Misc. Books Fever - Rise of the Wind

**Prologue **

"Run", whispered the wind in Evy's ear as she broke through the wood. "Run, or they will get you!" Evy cried out as a twig scratched her skin and caught her hair but she did not stop. Halting mean losing precious seconds, halting meant examination and possibly death, again. She was tired of running, tired of defending herself.

The only thing she truly wished for was a night of undisturbed sleep and the possibility of a peaceful life. However life had not been kind to her in the last few days, well that was not entirely true, it has not been kind to her in the last few months. When she awaked the first time after the virus the only thing she had seen where the dead bodies of her beloved and Evy knew that nothing would be the same again. The people who discovered her had taken one look and fled. They had sent others to get her out of her old house, far away from all the death. She cried when they carried her out, happy to see survivors but scared of what would happen to her. They had provided foot, medical treatment and shelter. Evy had trusted them, she had not minded when they took her blood to run tests. She corporated with them but after telling them about the wind and how he talked to her they did not hesitate to chain her down. The weeks after that were a blur in her memory. Days of no sleep, being forced into the open without any protection against the cold to see if the wind was truly talking to her and being examined by force over and over again. But the wind did not talk to her and they were getting furious. As they could not break her mind they tried to break her body. They broke her bones and hit her body but not even once did they go so far that she lost consciousness as they were amused by her pleads and the fear they could arose in her. The last few weeks had been the same over and over again, healing, beating and keeping her sedated so she would not run away. But Evy had grown strong, faking the pain and fighting the sedative in her blood thus taking the first opportunity to flee.

Evy's lungs burned, she did not know where she was. Sweat wasrunning down her body and everything ached. But the further she went from the station that kept her caged for so long the better her chances where to survive. Her feet did not want to carry her anymore but Evy forced herself to go even faster. The thin slippers they had given her during her imprisonment where long lost and rocks were cutting her already wounded feet.

"That's right daughter of the wind, lose yourself and you will be free!", Evy shook her head and pressed the hands on her ears. Those voices in her head were the reason why she lost the security all over again. She hated them, hated how they separated her from all the other but one thing she promised herself was that she would never listen to them. She would keep mute and silent as they had done when she was screaming for help in the snow.  
"She is here, I hear her move. Get the hounds out and we will get her faster. This time she cannot escape." Evy stopped dead in her track. How did they found her so fast? She was certain that she did not leave a trail. No money, no scent, not even a finger print! Anxious Evy looked around. She was surrounded by trees and mist. The ground was littered with fallen leaves and mud.  
"You want to survive?" The mist poured over her like the gentle touch of a lover, "Follow our voice!" Evy was desperate. She never wanted to be in the hands of those men again but neither wanted she admit to finally hearing the wind and following his orders. However with one frightened look back, Evy whisked around and followed the thin trail of fog deeper into the forest. Her steps got lighter when she could no longer hear the voices of the hunters. But her joy was short lived when she heard the howling behind her. Those bastards had set the dogs loose. With a quick glance behind, Evy kneeled down and smeared the mud onto her face and arms. She might be dead by the end of the night but she would not make it easy for them. With a smirk she pushed herself under the thick roots of a big oak, the mist poured around her protecting her from the eyes but not the noses of the dogs.

The next minutes where the worst in her life. She waited anxiously for the dogs to found her and they did. The paws where scratching at the branches and dirt was falling down upon her.

"Hey Michael, I think the dogs found something! Come here and we might find this creature." Evy shivered when she heard his voice. It was the bulky man who leered at her during her 'health' care and dropped sexual hints more than one time.  
"Please", she whispered, "save me!" With slow movements Evy pushed back and shivered when she felt the bark of the tree against her nude feet. No way to retreat if the men followed their dogs lead and no way to escape the leer of Rick W. Warner. She could not remember how long she has been in the care facility but she remembered that he touched her, touched her where no one should ever touch her without her permission.

