Starborn Legacy (A Starborn Series prequel)

Chapter nine

There was something deeply unsettling about what Emandi was asking Audrey to do.

"You want me... to get on your back?" she asked, tugging nervously at the cuffs of her hoody sleeves.

"Of course," Emandi replied as if it was the most normal request imaginable. "It's the easiest way for me to carry you up the mountain."

Audrey hesitated. She couldn't shake the idea that it would be disrespectful to ride one of the first sentient creatures on the planet like a horse. Then again, what other option did she have? She looked at Welkin.

"What about you? How will you get up there?"

Welkin smiled as if they were trying not to laugh. They picked up Audrey's pack and held it out to her. "Don't worry about me. I'll meet you there."

With the matter ostensibly settled, Audrey shouldered her backpack and slid her leg over Emandi's back. She was in the middle of wondering where to put her hands when Emandi rose up out of their crouch, pitching her forward with a yelp.

"You'll want to keep low — you don't want to get a branch to the face," they advised. "Hang on tight!"

With that warning, Audrey took a moment to secure the clasps and straps of her backpack before flattening herself against Emandi's back. She was grateful to bury her face, red with embarrassment, into the creature's mane. With her arms wrapped awkwardly around their shoulders and her legs gripping their ribcage, she figured she looked like a rodeo cowboy who was having second thoughts about their career choice.

"Ready?" Emandi asked. Audrey could hear the smile in their voice as it rumbled through her chest.

"As I'll ever be," she replied.

"Don't be afraid," Welkin said. They gently smoothed some stray hair out of her face. "Emandi will ensure your safety, and I'll be waiting for you when you arrive."

The only response she could muster was an uncertain smile and the tiniest of nods.

"Enough chit-chat," Emandi bellowed. "Away we go!"

With a shove of their powerful hind legs, Emandi launched forward at a speed that nearly took Audrey's breath away. They bound effortlessly through the forest, and Audrey could hear the sound of leaves and trees whipping past her ears as they traveled. She kept her face tucked safely into Emandi's downy mane and breathed in their surprisingly fragrant aroma; something almost sweet mixed with notes of sodden wood and crisp, cold air. Even with her sight obscured, Audrey could tell that the incline was growing steeper by the way Emandi's muscles worked beneath her. To her amazement, their pace didn't slow even as they climbed higher and higher up the mountain. Emandi's path zigged and zagged a series of tight switchbacks, and when they pivoted into each turn, Audrey had to hold on even tighter for fear that she'd be accidentally thrown off by the sheer inertia of it all.

Eventually, Emandi slowed down. Running was replaced by careful strides across an increasingly rocky terrain. Audrey dared to lift her head and noticed that the forest had thinned into a smattering of gnarled and stunted trees. She lifted her eyes skyward and gasped. In the perfect darkness of night, without a hint of light pollution to hinder the view, Audrey saw more stars than she ever had before. These were the twinkling pinpricks of light stars — the impossibly distant burning balls of space gas, not the celestial governing body that oversaw the Plan and the destinies of everyone it touched. The sky was so full of them that it looked like someone had run a giant paintbrush dipped in glitter across the atmosphere. It was stunning.

But Audrey found it hard to concentrate on the beautiful starry sky for long. Nighttime was in full force now, and with it came a cold that was even worse up this high of the mountain. A vicious wind whipped across the alpine, uninhibited without the tree cover, and cut through Audrey's hoody and jeans like knives made of ice. She twisted her fingers deeper into Emandi's mane in an attempt to keep them warm.