Her quiet reply is nearly missed and lost to the snarling, frothing, salivating storm that ravaged around us. Both velvet points are angled tightly against my skull, lost in a sea of frozen ebony hair that was quickly becoming matted with melting snow. I imagined those furry tips are starting to turn blue from being so cold, yar, at least they still worked well enough to draw in the change of crunching feet from the rear. I pause, angling to peer behind, through a sheet of ominous white.
She was changing, thank Earth. I was beginning to fear our night was to be spent among the drifts -- a body could only weather a tolerated amount of abuse, and I wasn't sure what Africa could survive at this point. Those bones shrank away. Crunching, breaking; I stifled the urge to scowl, the change from a powerful, graceful equine form, to that of a hollow avian... tis not pleasant thing to witness. Indeed, every time her body slipped into that form I felt a wave of nausea race across my stomach. Bile rose and I almost regretted asking her to transform.
The action was soon complete. Those horrible grinding sounds of bone and flesh breaking, being reborn, stopped. What lay in the snow was a small grey bird, soon to be white if left there for longer than a few moments. She was quickly being covered by snow.
Fina chortled from somewhere above. Tis the only warning I received before Silas dropped from the sky, his midnight feathers a shinning contrast against this pale world that threatened our lives. I turned, watching through the haze as he grasp her vulnerable body. "Neve," I whispered, "Might she borrow thee nest?" The ice princess considered for a moment; tis not the cold or snow which gave her pause, (this weather was actually preferred to anyother.) Compassion wasn't a trait brought by birth, it was learnt, and she had yet to be taught such a lesson. Hesitantly, that shy little avian relinquished her hold on my mane and feathers. She crept further down my spine, gaze trained curiosity toward Silas. "Thank ye," I would have liked to offer greater amounts of praise for this accomplishment. Yar, but thanks is all my intentions could muster right now.
"Silas," I said softly, my voice being swept by the wind so I raised it, "Bring her if ye can, I'll keep ye two warm." Neve chirped and titled her crown to one side, as if trying to figure out some complex equation.
Once Africa and her companion was nestled in the protected of feather and fur, I began to trudge along once again. Ivory molars would have long since chattered my mouth into two separate pieces had my jaw not been so tightly clinched. The howling storm gave me pause on occasion, my knees were sore, but at least they weren't numb. Yet.
I was a violent shivering mess by the time those familiar cliffs loomed overhead. (Not to mention also painfully damp.) Gaze drifted up, weary and half lidded, I'd been blinking away the ice which was continuously mounting my lashes. Fina soared down, landing easily across my spine as if this weather was nothing to be concerned about. Neve sang delightfully and edged closer to her flaming sister. The crooked mountain path was riddled with snow and ice, almost completely impassible. I considered flying, and another blast of frigid artic air shut that idea down rather swiftly. Fina and Neve stiffened their hold as I mounted the crooked stairs.
It quickly became a game of sliding back two steps and gaining one. Thus taking thrice as long to get up and over those cliffs, sweat or mayhaps water was slipping beneath my pelt. Each droplet felt like a thousand little flees slithering underneath all that fur. Once at the top, I reluctantly opened my feathers, visibly flinching and swaying. Despite the chill, gliding would be better than sliding to the ground on my belly. A few moments later my toes touched snow once more.
The prisons were just ahead, after several minutes I found myself at the door to the 'grieving den' as Fina had come to call it. She scoffed and shot the back of my head a narrowed look, I offered her a frozen grimace and stepped through the cold doorway. Once inside I turned, dropped the stiff bag and dug deep inside my magical reserves. Swiftly I called upon my talent to summon earth and sand from deep beneath the snow. It took longer than desired, but eventually I'd gathered enough to build in front of the bars. Aside from a tiny sliver of air filtering from uptop, I'd successfully sealed us in from the storm. Fina provided light, and merciful heat.
MIDAS |
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