OathBlade (Wattys2015)

37. Reunited*

Morning came quietly and Elery was prepared to go once the first rays crossed the threshold of the castle. She stood before Gaidel and Jesset in the courtyard while Isandel took his true form. He took care to avoid damaging the masonry.

"I will join you soon," Jesset said. "With favorable wind we should enter the Pass after midday three days from now."

"A wait, to be sure, but one I can manage." Elery pressed her fist to her chest. "I will secure Ildaugh to the best of my ability, but I cannot guarantee a warm welcome." She let her gaze shift to Gaidel. His eyes shone brightly in the sun, and as a ray glanced across them she noted the soft slitting of his pupil. "I look forward to a time when we can sit and talk again," she told him. "I've many questions for you."

"And I am sure to have many answers, Elery." He stepped forward, took her hand from against her chest, and kissed the back of it. "Take care."

A loud crash from nearby turned their attention to Isandel. He stood in a puddle of water flowing out from the broken fountain. "Apologies," he growled.

She twisted her lips into a grimace and walked over to him to tie his hair through the cloth handles of a large supply bag. When she was sure it would hold firm she climbed up his shoulder to seat herself upon his neck. After binding herself with his hair and ensuring her grip was tight, she tapped her heels against his neck.

Isandel dropped all pretense of politeness and leaped at the castle. His nails dug furrows into the glistening white rock as he climbed.

Elery gasped. "What are you doing!"

"We've no room to run," he said calmly. "I cannot take off without either running or leaping from a tall place."

"You're ruining the castle!"

"Yes, that is a wonderful perk." He perched upon the tallest guard tower and spread his wings, looking down over the city. As his weight tipped forward Elery clung to his hair and watched the multitude of faces with expressions that ranged from astonished to livid come into view.

His wings caught the air as he fell. She shrieked and flattened her body against his, counting the moments in accelerating heartbeats. His angle changed until he was horizontal once again and with a satisfied chuckle he flapped hard to glide over the castle grounds toward the sprawling city beyond.

Chunks of stone fell from the guard tower and crashed into the top of the castle. Outraged cries rang out from the guards on the ground.

The houses rushed toward them and Elery's hands gripped tighter. "We've not enough height!" she shrieked.

He uttered another rumbling laugh and adjusted his wings. They continued to lose the struggle against gravity, the land pulling them back into its welcoming embrace, but it was denied with a rough flap of his massive wings. The gust from the stroke raced through the streets, kicking up dirt and flipping the bell-shaped skirts of dresses as they walked the cobblestone. The women below squealed and pushed the cloth down as their heads tilted upward.

His claws nicked rooftops yet he did not crash into them. Instead he rose above them. The power of his wings carried them upward, slowly at first, then more rapidly as he caught a stiff wind.

Elery's stomach tightened with every wingbeat, for every strong flap brought them higher into the sky. She clenched her fists around his hair until the skin of her knuckles grew pale. "Why would we risk flying now?" she called against the wind. Her screaming left her throat sore and her voice unsteady. "You seemed eager to avoid it."

"You've recovered well enough to fight. If we should encounter trouble I have faith you can defend yourself."

Again she found herself struck dumb by his unexpected kindness. He'd provided no explanation as to why he wouldn't risk combat on the way to Suthri and she assumed it had simply been that he didn't seek combat for selfish reasons. "You are nothing but riddles," she murmured softly enough that the words were carried away by the wind before they could reach him.