Volucris_Emmergence Read online

  “So, there is no religion? It’s all a myth based on some rogue Volucris?”

  “I’m not saying that no, that is just where the idea of the image of angels came from, I don’t want to get into a religious debate with you now Moria, there isn’t time.”

  Silence descended over the three of them, all lost within their own thoughts. Lordes knew what the next conversation had to be but he also knew he needed to tread carefully.

  Rebecca’s concern for Mo was forthright, she could only guess what she was going through and it pained her so much that part of the reason Mo was hurting was down to her. She was also concerned with Lordes and his real intentions for Mo, she still did not trust him even though his reasons for leaving Iliana seemed genuine. He had told her that Iliana had begged him to go that she knew he would not be strong enough to carry her, that there was only one chance for him to leave and that was without her, he had the responsibility of the clan to think of. Rebecca thought this could be true; Iliana would always put others before herself, but what had happened to her? Lordes said he left her alive, in pain and bleeding but alive, he claims to have searched for her ever since. Rebecca felt that Iliana was alive somewhere, she thought she would know if she had perished, but where? Her lasting memory of that evening was seeing Lordes jump from the roof, his wings spreading wide and leaving, leaving Iliana, leaving her, leaving Mo. She didn’t feel she could trust him but she also knew that when it came to Mo’s safety Lordes was her best option.

  The tension in the room was palpable, each of them waiting for the other to speak but none knew how to start. The front door buzzer broke the silence and made Rebecca and Mo jump. Rebecca got up and went over to her holo projector bringing up a picture of the person at the door. Rebecca saw Ethan’s dark eyes looking up at her and she let him in without comment. The door opened slowly and Ethan tentatively walked into the room, he too could feel the unwelcome tension. Mo now had a better look at this boy, he was not a boy though, she had not realised but he was just as large as Lordes, his face was young and again she was struck by his beauty, he could not be more than in his early twenties. Sshe now realised the huge pack on his back must be concealing his wings and she wondered if they were golden too? He did not acknowledge her or Rebecca at all but looked straight up at Lordes and sighed,

  “Was that really necessary?” Ethan was referring to Lordes’ now very visible wings.

  “Yes, it was.” Lordes responded without giving any explanation. “We have not finished yet Ethan but soon will be, go and ready Benji, it will be time to leave soon.” Lordes again had no emotion in his voice and Ethan nodded not questioning anything he said just obeying. Mo wondered who Benji was and what his wings were like, she was more concerned with their imminent departure - she had a lot more questions to ask and felt suddenly angry that this was all she was getting, so short, too short. Ethan left the room again without even looking at Mo or Rebecca, Rebecca was nonplussed at this and Mo thought it incredibly rude.

  As soon as the door had closed Mo turned on her father. “You’re leaving!”

  Lordes held up his hands, “Yes we have to, but Mo, not without you, that is why we are here, to take you to safety.”

  A wave of unexpected relief swept through Mo even though she had only spent less than an hour in the company of this man, she did not want him to leave, she wanted to know more, about him, about herself and her Mother. She was also relieved to finally have support for herself and her Grandmother, they no longer would have to do this alone, to face the uncertainty and impending danger. She reached over and clasped her Grandmother’s hand and smiled at her, but Rebecca did not return her smile, if anything she looked distraught and tears were appearing at the corner of her eyes.

  “What’s wrong, do you not want to go?” Mo asked, pain clutching at her heart, a feeling of dread creeping in, she knew what was coming.

  “Yes, sweetheart I want to come, but I cannot, only you can go.”

  “What?” Mo looked towards Lordes her pleading eyes asking him why?

  Lordes stood and came and sat next to Mo placing his hand on hers, it was huge and rough like he had worked all his life, she saw scars on the back of it. His wings were nestled on his back but so close she could see just how beautiful they were, they moved constantly with his own movements, they were never just static, the light constantly glinting off them. She looked up at him and studied his face, the scars on his cheek were deep but old and, his eyes were piercing but unsettling, she faltered under his gaze and looked down.

