The days of My Life

There was only one reason that he was hiding there, one reason that, at the time, seemed paramount to his health. It would have been a risk either way though. Perhaps he was hiding more out of fear of them, than self preservation. He knew they wouldn’t have let him pass, but what other choice did he have. He’d rather face them than the dark alleys of the city. He had honestly tried to escape, but his legs were just too short and his mind was just too wearied. He wondered why they even bothered going this far on him; he wasn’t exactly the most valuable catch out there. He was at the bottom of the chain when it came to his species. Maybe they didn’t know that though. He wished they did though; it would have kept him safe. His mother had tried that, but it seemed that her efforts were in vain. She had given her life, sacrificed herself just to save him, but now he was going to die anyway.
He crouched further down into the bushes, wrapping his tail around his body tighter so it stayed out of view. It was shaking, just like the rest of his body. He was surprised that they hadn’t heard him yet, but then again, their hearing was not all that advanced as his. He knew that he was more powerful than them. One of them that is. As soon as there were combined forces against him his strength meant nothing. He was one of the few who had the power to disobey them, but his overall strength was pitiful. It was the only advantage he had over them, and it had only ever served him well when he was up against one of them.
The rest of his race was bound by an ancient law that consumed each new born. When was born things had happened differently. His mother had used the last of her energy to consume and protect his body. What was left over was a deformed child who was of the same race, but different at the most basic levels of DNA. It was that part of his physiology that the laws would have detected, but they passed over him and he remained free in only one sense. If his mother had not killed him he would have been bound into servitude and given immeasurable power in return. Of course he would have only had to serve if he was caught. That was why his race ran from the other beings. If none of them ever knew of your existence, they could not command you into their service. Some had spent their entire lives running, only to be caught three hundred years later. There was after all, only so many places that they could run anymore. The planet was becoming smaller with each passing month. One of the reasons that the majority of the population had run to the very place that he was hiding now.
He was not welcome here with the rest of his kind though because they knew of his handicap and his freedom. They were more likely to kill him than the other beings would be. He belonged to a cruel race that only used their power for personal gain and the torture of others. He was similar to them in many ways; he still craved the sound of pain or the smell of blood, but unlike them, he had to hold himself back because he had no catalyst to slake his hunger. He had starved for most of his life because of this. His race did not feed in any sense, but they felt a pull towards suffering in the same way that an animal longs for companionship. The other beings were cruel too though. They would capture one of his race and force them into service. After that they would be docile and near powerless to do anything. They could not even save their own life it their human master asked them to die. It was during this capture that his race lost al of their power, and their immortality. If they did not though, the planet would be dead. There can only be so much suffering in the world before it collapses upon itself.
That was why the treaty had been made. It was held in a building by the humans with security that would kill any approacher, whether human or sphinx. It was laid up in the building under unimaginably thick defenses. There was a reason for that too though, as ever sphinx knew. If the treaty itself was damaged, all things would revert to the way they were millions of years ago. Stories were told of great civilizations with freedom and slaughter. The stories told of when the sphinx race had ruled over everything; now they were only slaves.
Xavier heard these stories when he had been younger; before his race had discovered his deformities. They had not known from birth because the magic in a sphinx did not develop until they reached one hundred years. Some said it was because none of their race could hold the responsibility to do evil in the world when they were that young and vulnerable. It was during these one hundred years that the treaty began to develop itself in a sphinx, and they changed into a slave with enough power to kill millions. But they couldn’t kill the humans with their powers either; another part of the treaty, otherwise they would have been free long ago.
When he had grown too one hundred and ten, just starting to develop wisdom in his countenance, they had thrown him out of their lives with vast threats. They would have killed him if they could have, but again their laws were bound by a piece of paper.
The paper itself said many things in which every sphinx and every human knew from the day they started to learn. It was written by the two kings of each race, both which had perished long before. There were knew kings now, ones who would do anything just to keep the sphinx in their power. The rules were written side by side, each word written in blood of the two races.
