Chapter 26 - Paradox

Iris

+--

It didn't take him long to realize that he was being followed.
Even so, Valkyre immediately cursed himself mentally for having been so lax. The angel glanced down at the ground beneath him, sweep of another city, this one more rugged, more empty and overgrown, more of a wasteland than sanctuary.
Movement. Incredibly fast, for travelling by ground.
He was low, perhaps too low. Dawn would be coming soon, and he'd have to land and hide, so he'd been considering this town. Where almost no one lived, he thought it'd be safe.
But someone was there. More than one.
And they were following him.
Darkness, their limbs a blur in the dark, flashing bits of what could be pale skin or metal or glass. Two shapes, limber and quick.
What he found was that not only could they keep up with him, which they were doing with quick, silent and blurred movements as they lept from rooftop to top and over the streets, all-too quick to be human, leaps too high and too still, too impossibly silent.
Not only were they keeping up with him, but they were gaining on him.
A flash, a link like a spider-web cable, stretched out in an arc. As if between them.
Iris, curled up against him, shivered. The boy knew they were here; he'd gone still a while ago, brow furrowed, body shaking, shivering. He'd alerted Valkyre in the first place.
Iris looked up at the angel now, gray eyes sheltered, hurt. "Val... kyre..."
The other blinked, frowning. "...What?" He bent his head down, almost close enough to touch. The boy was scared, quivering. He was truly afraid of this, of them...
"...They... they're coming for me... They..."
Valkyre sighed lightly, feeling his heart tug. He banked his wings, starting to come down. They couldn't run like this. He had to land. They'd have to face the hunters.
"...It'll be okay," he whispered. "I won't let you go."
Iris was shaking his head, whimpering softly, eyes imploring, desperate. "Valkyre, no... ...don't know... ...They're not... they're..."
The angel leaned in again, pressing his lips just lightly to the boy's forehead, cold and clammy under his mouth. "We have to," he murmured.
He pulled away, then looked below him. The two figures danced like marionettes, following him easily.
The angel strived ahead, managing to pull ahead of them, aided by gravity as he folded his wings and dropped towards the ground.
Valkyre's ebony wings snapped open as the dirt of a clearing hurtled up at him, and his boots sank firmly into the soft earth, already pivoted and facing the direction the two hunters had been coming from.
The angel set Iris down gently, the boy still shivering and clinging to him. He was whispering things, shaking his head. "Please... ...don't, Valkyre..."
It was unsettling, but he had no choice. Valkyre turned away.
They were here.
Two figures, like twins, dropping gracefully from the roofs, landing half-crouched, both rising at the same time, mirror images. Too impossibly well-timed.
They came closer, smooth catwalk, identical in more than just movement. Both in black clothing, indescript. Pale, alabaster-white skin showing on their hands and faces.
Two. They stopped, and Valkyre tensed, trying to study and predict their movements, taking in the lithe bodies and the calm, steady steps. Inhuman. But not quite identical.
They were different now, he noticed. Different.
On the left, the figure was slimmer, more curved and with longer legs. Female.
Her hair was milky, colorless white, running freely down her back to knee level, straight and almost elegant. There was something underneath her right eye, but he couldn't make out quite what it was.
White hair of the pure angel. High cheekbones, of an elve. Thin, long fingers of the fae. Dryad. Valkyre was mentally ticking off the presences he felt, and as they rose in number, he became more and more amazed.
...No opposites. Nothing like Iris.
But still... Impossible. So many presences, so many beings. Like being half. ...Half...
He already knew what to expect of her partner.
A paradox to her, the other was a male, of a stronger, slightly thicker build, but still slim and light. His hair was one of the only striking differences, of an inky jet-black, also running down to his mid-back, smooth and flowing.
He looked up, eyes flashing. Vampire. Demon. Harpie. Satyr.
They both had black eyes, colorless and expressionless. A line ran between them. A cable, a string. Some type of material he couldn't make out, glimmering lightly. Held in their hands, between them. Like a lifeline.
Two opposites. Together.
Like Iris, yet not. Never.
Valkyre stared at them, feeling surprisingly calm despite his discoveries. He felt Iris, halfway behind him, gripping his arm, fingers clenched tightly, trembling.
Even before the boy spoke, words nothing more than a hushed whisper, he knew it.
"...They're from the labs..."

+--

AN: Mm, intro of new charries. They're not that big, but the idea never left me since my first scratch version of Iris, so, heck, they'll stay. We need something to happen.
Bad descriptions. Crappity crap.
Not much else to say. Next chappie- super crunchy action! X3 Sorry if it took a while, but there's finally gonna be something good. :)
[Well, at least, I hope it'll be good... but often, when you've been told about something, you come to expect a lot, and then you get a letdown...]
Thanks a lot for reading, and keep up! :3

You are not authorized to comment here. Your must be registered and logged in to comment