Broken Wings by Melanie Nilles

Elis tried to warn
her.
    She'd said a lot of bad things to
Elis, but he still loved her. She'd been stupid to ignore him. All
this time, she still couldn't accept her feelings for him. Why was
it so hard? Why couldn't she let her heart lead her?
    Her own ignorance led to her capture
by the Shirukan again. If only she'd listened to Elis and let him
fly with her and Nare. He was always right.
    I was so stupid. This was her fault, again.
    __________

Cris
and Leksel

    Voices trickled through the pipe-lined
corridor from around a bend ahead. Raea followed them to a
stadium-sized room of criss-crossing pipes of different alloys and
sizes.
    The humidity clung to her like the
steam after a long hot shower, except this was cool and condensed
on pipes.
    At the entrance to a large room of
pipes with a high ceiling, she froze and stared. What was this
place? Beneath it all, a dozen Inari of various wing colors sat on
pipes curved or angled around each other or stood in the open
spaces. Light glowed from various fixtures around the
chamber.
    ["You will not set foot beyond the
boundaries! I don't care how many Shirukan you think you can
disable. Touch one and the rest are alerted of trouble in that
location."] Leksel's wings shifted on his back. He stood a breath
away from Cris, ready to pound him flat by the harshness on his
face and the reprimanding tone. ["Do I make myself
clear?"]
    ["Sure. Clear."] Cris shrugged. So
nonchalant and unafraid. Was he trying to piss off
Leksel?
    What did he do exactly to bring on
Leksel's wrath anyway? Although from her impressions when she first
saw him, Leksel looked ready to snap at anyone who crossed
him.
    ["Think next time, Cris! Stay out of
sight of any patrols."]
    Cris's wings—a shade lighter than
Lekel's—shifted, and he leaned back against a pipe. ["All right. I
get it. Quit taking my draft."]
    Leksel's jaw muscles flexed. The
others watched him in dead silence.
    Okay. Note to self—don't get on Leksel's bad side. Check. She filed the thought away and tried to
slip in unnoticed.
    ["Hey, cuteness!"] Cris's wings lifted
slightly as he hurried away from Leksel.
    She clenched her teeth as Cris ducked
a few pipes to catch her. Using her as a scapegoat from Leksel—so
not a position she wanted. ["Cris, right?"]
    ["Aw, wow. You remembered."] He
shrugged, his grin stretching wide. ["But I hear Keepers remember
everything."]
    Yeah. Everything, whether she wanted
to or not.
    Cris stared at her with that grin
growing wider each second. Couldn't he look somewhere else
already?
    Okay. This could get annoying. He was
way too cheerful, especially after that scolding from Leksel. And
the others watched them. Leksel's cold stare in particular
disturbed her. ["Unfortunately,"] she muttered, wishing to escape
the attention.
    ["Did you sleep well?"]
    ["Yes."] With more visions of a
previous Keeper named Salera; but she couldn't tell him that. She
hardly knew him, or any of them. She could have told Elis; he would
understand. Her chest ached at the thought; she missed him so
much.
    A dozen faces watched her. She hated
being the center of attention, especially as an oddity,
because—like it or not—as the only Keeper, and a Crystal Keeper,
she stood out among them.
    From around a pipe, Corsa stepped out
with a smile. ["I'm glad to see you up and about. You must be
hungry."] She shot Cris a warning look.
    He backed off, but not without a wink
to Raea. ["Catch you later."]
    If he thought she was interested, he'd
have an unpleasant surprise. She intended to return home at her
first chance.
    Raea glanced back at the others now
talking quietly behind them. ["Did I interrupt
something?"]
    Corsa led her across the large
chamber, past Leksel, who tipped his head. Too weird seeing so many
strange people with wings. She'd barely adjusted to her
own.
    Yet how cool was it to be on another
world? She was on, or over, Inar'Ahben. Elis was born here, or
somewhere over that world. He grew up there.
    What was he doing now? If