Page 46 of Green Ravens

Silence hung in the room as the rustle of lab coats shifted as if they were giving him space.

His body and mind felt foreign yet familiar.

Sawyer took long, deep breaths, noticing the expansion and compression of his chest, the coiling of raw power and instinct burning beneath his skin. He thought he’d feel more pain or weakness as the sedation wore off, but he felt…as if he were soaring.

Time passed slowly before he had the energy to open his eyes, and to his shock, the world snapped into focus with astonishing clarity.

The beam of light over his head didn’t blind him in the way it had before. Instead, he saw every detail.

His attention shifted at the tiniest flickers of movement. The twitch of Dr. Santana’s temples, the beads of sweat dripping down Dr. O’Reilley’s neck and into her white collar, the dramatic bobbing of Dr. Pheung’s Adam’s apple with each nervous swallow.

After another several minutes, his body began to feel light and freer.

Sawyer rose in one fluid motion like a phoenix from ashes. He rolled his shoulders, flexed his muscles, and cracked his joints until there was no more stiffness.

He didn’t speak, just observed them with an unhampered mind. Studied them as they studied him back.

It was as if they were expecting something from him, speech, a reaction, recognition, he wasn’t sure. But myriad images flashed across his vision, fragments of people and places that perhaps he should know, but they didn’t stick around long enough for him to figure them out.

Who he’d been before this moment was just out of his grasp.

Dr. O’Reilley cleared her throat. “Zorion, can you hear me?”

That name felt wrong. Alien.

She shifted, her hands trembling as she clutched her clipboard. “I know you’re probably feeling a bit disoriented, but I promise we can help you.”

Help me?

“Your body has undergone a sort of transformation. You may feel odd or different, but trust me, we’re here to help.”

Trust you!

Sawyer stayed silent. He heard each distinct heartbeat. Their erratic pulses. But his was as steady as he was focused.

Dr. Pheung took a cautious step forward. “Can you nod or speak if you understand us?”

He could, yes, but he wouldn’t. His instinct was telling him to remain still. To calculate and observe. He remained that way until the silence stretched into discomfort.

Dr. O’Reilley’s eyes began to fill with moisture. “God help us. What have we done?”

Sawyer tipped his head in an odd, curious gesture.

If these mad scientists only knew what they’d created, they’d know he didn’t need divine intervention. He was beyond that now.

Chief Aiken Oakley

Valor

Another week passed and Valor continued to have the same dream every night.

A predator loomed in the distance, its wings stretched wide, talons curved and hooked like daggers, gleaming under a crescent moon.

Valor stood frozen in the depths of a dense jungle, watching the creature descend through a gloomy sky that seemed to stretch on for miles.

Like all the other times, he had no fear, only a feeling, a connection to this creature pulsing in his core.

When the large beast was just beyond his grasp, it released an ear-deafening screech sharper than nails down a chalkboard.

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