The last horse had finally collapsed to its death. Father was quietly undoing the reins, a look of despair plaguing his glassy eyes. We were now stranded on this dark road as night embraced us.
I looked at Violet, who had her head down, muttering prayers to herself. Her silky, white skin reflected the rising Blood Moon's glow which transcended the area.
“Prayers will not help us, Violet …” I said morbidly, breaking the awkward silence around us. My eyes remained focused on Mother's condition as I spoke.
Violet paused from her prayers and gazed at me blankly. “Celestra will provide,” she replied with a nod, then averted her eyes to Father's labors.
I scowled at her. “Celestra has not ‘provided’ for us thus far, Sister,” I spat. “She will not help us — no one will. Celestra has allowed us to suffer for no reason and she will continue to do so, as long as you continue this … charade you call ‘prayer’.”
“Do not speak ill of the Goddess, Jasmine,” Violet retorted. “She has spared us all for this long and will continue to do so, even when you think she has not.”
“She is angry at Father.”
“Father?”
“His damnable superstitions have blinded him from the truth. What god would favor such foolishness?”
Violet frowned. “You are exaggerating, Sister — ”
“Am I?” I broke in, raising my brows. “Have you found it odd that we've not yet encountered any people along this road since we left home? We still have not found anyone to help us!”
Violet fell silent and stared down at her hands.
It had, indeed, unnerved me that there was not a single soul in sight. Even the animals were scarce. Since leaving the birch forest, I noticed the only traces of life were that of the foliage, which retained their warm, autumn beauty.
Father returned to the cart and looked towards us with a pained expression, his face almost as pale as Mother's.
“We must move forward …” was all he could say in his choked-up voice.
I blinked, watching him momentarily before asking, “Without a horse, Father?”
He sighed and nodded once. “Without a horse. The four of us will continue with just the clothes on our backs. There is no choice but to leave everything behind.”
Violet's eyes wavered as tears began welling up. “But, Mother — ”
“I will carry her,” Father assured.
We said nothing more and Violet and I climbed out of the cart, gathering what little items we could. Father picked up Mother's weak body, which was still wrapped in the quilt, and held her carefully in his arms. He choked on the tears forming in his glassy eyes, but kept his composure. I knew he would never cry in front of us, no matter how dire the situation.
Periwinkle followed in my footsteps once I left the cart to join my family. Even he appeared aware of the situation with his back arched slightly in fear as he padded along.
I trailed a modest distance away from them to dwell alone on my thoughts. My eyes focused on the horizon where the Blood Moon had begun its ascent. Shadows began cloaking the path we traveled upon as the late-evening hours rapidly approached. Finally, when I was unable to see anything further, I heard the sounds of my family's footsteps ahead suddenly stop, prompting me to do the same.
“At this rate,” I heard Father say, “we will have to set out again in the morning.”
“Shall we make a camp, Father?” Violet asked.
There was a moment of silence before he replied, “Yes, but we should move off the road. Come. Let's look around … Jasmine? Don't fall too far behind, Dear. It's getting too dark to see anything.”
Before I could answer, my ears perked at another sound nearby. It was the sound of wings flapping followed by the reverberating squawking of birds — several of them. How strange it was to hear them so loudly — and approaching our direction so quickly. I recalled having heard a similar sound when I had once watched a hawk from up close. Conversely, this particular sound was louder. I assumed the manner of bird was either probably large in size, or, perhaps, there were many of these birds flapping in unison to reverberate such a sound. Regardless, it made my body tense in fear. Even Periwinkle hissed with displeasure. I hastened my steps to meet with Father and Violet, hoping the sound would pass. Upon reaching them, however, the noise only amplified.
“ … What is that?” Violet whispered as she looked towards the sky.
“Birds,” Father dismissed rather quickly. “The nocturnal, predatory ones that hunt for rodents, I'm certain.”
I could sense the hint of nervousness in his voice, but I was unsure if it was due to his uncertainty of the sounds, or his immediate concern for Mother, who was draped in his arms.
The constant flapping of wings was soon accompanied by high-pitched squawking. It did not sound like any bird that I was familiar with.
Father's concern grew and he looked around for the nearest shelter. The rocky terrain provided small outlets of hollowed-out caverns that made ideal hiding spots.
Whatever manner of bird they were, however, they had apparently caught our scent, because the direction of their sounds began following us as we made our way to a nearby cave.
The winds above me suddenly shifted and I felt something swoop down close to my hair, which blew about. The feeling of the passing wind made my body freeze in place and I wanted to scream. The eerie screech that passed by convinced me that these creatures were not ordinary birds, at all. I dared to look behind me to see if more were coming, but only the looming shadows of the forest path could be seen — and Periwinkle was nowhere to be found.
“Periwinkle?” I called out to the cat as I scanned the area around my feet carefully. When I hadn't heard his response, I immediately knew something dire must have happened.
“Jasmine!” I heard Father's voice demand frantically. “Get over here, now!”
I suddenly snapped back to attention and followed his voice. I found him at the mouth of a hollow cave where the Blood Moon provided modest light from above. It was more than enough light for me to see my sister and father looking distressed.
“Father! What is going on?” I asked while I kept my eyes to the blackened sky.
Before Father could answer, there was another cluster of sounds consisting of flapping wings and eerie shrieks that followed.
From out of the blackness above, five feathered creatures landed before us. They were monstrous in size and grotesque in appearance, with the upper torso of a once-beautiful, nude human female and the lower torso of a predatory bird. What little beauty the creatures perhaps once possessed was now eaten away like a decaying corpse.
“I have not seen such creatures …” Violet whispered in a shocked tone.
They approached us, with two of them focusing on me and Violet, while the other three focused on Mother and Father. Their leery eyes glowed with a dark, purple-hued magic. I could only assume that these creatures were possessed by something, or, perhaps their own hunger had driven them mad.
I slowly stepped back towards Father, not daring to turn away from the horrific creatures which followed our every move like a predatory cat about to pounce on its prey.
“Violet, Jasmine,” Father ordered as he handed Mother's body to us, “take your mother and hide. Now.”
There was no time for hesitation or argument at this point; Violet and I complied with his demands.
The creatures, however, were suddenly triggered to attack when Father moved suddenly to hand Mother's body to us. They let out an ear-piercing screech before charging towards him, knocking him down and immediately piling on top of him. The other two creatures that had been focused on me and Violet were quickly drawn to Father's fallen body, instead.