Solar Reign

X X X I I I

"WAKE UP! Wake up, wake up!"

Andorra sat up in bed with a gasp. Her heart hammered hard in her chest as she blinked against the darkness. Moonlight sliced through the room, and her eyes found the open window. Wind blew into her room, sending the curtains rustling back. A chill ran down her spine as silence echoed around her.

It took a moment for Andorra to realize where she was. Her bedroom, alone, the smell of ocean water in the air, her skin clammy against the chill of the night.

"Pyatt?" She asked tentatively. Her hand found her chest, feeling her heart drum, willing away the fear that clamped in her gut. Had she left the window open? She was fairly sure she hadn't.

"Outside, now! Someone is outside laying the sigils. I'm flying above them now, but they're running."

Andorra was up and out of her bed in an instant. She rushed to the open window, leaning out, hoping to catch a glance, but she saw nothing. It was as quiet as always on the shoreline, the darkness stretching across the rocks. "Come to my window. It'll take too long for me to run downstairs. Besides, there's a guard at my door, and that'll take some explaining."

Andorra waited for a beat, and then she climbed up on the window seat, pulling herself to stand in the sill. She looked down, gripping the window tighter as her stomach rose with panic. She was too close to falling, too close to slipping, and she almost stepped back inside the room.

But then there was Pyatt. He soared beneath the window, wings beating hard to slow himself. He craned his head up to look at her, steam blowing from his nostrils. "Jump."

An older version of herself would have hesitated. An older version of herself would have said no. But she wasn't that human anymore. She threw herself from the window, eyeing Pyatt, and pulled herself into the inbetween.

She pictured herself on his back, and suddenly she was there, opening up the gate once again. In the span of a second, she was gripping Pyatt, thighs pressed against him as he rose up into the air. She leaned forward, looking at the grounds below for the person, but she couldn't find anyone there.

"Pyatt, what did you see?"

"Look, up ahead. Do you see the glimmer of the sigils on the rocks?"

She could, just barely, make out the shine of the small stones. One after another, they dotted the ground as if creating a trail to be followed. Despite the night blanketing the world in shadows, the stones seemed to call to her, glowing in her mere presence.

"We're heading towards the Summer Court." She looked back over her shoulder, watching as the castle fell further away, growing smaller in the distance. When she looked forward again, she saw no one. "Pyatt, can you see them?"

"Up there. Look, by the jetty."

Andorra's eyes strained. There was a wall of stone that cut into the ocean, and sure enough, Andorra could see a figure moving quickly on the rocks. The figure was running now, a blur in the distance, and Andorra knew whoever that was would get away.

She felt the hum of power in her chest and threw out her light. A beam shot across the sky, lightening up the ground below. For a moment, it shone on the jetty, illuminating the figure. The person, whoever it was, looked back over their shoulder at Andorra. The hood they wore slipped off their head, showing chin length hair.

Andorra wasn't close enough to see anything else. Even as Pyatt charged towards the sea, it was obvious; they wouldn't get there in time. The figure was quick on their feet, rushing towards the edge, not a single sign of stopping.