Three: The Dove

Sparkling snow surrounded me as I made my way through the frost-filled forest with nothing but my bow and arrows. My boots were already soaked through and my hunting clothes did little to keep the chilly winter air out. I would have been better off buying thicker clothes, but I hated feeling weighed down while hunting.

The world around me was quiet and I was mist moving between the trees. I paused on a rock overlooking the valley below me to take in the bare oak trees and sparkling stream that cut through them. Footsteps dented the snow around that stream.

“Garre vax lyeena pyex,” I whispered, holding my hand out.

When I felt fur between my fingers, I smiled and silently pointed to the footsteps left behind by my prey. Jaxx, my golden tiger, was a ray of sunlight as he ran down the hill and followed the footsteps. I closed my eyes, seeing everything he saw, and opened them a few silent minutes later.

I climbed up the closest tree and climbed through the branches to other trees before stopping and placing an arrow in my bow. I slowed my breathing as I aimed the demon glass arrow. Perhaps I would get lucky today.

A flash of black between the branches startled me enough that I backed up a fraction of a step, which caused a small twig on the branch I was on to snap. My prey heard and I heard more than saw as it took off.

“Damn,” I whispered, climbing down the tree and landing in a deep area of snow, soaking my pants all the way up to my thighs.

It wasn’t long before I was moving through the forest again. It was slightly frustrating I had lost my prey when I had been so close, but I was patient and the forest was full of prey. I paused when I heard soft footsteps and quickly scaled another tree.

A flash of white between the branches told me exactly where he was. I took a small breath as I aimed my arrow and let it fly. The sound of a body falling told me that my arrow had found its mark and a smile took over my lips.

I jumped down to the forest floor, the snow muffling my landing, and silently made my way to the body. Turns out he was the same prey I had been hunting for the past two nights. I suppose it was my lucky day.

He was beautiful, but pale. His skin was silk, his hair the wings of a dove, and his eyes emeralds. He was laying on his back with my arrow in his chest, choking on his own blood. Blood that was quickly staining the snow around him, dark and beautiful.

“Hello, my prey,” I whispered soothingly, crouching down next to him.

He struggled to pull himself up, or to at least crawl away, but I placed a hand on his chest and pressed down enough to make him be still. He looked up at me with his dark eyes full of pain and confusion.

“W…Wh…Why?” he gasped out, more blood running down his pale chin.

He had to have been kept inside most of his life if our three suns haven’t darkened his skin, I found myself thinking.

“Shh,” I whispered to him. “Do not be afraid, little dove. You will fly again soon enough.”

Only when his heartbeat stopped and those magnificent green eyes lost their light did I stand back up. I adjusted my bow across my chest before bending down and taking his lifeless body into my arms. It was hard to keep the blood from dipping onto the ground as I backtracked and I eventually had to get Jaxx to follow behind and mess up the snow. By the time I got home, the body was almost as freezing cold as I was.

I sat the body on my table when I got inside and looked it over. I ran my fingers over the face; the perfect lips, the long eyelashes, the fine cheekbones. Perhaps he is too beautiful for death.

“What do you think?” I asked Jaxx. “Should this boy get the freedom of death or should I let my selfishness take over?”

Jaxx disappeared with a loud sign and I smiled. He knew the process of bringing somebody back from the dead was not fun. Not for me and certainly not for the boy.

I lit a fire in the middle of my room and stripped down when it was roaring high. Despite having three suns that never set, winters were always harsh and freezing. It was probably because of the fact that I lived on the very edge of the Sun Territories and so the suns were weaker, but I wasn’t completely sure.

I pulled out new, thicker clothes before lighting every candle in my house, which was only one room, before putting the fire out. I grabbed a bucket, sat down next to the boy’s body, and took his pale arm. A small, but deep cut had him bleeding out into the bucket and I pulled my arrow out of his chest as I waited for the bleeding to stop. When it had, I took a deep breath and tried to prepare myself for the worse part.

I drunk all the blood with one gulp and instantly felt his blood running through my body. It hurt, much like his blood had little daggers inside of it that were now cutting up my insides, and I groaned in pain. Gritting my teeth and hissing, I gripped the edge of the table. It’ll be worth it.

