Autumn Burn

Chapter 18

Flying was easier in theory than actually doing it. The second Pyrogael aimed to rise into the sky, gravity wanted me to stay on the ground. My lower body slid down his back and if my hands wouldn't have clung to his spikes I would have fallen right off of him. Wind ripped at me and tears were running down my cheeks as we rose higher and higher, even though I had pressed them shut. I had never been afraid of heights and usually I enjoyed flying with Nyx or Cassian but this was something entirely different. There were no arms holding me securely, no voice reassuring me with a cocky grin that they'd never dropped someone. It was just me and a ducking drgin that I had somehow trusted with my Cauldron damned life.
My muscles were burning because I had flexed every single one of them to keep me from falling, the fear of dying more prominent than ever. I used to like roller coasters but I was sure I'd never enter one again after this stupid idea of mine. Stupid, stupid, stupid. The strength in my fingers threatened to leave me and the throbbing of the open wounds on my palms didn't make it any easier to keep holding onto the dragon's spikes, their hard and sharp edges slicing even deeper into my skin, but the adrenaline pushed every feeling of pain away. I had my thighs pressed onto his body, trying to make my body stick to his skin and scales while I also pressed my cheek to his back, wanting to be as flat as possible. I wasn't good at physics, but I knew the flatter I was, the less likely I was to be blown away by the speed of the wind ripping at me. Suddenly, winnowing was a pleasure I never appreciated enough. I missed the secure hand of anyone trying to get me to safety.
Pyrogael rose higher and higher until he deemed our height satisfying and flattened his enormous wings out, the wind not trying to rip me to the ground any longer. Our tempo slowed down enough for me to manage to raise my upper body until I sat on his back like I would be sitting on a horse. Except my legs didn't dangle from his back, instead I had angled them by the knees a little as if I was sitting on a surface. Looking down, I saw the forest I was lost in before, a seemingly endless blur of trees only a few minutes ago. Now it didn't even seem that big and I wondered if the forest was enchanted so that it appeared to be endless if one was lost in it. Surveying the ground beneath us, I  hoped that Pyrogael knew where the Night Court  since I had no idea how to find the right way. I wasn't sure which way was north and my best option was to just hope that the dragon, however long he had slept, knew where Rhys and Feyre's Court lay. Leaning slightly sideways until I could see the side of his enormous head, I screamed my target over the roaring wind at Pyrogael along with a silent prayer to the Mother that he'd know. I yelped when his wings clapped faster suddenly and his body leaned so strongly to the right that I had to press myself down on his back again to not fall off. Pyrogael had changed directions and was now flying in a straight line ahead. A grin spread on my face as I realized that he had listened to me and that he knew what I was talking about.
"Fucking hell!" I said, the adrenaline made me all giddy and almost euphoric. Pyrogael was fast and soon when I looked back the Burned Forest was not to be seen anymore. When we suddenly flew a little higher again, I looked down and saw the tips of mountains and I tried to visualize the map of Prythian in my mind before I was hit with a cold so deep that the breath was thrown out of my lungs and I yelped. Breathing was hard, the cold so cruel that every intake of air burned in my throat and lungs. Winter Court.
"Fuck!" I let out and I could feel my breath curling before my mouth, the slightly warmer air hitting my face. Instantly, I laid down again as flat as possible to get as much body heat from the dragon, my teeth started to clatter against each other and I closed my eyes because the cold air made them water again. While trying to distract myself I imagined the map of Prythian again before my inner eye and  tried to work out other possible hardships on the way when I realized we had to fly above the Dawn Court. That was a little worrying as the Peregryn came to my mind, the lover of the High Lord one of them. And since I would be literally trespassing, I was keen to avoid being seen or noticed at all. Especially since I was sure no one would welcome a dragon in the skies of their courts. I prayed to the Cauldron, to the Mother, that nobody would notice us, that we'd be quick enough to enter while it was still so dark that nobody would be outside or at least in the skies. I just wanted to go home.
With me shivering and freezing we continued our way over the Winter Court and as the air shifted, I noticed instantly that we had left it. I was sure we had at least spent two hours over the coldest court. And now we were above the middle and even though nothing compared to the cold of the Winter Court, it was still fucking cold since it was winter and we had left the seasonal courts behind. So freezing it would be. The middle felt weird and ancient and cruel and made me feel so uneasy that I told Pyrogael to fly higher. I didn't care that the air got colder the higher we were.
The flight through the middle thankfully didn't take as long as the flight over the Winter Court did but soon the adrenaline started to wear off and the pain set in again. Every muscle hurt and every wound on my skin burned like fire. And the fact that my eyes were growing tired didn't help either even though my consciousness was wide awake. It made me feel uncomfortable.
When we left the territory of the middle I felt relieved immediately, the tension leaving my body as the wickedness of the land was left behind us. Dawn Court. As a precaution, I stirred Pyrogael even higher, the air colder and noticeably thinner but I was too scared to get caught. I didn't know what they would do to me if they found us. What they'd do to Pyrogael. I was told Thesan was of a curious nature so I was worried he'd want to experiment on the dragon and perhaps even me. A human being able to ride and control a dragon and who got taught a dead language through some kind of ancient dragon magic in less then a second. I'd bet everything on it that he'd want to figure out how.
It was too dark for me to see the ground anyway so there was no purpose in flying lower. I just wished Velaris was closer to the Day Court border.

