Voidlings (short story)

Instructions

Just a short 500 word story I wrote to submit for contests Xyra sat cross-legged, staring into the void below. The infinite expanse was mesmerizing. Just out of view, there were a few more faded blue islands; however, getting from the one Xyra was on wasn’t a problem, she was a voidling, one of many. She had elongated bumblebee-like wings, but in a blue shade, and she could fly at the speed of a hummingbird. Xyra’s hair looked like a purple nova, and her eyes were made of emerald greens. Her antenna was the same color as her skin, a light gray tone to help voidlings blend into the infinite. Xyra could hear loud shouting behind her, all speaking the same language, Galactic. “⍊?╎↸ ⍑⚍リℸ ̣ ᒷ∷ᓭ! ∷⚍リ!” (“Void Hunters! Run!”) Xyra heard someone shout, and her wings fluttered as she jumped off the edge of the island. She began flying in the same direction as everyone else, but she wasn’t fully grown and couldn’t keep up, quickly falling behind. One of the men in yellow caught up to her and grabbed at her ankles. The void hunter was trying to drag her to the Aether, but voidlings would turn to ash if they even set foot into the bright chroma. The man continued to grab for Xyra’s ankle as she flew in every direction and struggled to dodge, but he eventually got a grip and pinned her wings. The man’s wings were the same yellow color as his suit, and it was blindingly bright. ‘I have to find a way out of this, voidlings aren’t supposed to be this easy to grab!’ Xyra thought desperately. She looked around and, to her relief, there were no voidlings in sight, and it looked like she was the only one to get caught. The man began flying back in the direction they came from, and Xyra couldn’t help but take a wistful glance at the island she had been perched on moments before; she hoped it wouldn’t be for the last time. The Void Hunter had dragged her halfway to the Aether before she could devise a good plan. She kicked and screamed the entire way, trying to make it harder for the hunter, but only made it harder for herself to think. Biting a Void Hunter’s wing while flying was not a good idea, and he almost decided to rip her wings off instead. Waiting until getting to the gates also seemed like a terrible plan. Xyra didn’t like the idea of turning to ash because of some Void Hunter forgetting voidlings burn in the Aether. Xyra kicked at the hunter’s mask, causing it to slide off. The man who voidnapped her was a girl. Xyra was stunned, but it didn’t matter in the slightest; she still had to get away. Xyra could see the gates ahead and began to panic. She bit both of the hunter’s wings and kicked as hard as she could; the movements caught the hunter off guard, and she dropped her. Xyra managed to fly away to freedom.