Part Five

Her Broken Wings (Part Five)
by Phoebe Lee Mathius

"You've got to walk that lonesome valley,
You've got to walk there by yourself;
And no one here can walk it for you,
You've got to walk it by yourself."

There it was again.

She cautiously peered around her. She could've sworn she heard something. But she had been hearing things all day, and each had turned out to be nothing at all.

She hobbled forward but stopped.

She heard it again.

"Who are you? Show yourself!"

Suddenly, a foul odour gripped her nostrils and a fierce wind blew all around her. The grass withered away into charred ashes as if a fiery inferno had burnt the entire area, save the small patch of moss that she was standing in.

It was then that she heard it.

A horrific shriek; as of a screeching banshee -- only much more terrifying. It grew louder and louder; hitting decibels in volumes unimaginable. Falling to her knees, she cupped her ears with her dirty hands. She was crying.

"No, Lord! No! Not again!"

And then, silence.

Like she had just been placed into a little vaccuum container.

Her ears were throbbing madly. They were sore and still reverberated tiny echoes of the shriek. She laid very still for a moment or two, listening. Nothing.

Very slowly, she looked up - hoping against hope that she'd see nothing. That she would wake up. That it would all just be a silly nightmare.

She was wrong.

"You've got to stand one day in judgement,
You've got to stand there by yourself;
And no one here can stand there for you,
You've got to stand there...

...by yourself."

Part Four

Her Broken Wings (Part Four)
by Phoebe Lee Mathius

"Hear me and answer me.
My thoughts trouble me and I am distraught."
Psalm 55:2

She woke up, startled.

The nightmare had seemed so real. Her heart was still ramming hard against her rib cage and she was sweating. Everything ached. Pulling herself up, she continued her strenuous journey. Where she was heading, she didn’t really care now. If she were to return to the palace only to be ridiculed as in her dream, she was better off dying in the forest, she had concluded.

She didn’t know what time it was, whether it was day; or whether it was night. All she saw… was darkness behind her, and darkness ahead of her.

She walked for what seemed like a long time. She had not eaten or drunk anything for days and she had lost a lot of blood as it is. Having nothing left in her reserve, her body gave way…. again. She fell on her hands and knees. Her world was spinning and she felt nauseous. However, there was nothing in her to vomit out.

"How much longer, My Lordship? How much longer before I die?"

"How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me?" Psalm 13:2

Sitting down, she cautiously turned to inspect the bloody gash on her back. She still couldn’t believe it.

Her wings. Were truly gone.

******

He saw the thing fall. All this while, he was observing it from afar. So that’s where the blood had come from! He thought. It looked a sorry sight, but he could not be sure if it was foe or friend. The Forest of Darkness was littered with Temptors and other evil Beings. It could be Anything.

But then again, Temptors don’t bleed red. They disgorge grit and spew out muck-like liquid when dying (he’d killed a few); so they can’t bleed red…

Or can they?

His train of thought was cut short, as the thing had begun moving again. He crept across the path and hid behind the closest tree to have a closer look. Why, it was merely a girl! He watched her tear off her sleeve to tie over her wound. She was trembling.

The wound was deep. “Temptors,” he snarled. He watched her tend to her wound quietly.

“She won’t survive,” he murmured.

******

“Sssshe wohon’t ssssurvive,” sniggered something else that was observing the dying heir. It was replied with many other hisses and sniggers of agreement.

Part Three

Her Broken Wings (Part Three)
by Phoebe Lee Mathius

She saw the palace in a distance and almost lept for joy. She began hobbling as fast as her feet would let her, towards the great Wall of Truth that separated the forest from the Courts.

"Oh, won't Liv be simply overjoyed to see me again!"

She stood, trembling in fatigue, gazing at the towering wall before her. She quickly made her way around it, searching for the gate that faithfully guarded the entrance.

Several hours later, she was facing the intricately designed gate. Her fingers traced the pearl-carved vines, distractedly. How she had loved to peer into the world beyond between those railings! She had never realized how foolish she had been till that very moment.

"Hey, you there! What are you doing at the Gates?" called a guard, rushing up towards her, drawing a sword.

"I'm Lady Shyne, I have returned. Please let me in," she replied.

The guard narrowed his eyes and inched closer towards her, suspicious. His sword was half-way out of its sheath. "L-lady Shyne?" He gazed at her for the longest of moments. Suddenly, he bursts out laughing.

Shyne was beginning to get exasperated. Why wouldn't he believe her?

"Sir Clyde! Yous better comma hava looka dis one! Sez she's Lada Shyne!" He called to another guard, sniggering.

Clyde approached the gate. "What's going on here?"

"I'm Lady Shyne! Please believe me! I lost my way in the forest. But I've returned now. Please let me in." She was begging now, desperation getting the better of her.

He looked bewildered. He nodded for his subordinate to leave. "I'll handle this."

After the other had left, Clyde looked at her closely and frowned. "But, you don't look anything like her, my child. You are filthy, you share no beauty the Lady possesses, you are scrawny, and most evident of all," he craned his neck to have a second look down her back, "you have no wings."

"B-But they were torn out! B-by beings I had trusted to show me the way! Shape-shifters, who could assume the shape of many! I hardly know what they are now. Please, believe me!" Shyne was desperate now.

Clyde nodded his head gravely, "The Temptors. They roam the Forest of Darkness-- hungry for straying, royal blood..."

"Please, Clyde. Let me in. Don't let me stay out here! I'm afraid!" Shyne pleaded with him.

Clyde waved his hand. "Let me consult my superiors," he said and turned to leave.

Her heart was pierced with sickness.

