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If I wasn’t already held down by magic, I would have kicked the shit out of him.
“If you’re going to be a dick the whole way, this is going to be a really awkward ride,” I said instead, infusing as much attitude into my voice as I could. I could have said worse things, but it did not escape my notice that my survival entirely depended on this animal keeping me glued to him.
‘I can do whatever I want, sweetheart. There’s a reason you’re on my back and not theirs.’
Ego wafted off him in droves, and I laughed. “I just assumed it was because we’re both stubborn assholes,” I retorted, sniffling a little in the cold front.
His chest rumbled beneath me, and it took me a few seconds to realize it was a laugh. He suddenly veered upward, flapping his wings hard as Aura and Lithia shot past us, their bewildered riders turning their heads up to see what we were doing. My breath caught in my throat as I did my best not to look behind me, which would be straight down to the unforgiving ground below us.
“What are you doing?” I screamed over the hard gushes of air generated from each stroke of his massive wings. He said nothing, continuing to ascend and I could do nothing but hold on for dear life with my arms, my legs still pinned to his sides by magic. I risked a glance below us, anger and confusion igniting in me as I saw Oliver and Nia idling on their pagus, staring up at us as we climbed further into the sky.They weren’t coming to help me.
Finally, he stalled, coming to a pause in the air. He turned his spiked head slightly towards me, until he was able to look at me with one wine-stained eye, a mischievous glint lurking within.
‘You can fly, right?’he asked me as he tumbled upside down, until the top of my head pointed straight down toward the ground.
“No, you know I can’t fucking fl—” My protest was cut off when the iron bands of magic released, my legs easily slipping out of the harness. My hands were slick with nervous sweat and my grip slipped, my body falling toward the ground far below, with nothing else to hold on to. I screamed, my arms waving wildly in the air as I tried in vain to grab onto something to break my fall. I looked for Oliver or Nia, but the world was whizzing by too fast for me to make anything out and I shut my eyes, preparing myself for death.
My ass thudded against something solid, and my eyes opened wide. Familiar solid bands guided my legs into their rightful place in the harness as my torso slammed against Varus. I looked down, where we hovered just feet above the ground below. I’d been very, very close to death.
‘Control yourself. Or I will make sure you never set foot outside Briar again.’Aura’s voice of rage was terrifying, every word she spoke a sharpened sword, ready for execution.
‘He didn’t mean any harm by it,’Lithia chimed in, her melodic voice soothing the edges of my frazzled nerves even as she defended my bully.‘He was just getting to know her.’
“If you ever do that again, I’ll kill you myself!” I’d found my voice, my body shaking with adrenaline and anger. I didn’t know where one began and the other one ended. I was just a messy ball of raw nerves.
‘You know I’d have never let her hit the ground,’ Varus said.‘I don’t make mistakes like that. I just wanted to have a little fun.’ His complete indignation at anyone thinking he couldn’t handle it reminded me very similarly of another certain overconfident male I knew.
“You can have all the fun you want when this is over,” Oliver demanded, staying alert as his eyes darted around us. Being this close to the ground was dangerous, made it more likely someone could stumble upon us and leave us exposed, especially if they landed eyes on me. “We have a long distance to cover before we make camp. No more messing around.” Lithia launched them back in the air, and Aura soon followed after one last look toward my riding companion, a clear threat in her stare.
Varus craned his neck to look at me, and after summoning my best death glare, he shook his head slightly before launching into the air to follow the rest of our squad. As his wings beat us steadily through the air, he tilted his head back slightly.‘Do not worry, Rowan. I play rough, but we fight for the same goal. I will cut down armies for you if it means that Queen Tantaii will get what’s coming for her. I will let no harm come to you.’
It may come back to bite me later, but I believed him.
ChapterEight
By the time we made camp for the night, I was shivering, the incessant flying leaving me with only aches and sore muscles. The healing perks of my heritage were great, but also left me in a perpetual state of itchiness that didn’t fade until I ungracefully slid from Varus’s back, still irritated at him from earlier. Much of the ride had passed in silence, which was something I think we were both content with.
We’d found a small freshwater pond with a small grassy area, just enough space for two tents and a fire, which Oliver graciously used his magic to light. Food, I learned, was an abundant resource in the Fae realm. Most of the land we had travelled over was dotted with trees and forests, only the occasional village or field popping up, and fruit grew almost everywhere.
“We can just pick them off and eat them?” I asked skeptically, eyeing the spotted oranges Nia was picking from a nearby tree.
“What else would you do with them?” she scoffed, tossing me a yellow orange as she bit into one, clear juice running down her chin as she chewed. I almost lunged forward to stop her from eating the peel, but when she dove in for another bite, I figured it must be edible on this side of the realm. I hesitated, before chomping down on mine, again impressed by how delicious it was, sweetness oozing from its very center and curling into a happy ball in my tummy. Instead of a bitter, tough peel like the oranges back home, this one was more like candy, sweet and soft.
“I bet now you’re going to tell me we can just drink the water, straight from the pond?” I moved toward it, intending to do just that, but the resounding, “NO!” from both Oliver and Nia stopped me. I looked between the two of them, searching for the third head they’d grown.
“You can never drink water straight from the source in Faerie,” Oliver chided as he ran over, a large waterskin held in one hand. “There are a lot of medicinal herbs that grow in the bodies of water here. Drinking without purifying it first could kill you.”
“How do you purify it? Boil it?”
“With magic, of course.” He dipped down near the water’s edge, gently letting the water flow in. He brought the full waterskin towards me, holding a hand out over the top. I watched as a golden shimmer of magic flowed into the container. He continued for a few more seconds, before dropping his hand, the magic disappearing. “Every Fae can do some semblance of magic, even if they aren’t from a royal bloodline. It’s not anything they can fight with, but there are some things that everyone can inherently do. Our magic counteracts the effect of anything that might be lurking in the water. The only ones immune are animals.”
“I can do that?” At his nod, excitement burst through me. I ran to my backpack which was haphazardly lying next to Varus as he relaxed with Lithia and Aura, recovering from their long journey. I rummaged through it until I found the flask Nia had given to me. Varus watched me with heavy-lidded eyes, but wisely said nothing.
After I filled the flask, I looked at Oliver, almost bouncing on the balls of my feet. I was so used to knowing nothing, unable to fend for myself, and the thought of being able to actually do some successful magic had me giddy, no matter how small. “What do I do?”
“Hold your hand above the flask. Magic is all about intention. It fits the mold you give it. Think of it like water. Without a container or guidance, it will spill everywhere if you try to move it, and you won’t be able to scoop it back up. But if you can control its flow, it will go where you tell it. This will be good practice for you.”
I did as he instructed, my hand held over the water, my eyes closing as I took a deep breath. “Now concentrate,” he said softly. “It’s not like your elemental powers, where you have to draw on it from within, like something tangible. This magic is inherent, you are born of it. It should be as easy as breathing. Just focus on your intention, and the magic will respond. It knows you.”
