.

My chest constricted, and I tried to take a deep breath, but it caught, and I choked. I had never considered the fact that I might love him someday. If that's what this was. It was pain. And relief. And worry. And something I couldn't begin to name. A tiny place in my chest burned and expanded.

I turned and pressed my lips to his forehead.