My dry, tired eyes watched the afternoon wane to dusk while the cart slowly rode along. Only minutes after the sun set over the distant mountain peaks, the cart had stopped abruptly again, this time, rousing Violet and even Mother from rest. Seeing Mother stir for the first time in weeks, I instinctively rushed over to tend to her. A simple twitch of her head was more than enough for me to know that death had not yet gripped her soul. Her face remained pale with the bones in her cheeks more defined along her thin, frail frame, revealing the extent of her malnourishment. Even through the tips of my slender fingers which carefully stroked the smooth white skin of her cheek, I could feel her coldness. She neither stirred nor made a sound as I touched her, but it was all I could do to assure her that she was not alone. My heart pounded and my hands shook unnervingly; yet, I could not understand why. Perhaps it was the thought of death so near to Mother or the new situation that Father was dealing with.
The last horse had finally collapsed to its death. Father was quietly undoing the reins, a look of despair plaguing his glassy eyes. We were now stranded on this dark road as night embraced us.
I looked at Violet, who had her head down, muttering prayers to herself. Her silky, white skin reflected the rising Blood Moon's glow which transcended the area.
“Prayers will not help us, Violet …” I said morbidly, breaking the awkward silence around us. My eyes remained focused on Mother's condition as I spoke.
Violet paused from her prayers and gazed at me blankly. “Celestra will provide,” she replied with a nod, then averted her eyes to Father's labors.
I scowled at her. “Celestra has not ‘provided’ for us thus far, Sister,” I spat. “She will not help us — no one will. Celestra has allowed us to suffer for no reason and she will continue to do so, as long as you continue this … charade you call ‘prayer’.”
“Do not speak ill of the Goddess, Jasmine,” Violet retorted. “She has spared us all for this long and will continue to do so, even when you think she has not.”
“She is angry at Father.”
“Father?”
“His damnable superstitions have blinded him from the truth. What god would favor such foolishness?”
Violet frowned. “You are exaggerating, Sister — ”
“Am I?” I broke in, raising my brows. “Have you found it odd that we've not yet encountered any people along this road since we left home? We still have not found anyone to help us!”
Violet fell silent and stared down at her hands.
It had, indeed, unnerved me that there was not a single soul in sight. Even the animals were scarce. Since leaving the birch forest, I noticed the only traces of life were that of the foliage, which retained their warm, autumn beauty.
Father returned to the cart and looked towards us with a pained expression, his face almost as pale as Mother's.
“We must move forward …” was all he could say in his choked-up voice.
I blinked, watching him momentarily before asking, “Without a horse, Father?”
He sighed and nodded once. “Without a horse. The four of us will continue with just the clothes on our backs. There is no choice but to leave everything behind.”
Violet's eyes wavered as tears began welling up. “But, Mother — ”
“I will carry her,” Father assured.
We said nothing more and Violet and I climbed out of the cart, gathering what little items we could. Father picked up Mother's weak body, which was still wrapped in the quilt, and held her carefully in his arms. He choked on the tears forming in his glassy eyes, but kept his composure. I knew he would never cry in front of us, no matter how dire the situation.
Periwinkle followed in my footsteps once I left the cart to join my family. Even he appeared aware of the situation with his back arched slightly in fear as he padded along.
I trailed a modest distance away from them to dwell alone on my thoughts. My eyes focused on the horizon where the Blood Moon had begun its ascent. Shadows began cloaking the path we traveled upon as the late-evening hours rapidly approached. Finally, when I was unable to see anything further, I heard the sounds of my family's footsteps ahead suddenly stop, prompting me to do the same.
“At this rate,” I heard Father say, “we will have to set out again in the morning.”
“Shall we make a camp, Father?” Violet asked.
There was a moment of silence before he replied, “Yes, but we should move off the road. Come. Let's look around … Jasmine? Don't fall too far behind, Dear. It's getting too dark to see anything.”
Before I could answer, my ears perked at another sound nearby. It was the sound of wings flapping followed by the reverberating squawking of birds — several of them. How strange it was to hear them so loudly — and approaching our direction so quickly. I recalled having heard a similar sound when I had once watched a hawk from up close. Conversely, this particular sound was louder. I assumed the manner of bird was either probably large in size, or, perhaps, there were many of these birds flapping in unison to reverberate such a sound. Regardless, it made my body tense in fear. Even Periwinkle hissed with displeasure. I hastened my steps to meet with Father and Violet, hoping the sound would pass. Upon reaching them, however, the noise only amplified.