  “Mo, we wish we could take everyone where we are going but we can’t. Where we are going is a place for only those who can fly and we cannot carry all that cannot.”

  “But I can’t fly, I have no wings.” Mo retorted through her tears which were now flowing down her cheeks. Sshe knew what was going on, what they wanted her to agree to and she couldn’t bear it.

  “Not yet, Mo, but you will and soon and it is important that we protect you, we are so few and we must keep hold of everyone we can.”

  “But who is going to protect my Grandmother, is she no less important just because her wings are gone?”

  Rebecca raised Mo’s head to look at her, she knew she would have to convince her, as much as she hated it, Lordes would not be able to, not in his cold way and Mo had to go, she must be protected even if she wasn’t herself, as long as she knew Mo was safe she could be content.

  “Sweetheart it’s not about who is more important and why, it’s about who can be saved. This world is over. I have protected you from the worst of what is happening but that is the truth, the human population as we know it is dying, this world will never be the same again and difficult decisions have to be made. Lordes is making that decision, he can only save so many. My sweet girl it will break my heart to not be with you but it would kill me if you stayed and I could not protect you.”

  “But surely the government, the authorities will come and help, will do something, will protect us.” Mo’s voice was rising, panicking at the prospect of losing her Grandmother.

  “The government will not protect you when you have wings.” Lordes responded emotion devoid from his voice, cold and harsh, this was the reality of it Mo realised, she was different, exposed, an Alien quite literally about to spread her wings.

  “Then cut them away, I don’t want them, I want my life here with you.” She shouted, she looked at her Grandmother. Lordes stood and for the first time his emotion came to the forefront he shouted so loud that the whole house seemed to shake.

  “NEVER!”

  Mo shrunk into herself at the noise., Rebecca stood putting her arm over Mo protecting her, she was not afraid of this man, the battle-scarred clan chief, not any more.

  “Lordes stop, you will not speak like that in my house or you and your minions can leave!” Lordes bristled at Rebecca, clearly rattled at someone standing up to him., Tthis gave Rebecca her power and Lordes backed down andhe returned to the other side of the kitchen putting his hands on the work top trying to calm himself.

  Rebecca sat back down again and stroked Mo’s hair away from her face, she looked straight into her dark brown eyes and spoke softly and calmly to her Granddaughter.

  “Mo, you don’t want that, believe me. You are a Volucris and always will be with or without your wings. But without you will always feel the loss and carry it forever, I don’t want that for you, I want you to realise what you are, what I could and should have been, andbeen, and most importantly I want and need you to be safe and I cannot protect you here not properly, even if you did not have wings.”

  “But I don’t want anything to happen to you.” Mo sobbed.

  “I will be fine darling, Lordes has arranged for me to go back to the commune with some others who are like me, old friends of mine who will look after me, we will look after each other.”

  Mo looked up her tears subsiding, “Really? Can’t we all go there?”

  “No, it is too close to the human population, not safe enough fo
r Volucris, but we should be fine.”

  “But what about sSchool, my exams, what about Lizzie and my friends?”

  “There will be no need for that now, you will have a new education, a new training schedule to become a great Volucris.” Lordes responded.

  “No need for friends?” Mo retorted hurt by his indifference.

  “You will make new friends, the Volucris will welcome you with open arms and there is so much to learn.” Lordes was getting frustrated with all of these questions; why could she not see what was happening. “This world is over, the friends you have here will either die or die trying to survive, this is the only way to protect you properly away from all humans.”

  Mo was shocked at his harsh words, reality was really starting to bite and she did not like it one bit. She turned to her Grandmother.

  “I don’t want to leave you.”

  “I know darling and I don’t want to leave you but this is the only way, the best way, ok?”

  Mo looked at Rebecca and nodded. They embraced each other.

