By G.R. Nanda
“Yes, there’s more bird people!” said Steve. He started to get up, but he fell and began to slide down the floor, before planting his palms and feet firmly on it. His long stringy hair was mangled and splayed all over a forehead lined with sweat.
There was a pounding at the wall to the left. It was coming from behind Nickel and Steve, towards the middle of the hovercraft.
Nickel stared through the window and slumped on his piloting module seat. His racing heart and constricting chest told him to get up and do something, but his fear pressed on him like a weight, leaving him unmoving.
“We have to do something – We have to do something – We have to do something – We have to do……,” Steve repeated frantically. “Where’s Farrul?” he said. “Where’s Farrul?”
“I think he smacked into something and blacked out,” said Nickel. The pounding got louder and moved closer up the hovercraft towards them. “I think I remember him yelling and falling. When he fell, he stopped yelling and he was quiet. I don’t know if he’s awake yet.”
“Farrul?” shouted Steve. He looked behind him around his shoulders. “Uh-.”
“We cannot breach the captives!”
The voice was loud and deep- almost a growl. It came from outside, so it was echoey and warbled. “We cannot breach the captives!”
“Then they aren’t captives!” said a man with a higher pitched voice- shrill and crisp.
“Send in people with weaponry!” came a softer feminine voice, but booming like the rest. “Tear the wall open if needed!” the woman said. Dozens of voices began yelling at once, becoming muddled and indecipherable.
“We should get out of here,” said Nickel. His head was buzzing with adrenaline.
“You’re right,” said Steve. “Snap out!” he yelled. “MOVE!” He lunged upwards and slapped his arms across Nickel’s body. Nickel felt Steve’s warmth and his ragged breath as he was literally pulled out of the piloting module and thrown onto the ground. He tumbled over the floor and his palms momentarily slid over the surface, squeaking.
The yelling outside became a deafening roar.
“Let’s go to the basement,” said Steve. He planted his palms and feet on the floor and Nickel did the same. They were poised precariously still for a moment.
Nickel looked under his body at Steve. He shook his head.
“No,” he said.
“Where else would we have to go?” Steve said in a rasp. “We need to hide! We can’t go outside. Outside is theirs!”
“If we go into the basement, we’ll be stuck down there!” snarled Nickel. His palms slid down the surface and Nickel pressed his belly onto the ground. “Literally stuck there, waiting for them to come and get us!” he wheezed as he looked up at the front of the Eagle.
Steve began to speak, then stopped.
“Damnit, you’re right!” he said.
“There’s the hatch at the back, down the steps,” said Nickel. He dragged his limbs around on the floor in a circle, using his elbows to pivot his movement. He faced the back of the room and flattened himself. Facing the end of the room, he pointed at the staircase to the left. “That’s where we go.” Nickel winced at a loud slamming from outside that shook the secondary control desk. He slid down again, but pressed the base of his palms onto the cold floor.
“WHAT?” screamed Steve. “I can’t hear you!”
“IT’S OVER THERE!” said Nickel as he lifted his entire left arm to point and leaned on an elbow pressing firmly into the ground. “DOWN THE STEPS -.” Nickel coughed. “- TO THE LEFT!”
“Ok, let’s go!” said Steve. He grunted and rushed forward, sliding down on his stomach. Nickel followed by sliding on his stomach as well. His chest skidded to a halt and the left side of his mouth smacked the floor. Pain shot through the side of his mouth followed by a numbness that enveloped the left portion of his gums. He yelped, but the sound was drowned by the yelling and pounding of the wall to the left. Nickel moved his chest up and managed to jog down until he tumbled onto the secondary control desk, joining Steve who had fallen as well.
Being mere feet away from the area on the wall bearing assault, the voices and pounding were louder than ever.
Steve shouted with his grisly bearlike voice, but Nickel didn’t hear him. He shouted louder.
“COME ON, NICKEL!” Steve scooted away from the desk towards the right and towards an opening between it and the wall. “COME HERE!”
“LET’S GRAB FARRUL!” Nickel followed crawling on his butt.