Every being who is in existence and who will come into existences will be bound by the laws of two races. These laws are written in the blood of the two races as they are allied on every level, and have mixed their essence in order to maintain their law in both races. The laws will find the blood of every being like their kings and bind them into the contracts to be stated. Evil and good must be maintained for the health of the planet and minds of both races. Each beast will fall into their role so the planet may be maintained. Evil must serve good, but only if good does command them to do so. In return for their servitude, evil will have every power of the earth; unending and without limits and they will have immortal life. Good must maintain evil and respect their place and their role. No evil may hurt another evil, and must have this knowledge in their minds, as no good can attack good. Evil and good can not harm the other in any way; their powers clash, but they must not attack one another. All will be well with all, and all will be bound by blood.
There was only one thing that the two kings had no predicted. They had not taken into account. They had not known what immortality would change, and how slow the sphinx would reproduce after they achieved it. They had not known that the humans would spread in mass, like flies breeding in sour meat. They had not known how much the genetics of humans would change as they evolved much faster than the sphinx, while the sphinx maintained their DNA completely. The human had literally grown out of the treaty, because they blood was no longer anything like that of their king’s millions of years ago, there were too many attributes that differed now. The sphinx had remained the same, even in appearance, and so they were still bound. Unknowingly the sphinx king had doomed all of them, while the human king paved his way for a powerful future for his race.
This was why Xavier’s fear was so monumental. His life could end right now; not that it had been much of a life. Running, living and hiding for the most part. But there was a time when he had been happy, but that happiness was lost to him forever now. It was a memory from when he was young, but now it seemed so insignificant. The rest of his life felt the same way, while this moment was paramount. If his life ended here, his life would have meant absolutely nothing. But if it continued, perhaps he could make something in the world. If only he was not so weak; then this would have been so much easier. He was not bound by the laws, and so he could kill the humans. He was not, however, immortal in any way, nor did he have any power. He was nothing in a world of masters and slaves.
He pushed his legs out from under himself, only hoping that they hadn’t heard the rustle of leaves. The bush in front of him was sparse, but he had nowhere to move to. The trees around him were just as sickly. Everything in the world seemed to be dying as the humans spread. They were using the Sphinx power in ways that it was not meant to be used; for their own gain. But there was only so much they could take from the world before it died all together. It was on the verge now; it was tired and ready to die. Like every other living thing it had used all of its energy; even more as the humans sucked it dry.
It was because of the exchange of power and the servitude of a captured sphinx. When they were free, they never used their power unless it was necessary; it drew too much attention to them. But now all of the power was being used; too fast for the world to replenish itself. Even the free sphinx were starting to suffer. But they could do nothing.
If the magic dried up the world would become a barren desert. It was a concept that the humans couldn’t understand, but the sphinx knew all too well. The sphinx were prepared in every way that they could be expected to be. Even their bodies looked as if they would be able to survive in a desert environment. Their bodies were more lion than man, soft golden fur sprouting along their legs and thighs up to their waist. At their waist their the fur changed into equally smooth feathers that grew around a sphinx’s hips and along their spine until they sprouted out into large, albeit useless, wings. The feathers on every sphinx were a pure white, contrasting the gold of their fur.
The rest of their skin was a light bronze that would blend in with the sand of the desert. Their chest and heads looked human, but their hair was unnaturally fine and long, growing past their wings. The hair was always the same color as well, as every feature was the same in every sphinx. It was a pure jet black that would glow blue in the desert sun.
Their limbs looked nothing like a human’s; their legs short and strong, ending in massive paws, elongated to support the full bodies weight. Their arms were equally strong with feathers and fur wrapping around the limbs in great thick stripes. Their hands were not hands at all, but talons that could rival any birds. The claws themselves were the length and thickness of a human’s fingers, ending in sharp points that could cut through flesh as if it was air. There were seven of these claws erupting from each palm, which was very similar to their back feet. Four of the claws were longer and thicker, lining the front of the paw, while three smaller ones lined the back of the leg just up from the paw.