I had no watch with me but I knew hours had passed when at some point, the sun was rising in the east, illuminating mountains way beneath me. But the dawn was too unimpressive, normal and magic-less so I came to the conclusion that we had made it over the border to the Day Court already. Thank the Mother for this. I'd never met Helion in person, but I knew he was a friend of the family and therefore he wouldn't try to harm me. Besides, he was the father of my sort-of brother-in-law. Weird family constellation.
During the time on Pyrogael's back, I've gotten used to sitting there, letting go of the spikes to stretch my fingers now and then, shifting my weight around and relaxing after realizing that he would plunge down without warning and hurl me off of him.
More hours passed without anyone noticing us, dawn turning to morning and morning turning to day. I was grateful for the sun, warming my stiff body and giving me back some warmth.
And when I finally, after probably 10 to 12 hours on dragon back, saw those familiar mountains on the horizon, I cried.
Since the Court of Nightmares wasn't our destination, we turned west after crossing the border, to Velaris, and Pyrogael lowered us down gently so that I could actually see the ground beneath me. A sight I never thought I'd miss. And then I felt him, his presence nearby. My heart almost missed a beat, so startled was I by the sudden life that flared through the bond.
"Eris." I whispered and changed directions immediately, the bond strong. He was here, somewhere. Descending further until we were only high enough to avoid hitting trees, I followed the feeling of my mate, nothing else suddenly mattering to me. Perhaps I had really fallen in love with him. And when I saw him, rage hit me like a truck. He stood together with Feyre and Rhys and in front of him stood Beron, two of his brothers and at least a dozen guards. Pyrogael roared and all their heads whipped toward us, their mouths opening wide upon seeing us. I enjoyed seeing the look of fear on Beron's disgusting face. Rhys brought Feyre behind her, who peaked curiously above her mate's shoulder as Pyrogael slowed down, flapped his wing twice and landed a few feet away from them with a thud, dust and leaves thrown up through the wind.
"You!" I nearly growled and pointed at Beron, remembering what he had told me hours ago as he left me to die. I will tell Rhysand that you went through a Door, wanting to seek out my son so badly. And in your stupidity, you ended up here, in the Burned Forest.
"You kidnapped me and left me in the Burned Forest to die!" Even though I was sitting, I was way higher than him and he had to put his head back to look at me. It made me feel powerful and Pyrogael made me feel invisible. Fury I hadn't ever known burned through me with so much passion, I wanted nothing more than to kill this prick of a High Lord. Eris' eyes went wide before his head whipped around and he snarled at his father, Rhys' eyes locked on the High Lord of Autumn.
"How..." was all Beron could manage, shock and fear written on his face.
"A dragon." Feyre said, smiling, her face full of wonder and awe.
"I hope you know you just declared war on the Night Court." Rhys said calmly, his hands in his pockets but Beron didn't even look at him, his eyes not leaving mine.
"Don't bother." I said to Rhys before bracing my hands on Pyrogael's back, my rage and hatred deciding for me.
"His time has come." One of Eris's brothers snarled while the other drew his sword.  I almost laughed at that. What was he supposed to do with that tiny word against a dragon this size? I doubted Pyrogael would even feel it. The guards around them, to my surprise, backed off and threw their weapons to the ground, hands raised high.
"Where are you going?" Asked one of the Vanserra brothers.
"She's a Saint." One of the guards said, his voice shaking as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing, "a living Saint."
"She's nothing but a foolish child." Beron spat but all I could see was the panicked try to gain back power over the situation. Too bad he'd lose all his power in a moment because all I could think about was the pain he had inflicted on my mate, on my future mother-in-law, on Lucien, on me. He was a monster and for the first time in my life I didn't think twice about deciding something so vital as the life of a person.
"Dracarys." I said with an icy voice, almost growling the word as it echoed in my head. Pyrogael opened his mouth wide, dark smoke emerging between his teeth and rising into the sky. And then he spewed fire, right at Beron and his two sons, burning them alive.

They didn't even scream, the fire so hot that a second after it hit them nothing was left but ash. And I could see it, the magic of Beron going into Eris, who gasped and sank to one knee as he finally became High Lord. And finally I was able to leave the back of Pyrogael, my knees hurting terribly as I slowly climbed down from him, using his scales, wing and leg as a ladder before limping towards Eris. Feyre had pushed out of Rhys' embrace and came running to me, her strong hands sneaking around my waist to hold me up even as my eyes didn't leave my mate, still kneeling on the ground and processing his new power.
"What the fuck happened?" Pyrogael snorted loudly, smoke leaving his nostrils before he decided now was time for a nap and laid down on his stomach, closing his eyes. Rhys had come to my other side, taking one of my hands and inspecting the wounds on them when Eris finally lifted his head to look at me. Our eyes met and I said:
"I want to accept the mating bond."