It didn’t surprise me that the military would demand more than was necessary—whether it be more beasts or more power. It also made me respect Beast Tamers even more, knowing that they went out of their way to ensure the balance of nature was kept as much as possible.
Suddenly, the sound of avian-like calls and chirps echoed through the air, almost as if in greeting.
“It seems like we’re flying along the territory line between the phoenix and pegasus territories now!” Ronan shouted out to the others behind us.
Elegant, avian creatures flew past us in flocks, colors ranging from crimson to sapphire flashing before my eyes as I watched in awe. Small and large alike, they filled the trees we flew through, some taking off and others following us. I was so entranced by the entire experience that when we eventually broke into a clearing, I felt a sense of loss with their disappearance.
It was only momentary, though, because the space below us was a true marvel to behold.
A pink and purple lake stood out in the center of the space, surrounded by geode stones that were covered in crystals. Pegasus of every shade of the rainbow moved across the clearing in small groupings, like families, and I found myself dipping down to see them better—completely enraptured by the whimsically fairytale-like scene playing out before me.
At that moment I promised myself, when we had time—when we weren’t literally saving the world—I would come back here and explore. I would see everything that the Northern Forrest had to offer.
“It looks like Niz is landing! Is that a cave?” Ronan called out as I directed my attention to the west and the section of the mountain range we were flying toward, Niz’s wings shifting up to slow his momentum. I saw the cave he was talking about, but it appeared so small that I wondered if my wyvern had led us to the wrong one. As we landed on the cliff in front of the entrance, Niz shifted back.
Resisting the urge to look over his naked frame, I scowled at the reckless, knowing smile he offered me before grabbing the clothes Ronan offered him from his bag.
“I know it seems unimpressive, but the entrance is supposed to be as inconspicuous as possible…” Niz explained, his wordstrailing off as his gaze moved over my shoulder and his brows dipped with concern.
Turning, I expected to see the worst—approaching angels, or a disgruntled dragon—but instead, it was just Bastian. His wings were moving in the air to hold him above the ground, but his attention was fully on the large mountainscape that separated the forest from the rest of Alfemir.
Jumping back into the air, my wings already extended, I joined him. His gaze was faced steadily forward, and I knew immediately that something was wrong. Bastian’s eyes were a deep navy color and his face etched with pain that caused his jaw to clench so tightly I feared it would shatter. The suffering was a visceral emotion I could feel rolling off of him.
Normally, he covered his suffering with humor, so to see it so blatantly expressed was equal parts surprising and concerning.
“Bash?” My voice was soft as I brought my hand to his, intertwining our fingers.
“This…” He motioned with his other hand to the jagged divide in the mountain ahead of us. “Thisis where it happened. Where I felt my magic for the first time and lost control.”
My eyes widened as the valley-like divide in the mountains suddenly took on a different meaning—no longer looking natural, but instead like a product of his wild, sometimes explosive magic. Which meant thatthiswas where the death of his brother had happened.
“Holy shit,” I murmured. Of course, I knew how powerful Bastian was, but to see the result of his raw, untrained power? A magic that could literally move mountains was insane.
“I hate seeing it—the bliss of ignorance, of forgetting, was one of the few blessings of being imprisoned for so long,” he hissed, his jaw tightening with tension. Bastian’s grip on my hand was almost painful, but I couldn’t find it in me to do anything but squeeze him back tighter.
“I know that you blame yourself for what happened,” I whispered, hoping to comfort the hurting man next to me. I tugged on his hand, but he gazed steadfastly at the mountains. Infusing my voice with sincerity, I continued, “But you were so young—your powers manifested in a way you could have never imagined—Bash, you didn’t evenknowyou had them. You have a dead affinity; nothing could have prepared you.”
Bastian inhaled and nodded after a long moment. “For the longest time I did blame myself,solely. But now I don’t, at least not only myself. They led me to believe I was a monster while they spent years torturing me. No one bothered to ask the question ofwhyI was different—no one told the doctors that I might have had a powerful, dead affinity, even those that might have been aware of it. So no, I don’t just blame myself, I blameeverysingle one of them for his death. And knowing that Alfemir tried to eradicate our affinities?”
Bastian’s gaze moved back toward the cave entrance where the others were watching and listening, raising his voice slightly. “Thatis exactly why we’re going to go in there and get the wyvern’s support—Alfemir’s rule has come to an end.”
18
RONAN
I’d always assumed—withfar too much ego—that I had a better understanding of the Northern Forrest than other Tamers. At least of its creatures and the dangers that potentially came with them. Now, all that was being called into question, becausesomehow,an entire civilization of wyverns had existed underneath our noses for centuries.
Everything about this trip to the Northern Forrest felt vastly different from anything I’d experienced in the Southern Forrest. While flying through the canopy, I found myself looking at the forest with new eyes. Was it still potentially dangerous? Sure.
But I think a part of me had ignorantly believed and treated the Northern Forrest as some type of…artificial habitat. Like something you might find in an Earth-realm zoo. The forest contained beasts and kept them safe, letting them live in as natural a habitat as possible.
But the distinction—as taught by elder Beast Tamers during training—was that because the Northern Forrest was within Alfemir’s boundaries, we exerted control over the beasts. Therefore, angels owned their home.And them.
Now, every single part of that felt like pure ignorance. I believed what Niz was saying from the start, but standingon the precipice of seeing it myself felt far different, almost intimidating. I knew my view on everything was about to change, hell it was already shifting. Rather than us ’containing’ the beasts of Alfemir, it now simply felt like our walls were encroaching on their claimed space.
For the longest time, the idea that the Tamer’s strength came from their ability to dominate the creatures around them was pounded into my head over and over again by higher authorities. But with new knowledge and the revelation of my dead affinity—coupled with the truth of what truly happened with Niz’s people—I now saw whatshouldbe the tie between Beast Tamer and the creature they were working with—partnership.
We weren’t supposed to dominate or control them, we weresupposedto earn their trust—much like how I had earned Niz’s when he came to me in his wyvern form. Beast Tamers had been going about all of this wrong for so long. I knew it wasn’t my place, but I wanted to tell them—to enlighten them all.