“ … What is that?” Violet whispered as she looked towards the sky.
“Birds,” Father dismissed rather quickly. “The nocturnal, predatory ones that hunt for rodents, I'm certain.”
I could sense the hint of nervousness in his voice, but I was unsure if it was due to his uncertainty of the sounds, or his immediate concern for Mother, who was draped in his arms.
The constant flapping of wings was soon accompanied by high-pitched squawking. It did not sound like any bird that I was familiar with.
Father's concern grew and he looked around for the nearest shelter. The rocky terrain provided small outlets of hollowed-out caverns that made ideal hiding spots.
Whatever manner of bird they were, however, they had apparently caught our scent, because the direction of their sounds began following us as we made our way to a nearby cave.
The winds above me suddenly shifted and I felt something swoop down close to my hair, which blew about. The feeling of the passing wind made my body freeze in place and I wanted to scream. The eerie screech that passed by convinced me that these creatures were not ordinary birds, at all. I dared to look behind me to see if more were coming, but only the looming shadows of the forest path could be seen — and Periwinkle was nowhere to be found.
“Periwinkle?” I called out to the cat as I scanned the area around my feet carefully. When I hadn't heard his response, I immediately knew something dire must have happened.
“Jasmine!” I heard Father's voice demand frantically. “Get over here, now!”
I suddenly snapped back to attention and followed his voice. I found him at the mouth of a hollow cave where the Blood Moon provided modest light from above. It was more than enough light for me to see my sister and father looking distressed.
“Father! What is going on?” I asked while I kept my eyes to the blackened sky.
Before Father could answer, there was another cluster of sounds consisting of flapping wings and eerie shrieks that followed.
From out of the blackness above, five feathered creatures landed before us. They were monstrous in size and grotesque in appearance, with the upper torso of a once-beautiful, nude human female and the lower torso of a predatory bird. What little beauty the creatures perhaps once possessed was now eaten away like a decaying corpse.
“I have not seen such creatures …” Violet whispered in a shocked tone.
They approached us, with two of them focusing on me and Violet, while the other three focused on Mother and Father. Their leery eyes glowed with a dark, purple-hued magic. I could only assume that these creatures were possessed by something, or, perhaps their own hunger had driven them mad.
I slowly stepped back towards Father, not daring to turn away from the horrific creatures which followed our every move like a predatory cat about to pounce on its prey.
“Violet, Jasmine,” Father ordered as he handed Mother's body to us, “take your mother and hide. Now.”
There was no time for hesitation or argument at this point; Violet and I complied with his demands.
The creatures, however, were suddenly triggered to attack when Father moved suddenly to hand Mother's body to us. They let out an ear-piercing screech before charging towards him, knocking him down and immediately piling on top of him. The other two creatures that had been focused on me and Violet were quickly drawn to Father's fallen body, instead.
Violet and I ran deeper into the cave with Mother's body in tow as we heard the horrifying sounds of Father's deathly screams and tearing flesh behind us.
I cringed at the grisly sounds. “Don't look back,” I warned Violet, trying to remain composed. “Now's not the time to scream, nor cry.”
Unfortunately, it was too late. As Violet looked over her shoulder, her eyes widened in shock at the carnage and she slowed her steps, which in turn, slowed my own. Her grip around Mother's feet loosened the longer she stared. She didn't scream, thankfully, but the tears that had welled up in her eyes streamed down her flushed cheeks vehemently. Her bottom lip quivered as she desperately tried to form the words to speak.
I huffed in frustration as I tugged at Mother's body, trying to beckon Violet to help again. My own tears remained frozen from the amount of despair that I had been forced to endure over the past few months.
After my several repeated attempts of getting her attention, Violet finally turned back to me with a saddened gaze and mustered enough strength to continue.
The hollow cave didn't go back too far; however, the shadows that loomed in certain areas of the cave provided ample hiding spots for the three of us. Violet and I huffed out of breath once we had found a safe spot to rest. We remained mindful of Mother's dire situation after having to carry her while we ran.