  Rebecca looked up at Lordes, the look between them acknowledged that he had got what he came for., Rrelief broke on Lordes face for a brief moment, as the tears streamed down Rebecca’s cheeks.

  “I will send Garrick for you. Hhe is West of here at the moment but should be with you in a couple of days, will you be ready?”

  “Yes, thank you.” Rebecca collected herself together and wiped her eyes.” Right, let’s get some things together.” Mo nodded and got up slowly and they left the room arm in arm.

  Lordes took out his holo and made a call. “We are ready, I think in about 20 minutes, you take her and start driving and I will wait till night fall and take off and catch you up. Can you call Garrick tell him there is one more to pick up?, I know what I said but it’s important to the girl. Just get it done.”

  Chapter 10

  Rebecca was packing some of Mo’s clothes into a small suitcase, Mo sat on her bed watching. They did not speak, there was nothing left to say. , Nneither of them wanted this outcome but both knew there really was no choice.

  Mo broke the silence, “what is the commune like?”

  Grateful Mo was still talking to her after all of the morning’s revelations, Rebecca sat on the bed with her and held her hand.

  “ItsIt’s lovely, I was very happy there for a time with your mother. It’s more or less self-sufficient, there always was a very healthy vegetable garden, an orchard with fantastic fruit and also a large herd of cows, pigs and oh the chickens.”

  “Were the cows for the milk?”

  “Yes, some but mainly for the meat, the Volucris need a lot of protein to give them strength so that they can fly, but you will learn all that. I suspect where you are going will be very similar; you’ll learn where your food really comes from!” Rebecca smiled.

  “I know where my food comes from.” Mo responded a little hurt by the comment.

  “There will be no more crisps or biscuits you know, Lordes will have you on a very strict diet to build your strength, it will be all iron rich vegetables, nuts and meat lots of meat.”

  Mo looked down concern shadowing her smile.

  “It’s ok darling girl, it won’t be that bad, they are just careful what they eat, you’ll see, you’ll end up loving it, I certainly did.”

  Mo felt a little comforted by Rebecca’s words but she still felt a dark hole growing in the pit of her stomach. Tthe thought she was leaving Rebecca, all she knew and the worry she was inevitably going to feel, she could feel tears prick at the corners of her eyes and knew if she let go she wouldn’t be able to stop. Rebecca understood instantly what she was feeling and put her arms around her.

  “I will be fine sweetheart, honestly, please try not to worry, I will be, knowing that you are.”

  “I just wish we could do this together, I have never been without you.”

  “I wish that too, but it’s just not possible., Yyou have a real adventure in front of you, you will find out who you really are, meet some amazing and fascinating people who will all help you when your wings start to grow. The Volucris are on the whole most welcoming, they will be delighted you are joining them, you’ll see.”

  Mo started to feel a little better, she supposed it was an adventure and that she was something different, something fantastical, would she really be able to fly? The thought scared her and excited her at the same time -, would she become strong too like her father and Ethan. She thought again about her father; he was a complete stranger but now she would get to know him and hopefully about her mother too, something she had always craved for but never really been able to ask her Grandmother.

  “I guess so, Lordes will look after me, won’t he?”

  Rebecca looked down unsure of what to say, she did not want to scare Mo or put her off going but she had to at least warn her.

  “Yes, he will look after you darling but try and remember this, for him his duty as clan leader is paramount, that is his calling and the most important thing for him. I have never really tried to hide you sweetheart, I never changed my name or yours, your name is the one your mother and father gave you., Iif he had wanted to find you there really was nothing standing in his way but it has taken until now for him to do so.” She looked away from Mo, clearly struggling to find the words. “He is not bad or dishonourable it’s just that his focus in life is different, my focus is you and you will be very important to him but the survival of the clan will always be paramount. It’s hard for me to explain. Jjust try not to get too close and try not to be too disappointed if he doesn’t live up to what you expect, he is a very complicated man. Do you understand?”

