Monster!!

She run through the familiar path in the forest until she arrived at her destination. She arrived to find her new strange friend dangling upside down on a tree branch; hanging just by the tip of his tail., with his eyes closed. He opened them to see her emerging from the thicket and smiled at her. He let go of the tree and opened his wings, gliding to the ground. "That was cool. Your tail is freakishly strong, holding up your weight like that", she said as he landed. "And a good morning to you too", he said with a smirk. "Oh! Sorry. Good morning", she said with a courtesy and a smirk of her own. They both then burst into laughter.

"So, what are we doing today?" she asked excitedly. "I have a surprise in store for you today. How would you feel about flying around the mountains with me?" he asked her. "Would I?", she happily hopped closer to him. "Let's go", he said opening his arms to her. She stepped closer and held on tight to him as he wrapped his arms around her waist and held on to her tightly. With a strong beat of his wings, they were off the ground and in the air.

They flew over the stream, heading towards the opposite direction they took yesterday, till it joined a river and finally flew over a waterfall. Elizabeth smiled as she was captivated by the view. "So do you go to school?" she asked suddenly while they were mid-air. "No. I am home schooled", he replied. "I don't think I'll be able to sit in the same classroom as other children", he added in self-mockery. "Don't mock yourself, I would love for you to be in the same classroom as me", she said trying to lighten his mood.

He flew so high into the sky that they could admire the entire region. After a couple of hours in the air, they came back down to the ground to have lunch. "You know what? I don't even know your name", he said to her as they sat of the fresh grass. "Oh, right. I thought of asking for yours first but you beat me to it. It's Elizabeth Smith", she said. "Nice to officially meet you Elizabeth Smith, my name is Samuel Gr…", his voice suddenly cut off and his ears twitched. There was a sudden rustling of the bushes behind them as two men dressed in hunting gear, carrying double-barreled shotguns, popped out.

The two hunters were in the mountains hunting for game illegally. Upon witnessing a large flying shadow descend into the forest, they quickly approached in order to hunt down such a rare specimen of bird. They emerged from the shrubbery and instantly came face-to-face with their supposed quarry. Seeing the true form of the shadow, they were scared shitless. Without thinking twice, they opened fire on him thinking he was some kind of demon or monster.

Seeing the danger, Sam quickly spread his wings to shield both he and Elizabeth but he wasn't fast enough to completely shield her and she was shot in the arm. She fell on her knees crying out loud as warm thick blood streamed down her arm from the bullet wound.

Seeing the blood flow down her arm and listening to her screams of pain drove him to the breaking point.

His pupils contracted into slits as they switched from yellow to red suddenly and glowed with murderous rage. The change happened so suddenly, almost as if a switch was flipped.

Sharp and thin dagger-like extensions popped out of the ends of the ridges in his wings with the spikes on the tip of his tail growing a few inches longer. He roared as he charged at them with his blazing eyes. Scared out of their wits, they opened fire once again.

He successfully deflected all the oncoming speeding bullets as if rehearsed beforehand. He formed a cone around his body with his wings and, kicking off the ground hard, he spun quickly midair creating a small but strong wind pressure that bounced away the incoming bullets. Arriving before them, he used his dagger-like extensions to slice through their weapons, taking a few fingers as well.

The hunters screamed in pain as they fell on their buts, grappling their hands trying to stop the bleeding. Their screams of pain and anguish served to fan his rage as well as tickle a slight sadistic instinct deep in his subconscious. He grabbed them both by their necks and flew them several meters off the ground. "How dare you? How dare you hurt my friend?" he growled and revealed his sharp fangs as they appeared longer than before. His claws also began growing longer, piercing the necks of the hunters, and causing them further pain and torment.

The murderous aura around him at the moment was enough to cause them to pass out in fear. The only thing keeping them lucid was the pain coming from the loss of some of their fingers and the claws currently digging into the flesh of their necks. He roared as his wings were suddenly set ablaze. The image before them was like a scene from the worst nightmare imaginable. Before them was a creature they could only identify as a demon straight out of hell. The hunters cried out as they struggled to apologize and tried to free themselves but their airways were restricted. He had almost fully crushed their throats when a familiar voice penetrated through the rage clouding his judgment.

"Please wake up! You have to remember who you are. You are not the monster they see you to be. They were just scared, that's all. Remember, I was also scared when I first saw you but we are friends now. Your appearance doesn't define who you are. I know your heart is in the right place. I'm okay so please, let them go", Elizabeth shouted trying to reach him. It took a while, but the fog clouding his vision slowly lifted. He finally snapped back to reality, as the glow in his eyes died down and he loosened his death grip. He flew back down to the ground and threw them to the ground.

"Leave this place and never return. Do you understand me? Now LEAVE!!" he shouted and roared at the hunters, who held on to their soiled pants and fled the scene.

His animalistic nature got the better of him as he knelt by Elizabeth and licked the bullet wound on her arm. She tried her best to hold herself back from wailing out loud due to the pain. For a child, she had an unusually strong mental fortitude. He then did something that shocked her to her core. He pricked a part of his palm not covered in scales and drew a drop of blood from it, the wound healing up instantly.

"What are you doing?" she asked, stunned by what he was doing. "Wait and see", he said and held up her arm. She winced in pain in response to his action. He pointed his claw at her arm as he let the drop of blood fall into her wound. "So! What now?" she asked, "Just give it a minute", he said holding up a finger.

"Ouch!! What's happening?" she asked, feeling a slight tug in her bullet wound. "Voilá!" he said as the bullet lodged within her arm fell out and the wound completely sealed up.

For an entire minute, Elizabeth just stared at her fully healed arm. "What just happened?" she finally asked "Long story short, I just gave you regenerative abilities. At least, that's what my doctor calls it".

"Regene… what?!" she asked, totally clueless of what he was talking about. "It's basically, the ability to heal instantly", he explained. "Cool! So, is it permanent or temporary?" she asked. "I'm not sure. Other than Drogo, the wolf cub, you are the only other person I've done this to", he replied. "I think we better get out of here", he said as he carried her bridal position and flew her to her camp. "Before I forget; be sure not to draw attention to your new healing ability", he cautioned mid-air. "I promise I'll be careful", she said as she held on tightly to him.

Elizabeth's brother froze when he saw his sister in the arms of a creature he had never seen before. "Wha…wha…He flew her directly to her tent. "Are you going to be alright?" he asked her. "Yeah, I'll be fine. I'll see you tomorrow", she said as he turned to leave. "Sup", he said to Elizabeth's brother as he waved at Elizabeth and flew off. Elizabeth's brother just stared into the air completely in shock and after a few seconds, fell to the ground unconscious. She smiled and dragged her heavy brother to his tent. "Get in here, you big idiot", she said with a smile as she dragged his heavy body into his tent.