Each sphinx was the same height, just under four and a half feet, only Xavier differed. His fur was darker and pure silver in color, while his wings were black. His hair fell shorter than his wings, which were abnormally large, and glimmered grays browns and blacks. His coloring was the first thing that his adoptive sphinx parents had noticed, along with his height, which was less than four feet. His legs were thinner and lighter, along with his arms. Against another sphinx he looked as if his entire body was atrophied. It made him even weaker than the average human, who stood around six feet.
And now there were four of them; he could hear each individual voice they searched him out in the brush. They had seen him earlier when he had just gone to river that flowed through this part of the forest. He hadn’t gone to drink; sphinx didn’t drink, but instead to watch the water itself. Sphinx were old creatures and they found much pleasure in watching time pass. While a human had to be doing something at every second, a sphinx would only bring himself to do something life changing every hundred years. Xavier had done much more in his life time than any sphinx 1000 years older than him had, but he still conformed to some of the things his race did. And the river was a place he liked to watch time go by the most. You couldn’t see it there because each drop of water flowed into the next. The only things that disrupted his meditation there was when solid things floated down; trees and bodies alike. There were too many creatures in the world that couldn’t swim in comparison to the amount of the liquid on the planet.
The whole planet seemed to be a hoard of contradiction and fear. Even the most basic and binding treaty in the world had become the very thing that caused the fear. Animals and plants were supposed to be born with the ability to keep them alive, but their very instincts were the thing that usually got them killed. For humans it was their inherent curiosities that often lead to their peril, and for the sphinx it was their ability to do magic. Both things lead to their downfall, but it was an inherent response that could not be unlearned. It was as if every living thing had the means to save and kill themselves.
Xavier wasn’t sphinx and he wasn’t human either, but he still had the inherent ability to lead to his own downfall. It was his pastime to watch the river, even though he knew that the humans came to the river often. He could not stop himself anymore than a deer in headlights could move. At least a sphinx could move out of the way of a vehicle; leaving their animal counterparts behind to take the hit.
“Here.”
It was the words he had been dreading. Somehow they had found him. He turned his head and looked back over his shoulder. Bark and leaves blocked his view, but then he saw it. One of his feathers had fallen out and was floating away just above him. It was no wonder they had found him; sphinx feathers were like a beacon to anyone close enough to see them. They shimmered just like his fur, only they were brighter and much larger. His eyes followed the feather as the wind blew it away, wondering why it had betrayed him. Sphinx feathers barely ever fell out because it took them ten years to grow back. SO why had one fallen out now? It was even one of the largest one; as if it had tried to serve as a beacon for the humans. Like they wanted to be found.
Xavier’s arm shook with fear, shaking the leaves behind him in succession. He heard the humans yell again; another one had seen him now. He looked back again and this time he saw their legs coming ever closer. He also saw the long machete in each of their palms. It wasn’t for him; they thought that they could control him with words alone. It was for the other things that had fled to this forest. There were millions of creatures from the old times here in this forest, a forest that was ever-shrinking. The humans knew other things existed, but they did not understand what they were. No one knew of some of them except for the creatures themselves.
A single thought coursed through his mind as he saw them nearing. He was short, tiny even. Maybe if he ran again they wouldn’t be able to catch him this time. There was only a few problems, and one of them was that the humans were faster than him because of his small size. And they didn’t have heavy wings on their backs. The only advantage he had was that they had not brought anything to capture him with. On a normal hunt they would call out to a sphinx, once they were within what they thought was speaking range, and the sphinx would go with them quietly. That wouldn’t happen with Xavier because he was the different than the rest of his breed.
He darted out from under the brush, hoping his pursuers didn’t see him right away. It was unlucky for him that he had only been watching over his shoulder because the second he was out from under the bush he ran right across a human’s path. There were five of them, not four, and one of them was staring at him with a curious expression. Xavier dropped to his front palms and arched his back, thrusting his wings out in a defensive position. Small fangs protruded from his mouth as he growled deep in his chest.
