A Shadowlander's Tale: One's Purpose
By Kathryn K Williams
Chapter 3
Kai stood upon the rooftop, once again staring out upon the world below, ‘What am I going to do?' She pondered, ‘How can I out run death? It is impossible.'She fell backwards, grabbed onto the fence to keep her balance and looked up to see a black raven landed upon the top of the fence, "Hey there birdy. Do you know how I can keep my promise with Anita?" She asked the feathered creature. The raven looked down at Kai and when there eyes met Kai felt a familiar feeling drift through her mind. She cocked her head at the bird. There was something about it that she remember, "Bre...nna..." She muttered in a dazed stat as she found herself being drawn into the black eyes of the bird.
"Get Back Here!!!" A voice yelled out causing the raven to abruptly look up and release its hold on Kai. Kai followed the bird's gaze to the far ends of the roof where she saw Mary roughly holding Ashley by the arm and pulling her closer.
Kai shook her head as she pushed off the fence and began to stroll towards the disturbance. The raven took flight and landed gently upon Kai's shoulder, "I was never into all this destiny stuff anyway." Kai told the bird as she reached up and scratched it on the side of the head, "If I'm going to die then it is going to be on my terms." The raven cawed in response, "You will help me right, Poe?" Again the raven cawed in response and Kai grinned maliciously. She could feel something boiling inside of her. She didn't understand what was coming over her but the sight of Mary wildly wrenching such a frail looking child around inflamed Kai to no end. She clenched her fist at her side as she approached the two girls, "Afternoon girls," She greeted them with a sly grin, "Nice day for a walk, isn't it?"
Mary turned to scowl at Kai, "You are either very brave or very stupid." She affirmed coldly.
"Actually," Kai smiled at Poe, who in turn looked down at her then back at Mary and cawed. Kai faced Mary once again. This time there was an intensified glare, "I have a date with death and decided to let you come along for the ride." Her grin broadened and she could feel her canine's twitching and ached lightly.
Mary pushed Ashley to the ground, "If that is the case, then..." She lifted her right hand to her face and the wrist suddenly wrenched backwards and twisted around on it's own. Bones cracked and joints snapped as her hand grew in length and shape. Fingers becoming long jagged claws and tiny spikes appeared along her arm.
Kai simply grinned at the girl, "I see now. Your just a Dream Ghoul. Trying to feed off a poor innocent frail girl." She shook her head in shame, "And here I thought you were more then that. You are the lowest form of creature in this world." She proclaimed, snarling at Mary.
"Why you little!" Mary leapt at Kai with blood in her eyes.
"Poe." Kai nodded at Mary and the bird sprung from Kai's shoulder and flew at Mary.
"You think you can stop me with such a lame trick?" Mary batted at the bird as it pecked and scratched at her. She didn't notice Kai rush at her from the side until she felt Kai's fist hit her hard in the face. Mary quickly turned and slashed at Kai. Two of her claws tore through Kai's shirt and pieced the soft flesh of the girl's stomach.
Kai dropped to the ground clenching her wound as blood poured out on to the concrete. Kai lifted her hand to her face. It was red with blood. Her blood. She raised her head to see Poe swooping at Mary keeping her from ascending upon its wounded master. Kai's eyes became blurry and an image of Anita's sad face floated in front of her, "I'm sorry." Kai mumbled reaching out for the image, "I was foolish. I'm sorry." She was about to let death take her when a new more intense pain shot through her entire body. She screamed out in anguish as fire raced through her veins. She could feel the bones in her back and shoulder blades crack and shift. She clenched her eyes shut and curled up in a ball wishing nothing more then for the pain to stop. Tears rolled down her cheeks and dripped into the pool of blood below her. Kai opened her eyes to see drops of blackness swirling in a river of red. She focussed upon her refection in the blood to see black tears were streaming from her eyes as if she was wearing mascara. The tears began to flow together and form black tattoos around her eyes creating several curled triangles the spread out across her face. Suddenly another wave of pain rushed through her back and she could hear her shirt tearing. Kai placed her hands on the ground to steady herself and arched her back. She stared at the ground as a great shadow formed over her.
Mary swatted at the bird to the ground. Satisfied that it wasn't going to continue its attack she turned to face Kai once again only to be surprised to see Kai raising to her feet. Three pairs of massive feathered wings spread out behind the girl blocking out the sun. Kai raised her right arm to shoulder leave and black ink started to run out from under her short sleeve. It spread across the girl's arm like wild fire created a flame like tattoo designs that wrapped around the girl's entire arm stopping at the back of her hand. Mary staggered back realizing that she was not facing any ordinary girl. Fear filled her eyes as Kai began to approach her. Kai clenched her fist and the tattoos leapt to life. Flames crawled across the girl's skin burning the hem of the sleeve but not flesh. Kai suddenly lunged at Mary.
Marie leapt up into the air just as Kai's hand brushed passed her hair. She landed on the corner of the chain link fence and crouched with her feet under her, knees to either side and elbows upon her thighs, "I see." Marie stated with a grin, "So that is where you were hiding. I thought at first you were this ashen girl." She nodded down towards Ashley, whom was now getting to her feet, "I see I was mistaken. Now that you've revealed yourself let us continue this hunt on another day." She stood to her full height and leaned backwards until she fell off the roof.
"WAIT!!!" Kai ran to the fence in time to see the girl flip over in mid air and land gently upon her feet then casually walk away.
"What the hell was that all about?" Kai exclaimed in astonishment. She looked down at the marking upon her hand. The flames had died down but the tattoos were clearly etched into her skin. "What is going on here...?" She turned her hand over in amazement of what she was seeing. She looked down to find that the wound upon her stomach had completely healed. She turned to Ashley who was smiling up at her.
"What is going on up there?" Call a voice from the stair well.
"Crap!" Kai searched around for a means of escape when she looked up at her wings. The sounds of people rushing up the stairs began to increase in numbers. Deciding there was no other choice Kai ran across the roof and jumped into the air. Her foot touched the top of the chain linked fence and she pushed off of it soaring high into the air. She looked down to see some teachers burst out onto the roof and run over the Ashley's side. Then she noticed Poe flutter into the air and land upon the stair well entrance where a short haired girl sat. She was dressed in a white dress shirt, v-neck sleeveless sweater, black neck tie and slacks. Poe jumped up on the girl's shoulder and she pet the animal before looking up at Kai and waved.
"Brenna?" Kai muttered to her self. She felt she knew this girl and wanted to ask her questions, but seeing as the teachers were now looking up at her she decided it would be best to flee for now and figure things out later.
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To be continued
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Note: The world of the shadowlands, Its stories, Characters and ideas are a copyright of Kathryn K Williams.
This story is based upon my manga of the same name. If you wish visit my site and see some of the art based on this series at http://www.KatAndNekoManga.ca
Also if you spot any typos or other errors please contact me at Kathryn@KatAndNekoManga.ca
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