  Mo nodded, but she did not really understand what Rebecca was saying, did she not trust him? Rebecca smiled and nodded but she also knew her explanation of Lordes had not been good enough for Mo, she would have to find out for herself through time what he was really like;, it had taken Rebecca years to understand and she was a lot older than Mo.

  “One day Mo I promise you we will see each other again, you will see. This world will recover one way or another and we shall be able to be together again, I know in my heart that is true.”

  Mo could no longer stop the tears from falling and she buried her head into her Grandmother’s warm bosom and wept.

  “I promise Grandma I will find you when I am strong and can carry you, I will take you to wherever we are, I promise.”

  “I know you will my beautiful girl, I know.”

  Chapter 11

  Mo and Rebecca came down the stairs and back into the kitchen where Lordes was waiting., Mo was still taken aback at the sight of him, it was so unreal but so real at the same time., Hhe truly was glorious. She wondered for the first time what she would look like and what it must feel like to have wings. Lordes brought her out of her reverie.

  “Is that all you’re taking?” He acknowledged the small suitcase Mo had packed, she didn’t need much not like most teenagers her age. She nodded at Lordes. Sshe felt not surprisingly intimidated by this man, this creature. Rebecca could feel the unease Mo felt, it radiated off her and she was not pleased that Lordes was doing nothing to help her feel more at ease. She turned Mo towards her and reached round her own neck.

  “Here, I want you to have this, it’s quite valuable and don’t fret if you need to sell it for some reason, but I would like you to have it.”

  She pulled out a long chain and on the end, was a purple stone surrounded by gold leaves, it was beautiful., Mo had often played with it as a child, rolling it around in her hands watching the sunlight dance off it.

  “No Grandma that is precious to you.”

  “Not as precious as you are, please I would like you to have it.”

  “Ok, but I will never sell it.”

  “Just in case, ok.” Rebecca placed it gently around Mo’s neck and kissed her on the cheek.

  “It’s time you were leaving.” Lordes as tactful as ever bought them both crashing back to the reality of the situation. The door bu
zzer rang and Ethan’s face appeared on the holo projector.

  Rebecca took Mo’s face in her hands and looked on her with such love, tears were gathering in her eyes.

  “Ok sweetheart, I won’t come out, I can’t.” Her voice began to crack and Mo grasped her, holding her tight not wanting to let her go. Rebecca slowly extracted herself from Mo’s grasp and she wiped her eyes.

  “It will be ok, the Volucris will look after you they all will.” She looked over at Lordes with a stern expression. He returned her stare with no emotion.

  “Go darling, go with Ethan, I will be fine, take care and make sure you get big and strong ok, I love you with all my heart, my beautiful darling girl.”

  “I love you too Grandma.” Mo was barely keeping it together but she knew she had to move now or never would., Sshe picked up her bag and went to the front door, turning only once to her Grandmother giving her a feeble smile to try and let her know she was ok, but she wasn’t, she wanted to stay so badly, she had to go now or never. She opened the door, Ethan looming over her, he looked directly into her eyes, she thought he was almost as intimidating as her Father.

  “Let’s go, we have a lot of ground to cover.” Ethan was very brisk and not at all friendly. Ddid he not understand what was happening?

  “Yes?” He demanded as she just stood there looking at him.

  “Yes” she replied, she had to be brave, if he was not going to acknowledge her grief then she wouldn’t show it, she was stronger than this. She stood up straight grabbed her bag and shut the door behind her.

  Rebecca sighed and lowered herself into a chair, her world had just collapsed.

  “You promise me Lordes that whatever else happens you take care of her, she is worth ten of you, of all of you and your followers, she is special, you hear.”

  “She is my daughter Rebecca, of course I will look after her.”

  Rebecca was not placated by his words, well at least she will be safer with them than here, she hoped. She left the room not wanting to be in the presence of Lordes for a moment longer.