Ksiel was stuck.
It had all started off rather simple. He’d tried to fly, using his new wings. In the past, he’d used telekinetically powered ‘energy wings’ that weren’t wings at all – he’d simply fly around using telekinesis. But now he had a massive pair of dark, powerful wings, he wanted to fly for real.
The first test flight hadn’t been too bad. He’d glided from the top of the tree house to one of the neighbouring trees, grabbing on to one of the larger branches. He nearly missed, but he was fine. Next Ksiel decided to try and glide from his new tree down to the ground. That also wasn’t too bad. He’s scratched his arms on the landing, but the wounds had healed up fine.
No, Ksiel screwed himself over in his third test flight, as he tried to actually fly back up to the tree house. Somehow, he’d overshot the tree house completely and crashed into a nearby tree, getting himself tangled up in vines.
What made matters worse was that he was hanging upside down. One vine was wrapped around his back, another around his foot. If he cut either, he’d fall straight down and probably not be able to orientate himself before hitting the ground.
His only option was to wait. Someone would come by the tree house. He could shout out to them. Just needed to be patient.
Time passed. Ksiel wasn’t sure how long he’d been hanging there, but he was starting to feel dizzy. Too much blood in the wrong place, perhaps? He tried pulling himself up a bit, so he was more lying flat than hanging upside down.
Really though, Ksiel’s biggest problem was that he was thirsty. Or hungry. A bit of both. He had a weird feeling in the back of his head, as if something was telling him that he wanted to drink blood or something. Ksiel pushed that thought to one side and decided to inspect his new body. Not like he had much else to do.
He did genuinely feel better. Stronger. More muscular. Ksiel had never worn much armour plating over his natural armour, not since his working days as a Ksa. Once he became semi-retired, he wore as little extra armour as possible. He actually had thicker natural armour than most, and now, in his new body, he had even more. What Ksiel liked most though was the plates that ran down his back and his stomach, linking up to several more plates that almost looked like a belt. The plating wasn’t too bulky though and he still had amble mobility in his arms and legs, as well as plenty of access to his nether region. Weirdly, his tail seemed even longer and the end was tipped with more plated natural armour, forming a spiked, mace-like thing.
The wings though, they were amazing. He needed more practice before he used them though.
Ksiel suddenly realised that everything seemed darker. The sun was setting. Or at least it had disappeared behind the hills. That worried Ksiel slightly.
Luckily though, a light turned on in the tree house. Ksiel immediately spotted it and started shouting.
“HELP!”
Whoever it was, they rushed over to the window. There were two of them. Both looking… a bit like Ksiel.
“YOU GUYS GONNA STAND THERE OR ARE YOU GOING TO HELP ME DOWN?”
The first being seemed to tut, before climbing out of the window and flying over to Ksiel. They hovered in mid air, their powerful wings and obvious flying skill putting Ksiel to shame.
“You alright?” Kayel asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine!” Ksiel tutted. “Where the fuck is everyone else?”
For a moment, Ksiel felt himself fall, but luckily Kayel managed to grab him, and carried him back to the tree house. Ksiel’s legs wobbled as they touched firm ground, and he found himself falling forward. Maybe he’d been upside down for too long.
“You don’t-”
“I’m fine,” Ksiel growled. “You didn’t answer my question. What happened?”
“I don’t know,” Kayel admitted. “But we need to go find them. Then we need to work out what we’re going to do next…”