The Azra-El Series Ch. 06

"I am sure. Otherwise, why would Momo be trying to protect it? Does a mother Quetzal leave a baby for long periods? That doesn't seem safe, especially with a Xenodon prowling around. I think Momo found it somewhere and decided to raise it"

"Hmmm. It makes no sense. A hatchling can't magically appear in the middle of nowhere. I will wait for Rebecca and we will go look around. If there is an adult Quetzal around, we need to warn people" Jie Er replied

"What do you plan on doing with the hatchling?" she continued, pointing at the bird. "I think we should hand it over to the mayor or the duchess. You should give up on trying to tame it. Many angels have tried it before. It's pointless without the taming method"

The little Quetzal, which had had calmed down when Blaze had been mending his wounds, seemed to have once again become agitated. Its focus now on Jie Er.

"Please aunty, can you at least let me try? This one may be different. Momo seemed to have been raising it. Would a normal baby Quetzal allow that?" Blaze protested.

"I will let you try for a few days. But if I ever feel that it's becoming dangerous, I am sending it away" Jie Er agreed quickly. She decided it was easier to let Blaze try taming it rather than arguing against him. The baby Quetzal did not pose any great threat yet.

Suddenly, Rebecca barged in through the front door with a spear in her hand. She saw Jie Er kneeling beside an obviously wounded Blaze and she ran into the kitchen.

"What happened? Are you alr... eeek" Rebecca screamed and immediately tried to rush towards the bird with her spear.

"Stop!" Blaze screamed, but Jie Er was quicker. She grabbed Rebecca's hair and pulled her back.

"Calm down! It's alright" she reassured the bloodthirsty angel.

"What's going on? Why do we have a freaking Quetzal in the house?" Rebecca screeched, alarming the bird even more.

"Can the two of you get out?" Blaze replied. "You are frightening Sky"

"Sky?"

"You've gotta be kidding me"

***

"Be careful" Jie Er told Blaze as she and Rebecca got ready to head out in search of the adult Quetzal. They had given Rebecca a brief explanation with a promise of a more detailed one.

"I will be fine. You are the ones that should be careful" Blaze cautioned them as they stepped out.

"We will get help if we spot one. We aren't planning on fighting it" Rebecca replied, before they took off to the sky. They only had half an hour's worth of sunlight left.

Blaze watched their fading forms for a moment before he headed back inside. Sky became alert as soon as she heard him step inside, but she seemed to calm down after a moment.

"'Sup' little guy, how's it going?" Blaze cooed as he slowly approached the bird.

He gently reached out a hand trying not to alarm the creature.

Sky watched his hand warily but did not lunge at him like she'd done before. Blaze bopped its beak once before retreating his hand. He could tell that she was still uncomfortable.

"You hungry?" he said getting up quickly. The quick movements startled the little bird, but Blaze had done it intentionally. He wanted it to get used to him when she was still helpless.

"Let's see. I saw some fish bones at your nest, and parrots eat fruit and nuts. Maybe we can find some stuff you can choose from" he spoke out loud, before heading to the fridge.

The refrigerators on Azra-El were clunkier than the ones on earth. However, it was mostly because of the heavy insulation around the core of the fridge. An energy absorbing crystal cooled it by slowly removing heat from the inner core. It was exceptionally efficient, as the heat absorbed could later be used for other purposes like cooking.

He picked up a couple of deboned fish and a Tava fruit from the fridge, while grabbing some assorted nuts from the pantry. He placed them in front of Sky and waited.

However, the bird just stared at the food and gave no indication that it was going to eat them.

"Eat!" Blaze said, demonstrating by popping a nut into his mouth. The parrot tilted his head at him, as if she was asking if he was crazy.

Suddenly an image of a bird feeding its nestlings flashed in his mind. Fuck, you're only a hatchling.

Blaze quickly gathered up food and put some boiling water on the stove. He cut the fish and fruit into small pieces and mashed the nuts into a powder. He dropped them all into the water and boiled them until they became soft. He mashed it all into a thick soup and even added some Bison milk for consistency.

He couldn't procure bird vomit, but his cooking skills were perfect for making something that resembled it.

He poured the goo into a smaller cup and grabbing the bird's lower beak he lifted its head to pour it down its throat.

Sky struggled and tried to scratch at his knees, until it felt the goo trickle into the void in its stomach. It quickly gulped down the whole cup and then blinked at Blaze, as if surprised that this angel was feeding her.