When the pain finally subsided, I gritted my teeth more and slit my wrist. I put my bleeding arm to the cold lips of the boy and let it drain into his mouth. My blood mixed with his would help heal his body as well as trick his body into bringing him back to life. Only a faint scar was left on his chest and wrist when his eyes fluttered open and I smiled.

He instantly pushed off the table and landed heavily on the floor. However, his body was still fairly frozen so he couldn’t actually get up so instead he shivered violently on the floor.

“I suppose I should have warmed you up first,” I said.

I laid down next to him on the floor and, despite him trying to pull away, I wrapped my arms around him tightly.

“Calm down, little dove, otherwise you just might die again.”

That made him stop struggling and he actually pressed against me more until my body heat finally started to warm him. When I was sure he wasn’t going to die without my warmth, I got up and relit the fire. The boy stayed on the floor with his arms wrapped around himself.

“What is your name, little dove?” I asked, grabbing a thick blanket and wrapping it around him.

“L-Luke,” he said. “What happened?”

His emerald eyes were full of an innocence that told me he probably wouldn’t understand anything I said about what had happened. So, I decided to go with an easy version.

“I was hunting you, but decided you were too beautiful for death. So, I brought you back to life.”

“How?”

“I drank your blood, which then mixed with my own, and then gave it to you. It tricked your body into thinking it was your blood and allowed my blood to heal you.”

He looked only a little overwhelmed and asked, “Why?”

“Why what, my little dove?”

“First, why do you keep calling me a dove? Second, why did you kill me only to bring me back?”

“I had a change of heart.”

“And the dove thing?”

“I think it suits you.”

He frowned at me so I leaned forward and ran a finger over his warm bottom lip. It got rid of the frown because he tensed up and jerked away.

“D-don’t do that,” he stammered.

“Why not, little dove? Are you not grateful I brought you back to life? My original plan was to eat you, after all.”

“You wouldn’t have had to bring me back if you hadn’t killed me in the first place,” he pointed out quite boldly.

I laughed softly as I grabbed his arms and pulled him up to his feet, pushing my knife into his hand.

“Keep that wherever you go, Luke,” I told him. “Your days of being a sheltered pet are over.”

He looked so worried about that that I reached out and gently ran my fingers along the side of his face. He tensed up, but didn’t pull away. Instead, he looked me dead in the eye.

“My mother’s greatest fear was that I would get killed by you, Man-Eater. She hid me away for years until two nights ago when I couldn’t take it anymore and snuck away. I was a fool to disobey her.”

“No, little dove, you were a fool to let her lock you away. There’s a whole world waiting for you and now you will get to see it.”

If I wasn’t mistaken, he almost smiled. Almost, but not quite.

“Pick out some clothes,” I instructed him, nodding my head towards my closet.

He obediently walked over to it and pulled it open, his eyes growing wide at the different clothes I owned. I watched as he pulled out a baby blue jacket, black jeans, black boots, and black ferret fur coat. He looked at me pointedly with his fingers pulling at the edge of his blood-soaked shirt.

I rolled my eyes and turned around, waiting until I heard him drop his clothes on the ground. I then stole a glance behind me to see his pale backside. He would have to spend time, a lot of time, outside once winter left. Perhaps I could get that paleness to turn to goldenness. I continued watching him as he slid on the clothes. When he turned around, his face turned bright red when he realized I had been watching.

“W-what do you think you’re doing?” he demanded, the red spreading down his neck in the most peculiar way.

“People tend to want to stare at beauty,” I answered.

Surprisingly, instead of looking more embarrassed, he looked over at the mirror at himself and smiled. He brought his eyes back to me and gave me that beautiful smile.

“Do you know how to use that knife?” I asked him.

“Yes, my mother taught me.”

“Then let’s go.”

I turned towards the door, putting out all the candles and fire with only a thought.

“Where are we going?” he asked.

“Out there,” I answered, nodding my head towards the snowy forest outside the door. “We’re going hunting, my little dove.”