Page 12 of Starlight

“Clean and stitch my wing?” Akai offered.

“Uh, yeah. What about your arm?”

“The wing is more important.” Even if it was stitched, he still wouldn’t be able to fly for weeks. If he tried, the skin would tear, and he’d make it worse.

The man blew out a breath and nodded. “Okay…I’ll help you up, and you can sit on the stump. I’d offer you the chair, but I think your wings will be in the way.” The man’s fingers trailed over the edge of his wing.

Akai suppressed a shiver even though the touch was delicate. He didn’t want to be anywhere near the rifle, so the stump sounded fine. He could probably get up and walk by himself, but he was more than happy for the human to assist. This is what he’d wanted, for the human to notice him. To be seen.

Maybe he’d be able to laugh about this in a few years; he could laugh about some of his adventures with his sister now. Could the man laugh about his cousins? No, he said they were assholes.

At least they both agreed on something.

He was sure his sister would laugh about the way he’d been stalking the human, only to find they had crossed paths before. Perhaps their fate lines had always been destined to cross. His sister was much better at that kind of thing than he was. She’d draw maps based on the stars when they were born and do the math and be able to give him an answer that makes sense.

She’d know what to do.

“Can you push yourself up with your good arm?” The man peered at him

Akai drew in a breath and tried to keep his wings motionless as he got to his knees.

“Whoa.” The man took a step back and glanced at him, eyebrows knitted together.

“What?” Was he bleeding from somewhere else? He touched his face, fairly sure he hadn’t landed on it. He glanced down, expecting there to be a stick poking through something it should definitely not be poking through.

“Nothing.” The man walked around and offered Akai his arm.

Akai used it for stability because not using his wings was throwing off his balance. Ugh, now he understood why all those monsters with tails complained when they got injured. Having a broken tail didn’t affect their ability to fly, though.

The man gave another surprised noise as Akai stood. “You’re lighter than I expected. For your size, I mean.”

Akai stared down at him. He was only about eight inches taller. “Of course I’m light; I have to be to fly.”

The man led him over to the stump, and Akai sat, wincing as he accidentally moved his injured wing.

“Do you have hollow bones like birds?”

“Yes.”

“So you’re not really part moth, part man. Can you turn your back to the fire, so I have better light?”

Akai glanced at him. “You are not stitching me up by firelight. Get a torch.”

“You know about torches?”

Akai tilted his head and stared at him. “I live in the same world as you, so of course I know about technology.”

“Oh. I thought…because… I don’t know—you’re not supposed to be real. I keep thinking that maybe I fell and I am unconscious and dying.”

Akai snorted. “I’m the one dying this time.”

The man rolled his eyes. “You don’t have a fractured pelvis or internal bleeding.”

“Are you a doctor?”

The man sighed. “No, which is why I am definitely the wrong person for this job.”

“You’re the only person here, and it needs to be stitched sooner rather than later.” It would take him hours to walk to the next monster, and there was no guarantee that they’d do a better job.