NEVE
My thighs ached as I dismounted from the pegasus and landed on the hardened snow.
We’d landed by the village gate, the same one Vale, Caelo, Anna, and I had walked through, near the out of service mine. Today no one manned the gate, which raised bumps on my arms. Before, there had been two drunken guards, and while they’d been deep in their cups, they’d still been living and breathing. Already, I feared this was a bad sign.
Above, mountains loomed, imposing craggy peaks glistening with fresh snow in the light of day. Though the sun shone brightly, the few parts of me that were exposed to the air stung. Breathing hurt too.
A shudder ran down my spine. This was no normal cold. As rebels and my friends dismounted from gryphons and Rynni’s scaled back, their pained faces hinted that they felt the same.
I shifted Sassa’s Blade, easing the sword into a morecomfortable position on my hip. Thyra had insisted I bring it, and she’d brought the Crown, tucked safely in a bag she wore around her hips. Her reasoning being that if the Ice Scepter was around and the cause for these people’s deaths, then maybe the Hallows would react to one another. The Blade and Frør Crown hadn’t done so yet, but I was willing to try anything to find the Scepter.
“Good work, Arava.” I patted the pegasus’s midnight snout.
To my shock, the pegasus turned to me and nuzzled my shoulder. My heart warmed at the show of affection. “We’ll find you a warm place to rest. Food too.”
Arava let out a winded huff as if to say that after a night of flying, she expected only the best, and pressed her body closer to mine.
“Don’t take her to the stables yet,” Vale said. “If the fae of Eygin are dead, then it’s likely the horses are too. We don’t wish to upset the gryphons or pegasi. They’re proud creatures and will take offense, so I’ll go check first.” He gestured to a stable in view down the road and set out.
“She likes you, Neve,” Caelo came up to me. “She claims a kinship with you. Thyra’s pegasus, Lasvin, feels the same about her.”
I blinked, and turned to take in my sister, standing with her pegasus. Halladora, Tonna, and Sigri hovered nearby, just as Valkyrja would do to protect their queen. It didn’t escape my notice that the vampires had flown by me and Vale, while the rebel Valkyrja had stayed with Thyra. My sister was absentmindedly petting the pegasus, and Thyradid not seem to notice how the magical being leaned into her touch.
“Is that so?” I asked, shocked by the news.
“He’s right,” Thantrel, who had been not too far away, joined us.
Both he and Caelo had been instrumental in getting the gryphons to allow new riders on their backs—let alone ride them so far.
Thantrel snorted out a laugh as he patted Arava, who leaned into his touch. “My father will be upset that she took to you so easily.”
“Why would that upset him?” I asked.
“When a pegasus bonds with a rider like I believe Arava is doing with you, they will accept no other after that. They will love you so much they would go to war for you.With you.” Thantrel lifted a shoulder as if to say ‘what can you do?’. “It’s a ruler’s dream to have such a devoted pegasus.”
“She never showed this type of affection to another?” My lips curled upward as I stroked Arava’s mane.
“Don’t get me wrong, she’s a good mare. Obedient and brilliant, but never bonded before.” He petted her mane too, and I noticed how Arava did not lean into his touch as she did for me. She tolerated Thantrel, even listened to him because of his elven powers, which so few animals could resist, but nothing more. “Father always hoped one of his pegasi would take to him, but neither did. Turns out they favored not his soul of fire, but one of ice.”
I said nothing. I believed my friends and found myself thrilled that Arava felt a kinship with me too, but she didbelong to Lord Riis. Perhaps I could speak with him about her? Maybe purchase Arava?
When Vale returned, it was with a grim look on his face.
“We can’t use the stables. Too many dead horses. But there are empty homes.” He swallowed. “I think those who owned those homes may have died elsewhere, because Aleksander’s information appears correct. I haven’t seen a single living soul yet.”
“You haven’t looked that hard,” I replied through tight lips.
“Or heard a thing,” he amended. “Not even the sounds of the dying. Unusual, considering it’s daytime.”
I could not deny that. In the few minutes we’d been in the town, the only sounds I heard came from us.
I gripped Arava’s reins. “Let’s shelter them in a home, then we can search for survivors more thoroughly.”
We found a home empty of people and pushed aside the furniture before filling it with the gryphons and pegasi. A rebel lit the fire, and another created a barrier so the beasts would not get too close to the flames.
One glance at Arava, and I knew that she appreciated the flame. She’d nestled on the ground, right next to Lasvin, the snow-white pegasus that Thyra rode. Both tucked their hairy hooves beneath them and despite being midnight black and snow white, they looked very similar.
“I’ll be back soon,” I said to Arava as I crossed to the door. Her eyes had followed me, alert, perhaps wondering where I was going. “You need to rest. You earned it.” At my assurance, the pegasus relaxed and looked at the fire again.
