The Virtues' Magecraft

Page 72: When in Hell

In an instant, Shadowfax took off and exploded into the air. And in the next, Alexander and Kieran were thousands of feet above the ground.

Kieran's black hair burst past him and blocked out his eyes. But in any case, it wasn't as if he needed them. He kept his eyes shut and his arms wrapped around Alexander's ribcage as he started screaming. He kept it up for a whole minute, while Alexander ignored the pressure on his torso and instead focused on controlling the young dragon.

As soon as the Earthling's ears stopped ringing from the shift in air pressure, as soon as the wind exploding against them steadied... He himself was steadied.

He let go of Alexander and grabbed his portion of the saddle. He separated himself and finally opened his eyes. And he was met with a sight unlike any other.

The UnderWorld wasn't just a barren landscape of red sand like Kieran had seen around Furcas' castle. It was a world more colorful and more vibrant than his own. Mountains and hills and fields covered in green, with stark blue rivers the color of the sky running through the ground. In the distance, he saw what seemed to be grand, massive cities, all separated by miles and miles.

The ground beneath them was no longer dark, but pure white dirt that was adorned with sporadic flowering plants of all colors he could imagine.

"Alexander, are you seeing this, mate?!" he shouted out against the current of the wind.

Alexander laughed in response. "Hell yeah, man!"

It was beautiful- all of it. But not beautiful enough to drown out his fear. And so, unease once again settled into his stomach. He tightened his grip around the saddle's handle and clenched his jaw. Kieran didn't know how long he had to endure the flight of this beast, but he knew he still had to get through.

That was all he could resolve for now.

Alexander on the other hand...

He felt no fear at all. His heart seemed untangled and straightened out. The feeling he was met with as he flew was one unlike any other. Even as cool wind burst past him, it didn't feel more than a simple swaying.

It was peace. He wasn't falling- He was flying. Death wasn't staring him in the face- only the wind was. And before he knew it, a thin smile crawled onto his lips, the corners of his mouth beginning to curl.

He took in a deep breath, and let out a heavy exhale.

Alexander was dead. He was on a quest. He was riding a dragon. But for a minute, all of that slipped his mind. All he could feel, all he focused on was the pure pleasure of the cool wind breezing against his skin.

The slight trembles from Shadowfax's movements, the humidity in the air, and the temperature in his surroundings- It all culminated into a pure, simple feeling.

...Until they started to crash.

It was only about an hour into their flight when Shadowfax began to tremble more and more in the wind, her wings shaking. They began to lose altitude, quickly descending and growing closer and closer to the ground.

Before Kieran could do anything other than scream out, before Alexander found his way to control Shadowfax through her reigns, they crashed.

Thankfully the dragon's instincts knew better than to stop itself from fully nosediving into the ground, but yellow dust and dirt still flew up into the air from the impact.

Now, minutes later, Alexander and Kieran stood around, doing literally nothing while Shadowfax stood on the warm sand, her lips curled into a smile as she basked in warmth itself.