The Long Night

[Onyx Onewing]

8th of Fall 515

There was no up, there was no down, there was only a jet black sky which stretched on forever.

Flap, flap.

Onyx knew he was in a dream, he always flew when he was dreaming. He jerked his eyes casually to his right shoulder, the unblemished second wing stretched out beside him. He always had two wings when he dreamed.

Flap, flap.

However the more the Zith considered it, the more he stared out in the infinte blackness in front of him, the more proposterous the idea became.
Dreaming? Onyx snorted at the thought, deep clouds parted and an ocean of shimmering silver light cracked through, it illuminated the darkness.

How can something so beautiful not be real?

Flap, flap.

The air grew heavy and Onyx was struck by a wave of confusion, of sickness.

This was a new darkness, it was no longer a liberating darkness, no... this was almost suffocating. A deep voice split the darkness open, the floor thrumming from the sound.
"In the Xy spawned pits of hell we found him!" The audience was loud this time, there was blood in the air. For a moment Onyx wondered if there had been a bear baiting on before. He wrapped his single wing around his shoulder. The action confused him.
Haven't I always had two? The idea was ubsurd and Onyx only considered the thought for a moment before shaking his head.
No... I've always been here. He allowed himself one look at his right shoulder, the long healed scar running down his back.

" Killing three men and drinking the blood from their still beating hearts, we trapped this beast... but could never contain his hunger!"

Onyx blinked and lowered his eyes to the whip in his hand, he flicked his wrist experimentally, a the long strand of leather snapped across the stone floor.
Slowly the gate in front of him lifted, filling his tiny hole with bright, oily light. The smell of man was thick in the air, the sound of them and the light made his eyes hurt, but these were hardly new things. Once he noticed them he could surpress them, at least for a time... he knew he was going to have a headache the next day.

"The ONE! THE ONLY!"

Onyx stepped out slowly into the light, his heart began to thump in his chest, his predatory
instincts beginning to ripen again.

"ONE WING!"

Onyx looked up, his expression a mixture of annoyance and disgust, but the lights shone too brightly and the people were too loud, he could never see who was up there.
A squack brought him back to earth, there was a boy there, no more than five or six, with greasy black hair and dirt splattered cheeks. There was loathing in his little black eyes.
Onyx felt his heart slowly, the bloodlust making him feel sickened.
"Murderer!" The boy screeched at him, but it was not the voice of a child. It was grave and deep, the roar of something more than a man.
"Why do you live!"
The boy leapt to his feet and was no longer a boy, feather cropped from his skin and a chipped beak swallowed up his face.
"No..." Onyx whispered, he dropped the whip and turned away, but the gate had already gone.
The boys voice thundered through him, a wave of sound that overcame even the jeers and chants from the crowd.

"Why! Why!"

Onyx turned around to face the raven that flew towards him. His eyes began to water, his heart began to thump like a funeral drum as he dropped his knees and bowed his head.

"Forgive me." He whispered softly .

A door opened above him and Onyx was alone again. He flapped his wings chaotically, the sky was right there, he would do anything, anything to be free. The collar squeezed his throat and the chain that connected him to the cage jerked him back with every jump he tried. The fat man smiled down at him, a thick greasy sausage in his hand.
"Hello little birdie." He chuckled, his face cracking into a mock smile.

Thoughts of freedom forgotten, Onyx instead threw himself towards the sausage in the mans hand, but the chain kept him back, rattling in the air. It didn't take long for exhaustion to kick in and within a minute the tiny zith had fallen back onto the cage floor. The fat man seemed surprised, peering down with tiny black eyes.
"Did you want this?" he asked. Dangling the sausage casually over the opening, just out of arms reach. With a smile the fat man brought the sausage up to his mouth and gulped it whole.

"Poor little birdie." He whispered.