Steve carried a limp and weakened Farrul with a bleeding forehead and threw him down the stairs to the left. When Farrul hit the bottom, he grunted in pain. A groaning came from behind where the wall was being barraged. Nickel moved towards the stairs and then fell down them. His shins hit the steps and flared with pain. His nose hit the bottom and then gushed with blood.
Steve joined them, slamming down on the back wall, which was now tilted downwards. He was to the right of Farrul and Nickel was to Farrul’s left. He was the closest to the entrance hatch which was on the adjacent wall at his left. They were all crowded in a dark and narrow space.
“Open the hatch!” said Steve. Nickel rolled over, lying against the hatch. He pushed his stomach up and turned the hatch’s knob in a circular motion. He pushed and there was a click. Nickel gripped the knob, and rolling over to the left, pulled it open. Orange gas and chilliness seeped through. The yelling and clamor was audible from outside as well.
Steve grabbed Farrul and held his upper torso above the opening, preparing to drop him.
“NO!” said Farrul. He wriggled. “Put me back down!”
“Yeah, slow down, Steve,” said Nickel. “You’ve already hurt him enough. You dropped him down the stairs.”
“Sorry,” whispered Steve. “Getting ahead of myself.” Farrul wriggled, pushing Steve’s arms and rolled out of Steve’s grip and over his body, landing behind Steve.
Steve slid down the opening, falling through.
“Let’s get out of here,” said Nickel.
Farrul dropped through.
Nickel grabbed the edges of the opening and let his legs dangle in the cold air. He saw the orange tint disappear the farther down the gas was from the light of the hovercraft, becoming pitch darkness. Nickel hesitated, imagining the perils of entering this new territory.
There was a loud reverberating bang and echo from the assaulted wall. That was enough. Nickel let go of the edges and descended. He quickly slammed into Farrul who was in turn sprawled on top of Steve.
“Get off,” wheezed Steve. “You’re gonna crush -.” Nickel and Farrul moved off onto a cold rocky ground. Nickel looked around, seeing hazy frames of dark spires sticking out of the earth amidst a hazy canvas of thick gas.
The spires closest to them looked like towers and were rugged; the tops were crumbling, broken and there were whole openings in the surface that were jagged at the edges. Torches were placed in these openings, dotting the landscape with light that cast auras of orange color in the ever-flowing gas.
Behind them was a large and looming wall- a slab of darkness curving over like a wave in an ocean. The top edge was jagged- uneven. Like the spires, pinpricks of orange torchlight and waving cloth dotted the body of the wall.
“How’d it get this dark already?” said Nickel. Up the slope they had fallen to the bottom of stood the Eagle, dangling off a rock ledge. Next to the Eagle, up the slope, were all the people attempting to breach the hovercraft. They were adorned in feathered clothing and wore feathers in their hair. Behind those who attacked the hovercraft with stick-like weapons and those who held fat rods together, ramming into the hull by moving backwards and rushing forwards, were people who held lanterns of fire with auras of illuminated orange gas. None of them had the wings that Nickel had seen on the man who was perched in front of the window.
Dull footsteps came from the roof of the Eagle where people walked and crawled, prying at and inspecting the surface. One of them had a thin rod wedged between one of the plates, trying to pry it open. Their light came from a figure holding a lantern. The figure had feminine features. Plates of armor wrapped around her thighs, hips and torso, highlighting womanly curves. A cap of feathers was laid on her head and a beak crowned her nose. Long wings- like those on the bird-man stuck out across her back. The frame stood still, but the individual feathers shook in the breeze. She moved forward, closer the edge of the hovercraft- closer to Nickel, Steve and Farrul. The lantern moved with her, illumining her in lighted gas that revealed more about her features.
It is a woman, thought Nickel as he observed lumps of breasts protruding from her feathered chest above her armor.
“AAAAAAaaaaaaah!” she growled, pointing in Nickel’s direction while still holding the lantern. “THERE! THE PASSENGERS ARE THERE!” she screamed while she bent her knees and jabbed down at Nickel, Steve and Farul’s direction, scowling with gritted teeth.
