Of Ashes and Wind

Soaring Heaven

Phoenix smiled at the sight of it.

Lionheart screeched proudly while both of his wings carried him along the fair winds within the ancient tree canopy. The gryphon swooped low, his left wing no longer a festered and oozing state.

"Lionheart..." Phoenix muttered once the gryphon landed with the grace of an angel, he tucked his head low and nuzzled it against the child's chest. Phoenix laughed at the ticklish sensation and found the spot behind his feathered ears to scratch at. A low appeasing rumble came from the beast's chest. "All better?"

Lionheart looked up with his golden gaze.

Yes, of course you are.

Phoenix smiled at the shared sentiment.

The gryphon bowed low, Phoenix was more than familiar with the act and quickly clamored on. But Lionheart didn't rise until the familiar weight of Eiriell pressed to Phoenix's back was felt.

"W-Wait!" Tannyl's green gaze went wide with a panic once he registered both Phoenix and the Crown Princess on the bareback of Lionheart, "T-That's not safe!" He ran from the back of the roost and towards the stone platform, intent on stopping the three.

"You won't let us fall, right?" Phoenix leaned forward to mutter that into his ear.

Lionheart looked back to catch Phoenix's gaze.

Of course, you won't.

"Whenever you're ready." Phoenix held on to the plumage, Eiriell smiled into Phoenix's shoulder, the human child could feel the Princess and her wild heart at her back.

It raced with the same stuttering pace as her own.

With a familiar gallop, Lionheart jumped off with his wings spread wide.

Phoenix felt her stomach within her throat, she tried to yell out but couldn't from the rush of the wind and the ground below directly in front of them. It was a weird sensation for the ground to be forward and the sky to be behind her.

Then all at once, Lionheart's wings pumped with the intensity of thunder. The ground was no longer right in front of her vision, but rather behind and the sky was what she travelled forward into. She breathed out deeply and recognized the moment her mind caught up with her body. She didn't know how Lionheart was able to keep track of the change so quickly. It was dizzying.

"Lionheart!" Eiriell yelled out joyously while her hands were tightly wound around Phoenix's waist.

The rush of buildings and bridges made from great branches blurred by Phoenix within her peripheral. The great opening within Eostrun's canopy became wider and wide, the smell of the Werenluna Woods tickled her nose, her lips, and her face.

Freedom

Phoenix Stroud went wide eyed at the at the sea of green below her and the heavens above her. The horizon bled the heavens and earth together. She felt a deep exhale of Eiriell's breath at her neck. They leveled off and all that could be felt now was a gentle breeze while they remained high above the tree tops. Phoenix felt a low thrum within herself and then traced it back to the gryphon she was mounted upon. Around Lionheart was a swirl of peculiar energy.

Magic

The child thought while watching the mighty pump of his wings to keep them aloft, the abundant energy of the forest below them gravitated towards Lionheart – helping the great beast command the very winds around them.

Phoenix knew that there was no way she would ever fall off of her friend's back. She tested it by letting go of one hand, and then another.

Soon she sat up straight and threw her arms wide, trying to encompass the blue yonder above into her embrace.

"Nix! You're crazy!" Eiriell squealed and squeezed her grip around Phoenix's waist even harder.

The child merely laughed and all the Elven Princess could think about was how her friend's dark blue eyes were so reminiscent of how the light sky bled into a deeper shroud, hiding the great gods above from mortal eyes no matter how high they could soar.

Both children felt the great beast heave its chest inward.

Unleashed onto the world before them was a great eagle's screech that echoed off of the horizon itself.

Phoenix smiled widely. She had read of eternal bliss and the pursuit of it within countless of stories.

She wondered if this is what all of those stories and books were talking about.