I wear his conquests.She was pleased to do so, reveling in the strength of her mate. Her fingers drifted over the stitching she had put upon and ties that held them upon her body.
She had come here nearly every day since Vedikus showed her the hidden trails to this spot. The view was breathtaking. She couldn’t quite explain what drew her to come back so frequently since it was more of the same endless ocean of gauzy white.
But she liked to watch the mist dance with the wind and shift with the sky. And sometimes, when the light from the sun was at its brightest, she could glimpse the cerulean blue skies beyond. Whenever that pop of blue filled her vision—for the moment that it lasted—she thought of her family and the farm.We all have to leave the nest sometime.She just wished she could have said a proper goodbye first.
Vedikus appeared at her side. “You are always here when I cannot find you.”
She pressed her body to his, and his arm came up to enclose her in.
“Perhaps you should start by looking here first then. I like the mystery. I’ve always wondered about all that I can’t see,” she said idly, comforted. “Although most of the time I hope to catch a glimpse of the sky.”
“Ah yes. The color is intriguing, brilliant within so much white. I have never seen it so clearly since bringing you here.”
“Because I repel the mist? You should see the sky when there is nothing to obscure it, it goes on for an eternity. And at night it sparkles with stars.”
“One day, when my brothers find their mates, it will open up for us at this peak and it will never close again. One day we will be free of this mist.” His fist hit his chest. Aldora pressed her cheek to his side and nodded shallowly. She didn’t know how she felt about other women coming here. There was a selfish place in her head that was looking forward to such a time, if it was just to be by someone of her own kind, who had survived the first night as a sacrifice.
There are others out there.
She wanted to save them all, but to want that also meant she accepted what the kingdom of light was doing. She did not want to become one of the many monsters ravenous for humans. Even if her intent was pure.
“I do not like you coming up here alone. There are predators that fly these skies. You are safe among the trees where they will not see you, but up here, you’re ripe for the plucking.”
Aldora lifted her head to look at him. “Would you come after me if I was caught up?”
“Yes,” he said it with such finality it made her pulse race. “Come.” Vedikus pulled her away from the edge and toward the path. “We will see Dezetus off. He is at the gate as we speak.”
She gave one last look over the mist, finding it had settled during their brief conversation. A little over a week had passed since she and Vedikus made it to his home.Our home.She had to remind herself. Bathyr. Aldora had named it such for her minotaur. A home that was three times the size of her previous one, now that she’d had the chance to explore properly. After the first several days of rest that was forced upon her, she had found herself horrendously bored and had taken it upon herself to clean out the ruins of all their dirt, overgrowth, and webbing, starting with her home. The labor was back-breaking, but it kept her busy while the others hunted and scouted. She would do more, but the tension was thick down below. Dezetus was not easy to get along with.
She found him stalking her, studying her as if she was an oddity far more than she was comfortable with.I’m happy he’s leaving.
She followed Vedikus down the peak, making her way slowly over the rocky path, listening to the dirt and gravel crunch under his hooves. She was getting used to them. She had explored him thoroughly, going so far as washing his body from horn tip to boney hooves, taking her time and allowing herself to grow accustomed to their differences. At night, when she lay awake in the gloom, curled into her bull, Aldora could hear dual heartbeats under her ear.
One for the animal and one for the man.She listened for the sound now whenever they rested and relished the peace of mind that accompanied it.
A gust of wind blasted over her and she tugged her furs more securely around her frame.
Vedikus stood at the bottom of the path, where it changed from rocks to stone stairs, waiting for her. She licked some warmth back into her lips and closed the distance, taking his hand as he helped her down the last drop. His hand engulfed her own. Her nose twitched as she caught the smell of wood-burning smoke and the faded aroma of the morning meal.
“Thank you,” she murmured, looking over the many stone buildings built into the mountain. Most of which remained untouched or impossible to get to from hundreds of years of deterioration.Someday.Her resolve hardened, and her curiosity piqued. Now that Dezetus was leaving, she would explore all that she’d wanted to when she’d been nervous to do so before.
Now, that she didn’t have a lurker.
Vedikus grunted. Together, they descended an old staircase that zig-zagged down the cliff-face between several of the ghostly structures. Before long, they were hidden within the canopy of the trees.
Scattered about were worn carvings decorating the walls. Human depictions. Most she hadn’t even begun to try to understand. After finding an elaborate, albeit barren, altar room within the first building that led up the way they came, she began to see this place as more of an ancient temple and less of an abandoned settlement. It reminded her of the temples in Thetras, but only in the severity of the embellishments to the decor.
Her awe of this place had grown into respect as she’d learned how the Bathyr lived and operated.This wasn’t a place for peasants. Or beasts with horns.And yet both had ended up here regardless of its original intent.
They continued to walk in silence as they made their way to the gate and past the ruins that housed the altar and where the minotaur nested. No one met them for the whole journey.
Because the others were inexplicably gone.
Dezetus came into view, crouched next to the bonfire they all shared, with a dagger in one hand and a stray piece of wood in the other. A familiar shape was forming where parts of the wood were whittled away. Aldora paused, her eyes narrowing on the piece.
“I have been waiting,” Dezetus said without looking up.
On me?Aldora looked away from his hands, to his broken horn, and stiffened.