Fear finally permeated Nickel enough to get him moving. He crawled backwards with his palms and feet while his butt was poised downwards. Abrasive rock scratched and dug at his palms.
“Oh no, oh no, oh no,” he whispered, “oh no!”
The banging slowed down and the Eagle’s assaulters stared around, looking for the “passengers,” some finding the direction the woman was pointing in.
The inspectors on top stopped prying around and looked down at Steve, Nickel and Farrul.
There was a crunching of rock from behind.
The woman put her fingers to her mouth and whistled.
“Whoooeewiiiioueewiiooouee!” she sounded. It was shrill and piercing.
Yelling sounded from the wall behind. There was a whistling in the air that became louder and louder. Three arrows flew down and planted next to the three stragglers’ bodies: one to the left of Nickel and two the right of Steve and Farrul.
There was a groaning from the Eagle as the side of its hull was finally breached. Shards of the wall tumbled over each other and crashed on the ground. People entered the opening that Nickel couldn’t see.
“She-Hawk?” some of them shouted. “Where are they?”
“She-Hawk!”
“We gotta stop them!” said Farrul, standing up. “They’re tearing up the Eagle!”
“No!” said Steve, grabbing hold of Farrul’s leg. He pulled and Farrul stumbled backwards.
“Guys, we need to run!” Nickel said. He continued to crawl backwards again. He looked past his right shoulder and saw faint figures of people with glinting red eyes staked out in the distance in front of the looming wall.
“Yes, yes – I agree!” said Steve. He hurried to his feet and slapped Farrul’s shoulders. “Come on, Farrul! Run – run – RUN!”
Nickel got to his feet and bolted towards the looming wall. Steve and Farrul followed, their feet crunching rock behind Nickel’s crunching feet. Shadowy figures belonging to the red eyes moved together from the left, chasing after them.
“DIVIDE!” yelled She-Hawk. “Five of you must leave the craft behind and pursue the intruders!”
The chase was on. Nickel, Steve and Farrul ran, but they were running deeper into the stronghold of their pursuers.
“What’s the point of this?” huffed Farrul. “We’re going to get caught!”
“No, keep running!” shouted Steve. “Let’s keep going around the bend in between the walls! Look for somewhere to hide!”
Arrows whizzed past them from high on the looming wall. Nickel and Farrul exclaimed when they saw them raining down.
“BUT-” started Farrul.
“NO!” said Steve. “DON’T THINK! RUN AND HIDE!”
Many footsteps sounded behind Nickel. The feathered pursuers were getting closer.
“STOP!” they shouted. “There’s more of us!”
“Do not hide from the Hawk of the Atlantic!” boomed a throaty voice from a darkened man on a tall ledge in front of the looming wall. “You are in his NEST!”
“Split up!” said Steve.
“What?” shouted Nickel, still looking ahead. “That’s a – terrible -.” He panted. “- idea!”
“THERE’S NOTHING ELSE!” said Steve. “They’ll corner us! We – should – confuse – them!”
In a split decision, Nickel turned sharply to his left and ran up to an upwardly inclined surface.
“Be careful!” shouted Steve.
“There he goes!” said a pursuer. “Call He-Hawk! She-Hawk can’t see him! He’ll disappear in the fog!”
Nickel’s feet pounded loudly against the inclined surface as if there were a hollow space inside. The farther up he ran, the more he began to see that the surface was reaching up to and connecting to the smaller wall.
His head buzzed with a familiar panic. His limbs were propelled by adrenaline and fear. Suddenly, the surface joined the top ledge of the wall. However, as he ran atop the wall, the edge narrowed until a precariousness threatened to throw him enough out of balance that he slowed to a halt.
His breath caught in his throat and exhaustion seeped through his body, deadening his limbs until they cramped.
“Aaaigaheeeiaaaiahee!”
Rough hands pinched at Nickel’s armpits and propelled him forward. The next thing Nickel knew, he was lifted up into the air by hands with long fingernails that dragged across Nickel’s chest. Nickel could see large winds stretched out at the edges of his vision from behind. The wind suddenly flowed strongly from behind, propelling them up and forward while chilling Nickel to his core.