The human only laughed, washing the scent of bad breath down at the doomed sphinx. Xavier scrunched his face up in disgust, and reared up, leaping up and over the man, using his wings to glide. He couldn’t fly, but unlike the rest of his race, he could glide on his wings if there was enough power behind his jump. The wind pressed against his ears for a second before it gave way as he landed and stumbled forward. All of the humans were behind him now, but they weren’t far off, and he had to run soon to get away. He pulled himself up on four paws , earth sliding off of his fur, leaving it shiny. His legs muscle bunched up ready to leap, but he paused for a second, looking back over his shoulder as one of the humans spoke.
“I am in need of your help and I command you to stop sphinx.” The human’s face was relaxed; he had said the line many times before.
Xavier turned away and ran as fast as his little legs would carry him. He never turned back and he didn’t stop until he came upon a clearing where his kind was living. He had been so afraid that he hadn’t been looking where he had been running.
“Run, the humans are coming.”
They didn’t kill him, didn’t even ask a single question of his loyalty. They knew of his intentions because they were the same as theirs. Preservation of the race always came first; whether friend or foe. They surged ahead of him, running deeper into the shrinking forest. But they were all as unlucky as Xavier had proven to be. As it turned out there were not five humans in the forest, but fourty-seven. They stopped each of the sphinx in their path with a single sentence, and when Xavier continued to run, his own kind was commanded to take him down.

His arms and legs felt heavy as if he had just run several miles. The muscles ached, he could tell that without moving them. Even his breath came in gasps, and his lungs burned for air. Wherever he was it seemed like there was little or no air in the place.
Xavier opened his eyes, waiting for them to clear. Images swam past him for a moment before his eyes dried and focused. The first thing he saw was bars on all sides of him. They were close to him, pressing against his body in some places, but he couldn’t move away. In fact he couldn’t move at all. There were steel chains wrapped about his wrists and legs, holding him to the bars. There was a metal collar wrapped around his neck, the end ties above him in the short kennel. Even if his muscles had permitted him to move, he still would not have been able to.
He looked out of his kennel and past the bars, only to see hundreds of his own kind. They weren’t in iron boxes like he was, but instead on a loose gold chain that bound them to a stake. None of them even looked up at him; each had their eyes trained on the ground. There wasn’t even a small chance that any of them would look up because they were now in servitude. They didn’t even really need the chains, but they looked nice against the colour of their fur. It was just a way to make them look nice so people would come and buy them.
This is what would happen to a sphinx once they were caught; they were put on the black market for millions of dollars. Each sphinx looked the same, but they would still be put on show for the humans to see them; so they could choose which one they wanted to enslave. The humans who had caught them were called hunters; and they would get a cut of the money ; or a sphinx for themselves. It was easier to hunt sphinx with humans though because a sphinx could not command another sphinx. Hunter was an appropriate now because once a sphinx was caught they were no better than dead.
Humans milled up and down the rows of prostrate sphinx, eyes critical. If a sphinx had a single blemish, a scar from childhood, then they would most likely die in this place. No one wanted to buy a dull jewl amongst sparkling diamonds.
Xavier looked away and back down at his bound body. They must have figured out about him; that he didn’t have to listen. Otherwise why would they chain him like this? Why had they even brought him here though? He would never be sold. He would die here in a couple hundred years, muscles atrophied beyond repair, and mind blank as the day he had been born. He had not been brought here for any reason but to die, perhaps that was how the humans saw him though. Disposable. Perhaps that was how they saw all sphinx.
A shadow drew across the cage and Xavier looked back. A human was standing there looking at him with silver eyes. He didn’t know much about the human race, other thatn he had to stay away from them at all times, but he knew that they weren’t supposed to have silver eyes. Perhaps the man was blind. But that couldn’t be either, the eyes were wandering up and down his body, focusing at last on the chains around his wrists. The wrists that were beginning to go numb with pain.