“We cannot … stay here for long …” Violet whispered in my ear once we had both caught our breath. Her shaky voice was ridden with pain and confusion, and the tears still flowed endlessly from her glassy eyes.
“Do you think those creatures saw us?” I asked, my eyes not leaving the mouth of the cave.
“They probably have …” She suddenly fell silent and stared down at her hands. “They … They killed Father….”
I frowned. “You needn't remind me.” I could not get Father's screams out of my head. My blood boiled with rage, fear and sadness. With so many conflicting emotions swirling through my mind, the events that had transpired did not completely sink in, just yet.
“I saw him! And those creatures! They —!” Violet shut her eyes and covered her mouth, sobbing.
I swallowed, finding the strength to keep my composure in front of her. I felt a small knot in my stomach as I continued listening to her soft cries.
“Why, Jasmine?!” she whined.
I reached out to place my hand over hers, but retracted it slowly. “There will be time to mourn his death later, Sister,” I finally said. “For now, we must save ourselves and Mother — like he told us to.”
After her grief was spent, Violet wiped away her tears and raised her head to me. Slowly, she nodded in agreement, though the pain in her eyes remained.
The creatures' wails could be heard again outside the cave and soon their silhouettes loomed from the light of the Blood Moon. They poked their heads inside, sniffing the air, before shrieking in confirmation of our presence. The sounds were so deafening, it made the walls of the cave vibrate. With their bodies far too large to fit through the entrance, they began chipping away at the mouth of the cave with their sharp claws, attempting to widen it. Accompanied with the creatures' continuous, high-pitched screeches, the cave structure was soon becoming unsafe.
I felt Mother's body stir weakly as the ear-piercing screams resounded.
Watching the creatures work tirelessly, Violet finally let go of Mother and looked at me. “We are trapped in this cave,” she said somberly. “You must get out of here. I will distract them. Please, save yourself and Mother if I do not make it out alive.”
“Violet…” My eyes widened slightly at her request. She had been right about the cave not being the safest place at the moment, but the thought of her sacrificing herself was just out of the question — even for me. “No, you can't do this. I will not go on without you! There must be another way!”
A small, wistful smile spread over Violet's face as her gentle, sienna eyes looked at me. “If it is my time to die, Dearest Sister, then I shall embrace it knowing I will die protecting those that I love. However, if Celestra deems my life worthy to see another day, then I shall rejoin you soon.”
Even with death so near, Violet remained calm and carefree. I sighed, feeling flustered. Arguing with her at this point would be futile. Her mind was already made up and time was running out.
She leaned over to kiss Mother's forehead and then my own before standing up and walking towards the group of ravenous creatures. Her body became but a blur of blackness only seconds after she attempted to sprint past the group.
Like the hungry predators they were, the creatures chased Violet for several meters before pouncing on her and tearing into her flesh. My eyes and ears burned from what I witnessed. Mother's body was getting heavier in my arms, but I pushed myself forward out of the cave, hoping the creatures would still be preoccupied.
I suddenly felt Mother's body get ripped from my arms. Before I knew it, the sounds of shrill cries and more flesh ripping surrounded me. Mother was too weak to scream, but I knew what had happened. My mind felt too stunned to truly comprehend the devastation. In blinded desperation, I retreated back into the cave and collapsed to the rocky ground, my body shaking uncontrollably from the traumatizing experience.
One of the creatures prodded its head back into the mouth of the cave in an attempt to snap at my foot which was dangerously close to its reach. Out of frustration, the creature howled mercilessly, causing the cave to shake once more.
I covered my ears quickly in the pathetic attempt to drown out the horrific sounds. Suddenly, I felt a small pebble hit my forehead from above, followed by another, larger rock.
The remaining creatures shrieked in unison once they had finished feasting on Mother's corpse. The sounds were enough to cause the ground to quake and more rocks to fall, making the cave slowly crumble and become further unstable.
Another larger rock fell and landed on my midsection, making me gasp for air, afterwards. Suddenly, I felt the ground beneath me collapse and I fell through an endless pit of darkness. The screams of the creatures above quickly faded into nothingness.