Rising Storm by Aaron Volner

Author:Aaron Volner [Volner, Aaron]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aaron Volner
Published: 2020-05-08T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

For a long minute, no thoughts passed through his mind. There was only the wind and the beat of feathers against it.

When the truth of what was happening hit him, Tanin felt a strange combination of sick and joy.

"I'm flying. We're flying!"

A whoop of joy should have accompanied this, but instead, it was a strangled gasp as he realized what they'd just done.

They'd just abandoned Able to the undead.

Panic took over for a second, but his training kicked in the next. He took firm hold of her legs, yelled, "HA!" and she released him.

As he dragged himself up, he had to walk through the steps as Master Windfeather had taught them. He'd had little occasion to practice this maneuver and thank the living light for that.

Tanin hauled himself into position and gave the whistle.

Nothing happened. Zera should have dipped low as he let go so he could fall to her back, but she did nothing.

He whistled again, and still Zera didn't respond. That was when he realized their training had yet to cover this. Because the maneuver was generally taught from the harness.

Tanin scrambled for a new plan.

His next idea was not one he liked. But the only other choice was to land, and he didn't want to waste time.

A long, low whistle preceded a short, sharp one. Zera hesitated. Just before he whistled again, she lifted her legs and lowered her beak as though to grab hold of him. At the same time, Tanin reached out toward the spot just above the shoulder on her neck. The place where the feathers clung tight.

By a fistful of feathers, he avoided dropping and used the momentum to fling himself onto Zera's back. His legs fell into position on their own, and he leaned forward across her spine and settled into place.

And for a moment, he, Zera, and the wind were the only things in the world. For a few brief, beautiful seconds, he was a boy apprentice again. Imagining himself as one of the early riders who rode bareback into battle, risking life on the trust of a creature that could hurl them to their doom in a heartbeat.

Then, the mark on his chest flared with pain, and the world came rushing back in. He guided her around, and Zera responded to his touch with a cry of joy. The wind whipped at them as she circled back to where they'd taken off. Tanin leaned to survey the ground.

The wagon was still there, along with the elephant that had broken a leg in its mad charge. The undead, and Able, had disappeared.

A sweep of the nearby rooftops showed no further creatures hiding in wait. Tanin swept the wagon again to be sure, but there was nobody.

Able wasn't dead, then. They'd taken him.

Why?

The question nagged at him as he soared away, deciding it safer to flee the scene, lest the guards arrive, and start asking questions.

He let Zera have her head as he scanned the rooftops, looking for any sign of the fleeing undead or Ragael himself.

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