“Alex I wouldn’t waste my money on that one if I were you.” Another human came up behind the first human, and silver eyes turned to look back at the speaker.
“And why would that be Kat?”
The woman looked at him with narrowed eyes before turning away. “See for yourself then.”
The man looked back at Xavier, and the sphinx found himself staring again into the silver orbs.
“Break free of your chains Sphinx.”
The words were venom to Xavier’s. He would not be ordered around by some idiot, so he did the only thing he could do with his body bound. He hissed and the man and barred his fangs. “Why don’t you just let me free?”
The man pulled back and his eyes widened. The orbs swept over Xavier’s body once more and something flashed in the man’s eyes. It looked almost like recognition.
“The dark angel,” he said, turning back to the woman. “Kat you were wrong, I will be taking this one after all. His eyes turned back to Xavier, they were glowing brightly now. There was a smile on the man’s lips that made Xavier quiver.
But the sphinx had been listening the whole time, and he knew that now would be the perfect time to wage an escape attempt. The rest of his kind wouldn’t be able to catch him unless they were ordered to break through their bonds first. It would give him enough time, maybe even to get away. He could care less about the human who was standing in front of him.
“Alex, you have been coming to this place ever since I can remember. Now the one you finally chose is one who has no power at all.” The woman spoke again, shaking he head at the cage. “But I guess its your money and your decision. I honestly thought this little guy was gonna die here though.”
Alex turned back at the woman, breaking eye contact with Xavier yet again. His eyes narrowed at her and his hand buried itself underneath the folds of his jacket. He was taller than her, by a foot easily. So much easier for him to overpower her.
“You are a cruel bitch Kat. Get him out of his chains, all except the collar,” said Alex.
Xavier drew back as much as he could when the woman reached insede of his cage. She untied the collar first, and he ripped his head around, sinking his teeth into the leather glove that protected her arm. He heard the skin tear under the cloth, biting harder in attempt to break the bone. In the next second his body convulsed as electricity passed through it. It stunned him enough to let go. The woman was holding the stunner against her own body so it would pass through his, and he would feel it.
She handed the end of the collar chain to Alex, pulling it tight so Xavier could not reach her again. She untied the rest of the chains, and jumped back when she released the last one. She did not foresee what she was jumping back into though, and a sharp knife separated her spine. Alex only grinned as her body slumped against his.
“Who said I had enough money?” He tugged on Xavier’s leash, but the sphinx refused to move. Alex bent down and spoke into the Sphinx’s laid back ear. “If you come with me, and submit to me, I will let you free.”
Xavier was on his feet in a second, standing beside the human. There was no way that he was going to get himself out of here in one piece. He needed help to get back to freedom. He didn’t even know why he craved freedom so much, but he did. Perhaps it was another thing inherent in his race. He was different than them, but not by very much. This man was now offering him freedom, perhaps for a few years of wasted time. It didn’t matter to Xavier though. A few years did not dent his life at all. It would dent a human’s, but there was always another human to take their place. Sphinx were different. If one was lost, their entire way of life changed in some way. When Xavier was forced to leave, it started a whole new tradition within the sphinx society. Each sphinx now had to prove that they were of evil birth. It was a test that every sphinx but Xavier was able to pass.
The man tugged on the leash again, this time gentler, as he began to walk toward the exit. Xavier fell into pace beside him, using his back and front paws to spread his weight around. His muscles still ached from being immobile for so long. No one stopped them on the way out, or even paused to look at the strange sphinx. The marketing of endangered species was illegal, although it was not illegal to own them. If a chain like this one was reported, hundreds of people would go to jail. So no one looked in each other’s eyes here because no one wanted to be seen and no one wanted to be reported.
Xavier passed hundreds of his own kind, longing to set them free. He knew he couldn’t though because only good could command evil. Only the humans could set a sphinx free. But that had never happened before. Which was causing a great deal of speculation on Xavier’s part as to why this ‘Alex’ was going to set him free. There was another thing as well. What had it meant when the human had called him that name? Black angel.