Chapter 1: The Scarlet Barrier
She floated in a tranquil and peaceful sea; she had felt no pain, no sorrow, but pure bliss. She blinked her eyes as she began hearing a light whistling in her ears, almost like the wind rushing past her. She gasped as she felt a white-hot pain climb around her body as she awoke to herself falling through the sky. She gazed up at the crimson sky, then noticed that the sun was the colour of blood. She knew this place; her instructor had informed her about its history. If she recalled it correctly, it was the Cordon Region, also known as the Deadlands to many. A prison for the Beasts of Blood, hunted by the appointed Hunters by the royal capital at the time after the Battle of Malice.
Her eyes widened as she heard the screaming of a Malo and the sound of wings flapping in the distance. Rachel turned her body so she was facing the snow-covered ground as a beast flapped towards her. It looked like a prehistoric creature with a massive, dark, leathery body with enormous bat-like wings that extended outwards. Its head is reminiscent of a pterosaur with a long, tapered snout filled with sharp, jagged teeth and empty predatory eyes.
The Malo darted towards her as she dodged, using her raven-like wings to push herself away. It banked, circling for another attack, when Rachel noticed that she had wings. She didn’t have them before, but she could dwell on them for too long, as she could use them. Her wings gave out, and she fell spinning on the way down. The Malo nosedived towards her as she calmed herself, swallowing her fear to survive. She steadied herself, watching the Malo flap its wings, and she followed, learning from it. With each flap, she felt the same sting as she winced, and then fell again. Rachel bit her lip in frustration as she grabbed at her daggers on her back, but felt nothing, and she recalled they were taken from her. She took a deep breath, flapping her wings again, ignoring the pain she felt as the Malo tried in vain to attack. She dodged, flapping upwards, then she instinctively grabbed at the wings, forgetting that she didn’t have her daggers on her, but used her black-nailed fingers. When she saw her clawed hand as it stabbed its wings, cutting them like paper.
The Malo flapped in vain as it began to descend, shrieking as it fell, then was brutally impaled through a tree as it bent from its weight. Rachel tasted crimson as she flapped away from the scene, then her vision blurred, and she neared the trees below. She didn’t have the strength left as she used her wings to shield herself, bracing herself for the impact. Rachel felt every scratch as it ripped through her skin and wings like razor blades, causing tiny cuts as she hit the branches along the way. She felt the wind knocked out of her as she hit the fresh snow. She coughed and gasped, then lay as her wings fell beside her, as her gaze turned upwards.
Tiny branches fell on either side of her as her vision blurred, seeing nothing, and she heard muffled sounds like water in her eyes. Then a high- pitched ringing replaced the sounds, and she felt the shock as she tried to gather her breath, feeling the sensation as if her lungs had been flattened. She frantically grasped, her throat hitching as no air came in, and she began to panic. Her heart hammered against her bruised ribs like a trapped bird. Rachel pushed through her pain as she managed a small, ragged sip of air, and she began to feel the cold. An electric sting of the freezing temperature of the snow touched her skin and the base of her wings. She felt the weight of her wings as she tried to tuck them in, but it felt like two massive lumps dragging on the snow.
Rachel heard the howl and screams of the Beasts of Blood as she sat up, then felt a throbbing on her body. She saw that her tunic was stained crimson with a branch that stabbed through her abdomen and her thigh. She needed to get to shelter before the sun set and the Beast of Blood would emerge from the darkness. She grabbed a branch in the snow, using it to brace herself with the help of a nearby tree. She needed to find her gear to be able to treat her wounds. She huffed as a scarlet colour oozed out of her wounds, and she felt the pain at the back of her head and wiped the blood from her brow. Her pain spiked as she put weight on her leg, her clawed hand clutched the tree, and she shook from the pain.
As the sky darkened, her vision turned into a green tint, and then she saw steam rising from the snow in the distance. Her gear had to be close; she walked over a small hill, where she saw a piece of steel, and she hobbled towards it. It was slow, agonizing; every inch forward caused the wood in her stomach to grind against her spine. She left a trail of dark blood and ruffled feathers in the snow. She reached the edge of a small steaming crater with a triangular shard that made a light fire. She had to treat herself to survive, and she leaned against a tree and slipped onto her butt as she blinked hard, trying to stay awake as she prepared for the procedure. She removed her pieces from her cloak and wrapped them around a piece of metal sticking out of the fire, and the other fabric pieces for after the cauterization. She blinked, putting a strip of leather from her straps into her mouth, and she felt a tear falling down her face as she prepared herself for more pain. She was losing strength, and she needed to do this quickly before she lost it.
Rachel grabbed a branch, then ripped it out of her stomach, then set the hot metal on her stomach, and she gritted her teeth. Tears fell, hitting the snow as she groaned when she cauterized her wounds. She smelt her burning flesh as she put the metal back into the fire, then wound the fabric around her stomach. She took a few deep breaths as she glanced around, listening and scanning the area, while she wiped her eyes from her tears. She moved on to the new treatment. The howls were getting closer; she had to move faster, but she was so weak. She was losing a lot of blood, but she moved towards her leg and adjusted the leather. She ripped the stick out,t following it with the glowing metal, and more tears fell with the smell of cooked flesh as her skin burnt. She wrapped her leg wound with the fabric. She needed to put out the fire, but she was so weak, and her body wouldn’t listen to her. Rachel sat leaning on the tree as she heard the howls get closer, and she knew she couldn’t fight. She closed her eyes for a moment; she was just going to rest and get her strength back up.
A shadowed woman emerged; she wore a white mask with white clothing, and her purple eyes smiled at her. “Rachel, you’re okay now,” she said, then looked at the small fire, “got to get this put out. Get some sleep; I’ll do the rest.”