"quee quee" it suddenly squealed, jutting its beak at Blaze's hands.

"Oh, now you want more? Impressed by my impeccable cooking skills?" Blaze laughed at the bird.

She managed to finish up half a gallon of soup before she was satisfied.

With it hunger finally sated and her gizzard heavy with the Blaze's nasty concoction, the bird seemed to finally realize that Blaze was trying to protect her. She wobbled back to her corner and with her tail against it, she laid her head down.

Blaze reached out and slowly started caressing her head. Sky tried her best to keep herself awake, but the lulling motions slowly put her to sleep.

***

Jie Er and Rebecca returned an hour later. Sky gave out a loud squeal and scampered up to Blaze who was sitting at the dinner table, reading a book. It hugged his leg with its papery featherless limbs and glared at the two adult angels.

"You've tamed it?" Jie Er asked in astonishment.

"Why am I not surprised?" Rebecca just sighed as Blaze kneeled to calm the bird down.

"Tamed? Isn't that a bit of a stretch? I think it just trusts me a little. I did save it from the Xeno. It seems to like my cooking too" Blaze replied shaking his head.

"You don't understand, Blaze. Quetzals aren't like other wild animals. Why do you think they are so hard tame? They just don't trust other creatures, even if they are the first and only creature they see after hatching. Sky letting you touch her means that it has accepted you. Taming is now just a matter of how you train her" Jie Er explained.

"Do you think I may be a demon?" Blaze suddenly asked. Just like Sky, his egg could've come from anywhere.

The two older angels were taken back for a moment, before Jie Er replied.

"I don't think there are many who can claim to be angels if you aren't, little one. Look at the color of your wings. White and light red. Both are strong angel colors. Unless you are hiding a masking stone, there is no way you are not an angel. As you said, I think it is the Quetzal that's a different. We found no trace of an adult Quetzal, but we looked at the nest. Seems like Momo has been raising it for at least a week. No Quetzal will leave its child for so long"

"What about the Xenodon?" Blaze asked hesitantly.

"We found its tracks leading deeper into the forest. Oddly enough, Momo's body was uneaten. We buried her" Rebecca answered.

"All of this very strange. Why is there a Quetzal hatchling in Aranya. Why wouldn't a Xenodon not eat its kill?" Jie Er pondered out loud.

Blaze looked away sadly when he heard about Momo. He had hoped that the carnike might have pulled off a miracle and somehow survived. But he apparently wasn't in such a whimsical fantasy world.

"Phrrrt" Sky made a loud noise and pooped on the kitchen floor.

"I guess we do have to build that new room now" Jie Er said looking at the poopy snarling bird. She wasn't going to have a smelly bird in her kitchen or her room.

***

Sky slept in the kitchen that night, but they made a makeshift coop outside the kitchen the next morning. Blaze spent the day with the bird, trying to get her used to being around an angel. He practiced his energy manipulation and then brought out a book to read in the garden.

As he read the book, Blaze started humming a tune from Earth. Suddenly he spotted Sky, who was perched on a nearby rock, begin nodding at the tune.

"You like that?" Blaze asked and started singing the song out loud.

Somewhere, beyond the trees
Somewhere, waiting for me
My parrot stands on an aspen branch
And watches the birds that go flying

Somewhere, beyond the trees
You're there watching for me
If you could fly like birds on high
Then straight to my arms you'd come flying

Sky delightfully bobbed her head in accord with the tune.

***

~In memory of Sky, my pet parrot, who lived only for five weeks but gave me many wonderful memories. I used to sing him/her my version of Bobby Darin's hit song, Somewhere Beyond the Sea. I hope to give it a long life in my novel.

I would really like to hear your opinions on this chapter. Please leave a comment

Explanation for those of you who are still unclear about the idea I was exploring in this chapter: To the angels, sex is no different than a long kiss or a massage. Why should it be any different? They don't reproduce the same way as humans. Imagine a contrasting universe where people get pregnant by mere touch. To them, touching would be as intimate as sex. A person from that universe would probably be as conflicted in our universe as Blaze is in the world of angels.

Some of you may also may be wondering if I have closeted incestual tendencies. My answer is a confident no (it's up to you to believe me). I am comfortable writing this partly because I don't think I have such thoughts. I used to have a thing for older women. Not as much anymore. I am comfortable with my sexuality and I hope to explore anything that excites me. But, I will refer to what I said at the start of this story. I will write nothing that I consider pedophilia, rape or other things right of the philia spectrum.