Warsong | Celeste Academy Series Book #4

Chapter Twenty-Nine ⚜ Almost There

Dirinia quickly faded out of sight. They ascended to the sky so high they soared past the clouds, watching the sunset much closer than they usually would. The clouds formed a line that layered the rising moon as well as the brightening stars. Iolani said she could endure seven days of flight without any rest in her peak condition. Right now, however, she could only go for a day at most. She had far exhausted herself on her way to Dirinia. Not to mention Tamara seemed to be struggling on the other side.

"I'm so sorry, Iolani. You're tired, aren't you?" Valeriana caressed the bird as she leaned in to say it by her ear. Tiger stirred from where he sat, squeezed by the girl's sudden movement.

"This one is fine, Valeriana. I can hold out until the Keevan Beach," she said. "We have to be with kouill as fast as possible. Every second, the trouble worsens."

Valeriana nodded and clung tight, her legs firm around the bird's back. The Blessing of the Mountain came as a surprise to her at the last moment. Aspen had struck her senseless as she was expecting the blessing to take three days!

"Keelan." She leaned back to look at the guy behind her. "Who is Aspen?"

"What?" he asked.

"Who's Aspen!" she yelled, this time a bit louder. The wind was strong, hence, they were having trouble hearing one another.

"I think she's the pontiff of the tribe," Keelan told her. "So it makes sense if her connection with Denovega is more personal than Chief Tilde. The Ivalis may all be guardians, but there will always be one particular person who'll stand out."

"But she's so young."

"It's not very unusual."

"Which reminds me of Cifaro." She faced forward. "He was the same as Aspen." She sighed and thought back to the time they went to Preluresia and met the guardian beast. "It feels like yesterday—to think a lot has happened."

"And a lot more will. It's like stuffing yourself full with the appetizer the entire time. The main course hasn't even arrived," he told her.

"Trust you to make a metaphor that's food-related. But that's brilliant, nonetheless," she said.

"Brilliant." Brindon nodded.

"Thanks. I'm trying to keep my mind off being not on the ground because if I think about it, I'll want to vomit," he said, then swallowed. "I thought about it."

"And I was wondering why you were so calm."

All was quiet afterwards save for the howling wind. Valeriana was starting to feel frozen from being blasted by the cold air, but she clenched her chattering teeth and put through it. Keelan was warm, but she didn't feel comfortable inching close since that would be weird. When the sun set totally, the temperature dropped some more. Her mouth felt dry from the rushing air and her eyes watered nonstop.

She pulled herself against Iolani and Tiger to keep some warmth for herself, closing her eyes since she wouldn't be needing them anyway. After her futile attempts of keeping warm, Iolani swooped down and descended from their flight to lower ground and slowed a bit.

Tiger had not fallen asleep, in fact, he was as vigilant as Iolani was during their flight. Seeing Valeriana's discomfort, he pressed himself close.

They got closer to the ground and Valeriana caught sight of moonlit farms. The stalks swayed as they swept past, leaving a faint line which quickly faded as they went. There were several blinking lights ahead. Before they got a hundred meters close, they ascended once more.

"Hold out a little more, lheuim ansur," the bird said. "We will be there soon."

"How much longer?" she whispered to her.