Solar Sky

Chapter 4

The impact didn't unfold like I'd thought. I was expecting instant death, my body splattering across the rugged terrain, but instead I felt Selene land square on her feet and the rock shudder and crack beneath her. Stones and clouds of dirt were carried into the air from the force of the landing, scattering away, the dull crashing sound droning far into the distance. The abrupt arrest to our descent was jarring, and instead of the sensation of weightlessness from falling I felt the indiscriminate pull of gravity on my body as I lay in Selene's arms.

It was just as she said. I survived the fall.

"See?" She insisted. The crescent moons were back in her eyes, and they dangled as if suspended by invisible strings tied to both tips. "And it didn't even hurt, did it?"

Reeling, I shook my head no. I realized my breathing was rapid and panicked, so I consciously tried to calm down.

A mischievous expression crept over her face. "Now, watch this."

Immediately she tossed me to the side and I flailed through the air, howling in surprise. I landed on my face, and the rest of me flopped against the rock shortly after.

Selene spoke, smarmy and amused. "I bet that tiny fall hurt way more, huh?"

It did. Gradually, I took to my feet, holding my stinging face in my hands and glaring at her. As quickly as I began to trust her, she literally threw me to the ground.

She laughed in response. Her bare feet were buried into the ground from the impact and she tore them out one after the other as easily as if they'd been buried in sand. Her loose, wavy dress seemed to glow in the dawnlight. A gust of wind blew in from the ocean behind us, pulling the colourful garment into a flowing dance, anchored by her ashen grey body.

Meanwhile, the breeze bred goosebumps all over my body and made my dirty button shirt flap in the wind like a flannel flag. She noticed. "You must be cold."

"You're not?" I spat. I was still embarrassed to be in my underwear, vulnerable and scrawny before her. I wish I had pants on, at least. I couldn't wait to have my dignity back.

She shook her head and crossed her arms. "Nope, temperature doesn't really bother me." She pursed her lips. "Too bad I didn't grab something for you to wear during our escape."

"Can't you just wave your hand and summon some clothes into existence?" Though I continued to give her snark, a small part of me wished it was true. After witnessing her controlling clouds and water with a wave of her hand, and surviving a fall from ten thousand feet, I was already convinced she was magic or alien, or both. Likely both.

"Oh, that would be cool," she said, and she waved her hand through the air. Nothing happened. She snickered, "nope, my vit doesn't work like that."

"Your what?"

"My vit. Vitality." She raised an eyebrow. She loved doing it as much as Valery did, it seemed. "You really don't know, huh?"

"Know what?" Even as I spoke I felt something nagging at me in the back of my mind. I hadn't spoken about it to anyone before... it was a shot in the dark, but I had to say it. "You mean... the fire?"

She frowned, looking around to the rocky tundra that stretched out beyond us. "What fire?"

"No, not actual fire," I said, wincing. Even Selene didn't understand. I knew I was being foolish, but it stung to bring up my secret only to be met with confusion. I looked away from her. "Nevermind."

"Oh!" She exclaimed, pounding the bottom of her fist to her open palm. "I just remembered! We need to get moving!"

It was my turn to look around. I had no idea where we were. Behind Selene were the rocky bluffs that overlooked the ocean, and in front was a hilly, empty expanse of rock and snow. The sky was cloudy except for a large section directly above us, where there had been an entire raincloud before Selene had taken hold of it. "Where are we going?"