Wings of Deceit

Chapter Fourteen

We discovered that the next few days' worth of journey was both thankfully and worryingly uneventful. The lack of shadow beasts was a blessing that we could only hope for, but we also hadn't found more ruins of any sort.

Deep down, I really wished to come across something that held more history of the Goddess. Everything we had found in Silverwood Forest so far had been linked to her and it made me feel so much closer to her. Though, it was unfortunate that it had to be accompanied by a danger that we couldn't afford to risk.

My eyes fell to Larc, watching his movements as he walked beside me. He had pulled his dark blue air back into a low ponytail, the end of it reminding me of a soft paintbrush. Before when I had looked at him, I had felt a sense of caution, curiosity, and sympathy, but now as my gaze roamed over him, a warm flush ran through me. I wanted him to look back at me, for those golden eyes to meet mine and never leave my side, and I didn't know why. What had gotten into me?

"Larc," I whispered, stepping closer to him. "How did you learn the human tongue if Dragon-borns don't speak the same language? Your accent and range of vocabulary are very good." The question had been plaguing me for the majority of the morning.

"I want to know the answer to this too," Haera added, coming closer to hear his response.

"There was someone I needed to learn it for." By the dismissive tone in his voice, it was clear he didn't want to talk about it. I didn't push him, not wanting to bring up the potential bad memories he had from his past, but my sister had other plans.

"And who might that be?" Her brows narrowed. "A human you needed to understand while you tortured them? How about a human you-"

"I haven't tortured anyone, whether they be human or Dragon-born." Larc took a deep breath to cool his simmering anger. "I'm offended you thought I could be capable of such a thing."

"Sorry, I had to make sure. Who was it then?" Haera pushed further.

"Someone I cared for who I don't wish to talk about." He bristled at the thought of this person, his body tensing. "I won't answer any questions about it from now on."

My uninjured hand reached out to squeeze his arm in what I hope was a quick apology for bringing the subject up in the first place and a slither of comfort. Haera rolled her eyes at the interaction, but Larc's fingers found mine and squeezed them back.

"Could you maybe teach us some Kaeuni? Even if it's a word or two?" I asked, intending to drag his mind away from whatever my sister had shoved it towards.

"Kae-uni," Larc repeated, correcting my pronunciation with a smile. "What words were you thinking of learning?"

"I'm not too sure, but I would love to-" I was cut off by the Dragon-born placing his palm over my mouth, his head thrown towards the sky as his eyes searched it.

Haera pulled out her dagger, readying to attack him, but she stopped when Larc motioned his head for her to look up too. There wasn't anything visible that we could see, however, the audible sound of flapping wings grew closer and closer by the second.

Larc dragged me over to a nearby bush and my sister followed, pushing the foliage around us so we had more cover from whoever was about to fly over. The hand clamped over my mouth removed itself, but the Dragon-born still clung to me tightly, as if he were scared that I would be snatched away.

Not even a few moments later, the source of the sound revealed itself to be two Dragon-borns. They wore a similar sort of uniform to the one I had found Larc in, though his had been torn and ripped, and a pair of grand wings stretched behind them, helping them stay in the air as they stopped directly above us. Instead of the deep blue shade that reminded me of the night sky that had once been the colour of Larc's wings, these soldiers' wings were crimson.