"She must be here! She cannot be far with the high dose of sedative in her blood; she should not even have been able to escape!" Evy suppressed a cry, she had gone to those people because she thought they would help her instead they imprisoned her and kept her sedated to the point of being defenseless and weak. Furthermore they made her belief that she was not worth anything and could be treat as less than an animal.  
She was sad but mostly she was furious. Her family had died all the people she cared for had vanished and just because she survived the virus they wanted to study and exanimate her.  
With each thought she heard the wind becoming stronger until she heard the dogs howl out of fear and the men curse as they were struck by broken wigs. Each minute the men stayed longer the wind picked up in speed until it resembled a storm  
"Rick, come on man. We will not find her in this thunderstorm!", Evy listened to the rude remark of Rick as he was pulled away by Michael.  
"If we do not find the bitch by tomorrow night you know they will not hesitate to use their newest device. And I will not give up the opportunity to finally get her just because she is freakin dead!"  
Evy sucked in her breath. She knew that they would likely insert a tracking advice – it had been the only reason why they found her so quick realized Evy but she never thought they would actually kill her before she could be free again. And with this thought snapped her control, she was labeled as dead either way. It did not make a big difference if it was today or tomorrow night. Evy's cry of misery was carried by the wind through the woods and reached the hunting party. As the two men turned around she had scrambled out under the wood and charged towards them. Rick grinned when he saw her in her ripped clothes and the blood running down her body but it soon faded when she scratched his cheek and draw blood.  
"Now we are the same you bloody animal! Both of you are animal, none of you is any better than me!" But with a nasty glance in her direction Rick caught her wrists and hissed  
"But we are no monsters, you are abnormal and a disgrace thus being treated as a bloody beast!" Evy sobbed but it was soon absorbed by cold fury with a snarl she twisted her head and looked him in the eye. Her body was shaking and heat surged through her body and tore her apart. Before Rick or Michael realized what happened she was free and lunged into the air. The wind was carrying her higher and higher until all she could see was the ruins of the city and the deep green of the forest. Evy closed her eyes and let her sorrows be taken away – well until she realized that as a human she was not supposed to be flying weightless around the sky. And that was the moment where she felt feathers touching her skin and saw the big wings on her back. "O my god!" and that was the last coherent thought she had as the tiredness and worries caught up with her and knocked her out in midair.

Chapter 1

"What she doing here?" , "How she come here?", Evy groaned and moved a little bit as her sleep was disturbed by the gentle voices. Her head hurt and every breath sent a wave of pain through her body. She slowly tried to open her eyes but found herself unable to do so. The lids just felt too heavy and her body hurt too much. The noises around her went louder and Evy could not suppress the groan which escaped her lips. "She is hurt!" Evy groaned again but this time about the obvious fact he stated. Of course she was hurt, she would not lie around the ground if she was fine! A light female voice cut through the chatter of the other voices: "Be still. You know how Roan is about strangers. If we want to help her than stop the gossip and bring her inside the female's dorm!" Evy sighed just great that she landed somewhere where she was not really welcome. Of course it would have been too much to ask for if she had landed somewhere where no one objected her presence.  
But as the people tried to lift her up and her body screamed in agony the familiar darkness of unconsciousness embraced her again.

The first thing Evy realized when she woke up was the warmth and the silence. No forest, no howling hounds and no screaming men trying to detect and kill her. The heat was comforting and Evy slowly opened her eyes. The room was dark and only a thin slot let light through probably the door. With the strength of a newborn Evy tried to turn around to find out what else was in the room. However her body was still hurting so much that she just fall flat on her back and tried to catch her breath. An amused voice floated through the room and Evy could fell the assuring touch of a female:  
"I would not try to do that if I were you! You would only damage the progress you already made!"  
"Who are you? And where am I?", rasped Evy out. Her mouth was dry and every word hurt.  
"Before I answer all your questions drink this!"  
Evy was reluctant when she felt a glass brushing against her lips because she feared drugs again but as her body still hurt even being sedated seemed appealing. Each gulp eased the burning in her mouth and she felt a little bit more alive.  
"And do not worry we wish you no harm!" Evy giggled out loud at this statement. She remembered the first time she heard this and it lead to being imprisoned and being used for experiments.  
"I heard this once, so please forgive me if I do not believe you in earnest!"  
"Don't worry, there will be a time for your trust but", Evy already felt tired again the voice luring her back to sleep," now is the time for healing!" And just before she heard the women leaving the room she remembered the discussion of the men.  
"Wait", as she did not hear a reaction Evy tried it again, "Wait, please! Those men did something to me. They told me I would be dead by the next day. If you want to help me, do not let me die because of those men!" And with that she fall back into a deep slumber.

Roxanne swirled around when she heard the women twisting in her bed and pleading for help. Her eyes rested upon the slim figure of the female and the fast beating of the heart. If it was the truth she needed help and fast! Roxanne did not hesitate she opened the door and ran down the floor. Who in the keep was able to help her with that? Her healing abilities where limited due to her age and the healing she had already provided. If Roan was supposed to not detect this female, her choices were narrowed.  
There was only one she could think of who would not directly rat her out to their leader and it was – "Dominic!", she cried out as she saw his lean figure resting against the wall next to the big hall's entrance. She never once spoken to him without the assuring presence of others but he was her safest bet if she wanted to safe the young female's life. He slowly turned his head to look her into the eyes.  
"What could there be that the mighty Roxanne requires my assistance!", he mocked her with a grin on the face.  
"Really funny but I do not have a lot of time. You must follow me at once and I promise I will explain everything later!", she pulled at his arm and he moved from the wall more surprised than willing. With an anxious look back making sure that nobody has seen them Roxanne gave him all the relevant data. "Yesterday evening we found a female badly injured at the border to our territory. She did not awake until a few minutes ago. She was disoriented but pleaded for my help when I was leaving. The people who must have hunted her did something to her and told that she is going to die at the second day out of their reach. I would have tried it by myself but I am exhausted after helping to repair most of the damage. And you were the first one crossing my mind who would not tell everything to Roan without further notice."