“Quite the maverick we have here. Ehh?” shouted the captor in Nickel’s ears. “Ran away from your flock?” You’re the lucky one! The Hawk of the Atlantic just saved you! Your friends can’t run for long! There is no running in the windstorms of the Atlantic!”
“Screeeee!” The sounds of screeching hawks emerged.
“Screeeee!” They filled the air, becoming clamorous.
“SCREEEEEEEE!” Nickel’s legs trailed behind and moved forward, whipped by the winds from behind, but he was always pushed backwards by the momentum of his captor gliding forward.
So his legs swung back and forth like a pendulum. The motion and his helplessness at being carried limp at the armpits left his armpits sore and him feeling nauseous, dizzy and panicked.
Small dark birds were gliding all around them. Animals. The first non-humans Nickel encountered in the Desolate Plains of the Atlantic.
“Screee! Scree! Screee! Screee!”
They were silhouettes of hawks. Features such as long red wings, glinting red eyes and white bodies were invariably highlighted by the darting bright lines of torches placed throughout the environment.
Whiiiiiiiizzzzz!
A hawk below to the left suddenly screamed and its wings crumpled. The head arched back with a gaping beak and plummeted to the earth.
The hawks around ceased gliding and hurriedly flapped their wings.
Whiiiiiiiizzzzzzz!
Another hawk screamed and crumpled before falling to the ground. The rest of the hawks frantically flapped and chirruped in short spurts.
“Scri! Scri! Scri!”
Whiiiiiiizzzzz! Whiiiiizz! Whiiz! Whiiiizzzzz! Whizzzzzzz! Whiiiiiiiiizzzzzzzz!
Many birds were consequently felled by arrows which simmered under swirling torchlight. The play of illuminated orange gas and black darkness made the world look like it was filled with ashy smoke and explosions of fire. The storming winds, whistling of arrows, puncturing of hawks and frenzy of panicking hawks screeching was loud and overwhelming.
“Do not fear!” said Nickel’s captor. “Our bowmen are precise! You won’t be harmed! But you’re not off the hook! You’re still prey from tonight’s hunt! You’re only a different kind of prey!”
Voices shouted from down below.
“He-Hawk is here!” shouted the captor. “Handle our human prey with care!” He swung Nickel forward and let go of his armpits.
Nickel flailed as he fell through the air. The flying hawks moved above him and he joined the rain of dead ones. A mass of feathered human bodies, some with feathered masks, some without, appeared from below, holding their hands out while some held torches.
Nickel’s body slammed into raised palms that poked and slapped him. Nickel couldn’t resist their hands, grabbing and wrapping around his limbs. He screamed and kicked, but the more he kicked, tighter his limbs were held. Someone jerked Nickel’s left foot to the side, twisting his ankle.
“AAAAAAAAAAaaaauuuuuuuugggGGHHHH!” Nickel screamed louder than ever. “IT HURTS!” he wailed.
Someone grabbed the side of his head and pulled Nickel’s ear to his mouth. Hot breath tickled his skin.
“Quiet!” he whispered. “Stop resisting. Stop kicking. Then we can be more gentle. Agree? Nod if you agree!”
Nickel nodded quickly. The man let go of Nickel’s head.
“Karim!” the man shouted. “Be careful with his legs! You’re hurting him. Loosen up, but tighten it if he keeps fighting!”
As the winds roared and pressed from the left, the people held Nickel firmly above them and marched in a single direction, slowly, but steadily. Nickel saw He-Hawk swoop over them in the fiery orange torchlight that bled a nighttime red though the fog before receding into darkness. The woman with wings, presumably She-Hawk, also appeared over the torchlight, before disappearing into darkness.
These people below Nickel marched in the same slow rhythm. The sounds of their garments shifting and their soles crunching on the earth had a similar rhythm. At first, they were out of step, but the sounds of their movement joined in unison, becoming a singular motion.
He-Hawk and She-Hawk swooped overhead from the right, surveying their land.
G.R. Nanda 