"Rebirth" by Charity ´Leiko´ Koone

Rebirth

       She inhaled deeply of the crisp morning air. The sun was just beginning to rise, it’s light drifting down softly on the wooded valley below. The colors of the morning sky never ceased to enthrall her. Being of an artistic mind, the emotional beauty of the scene was almost hypnotic. She loved to watch that dark sky slowly fade to purple. The wisps of pink and red and orange always appeared each day, always different, always soft and yet also bold and striking at the same time. Her eyes drank up that natural beauty ‘till the soft yellow glow rose above the mountains and blinded her. She could not stand to look at the sky once that golden orb had risen. Her nature was nocturnal, and her eyes too sensitive to view unshaded the glory of the morning sun.
       She turned from the blinding light and retreated into the dark safety of her cave. She had been born in that cave, had killed and been born again. She was eternal in spirit, if not body. Not that she liked to think about that. There was so much more to consider these days. Days of turmoil they were. Days of death and despair. She had fled the great mountain that had once been home. What joy she had had in that place. The others had lived there as well. More than could be counted, in fact. An ever changing number of outcasts and oddities had flocked to that mountain and joined together as one. In numbers they had protection. Together they were strong, they were cared for. Each one had the security that comes with knowing someone is there for you. Even those who barely knew one another would support the depressed and down trodden.
       Oh, the happiness she’d felt there. It had been a hard decision to leave them, but truthfully the only options were either to leave, or to stay and fight and die. She had died once for them. Her blackened heart felt no reason to die twice for the same cause. Yes, the pull of guilt on her conscience was strong, but you have but one life to give, and she had given it long ago. She had killed twice her own flesh and blood. Once for herself, once for them. No regrets. No guilt. Only the loss of her innocence, of her life. It mattered not that through the quest of one she’d never known her life, her body, had been restored. She owned nothing but her sympathy to those of the mountain. That was what her mind told her. That was what she forced her heart to say. Only a fool would have remained in that place with such a threat so near. Survival of self was the issue. The others had chosen to stay. They would soon lie at the foot of the great stone labyrinth, eyes unseeing, bodies rotting in mid-day sun. She would not be in their number.
       Darkness enveloped her as she walked down the long corridor. In places she was forced to crawl, the passage was so narrow. A faint light shown at the end, and she soon emerged into the great central chamber of her cave. A small pool was fed by waters from somewhere deep within the mountain. It’s smooth surface was periodically broken as drops from the stone above fell and caused ripples to spread in infinite circles. The walls of the chamber, all but the one near the pool, were covered in carvings as old as time. Older, in some cases. Or so she thought. The light, the soft glow of pale lavender, came from the water and was mirrored and intensified by the crystalline stones of the ceiling. The builders of this cave, for it was not a natural place, had been very clever in their design. All but food was provided in this place. Except, perhaps, for companionship.
       A stone cave high in the foreboding mountains was a very lonely place. No one dared come here after the legends of death and disappearance spread through the valley. No one from the great mountain complex ever came, or knew the way for that matter. Her “family”, her closest of friends, had decided to remain and fight. No doubt they would not be able to come here even if they wished it. The enemy was too strong.        She shook her head to clear those thoughts from her mind. It did no good to dwell on such things. Not when there was nothing to be done about it. The day was now well begun, and the sun was high on its journey across the heavens. It was time to rest.        She closed her green eyes and lay down on the golden bed of straw and feathers. Sleep soon overtook her. A dreamless sleep, for she could not face the images her subconscious might show her. Soon the cave reverberated with the sounds of soft gryphonic snoring.

       The heat awoke her. She felt nothing at first but confusion, then the pain hit. Her flesh was burning, was inflamed with agonizing hurt. She did not see nor did she smell the smoke of a fire. Only that burning of her skin. It intensified. It spread over her entire being. Soon it seemed to seep into her and set the very core of her body aflame with anguish.
       She tore at her flesh with talons well suited to their job. Hunks of fur and feathers and flesh soon lay scattered across a bloody floor. The pain was growing worse now. The burning increasing despite her mad efforts. She tore at her hindquarters with a beak lined in needle sharp fangs. She tore at herself, ignoring the blood and the skinless muscle that now lay exposed. Her green eyes glowed red with madness and pain and fury. The pool. The water. Perhaps that would stop the terrible burning that was consuming her. She leapt into the clear waters, polluting them with her tattered, blood-covered body. The burning ceased as she sank deeper into the cool water, and unconsciousness.

       Her eyes opened and immediately closed. The soft light of the cave was too much for her. She wanted to sleep, but the cold waters of the pool would not allow it. Her eyes snapped open as she remembered the burning. That horrible burning. Reason now restored, she remember the self-mutilation. Concern gripped her. Had she disfigured her beautiful form in that futile attempt at ridding herself of the pain? She stepped out of the waters.
       The pool was still and as a mirror. She hesitated, then, gathering her courage, looked into the waters. Her own face shocked her. She was the same, basically, yet was forever changed. Her beak was an even paler shade of yellow, her fangs longer than before. Two short but twisted red-black horns now grew just in front of her ears. The feathers on the back of her neck had turned lighter at the tips and grew long and thick like the mane of a lion. Dark red-brown fur hung down over her fiery green eyes, the tips fading to gray and then blue.
      She looked down at her forelimbs. The feathers now extended down to her wrists, and the talons were even shaper than she remembered. Looking to the rear, she noticed that her wings were now more furred than feathered, the red tips fading gently into the black. Her hind legs, once those of a lion, were now warped and almost humanlike in structure with black spikes extending from the back of her heels. Her paws looked more draconic than feline, and the black tuft on her tail extended halfway up the lower side of the appendage, almost wolflike in appearance.
       Her coloring remained unchanged for the most part. Black fore, gray belly and paws, blood-red rear. But the gray now faded into the red and that into the black. The belly marking extended up to her beak, whereas before it had ended where the feathers began.
       She took in these changes slowly. How had this radical transformation come to pass? Surely the Dark Light, the substance she was bonded with, would not cause such change. No purple mist had surrounded her. No purple flame had burned her. No, it was not the thing she guarded. It was something else.
       She shivered as realization struck. Her own remorse, her own regret and disgrace at leaving those she loved to their fate had changed her. She had lost that last shreds of innocence, of childhood. She was now forever warped by her own mistakes. The end had left her stronger, but the journey was not worth such a price. No longer was she a beautiful gryphoness. Now she would spend her days as a warped creature, gryphonic in form but terrible to see, lacking remorse and black hearted to the exclusion of all else.        She had learned her lessons of loyalty, of responsibility, but too late. Her form was changed, her link with the Dark Light forever altered from that change. She now knew what her actions must be. She did not like it, but Fate had spoken. She was punished and made stronger so as to better accomplish her task.
       She spread her great wings and flew the cave. She headed towards the great mountain, and home. She went to meet her fate and join her true family. She went to die by their side.