Dominic looked surprised at the young woman in front of him. She did not strike him as someone who would withhold information but Roxanne definitely knew about the distrust in Roan against newbies and followed her soft heart instead of the strict policies. In addition she knew about the row going on between him and Roan thus seeking him out. "  
What do you want me to do? I am not exactly trained in the health department as you know!" Roxanne snorted as she knew exactly in which department he fell.  
"I know that you are educated in poison and interested in technics. To cause death after such an amount of time would either mean poisoning or a technical device therefore you are my safest bet!" She came to a halt and was fully concentrated on the door in front of her and missing his perplexed facial expression. He always thought that Roxanne knew next to nothing about him ignoring him as often as possible but in truth  
"You were spying on my weren't you?", Dominic grinned as she blushed and turned around.  
"That's not the time for jokes. Me knowing stuff about you does not mean I am interested in you! Here is a woman dying and I would rather safe her life!" Dominic felt flattered at her statement because he never asked if she was interested in him but if the female inside the room spoke the truth about her dying he would postpone the talk until later.

The room itself was dark. Dominic could barely see the woman lying on the bed beneath all the blankets. He rushed over to her and laid a hand over her forehead. Normal temperature and her breathing were stable and steady. He felt the presence of Roxanne beside her and whispered:  
"It is definitely not a poison. Did you check her for tracking devices or any other abnormality?"  
"I found the tracking device and removed it. Hannan destroyed it already but besides that we did not really search further as she had several broken bones and an internal bleeding.", Dominic could see worry on her features as she looked at the fragile woman in front of them. She must have been a beauty once but she was so skinny and bruised that it was hard to imagine her former looks.  
He took a deep breath and brought himself into visa a dreamlike state in which most of them perform their special abilities. His vision zoomed in on the female. He could feel the electrician impulses with which every body worked but Dominic also felt the presence of something artificial in her body. It did not quite fit into her rhythm. He moved his look to the place from where the waves came from. It was placed near to her heart. Any surgery would be risky and could cost her life. Slowly he spread his fingers over her heart to trace the impulses easier.  
"I found something. It is a small pacemaker but it is stronger than normal ones. If they activate it she will have a heart attack and almost no possibility of surviving!", he heard Roxanne's sharp breath intake and felt sorry for the pain both women must have already endured by getting it implanted and the other from trying to heal her.  
"I cannot remove it but I can disconnect the signal from afar. She would still be able to get attacked though it if they come near enough but it is going to buy us some time!"  
"Do it but make certain it does not hurt her any further!", Roxanne put her hand on his shoulder reassuring him that she was with him if anything went wrong.  
Dominic took a deep breath and focused on the device. He felt his vision change again by trying to get even closer to it and was wholly absorbed in the different colors swirling around him and signaling him all the different functions. He dismissed the red and purple lines as they clearly belonged to her body and focused on the bluish ones. Dominic followed them until he found where they were connected and with one stronger tug he disconnected them and smiled satisfied at their disappearance. Slowly he made his way back to reality and nodded his head at Roxanne's questioned look.  
"O thank you so much!", she took his hand in her own and gripped it in gratitude as the woman's features softened in her sleep.  
"I know I already asked so much from you but would you mind keeping her a secret until she is better and able to defend her own?"

"You truly need to harden your heart, Roxanne, if you want to survive in this world! But for now I promise that I will not interfere with your doing!", and with this Dominic withdraw his hand and left the room already missing her warmth and softness. He did not encounter anyone while returning to the spot he left in order to help Roxanne thus having no need to explain his presence in the healer quarters of the females dorm. This surely would have made a good conversation especially if he met one of Roans guardians. Dominic chuckled when he remembered the stern expression on Roxanne's face while pulling him through the corridors earning a frown from a group of teenage boys passing by and decided to keep a track on the work of their healer. Not because he was interested in her, he reasoned with himself, but only to safeguard her and the rest of their citizen. And then adding with a sigh, who was he kidding, of course because he was fascinated by her!

Roxanne followed his figure with her gaze until he left the room and closed the door softly. The things he had done before he made his way to "New terra" had been shocking and made him a wary opponent but beneath all his cunning remarks Dominic still held unto his human side. She did not know what occurred between Roan and Dominic in the past but it made them sworn enemies and both of them were men one would not want to cross. With a sigh Roxanne turned her attention to the woman lying in the bed next to her and found her eyes open and transfixed upon her.  
"Who are you?", asked Roxanne and fixed the linen covering the woman.  
And with a cough and a hoarse voice she uttered one word, "Evy". Roxanne smiled and remembering the questions she has been asked before.  
"I am Roxanne and you are at a place no one who wishes harm upon you is allowed to enter. So truly do not fear and do not longer fret about anything that has been done to you as I took care about it!"  
Her eyelids already falling down again Evy uttered one last question, "Why are you helping me?"  
"Because we all have been in the situation of finding no place to stay safe. But now cease all the questions and rest. Your body will need to gain energy and restore the amount it lost!" And with that Roxanne stood up and left the room to let her patient rest.


End file.
