He walked up to Frid and offered his arm. She looked at him for a couple of moments before accepting it and he helped her get up.
“It was a pleasure spending this night with you.” Erin added.
“With her and many other people,” Victor muttered.
“That’s a minor detail.” Erin grinned at Frid as she rolled her eyes.
I glanced at the prisoner girl who was still asleep.
“Hey.” I crouched beside her.
She did not move. I lightly tapped her shoulder, but she did not wake up.
“Hey!” I repeated a little louder and the girl sat up, startled.
It took her a moment to spot me. Her large brown eyesopened wide and she touched her forehead. Even under the smudges on her cheeks, I could spot tiny freckles that dusted her nose.
“We need to go. You can fly with me this time,” I said and she nodded looking away.
It took us another ten minutes before we got in the air. The girl I was carrying on my back was almost lying on top of me. It helped me fly faster and made the whole process more comfortable.
“I bet you’ve had more action this past half-hour than you had in the last year,”Erin spoke directly to my mind.
“Why do you care?”Frid joined in.
“I’m just saying,”Erin laughed.
“Stop just saying things. Start thinking before you speak.”Frid was always quick to defend me.
“Do you know what your problem is, Erin?”Victor chimed in.
“What? I can’t wait to find out,”Erin said.
“You haven’t had a real job in so long. Because, let’s face it, what you do right now is not too different from being a pet,”Victor chuckled.
“Laugh all you want. But you can’t deny that Ty needs to get out more,”Erin continued.
“Are you done?”I could not hold my frustration at bay any longer.
“You need to get laid,”Erin said.
“We all do,”Solomon joined in, and a burst of laughter followed his statement.
“Sol, my man. Sometimes I forget that you can talk,”Erin said.“As for the last statement, I’m all yours, anytime you need me, Alfrida,”Erin continued in a disgusting oily tone.
“No, thanks! I’m not that desperate yet.”Frid dropped, and another burst of laughter followed.
The beautiful peaks were coated in a thin veil of fog when we started to descend. Below was the city of Riolle. The thickly settled structures were surrounded by the manmade lines of the channels. The only point of access to the city from the ground was a wide, retractable bridge that could be lifted up and down by massive steel bounded ropes. The system of channels and the bridge was one of the reasons Riolle was still the biggest free city outside of the capital.
Riolle was heavily guarded and flying above it could result in being shot down by a spear wielder. There were multiple launch posts throughout the city that monitored all flying activities.
I made a wide circle, and together we landed on the polished stone on the other side of the river. When my legs touched the surface, the girl astride me slid down my back, and I started to transform. On the other side of me, Victor landed, and Frid was already back in her human form. I waited for Erin and Sol to join us before ringing a heavy, weather-beaten bell mounted to a wooden beam.
“Who goes there?” a voice shouted from the other side of the river.
“Travelers in need of rest,” I yelled back.
“Any infected?” the guard asked.
