CHAPTER 8: rot.

They ran for what felt like hours in an unknown direction. It didn't matter anyways, as long as they got away from whatever was happening at the mansion.

Eventually they couldn't go on any longer. They were exhausted and it was slowly getting dark which made it dangerous for the humans to keep going, as they could run into something.

So, they settled down. They couldn't make a fire on this cold starlit night, due to the possibility of them being seen by other people.

Theo leaned back against a large tree. He had his wings spread out next to him despite the cold, as if he couldn't feel it at all.

"Do you actually have a name?"

Theo raised his head when he heard the sudden question of the girl.

"In fact, I do. My name is Theo Tryoinfus."

"Alright then. I'm Gwendalin Livor. But just call me Gwen. And that is my brother Timon."

"That's great and all, but I don't remember asking. I just want to get home as soon as possible."

Gwen angrily crossed her arms. "Then why don't you just fly back home. No one is forcing you to stay with us."

"Because I don't know where I am, and I can't fly."

Timon turned to Theo. "Why is that? Your wings seem big enough."

Theo just shrugged. "I don't know. I guess I just never learnt how to."

"Wait," Gwen responded. "So, you have limbs that are larger than the rest of your body and you don't know how to use them. Shouldn't you have instincts or something that tells you how to do it? Because this is just sad."

"Shut your mouth. If a human is left behind and raised by dogs it'll walk on all fours despite being built to walk upright. Like you humans I can learn from those around me. I never met any of my own kind and I was raised by humans. Last time I checked humans don't fly."

Timon inelegantly pulled his sister aside and sat down closer to Theo. "That matter aside. Where do you live? We could use some proper shelter until… things go back to normal."

Theo sighed and climbed up the tree that he was leaning against. Due to the claws on his hands and feet, this was done rather swiftly, and he soon made it to the top.

Here he looked out over the forest that stretched out like an ocean. Though most of the branches had already lost their leaves a lot still carried some orange colours with them.

It didn't take him long to see the hill that was a few kilometres away from his house. He jumped down the tree and landed without even making a sound.

"I can see where I live from up there. But it's still roughly two days walking from here."

"That's slightly bothersome. But I guess that we can make it work."

Theo sat back down in his previous spot. This time he had his wings tightly folded behind his back. "So, we stay here until you two can properly, see?"

"Yes. I am sorry that I have to ask this. But can you keep watch? You know, since you can actually see, or so I assume."

"So, you are saying that you want me, a creature that you have seen nowhere else, and of which you just learned is intelligent enough to speak human languages to watch your back while you are almost blind? Yea sure I won't doubt your decisions."

"In that case, thank you for watching over us."

Theo climbed back into the tree because he had a better view of the surroundings from up there. He wrapped his tail around one of the branches so that he could lean back without risking losing his balance. Not that he thought that that would happen, but it was better to be prepared.

"I don't really care for your gratitude. Just don't walk into a tree if you decide to take a piss or something."

While the two humans were slowly drifting asleep. Theo just listened to all the sounds around him. He really wanted to get home as soon as possible, to see if his parents were doing okay. But in truth, he had never been this far from home. He knew that there could be dangerous mutated creatures roaming around in these woods. Though he had lived in seclusion, his parents still visited the village every now and then. And whenever they came back, they always had some rather unnerving stories to tell that they had heard there. Until he reached a more familiar area it was better to stay by these humans.

He sat up and looked around. He could smell something rotting. Or at least something that resembled the scent of rot. None of them had brought food with them and it was not possible that the scratches that he had given Gwen were already infected and smelling this bad.

To his annoyance, the wind was in the wrong direction so he could not clearly make out where the scent was coming from.

His ears twitched when he heard some footsteps around fifty meters away from where the humans were sleeping. It was coming from the direction in which the mansion was.

He tried to see what gave off this weird scent, but too many branches obstructed his sight.

He climbed down and quietly made his way to where he thought the thing was. It didn't take long before it came into his sight. As soon as he laid his eyes upon it, he turned around and ran as fast as he could.