The mare did not move any further. She watched us, though I could see the discomfort our presence caused her. She was twitchy, ready for flight, eager to put more distance in between herself and us - and yet, she remained.

Maybe it was my actions she focussed on, maybe it was his words. Before I could really consider it any further, the weather changed - and with it, so too did the mare.

I watched the clouds move across her hide with a purpose, I felt the humidity rising, the air become heavier with wet purpose - and I watched as she seemed to orchestrate it all so easily. I mumbled a note of dislike - rain did not always improve my bonded's mood or condition, and so I had often come to associate it with misery to sadness.

But as the raindrops fell upon our hides, I could feel myself and my bonded become more refreshed, and yes, it did seem to help ease the raw offensiveness of his scent too. I peered at Kiro's purple eyes with that excitement once more, and he merely peered back at me with an eyebrow raised in curiosity.

'I can control the rain,' her voice informed us, and his attention whirled to her, a combination of guarded but inquisitive; he was wary of magic due to the devastating effects his own wrought upon his body, but also fascinated by it. And this mare was nothing if not a magical belle, with the sky upon her hide and the weather at her command.

The words and actions that followed were nothing short of shocking, astonishing, taking both myself and my bondmate by complete surprise.

She was brash, bold and even playful with her defiance, not dancing around that which had bothered her and yet not backing away from it either. She stepped towards us and I felt my bondmate initially prepare to take a receding step back, to give way to her, to lessen the offense his existence made upon her.

But he held his ground and raised his head, his height more generous than hers, though her wings made her seem deceiving larger than she was. They locked gazes and I bowed away from the intensity of their stares, knowing my bondmate didn't need me so near anymore.

The rollercoaster of emotions within him was a curious one to observe: his anger faded, his surprise at her defiance, her stubbornness rose, before a glimmer of his own appeared. It was as if he was forgetting that the sun was up, that his body was ruined, that even though she called him out on it, he was able to move past it, to be himself, and not he curse that plagued him.

"An interesting ability," his deep tones murmured through the rain, a smile tugging at his ruined features as he leaned towards the mare. "Shame it leaves one so wet though," he added, a sly smirk curling those lips, an expression that on his true façade would have been handsome, charming, but on this one gave the impression of an ancient paedophile reaching out to pluck a beautiful untouched flower and mar it with his accursed self.

Kirottu