• xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxKAYE


    Sfei glanced around curiously. He put two fingers in his mouth and whistled, a piercing, shrill sound. Kaye clenched her eyes shut and slapped her hands over her ears, attempting to block out the noise. She cracked open her eyes, one at a time, before slowly dropping her hands from her ears to her sides as Sfei lowered his own.

    “Geez, I wish they wouldn’t keep running off like this,” he commented. He shook his head, his blonde hair falling into his eyes. He pushed it back impatiently.

    “Sfei, I think it’s time you got another haircut. It’s getting a little long. And anyway, I don’t really think that ‘running’ away is the right term for them.” Kaye said. Sfei rolled his eyes at his best friend and put a hand over his eyes, shading them from the sun as he looked away from the pair.

    “Finally!” he exclaimed. He sighed and started walking forward, his long legs matching one of his strides to two of Kaye’s. The stopped down the end of the pavement, waiting. Soon enough, two small shapes appeared ahead, and they were approaching at great speeds.

    Kaye ducked, laughing, as one of them flew over her head. “That’s cheating, Leaf!” she cried, as the creature jumped onto her head. She had short legs, with feet that had three toes on each. Her small black head was shaped like a bat’s, and she had what looked like a head of electric blue hair. She looked down at Kaye with intelligent blue eyes that matched her hair, but had no whites. The most interesting feature was her wings, which spanned up to forty centimeters on each side.

    Kaye looked over towards Sfei, smiling as she saw Ricochet on his hand. Ricochet was a green, scaly creature, sort of like a lizard. That was the only similarity. This creature had long, spindly legs, which he used to bounce around on everything with. At the present moment, he was hopping excitedly on Sfei’s hand. He had a round head with black hair flowing over his face. His arms were gesturing everywhere. He had four toes and seven fingers on each foot and hand. His eyes were a misty purple. He and Sfei seemed to be having a conversation.

    “Come on, Kaye, when are you going to grow wings so you can fly with me?” Leaf whined, pulling at Kaye’s hair. Kaye yelped and Leaf stopped pulling, instead preferring to flutter down to the girl’s shoulder and look at her with a questioning gaze.

    “The Elders won’t let me. I haven’t provided a good enough argument for them. I even mentioned our battle with the Risers! How I almost died because I was on ground, and that you and your strong wings saved me.” Kaye smiled at the last part, reaching her left hand up and mussing her hand in the creature’s hair. Her fingers tingled at the touch, but it no longer stung like it used to. Leaf giggled, batting at Kaye’s hand.

    “Kaye. Kaye! KAYE!” Sfei yelled, attempting to grab her attention. She looked over at him, grinning, but her smile faded slowly at the look on his face. I guess Ricochet wasn’t excited when he was talking to Sfei. Kaye groaned.

    “What happened now? There aren’t any more Riser’s, are there? I still have the remnants of the battle last week!” she exclaimed, turning her head so they could all see the long scratches stretching from her earlobe to her collarbone, disappearing underneath her shirt. Sfei nodded.

    “I know, Kaye. But it really isn’t the Riser’s. It’s much worse. Much, much worse. We have to get away from here. Now.” The tone of urgency in his voice was enough to make Kaye’s will crumble. Her eyes wide and alert, she glanced behind her, in the direction from where the two critters had come.

    “What’s happening, Sfei?” she said, but it came out as a high-pitched growl. Her best friend was silent for a moment. “Tell me Sfei!”

    “Underworlder’s.” He looked at the ground when he said it, and he muttered. Kaye almost missed it.

    “Why us? Why now? Why is this happening?” she whispered, her voice hoarse. But her courage was fleeing her soul. Fear coursed through her body, cold as ice, ice in her veins. She started to shake, jolting Leaf from her shoulder. Sfei looked up in horror at Kaye.

    “Kaye, calm down. Don’t go losing control now. You’ll kill yourself.” He called, but Kaye wasn’t there. Her eyes closed as blackness swirled around her, surrounding her mind and soul, penetrating her carefully placed barriers to stop just this kind of thing from happening.

    Her breathing slowed down and her arms lifted from her sides, raised into the air. A sudden wind whipped up around her, and Sfei blinked as the cold air blew into his eyes. He was still looking at her; Kaye could sense his anxious staring.

    Lowering her arms, the wind died away. Kaye was still for barely a second, and she slumped, collapsing. Her head struck the pavement with a resounding crack that echoed down the street.