• ‘My mother said I would be a natural born leader,’ She though, glancing down at the clearing below her. “Sadly, she was wrong.”
    Her eyes showed no sign of tears, but rather a great sadness, though she left the rest of her face completely expressionless. As a leader, she had to keep calm in order to keep the rest of her clan calm, but in this time, it made no difference now. They didn’t trust her.
    Evalyn lowered her head, her short red hair falling over her dace. How could she let this happen? Most of her clan was dead, they died in a battle against a neighboring group, and she hadn’t the leader skills to lead them through battled. The few people that remained only glared at her, or turned their backs to her. She glanced sadly over at a few who hid just that, and continued on walking, picking up her pace.

    These times were just battle after battle for her race. Everyone fought against each other for the sake of more territory. The winged people often only wanted to live in piece where they were, but humans feared them, and struck them down as soon as they could. They wouldn’t hold back. They shot down every last one they could. The humans didn’t care if they were living beings as well, to them, they were just known as Nightmares, something that should only exist in dreams, not the real world. Her clan’s latest battle ended up just how the humans wanted it.

    Evalyn walked through a large cave. Stalagmites and Stalactites jutted out from the floor and ceiling continuously through the path she walked. The cave darkened, as she got out of reach from the sunlight, dark enough that she couldn’t see what was in front of her. She walked forward without so much as lighting a torch and didn’t hesitate to step forward encase of a sudden pit or something she might run into. She and every previous leader of her clan knew this cave, and they trusted their clan enough that no obstacles appeared in their way here, or at least legends said so.
    The cave gradually brightened up as she got deeper into the cave, but the source of light was fire, not the sun. Evalyn continued walking, and sat down before a large bowl that lay in the ground, eroded years and years ago by water, and that now held a large fire. The fire didn’t lie on wood or dried grass, but instead oil that just barely pooled below it. And that small pool had fuel the fire from the beginning of the clan.
    She unsheathed a long thing blade that had before remained clipped to a belt at he waist, and set it before her on the cold rock floor, just before the fire. “It is time that our clan broke apart,” She whispered, her head lowering. “We’ve grown too weak and it would be best for us to rejoin a new clan.” This, Evalyn said more loudly, but her voice cracked slightly from bottled up stress.
    A line of flame stretched from tip to tip of the sword. It had been passed down from leader to leader of the clan, and now that there was the clan, there was no use for it. The sword seemed to melt away within seconds, and the melted steel seemed to move around as if it were being manipulated. The steel formed into a band, just big enough to fit around her neck. Evalyn closed her eyes. She knew this would happen, she just wished it didn’t. The former leader now picked it up, and quickly disappeared in a flash, reappearing around her neck.
    She wasn’t a leader anymore, just previously a leader, and this band was now proof. Evalyn wouldn’t be able to join another clan like everyone else could, their code forbid it. She lowered her head, until she was staring at the ground just below her, sitting still as the light slowly died away. The fire was disappearing, and that meant the clan was really disbanded. She sat silently in the darkness for several minutes, before finally heading out, to see her clan had already left her. They already knew, for the clan symbol disappeared from their torso. No one stayed to say bye to her. “I expected as much…” She whispered. The clan symbol remained on her. It was a hawk shaped, burned into her skin right over her heart.

    She couldn’t stay here now. The humans they had battled earlier knew they were weakened, and they were likely to return again, trying to gain the weakened group of Nightmare’s territory, and Evalyn wasn’t just going to let herself get killed. The humans could have the territory. For now, all she needed to do was find some shelter. Evalyn looked around the clearing for one last time, and revealed her wings, unfolding the bat-like wings and lifting up into the air. She didn’t go high above the trees, but rather below the canopy level. Anywhere in easy view could risk discovery.
    Her pure white eyes looked over the forest floor, taking caution as she moved around. The only thing she saw around the forest right now were animals now. Her licked her dry lips as she landed in the branch of a large oak, peering down at a deer that hadn’t heard her silent movements. Her hand moved to her throat, her hand brushing over the steel band around her neck. ‘Hunting would be nice…’ She thought, only now did Evalyn realize that she was hungry, but her weapon was gone now. She wouldn’t be able to take down a dear easily with fists and kicks.

    “Hey look, there’s one!’ She heard a whisper, and quickly she lowered her head, keeping her head hidden behind leaves. Evalyn watched as two boys, also of her race, took cover behind the tree, ready to try and strike the deer, and possibly bring back a meal for their clan. But the deer was cautious from their first whispering, and just them advancing made it quickly dash off, fleeing without daring to look back. “You two must be in training,” She said, slipping down from the branch and landing easily on her feet beneath.
    The two young Nightmares starred at her for a moment. They were twins, she realized, both with short black hair and pink eyes. Neither wore shirts, but both where dressed in black pants. “Intruder!” One of them shouted at her, and both began running away, the fear making them trip and fall as they started running. “No stop!” Evalyn cursed quietly. If they were going to tell their clan, once again she would have to flee. Brushing some of her hair out of her eyes, she jumped and flew above them, landing on the other side of them, blocking them.
    She turned around facing the two of them, her hands on her hips. “Is that anyway to respect a clan leader?” Evalyn asked, glaring down at the two of them. She wasn’t that much taller, but still. The two of them were still shaking. Yeah, they were definitely still in training. One of them spoke up in reply, “Well, that steel band around your neck says otherwise.” She was keeping mostly calm, but she was getting slightly irritated. The other twin now realized this and rolled his eyes. “You must’ve been pretty weak to destroy your whole clan like that.” Quickly, two strikes were delivered to each of their heads. Enough to hurt badly, but not enough to knock out. “What was that?” The older girl asked, bending down slightly, her hands back on her hips.
    Both of them had their hands on their heads “We’re sorry!” They whined in unison, taking a step back. “Alright.” Evalyn grinned “Now, you didn’t see me here, alright?”
    “But-!”
    “Alright?” She asked, much more serious, her eyes narrowing again, and both of them quickly nodded their heads. “Good.” Her wings spread out again. Having people fearing her wasn’t exactly something she enjoyed, but it seemed to work for the moment. Evalyn lifted herself up into the air, and the two of them stared up at her in awe. “Wait!” One of them quickly shouted right as she was to leave. “I’m Erin!” He said, smiling. The other twin looked at his brother as he’d introduced himself, and quickly faced the former leader. “Oh- And I’m Will!” He said much more nervously.
    Evalyn hid a smile, looking away slightly. The two were similar to all the trainees in her clan; she was already missing being a leader already. “I’m Evalyn,” she replied calmly. She looked back at them again, her expression softening. “How about I train you two sometime?” She couldn’t help but ask. She’d often helped the younger kids in her own clan train. The two of them nodded in unison.