Zyno has been on the run for nearly a week since his second capture. Nunley caught him within a day of releasing him but didn’t enjoy the sport of the easy hunt and released him once again without further injury. In fact, Nunley dressed his broken wing stub to where it wouldn’t bleed him a trail to follow. He also plucked the loose feathers that have been falling from the good wing. Lastly, he gave Zyno his mace back to defend himself.
Nunley and his hunters released Zyno again with the promise that they would not show anymore pity on him. Nunley’s last words to him still ring strong in his mind- “take care of my wing until I collect it.”
These savages show no remorse for the brutality they force upon their victims. Zyno’s horror from seeing the sight of his wing carelessly used as a decoration for a man who has many trophies from other victims does not go away. It lingers in his mind, especially anytime he tries to close his eyes. They have pushed him to exhaustion, but he knows he cannot stop.
The Skyman has been running through a fire-oak forest for hours. It’s thick undergrowth and vines should slow the men with their horses. Perhaps they will lose his trail.
Either way he refuses to stick around to find out, he presses on.
The thickness of the shrubbery presses against his broken wing to remind him that he is still wounded. A man of the sky who will never touch it again. He doesn’t allow these creeping thoughts to remain though, his life isn’t safe yet.
He makes a final push through the denseness that spits him out into a field. He has stepped on to an ancient homestead. The fields are sprouting with fruits and vegetables of all shapes, colors, and sizes. In a few months the field would have provided great cover to move around out of sight, but the plants barely come to his knees now. He is exposed to whomever is in the area.
He instantly makes a move back to the forest.
“A Skyman! A real one!”
He looks to his right to see a very old lady. The wrinkles on her leather face fold over one another. She is smiling so wide; her eyes are almost shut and shows her lack of teeth. She has such a tiny frame that she could not be even five feet tall. Her appearance disarms the panicked Zyno enough for him to speak.
“Please, I’m injured. Hunters are chasing me. I have to hide… please don’t tell anyone you saw me.” He says as he continues into the woods.
“If you need to hide, then I can give you shelter.”
“They are on my trail; they will come here.”
“Then perhaps I can have my son create a false trail. Please, allow an old woman to help you.”
After a short pause, Zyno agrees.
She takes him to an old barn in the middle of her property. Inside, she takes him into a stall and moves the hay around to reveal a hidden door. She takes him down inside.
“It’s an old hideout from the Great War. My family stowed away all sorts of people in here. Magicians, Minotaurs, Witches, Ghostfaces, Rhine, Tree Dwellers, and even Skymen. If Paul the Devastator couldn’t find it, I’m sure a few hunters will go by all the same.”
“My people stowed away in here?”
“They did as the war was pushed westward; they needed a place to hide. My ancestors chose the side of magic in secret but the side of the King in public. According to family tradition, we saved a lot of lives during the war.”
“Amazing.” Zyno says.
“As for your trail, can you give me a few feathers, and maybe a few strips of clothing?”
Zyno complies and hands the old woman the feathers and strips. “Thank you for doing this, my name is Zyno.”
“I am Ann. It is my honor. Makes me feel like I am apart of my family’s tradition now.”
“Ann, what if they come here? They are brutal men.”
“I will tell them that I saw you, but you ran in the direction of the trail my son will leave.”
“If they don’t buy it, they could hurt you. Even kill you.”
“Zyno, I am one hundred and thirty-five years old. If they come, I welcome death. My life has been nothing but toiling in the soil. This is the first thing I have ever done that gives me a sense of purpose.”
“What about your son?”
“He’s an idiot. He’s eighty-two years old and never married. Fifteen hundred years of our family plowing this land, and it ends with him. He isn’t worth worrying about. I’ll bring some blankets and food after I send my son off to make a trail.”
The old lady leaves the hideout, and Zyno looks at the walls of the place. There are old carvings and drawings in the walls. He sees a feather carved with a circle around it, with the words High Above written below it. It’s his family crest! His Grandfather stayed here. In a strange way, this gives him comfort.
The old lady returns and assures him that he can rest. He quickly eats before falling asleep. When he finally awakens, he finds a few plates of food were brought to him while he was out. He must have slept for days.
He carefully steps out of his hideout and looks for the old lady in the fields.
“Come on out Birdman.” He hears from behind.
It’s Nunley and crew, they have Ann.
“Before I collect the rest of my cape, you are going to watch me deal out some justice. Magic is illegal in the land and hiding a magic creature on your land is an offense punishable by death.”
“Run Zyno! Don’t worry about me!” Ann screams.
Zyno begins running as Nunley slices the old woman’s throat from ear to ear.
“No need in running now! We got you!” Zyno hears from behind.
He doesn’t stop, he runs and doesn’t look back. He will mourn Ann later, if he survives.
