The Adapters: The Past (Pt 4)

“Hide!” hissed Varsha.

Celeste wrapped herself in her wings, changing their color to match her surroundings.

“Oh, come on, Celeste!” whispered Zoe. “We all can’t camouflage like you!”

Celeste reappeared with a shy look on her face. “Sorry,” she mumbled.

“Quickly, here!” shouted Luke, grabbing his sister’s arm and bounding for the bushes.

“Ow, Luke! You’re pinching me!”

“Sorry,” mumbled Luke, slightly loosening his grip on Varsha’s arm.

We all dived into the bushes. Celeste tried to hide her large wings, changing their color to the forest green behind them.

The small army came closer and closer, marching in unison, holding up a black flag with a red spider symbol in the middle.

All of the blood drained from my face as the memories came flooding back. Flashes of the flag, dead bodies on the ground, whispers of safety and freedom as the warmth in my mother’s wings slowly slipped away…

“Harper,” whispered Felicity. “Are you okay?”

I shook my head violently, too afraid to speak. Memories of a large spider, slowly walking to my mother’s dying body, sneering as he drained the life out of her…

“Harper, snap out of it!” hissed Zoe, grasping my arm.

My breathing quickened as the panic of the past threatened to resurface. My body trembled, my wings ran cold, my fingers and talons went numb. The world swayed as my head became light, overwhelmed as memory after horrid memory burst their way in. 

“Celeste, get us out of here,” whispered Luke, his voice shaking. 

Celeste nodded, stretching her large wings and mimicking the color and pattern of the forest behind them. Zoe grabbed my arm and followed Luke as we escaped the forest and the memories of spiders and death and

my mother...

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“Harper, we can’t help you unless you tell us what happened.”

I clutched the small cup in my hand, sipping the herbal tea Felicity made for me. 

“I saw him,” I whispered. 

“Who?” asked Zoe. 

“I don’t know his name, but he had the legs of a spider, eyes the color of blood…”

“Azazel,” whispered Felicity.

“That’s his name?” I asked.

They all nodded, solemn looks on their faces.

“Azazel is the only known All-Beast alive, the leader of the Predators, a group set out to destroy the government and anyone who stands in their way,” said Celeste.

“What’s an All-Beast?” I asked.

“An All-Beast is someone who can transform parts of them into any non-extinct animal. He is the only one alive. There used to be another, but…”

“What else did you see?” whispered Zoe.

“My mother,” I whispered. 

“Who was your mother?” asked Zoe, handing me another cup of herbal tea.

“... she was a harpy eagle, like me. In the memories, I saw….”

I inhaled sharply before continuing.

“... I saw him kill her.”

“Woah woah, hold up,” said Celeste, holding up her hands. “Your mother was a harpy eagle… that was killed by Azazel himself…”

“We need to talk to Lillian,” said Zoe.

…

A few moments later, Zoe walked back into the room with a woman behind her. She had chestnut brown hair tied back into a ponytail. Her natural gold highlights seemed to glow. Her chocolate brown eyes gazed around the room, gold strands weaving in and out of her pupils. Her brown and white wings were folded next to her, her talons and backwards knee mimicking mine.

When her eyes met mine, her tanned skin went pale. She lifted her hand to her mouth, eyes wide in shock. 

“It can’t be…” she whispered.

She walked up to me and reached out her hand. I flared my wings slightly out of instinct, then blushed at my reaction. 

She gazed into my faded yellow eyes as she brushed my black hair back.

“How are you alive?” she whispered. “We all thought you were dead, killed along with your mother…”

“So it is her?” asked Zoe. “She is…”

“Yes,” answered Lillian, never taking her eyes off of me. “She is Heather’s daughter.”

“You knew my mother?” I asked.

“Oh yes, we were very good friends. She was one of the few All-Beasts alive, aside from Azazel,” replied Lillian.

She smiled. “You look exactly like your mother,” she whispered. 

“What happened to her?” I asked hesitantly. 

The smile dropped from Lillian’s face. “She died in battle… an ambush on our old home. She tried to protect you, but Azazel got to her and…”

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...

“Mother Heather, your daughter!”

I was already concentrating on the wings of a dragonfly. My grey and white wings shrunk into my back as thin, transparent wings sprouted. I instantly lifted my new wings and flew through the air, painfully ignoring the dead bodies littering the floor and the blood staining the walls.

All that mattered right now was my daughter.

I burst into the room that used to be decorated feathers and flowers, but now was as black as coal, flames creeping up the walls. My blood ran cold as I saw the hairy spider legs tapping on the floor, his red eyes gleaming with delight, holding a small, feathery bundle in his arms.

“You let go of my daughter, you slimy little-”

“Ah ah,” said Azazel, fingering the still baby. “She’s sleeping.”

A wail emerged from the child, practically shaking the walls. I’ve never been so glad to hear that sound.

“Looks like you woke her up,” he said, the corners of his mouth rising, his black spider legs shifting. 

“Let. Her. Go,” I hissed, replacing my dragonfly wings with my natural harpy ones.

“I don’t think so,” he sneered. “How would it look if the daughter of the great Mother Heather turned to the dark side, fighting against those who raised her, hmm?”

“Over my dead body,” I said, claws emerging from my hands.

“Oh, so you want to fight, eh? How about I return the baby first, so the poor thing doesn’t get hurt, hmm? I’m not that heartless.”

“I wouldn’t put it past you,” I whispered.

He lifted the baby towards me, her bright yellow eyes etched with fear and confusion.

I hesitated, knowing Azazel must have some trick up his sleeve. I couldn’t just leave her in the hand of this… sick monster, so I reached out my hand and yanked my baby towards me. 

Before I could react, I felt a sharp pain in my abdomen. Azazel pulled back his scorpion tail, blood dripping off the tip, grinning in satisfaction.

I dropped to my knees, clutching my precious daughter against my body, wrapping her in my wings. Blood dripped down my abdomen, staining the floor red. I focused all of my energy on her, trying to use the only spell taught to me that I was forbidden to use unless in an emergency situation. I pressed my daughter closer to me as I finished the chant.

“I will always love you, Raya... I’m sorry I couldn’t be a better mother, but I can at least give you this…”

My arms tingled as she disappeared from my arms into a grey mist.

I looked up to see Azazel’s bloodred eyes shining with hatred. 

“You’ll… never find her now… she will live…”

Azazel shot forward, locking his hand on my throat. “It won’t matter. I will hunt her down and kill her, just like I will do to you…”

He lifted his scorpion tail and lightly pressed it against my head.

“Any last words?” he sneered.

“You can’t win, and you will never win, you monster.” I spit in his face, the pink liquid dripping off his cheek.

He growled and lifted his scorpion tail. 

“Soar high, my daughter, and free us all,” I whispered as the tail came in contact with my skull and my last breath was drawn.