On Angel’s Wings

Prologue

Amethyst tore through the woods like a mouse from a cat. She rolled around a petrified elm, and dove onto a high branch covered in black leaves in a single movement. Lifting her dagger off her thin neck, the elven teen looked at the small blade. A chain of beads looped through the small, blunt pommel. The knife reflected her appearance back at her.

In it she saw a girl covered in mud and muck. Her purple eyes glinted in the afternoon sunlight that managed to pierce the thick canopy of the trees. Amethyst’s black hair flowed neatly in a tight, twisted and short knot of braids. A tunic lay on her shoulders, ending in a short skirt. Her HUD, or Heads Up Display, shimmered on a square, technical readout monocle that hooked behind her ears. Unlike her ancestors, she was advanced in every way; speed, strength, intellect, and deadliness. A pistol hung from her belt, a round silencer next to it and a clip of ammunition. Her sword on her back was sheathed. The young assassin crouched, waiting in silence for her target.

The stout, gray furred rat beneath her looked around, sensing danger. The six-foot-three beast was obviously male. It outweighed her by around 30 pounds and was eight inches taller. But still, this was only a scout of the great and wealthy mouse he probably served. He was still a threat, though, and Amethyst had to kill him.

Silently jumping off the tree, she landed on the creature’s shoulders and dug her knife deep into its neck. Carving around a bit, the girl cut up the arteries and sliced apart blood vessels. The body lay limp soundlessly in her arms. Dragging it into a ditch off the brown, dirt road, she covered it in gravel and engraved something in a rough boulder. She may have been a cold-blooded killer, but she believed in good burial. Rubbing the blade on her skirt, she read the marker:

A soldier leaves us today,

Fighting for his country.

I wished not to kill him, 

For friends we may have been.

To the Grand Army of Woodland Creatures,

Stone

Dashing off into the woods again, she left.