He ran directly away from the fire-oak forest, he enters a wooded area after crossing the road and keeps on running. Briars, and limbs and vines cannot stop him. He is bleeding all over from the scratches, but he doesn’t care. Death is behind him. He can hear them taunting him just a few hundred feet back.
Maybe this is it, maybe he has ran out of places to go. But he will run until they physically stop him.
Over the hills, and into the valleys he runs.
His superior hearing lets him know that he is pushing away from them, but he can’t stop now.
He runs out of the woods to the edge of a cliff. At least three hundred feet above a small stream. Too small to jump into. Is there a way down? He asks himself. No, he is trapped. His mace is back at the old farm. He is defenseless.
Nunley exits the woods with laughter, his crew in tow.
“You cornered yourself. Ostriches can’t run on cliffs. You’re a ground bird now.” He says as he throws down something at Zyno’s feet.
“The old woman’s scalp. She refused to help us. Her son wasn’t so stubborn when we found him out laying a fake trail through the middle of nowhere. Of course, he had to pay for his part in all this. I just didn’t bother to take his scalp.”
“Why…” Zyno begins before being cut off.
“I am an anointed knight of the kingdom, it’s my job to hand out the King’s justice.” Nunley says with a smile on his face.
The other two hunters begin to flank Zyno so that he will not have an escape.
“Tell you what Birdman, give me my wing without a fight and I will allow you to live. I’ll take you to Rhoan and put you in a cage in the city square for public viewing. Or you could fight me, and I’ll kill you, then cut my wing off your back. Those are your two options, choose now.” Nunley says with an evil grin.
Everything about Nunley is built upon intimidation. His dress, his speech, his gaze. Nunley has mastered the art of phycological warfare. He has expertly used this skill to break Zyno down.
Zyno tries weighing his options, but he knows he can’t be placed in a cage. He doesn’t want to die but being a wounded attraction in some human town is not a real option at all.
As he thinks things over there is a shout heard throughout the valley below. Sounded like some animal, the hunters don’t care. The only prey they care about at the moment is within their grasp.
“What’s it going to be Ostrichman?” Nunley asks.
Zyno opens his mouth and lets out a loud shout. To the hunters, it sounds like a cry of desperation.
“I know it’s frustrating, and a hard decision but you will make it! NOW!” Nunley demands.
At that exact moment, Coge is pulled from the ground. He is flown over the cliff and let go. About three hundred feet later, he is dead.
It’s Betta! How? Zyno wonders.
Zyno turns to Burn and leaps at him, pushing his sword out of his hands. Nunley tries to make a move for him but Betta lands between them.
He stands tall, and shows his full wingspan, a sign of intimidation and Nunley backs away. He doesn’t display fear, but rather an expression of assessment. It looks like he is sizing up the new Skyman.
Zyno lunges Burn off the mountain to his death. Zyno turns toward Nunley who is staring into Betta’s eyes. When he sees that he is alone against two Skymen, he finally shows fear.
“Stop!” Nunley shouts as each Skyman takes steps toward him. He stumbles away, running into the forest. They allow him to leave. The forest would put Nunley in his element and put the Skymen at a disadvantage.
“What happened?” Betta asks Zyno.
“We have to get out of here now, no time to explain.”
Betta grabs Zyno by his side and flies into the sky.
“Fly west, like we are returning to the island.” Zyno whispers.
Betta flies them away. As he does so, Zyno looks to the ground. His point of view has changed since he no longer has the ability to fly. Looking to the horizon, he has a newfound anxiety about being in the air.
Betta leads them west for several hours.
As darkness approaches, he finds a small mountain range, and lands near the highest peak.
“What happened to your wing?” Betta asks.
“The one that was left alive cut it off, he wanted the other to complete his cape.
“I saw it on the back, how could someone do such a thing?”
“He’s a monster, he climbed a tree and chained my leg while I was asleep…
… Betta, I only have one wing! What am I going to do?”
“I don’t know, the mainland is a strange place. I was at the Tree City when an old man told me you were in danger. Called you by name. He gave me a stone to rub, then instantly I was in an old magic temple near you.”
“I don’t understand how that could happen. We need to ask the witches about all this.” Zyno responds.
“Tomorrow, let’s make for the forge to meet Ayepex. Find out if anything has happened at the forge since we left.”
Zyno agrees.
Both Skymen have trouble sleeping through the night. Now they know that the return to the mainland will not be a simple or safe one. They have to tell the elders that there are things to fear here.
Zyno’s thoughts dwell on the savagery of Nunley. Every time he tries to drift off to sleep, he hears the sawing of bone, or he sees Nunley’s Underbridge mask in his mind and immediately jump himself back awake. He knew that this journey would change him forever, but this is not what he had in mind. He never dreamed he would become a useless flightless Skyman.
Relics of the Old Age 