House Of Fire

Chapter 18

The wind had been lashing at Raven for five whole days. The rainforest had been left behind after the first day and a long expanse of open air had ended in rolling hills.

The bedrock of each floating island they had come across had been a shade of blue. Some were darker than others and even bordering on purple, but mainly a sky blue. Fury had herded Raven onto solid ground whenever her companion decided it was time for rest.

Patrols had also become more frequent encounters as they approached the Capitol. The Nightmare was quick to bite Raven's wing and drag her behind a boulder exposed on the grassy hills or recently under the canopy of a tree in the forest underneath them.

Her wings had dropped the feathers from the pressure of the bite marks and exposed pure golden skin. Since there was no one to ask for advice Raven assumed it was the pressure exerted on her feather's veins. The hard bites had caused the blood flow to the feathers to be crushed. This had resulted in the tissue dying and shedding to be replaced anew.

The muscles in her wings had strengthened extremely quick and the movements had become familiar rather quickly. Raven relied more on her instincts than ever before. The queer jerky movements of flying had almost seemed like second nature once the doubt of failure had evaded her.

More recently she had started practicing aerial stunts and learning the ways of the currents. The plains proved to provide excellent training opportunities and the occasional sparring match between herself and Fury became more common as they progressed in their journey.

The patrols were not the only living specimen Raven had seen of the land that called to her. A cow resembling animal had inhabited the excessive plains they had flown over. It's twisted antlers sharp and pointing high into the sky. Herds upon herds resided on the prairies grazing the high grasses that were lush and plentiful.

Among further inspection insect, fireflies, rodents and small burrowing birds habited the plains. What surprised Raven the most though was the presence of wings on each and every living being. It seemed that there was not one creature left wing less other than the Angel women.

She caught Fury scanning the landscapes assumably for her smaller companions more than once and had stayed on alert as well. Though nothing had been sighted by either they kept their eyes searching for the telltale black beings.

Since they had entered the floating forest their progress had been hindered. The massive trunks of the autumn forest silent guardians.

Raven remembered Fern saying the forest would hide the Hive. It wasn't hard to believe the truth in her words once one entered into the silent filled labyrinth.

Above the duo, squirrels traversed the maze of interlocking branches. A patrol had forced them to descend below the canopy and they couldn't find another opening to escape. Flapping wings were approaching yet again and Raven pressed against a tree trunk to minimize the chances of being spotted.

The Nightmare had nimbly climbed a tree. Her claws dug and shredded the wood as she ascended into the web of the trees. The leaves shook upon the disturbance and Raven watched as the red and yellow leaves sailed to the grassy ground.

Wildflower meadow were spaced throughout the humble forest and the sweet scent of their nectar mixed with the warm damp smell of the moist leaves.

It appeared that the season in this particular forest was in the middle of change. Autumn neared and the days of warm sun beams would soon come to an end.

Upon the ground shadows danced and played. The occasional birds chattered away and a herd of winged deer paraded alongside Raven, intrigued by her presence.