“Knowing Cypherion, he’ll find a way to create them regardless,” Jezebel said.
She was likely right. “Tol gets it because he’s flown with me. Cypherion and Malakai only see the dangers.”
“It’s something you don’t understand until you’re a part of it,” Erista said wistfully, in a way that made me wonder if she wanted to be a part of it—a khrysaor rider as the girl she loved was.
“Your friends are rather overprotective, sister.”
My next laugh echoed through the heavens. “I don’t think I’m allowed to say that.”
Jez did have a point. The boys were a mix of curious and cautious when it came to us flying. Tolek less so, understanding that Sapphire and the khrysaor would never let us get hurt. Still, they bickered over it.
And it warmed my heart each time.
“Landing soon?” Jezzie called to me.
“A little longer?”
She nudged Zanox so he circled high above the earth, carving a path back through the clouded skies with his razor-tipped wings.
Dynaxtar founda burst of speed at the end of the flight, her clawed feet digging into the sand as she landed first, sending it spraying up around those midnight-black scales I would have thought would be retracted with only us around.
Sapphire had been unsettled since we left Valyn, too. As her wings tucked in, I searched the dunes and cyphers, but the low, sloping mountains of Soulguider Territory appeared empty for miles.
We were at the edge of the expansive Lendelli Hills that stretched across a central section of the clan’s domain, nothing but desert until you hit the town a mile east, but no stragglers from the market or nomadic parties dotted the sands.
Still, I remained on guard as I dismounted Sapphire, keeping my weapons close.
“That’s my girl. Both of them,” Jezebel cheered as she slid from Zanox’s back and raced to her other khrysaor, helping Erista down and kissing her with all the exhilaration of the flight.
I turned my back, giving them a moment of privacy. Angels, I was so happy Jez had her. When we began the hunt for the emblems, there’d been strife between them. A debate of loyalty versus love.
Jezebel had always been a force, like a well of power was packed in her bones, but those weeks Erista was gone had taken something from her. Dimmed a light only love could restore.
Now, she’d become an even stronger version of herself, bolstered and encouraged by her partner’s wild spirit and curious nature. She was scared of the magic within her—unsure what it did still—but her confidence shone with Erista’s support at her back, and it was a sight I’d never tire of seeing.
“Come on, girl,” I whispered to Sapphire, running a hand across her downy-soft wings.
We led the way into the series of caves Sapphire and the khrysaor would hide in while we were here, ensuring the curtain of brush was secured across the entrance. Our steps were muffled by soft sand that turned to stone as we crept deeper into the tunnel, finally rounding a bend into a wide-open pocket set beneath a high, domed ceiling.
Sapphire and the khrysaor immediately strode to the shallow pool in the center, dipping their heads to drink. Thin streams trailed off, leading deeper into the caves.
Between the height of the tunnels and the fresh water source, it was the perfect spot for the creatures to hide out. Almost as if this Soulguider land was meant to stash secrets.
An ache went through my heart as Sapphire crossed back to me, wishing for the day she wouldn’thaveto be hidden. When we had explanations to the myths. It ebbed from her, as well—the need to be free, though she understood why she wasn’t yet. Why none of us were, truly.
Sapphire and I had always been connected at a soul-deep level, our spirits entwined by the ether, but ever since she sprouted those beautiful wings, something between us had shifted. It was like a latch hovering over its lock, needing a final nudge to seal it.
An extension of myself, that’s what I’d always thought my horse had been. I’d assumed that’s what everyone’s relationship with their warrior horse was. But perhaps we were more, written in thefel strella mythos—though we were still figuring out exactly what that meant.
We sat along the bank of the pool, Sapphire’s wing draped beside me and my fingers gently stroking her feathers.
“Do you think there are more out there?” Jezebel turned to me at my question. “More like us? With these…connections? More of the pegasus and khrysaor?”
Jezebel was silent for a moment, watching as Zanox and Dynaxtar took up guard positions near the entrance to the cavern, folding their wings in and settling down for the night. “I don’t know.”
As she admitted it, for the briefest flash of time, we could have been back in our manor in Palerman, exchanging secrets beneath the covers. Like we were sketching our warrior leathers by the light of a Mystique lantern well after our parents told us to go to bed. Like we were innocent young girls again, wondering about the secrets held in the future’s palm.
I gazed up at Sapphire. Were there more pegasus out there, waiting to spread their wings? More phoenixes? How did we find them?
