House Of Fire

Chapter 15

The blood was rushing to Raven's head rather painfully. The slow upside down crawl along the rope was straining her recently injured arm.

Through her clean brown shirt a dark stain was slowly blooming on her left sleeve. The bleeding wound made her move more cautiously than Fern.

The other girl had already made a head start on her and was making quick progress across the swinging rope.

As she was hanging from the rope the winds around them made the effort only harder to keep her hold.

Copying Fern's movements Raven moved her leg over the other to hook it back on the rope. The same applied for her hands that grasped the expanse further towards the opposite side. Hooking her other leg now she slowly closed the distance by a metre.

Only a hundred more to go...

The prospect of continuing her progress for an extended period of time made a lack of motivation seep into her.

Below, the clouds rushed past. The wind was blowing from the sides making the rope swing on a tandem.

Gritting her teeth the winged Angel girl ignored the stiffness of her arm and picked up her speed.

The faster I cross the drop the faster I will be on solid ground again.

Up ahead Fern was almost gliding up the inclining rope. The girl had crossed more than four fifths of the distance and now used her upper body to pull her to the more elevated Congress.

Flapping of wings distracted her momentarily as she turned to the side. Fury was gliding around the rope. The massive Nightmare looping around and performing aerial acrobatics with skill.

The movements looked effortless. A magnificent display of flexibility she would have never imagined the animal to possess.

But there was a lot that she hadn't thought possible with the Nightmare. One example was the bond between them that was growing stronger each day.

It felt like Raven had known the flying beast from years before. In reality it was less than a week of them meeting for the first time.

Since Fern had mentioned the strength of Fury's claw Raven carried it along on her body. It would be a good weapon of defence if ever it needed to be. Although Fern hadn't shown any signs of threat or concerning behaviour Raven couldn't just dismiss the possibility of it being present nonetheless. So, the sharp claw was strapped tightly to her waist with spare bandages just underneath her breasts.

It had felt weird too, strapping the claw on. Since she stepped foot onto the desert sands she couldn't bear wearing her bra. It felt restricting as the straps crossed tightly over her sheathed wings.

She had her own theories of the altitude and magnetism of the atmosphere to play a part in it. If the magnetic field was stronger here than on Earth then the wire in her bra would react to it. She had taken it off and stored it in the bags as soon as Fury had settled down when Raven was conscious.

Focusing again after being sidetracked she saw she had not long to crawl. The wind was pulling on her shirt making it flutter in the gust.

Pain in her arm made her uneasy and she sped up a notch.

That was when the beat reached her ears. It was becoming familiar to her now. She had heard it often enough to recognise it.

They were still far away but approaching fast. They were in favour of the wind pushing them on towards Raven and Fern.

Fury zoomed past her up onto the other side as she caught hold of the moist muddy dirt of the other island.

Two hands clasped her upper arms. One dug painfully into her wound. The nerves screamed and an equal pitch escaped her mouth as she voiced her body's agony.