Caprion's Wings Read Online Free

wings....”
    “Then I'll deal with him,” Caprion
replied. His eyes turned to the shining towers of Asterion,
following the Road of Remnants to the distant buildings. The sky
darkened, the sun sinking deeper in the horizon. Entering the city
at night would be risky, and without wings he would be forced to
take the streets. Not a lot of cover. Sumas would find him
easily.
    Caprion shook his head slowly. He
would never understand his brother. Sumas loved stories of war,
glory, and conquest. The more Sumas won, the more he sought to
conquer, as though no amount of victory would satisfy him—the ideal
soldier. And when his brother ran out of rivals, his eyes always
returned to Caprion.
    Perhaps their mother bragged too much
about her eldest son’s strength, or perhaps Sumas didn’t need her
encouragement—perhaps he was just a bully by nature. Either way,
his brother was capable of an efficient brutality that went beyond
Caprion’s comprehension.
    Caprion shifted, suddenly
worried about Esta. He didn’t think Sumas would attack her, but
Esta might try to defend him and put herself in danger. I can’t let that happen, he thought.
    "I'll walk myself home," he said
shortly. “I'll visit you soon to speak with our mother.”
    Esta nodded. After a slight
hesitation, she rushed forward and gripped him in a hard hug.
“You’re still my favorite brother,” she said, her voice muffled by
his robes. Then she turned and flitted across the ground, carried
away by her wings.
    Caprion found himself smiling,
watching her disappear over the city. But as her wings faded from
view, the smile drained from his face. He turned to the narrow,
broken road through the woods, circumventing the city. Sumas would
be looking for him tonight. Best to avoid him
altogether.
     
    * * *
     
    Caprion circled around the
woods to his hut, taking an extra hour on his walk home. His
thoughts lingered on the black dream and the oily, slithering voice
from the ground. Your race is
dying. What did it mean? True, the Harpy
race was struggling; birthrates were on the decline and Asterion
was startlingly underpopulated. But the voice seemed to suggest a
larger plot, a greater enemy. Who? The Unnamed?
    It was the most likely answer. Harpies
were children of Wind and Light, the First Race created by the
Elements at the beginning of the world. They were the sworn enemy
of the Unnamed, the Sixth Race, the Dark God’s children made of
Shadow and Fire. Inside each of the Unnamed lived a shard of the
Dark God, a race of demons walking the earth, manifestations of His
presence. The Harpies saw it as their sacred duty to rid the world
of such evil.
    But how could one of the Unnamed be on
their island? Where would it hide? Asterion had remained isolated
for centuries. Surely their soldiers would detect a demon’s
presence. And did the Sixth Race possess the ability to infiltrate
his dreams? He had never heard of such a thing.
    Caprion shook his head, pressing
through a thick tangle of jasmine and poppy. He needed to speak to
Florentine.
    He paused at the fringe of trees
behind his hut. His home stood at the very edge of the builders'
district, far from the glowing sunstone lanterns and flagstone
streets. Usually he liked the isolation, but now it made him
nervous.
    He searched the darkness, listening
intently; his eyes weren't good in the shadows. He had walked
through the woods based on memory alone, following a familiar deer
trail. Still, a Harpy's wings usually glowed softly against the
night and he didn't see any figures standing around his hut, nor
any light from inside. No one in sight.
    Caprion stepped from the tree line
toward his small round house. He felt exhausted from the whole
ordeal, his mind the worst off. A headache throbbed behind his
eyes, still present from the Singing Chamber.
    Suddenly, a large shape stepped from
behind his neighbor's wall. The man’s wings became visible,
stretching casually behind his shoulders. Caprion recognized