"O Lord, h..."

And then she stopped short.

"That's it! The Lordship! Clyde, please, take me to the Lordship! The Lord Our King! He would surely recognize me!" She yelled with the very little strength she had remaining.

He turned around. "Are you sure?" he asked.

"Yes!"

Tapping two fingers to the right side of his head, a holographic image appeared before him. He navigated through the interface using, what seemed to be a menu. After keying in a familiar 5-character security code, (Shyne had counted the bleeps the first time she had left) the pearly Gates began to creak. And then...

It disappeared.

Shyne hurriedly hobbled in.

“Oh, thank you,” she reached out to Clyde, in gratitude. He took a step back. “Not until you’re clean. Sorry.”

Aghast at his reaction, she quietly obeyed. “Now follow me,” he instructed as he began to weave through the crowd that had gradually grown to witness the fracas at the Gates.

“Who, or What is that?”
“Oh, she’s horrid!”
“She smells foul! Like something was rotting!”
“She’s ugly!”
“Why is her back so hunched?”
“Ugh, I haven’t seen garments in that color before!”
“Oh, my heavens! She doesn’t have wings!”
“Does she even have a face?”

Tears stung her eyes. Falling to the ground, she buried her head in her hands, in shame. When she looked up, Clyde had already disappeared into the crowd.

The crowd was almost atop her now. The taunts had gradually risen in a crescendo.

“Please stop it,” she sobbed.

“Oh, how hideous!”
“Keep her away from me!”
“Dylan, get away from there! You might catch her disease!”
“Is she leprous?”
“She stinks!”

Thud.

Someone had hurled a pebble at her.

“STOP IT!” Shyne screamed.

And didn’t stop screaming. Everything around her began to drain away.

“My Lord, save me…” she pleaded in her heart’s voice.

Part Two

Her Broken Wings (Part Two)
by Phoebe Lee Mathius

"Have you lost your sanity?"

"C'mon, Liv! There's a whole new world to explore! The lush greens, the birds, and ooohh, the streams..."

"But we already have a River here in the Courts, Shy! What more are you looking for? Surely you cannot be thirsty?"

"You're missing the point, Liv! Of course I'm not thirsty! I'm just looking for a little excitement and adventure, that's what! You know, play a little with danger. Get our adrenalines pumping!"

"But we are forbidden to leave the Courts. The Lordship has warned us that it is not safe. Only He and His troops venture out that gate - to defeat our adversaries; those who threaten our kingdom. Stepping out there means stepping into enemy territory! In here, we are protected."

"Oh, alright. How about we just hover over the forest? Nothing could possibly happen."

"Shyne, please..."

"Well, fine! If you won't come with me, I'll just go alone!"

"Shy! I beg you, don't go! .... SHYNE!"

Snap.

She winced. She had stepped onto a twig. Her bare feet were now covered in splatters of mud and dried blood. Her long hair was matted down in sweat. Her face bore scratches and scars from the many times she had fallen in pain-- the open gash on her back was taking its toll. The sky was still no where in sight. She had no bearing of where she was.

And as she inched her way in the dark, her mind began throwing wild accusations.

"Why does the Lordship have windows in the palace - if not to tempt us?"

"And that sorry excuse of a guard! Why didn't he stop me at the gates? Careless fool!"

"And Liv.....This is all your fault! I hate you with a passion! If only you had come with me, this wouldn't have happened!"

She grit her teeth and tightened her fist in rage.

"This is all your fault, Liv...all your.."

She couldn't finish. She knew she had no one else to blame but herself. She dropped to the ground; the wound in her heart overshadowed the agony she felt in her body.

"My Lord, save me!" she wailed.

"Out of the depths I have cried to You, O Lord!" Psalm 130:1

She was only replied with deafening silence.

"Oh, why didn't I listen to you, Liv?

...Why?"

On the muddy floor of the forest, Shyne curled up in fetal position - sobbing and singing herself to sleep.

"I walked one morning at the dawn
When bits of night, still lingered on
I sought my star...
but it was gone.

It's a long road to freedom,
a winding steep and high
but when you walk in love
with the wind on your wing
And cover the earth
with the songs you sing,
The miles fly by."

-Unknown

Part One

Her Broken Wings (Part One)
By Phoebe Lee Mathius

She was shivering. Drops of perspiration wet her brow as she trudged along what seemed like a path. The soles of her feet were raw with cuts and bruises. Hugging herself, she desperately tried to keep warmth from escaping her body. Suddenly, an excruciating surge flooded her senses, causing her to fall to her knees.

"My Lord, where are you?"

She began sobbing in agony.

"How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?" Psalm 13:1

As she tried to get up, pain consumed her yet again. It was almost as if someone had thrust a blunt dagger between both her shoulder blades. It was then she realized something warm was flowing down her back, down her legs.... forming a pool on the ground.

Blood.

She couldn't turn to inspect her wound. The pain was too great. She didn't want to see it anyway, she thought. It would only...

She began to weep.

"When I thought how to understand this,
It was too painful for me--" Psalm 73:16

She continued trudging along that endless muddy path, her blood marking a trail behind her. She didn't know where it was leading her to but she had been following it for hours now; wincing at every step, aching at every breath.

"It is so dark, My Lord. I have not seen such darkness."

She grabbed the trunk of a tree in feverish exhaustion. She cautiously arched her neck backward to try and catch a glimpse of the sky. There was no sign of it. The forest canopy was too dense.

"My Lord, I'm lost. I'm afraid."

Funny how the forest had looked so different... even beautiful; through the windows of the palace. It didn't look as enticing anymore, from where she was standing.