‘I’m nobody,’ Ezer said. ‘I never wanted this.’
Six huffed again, as if to sayneither did I.
A vision of five sinking feathers floated into her mind. They sank beneath a dark, endless sea, never to be seen again. Six’s siblings.
‘I’m sorry,’ Ezer said. ‘I know it wasn’t your choice, either.’ She sighed and wiped her face dry with her sleeve. ‘I have scars, Six.’ She felt the raphon’s hot breath on her cheek. On her shadow wolf marks. ‘Not these. They’re the kind you can’t see. The sky is a dangerous place for a girl without wings.’
Ervos’s words tumbled off her tongue, the first time she’d ever spoken them out loud.
Six paused for a moment, as if she weren’t sure how to respond.
And then Ezer felt two dark wings drape over her shoulders, holding her close. It was so simple, the act. But it made Ezer’s heart twinge. And as Ezer leaned her head back, cradled in Six’s warmth, another vision filled her mind.
She saw Six, soaring alone in the sky.
Shadows swam behind her, making her black fur and feathers even darker.
Six was magnificent. Proud and beautiful, with her enormous black wings outspread as she traversed the sky. Her paws clawed at the air as if she would tear it apart.
But Ezer was not focused on the raphon.
No …
The vision pulled away, until Ezer could see the rider on Six’s back.
She looked fierce – not beautiful, but haunting, with the wind tugging at her dark black braid … and the trio of jagged black scars on her face.
It was Ezer, wild and free, as a rider on Six’s back.
And she was not afraid.
‘I see,’ Ezer said, as the vision broke.
She was breathless, feeling like she’d just been in the sky. Like she and Six were out there,together.
‘What would you say if that vision didn’t come true?’ Ezer asked. ‘What would you say, Six … if I ran from here, tonight? If I never came back?’
The wings tucked tighter around her body, holding her close.
But then …
Six huffed.
And slowly, so slowly … those wings lifted, setting her free.
Ezer turned to find that the raphon had laid her head down, her beak heavy against her pile of treasures.
‘You would let me go?’ Ezer said. ‘You’d let me leave you here alone?’
The raphon huffed again.
And her tail, ever so slightly, twitched once.
So Ezer imagined it for a moment. Standing from the warmth, walking away from the raphon, closing the door shut. Leaving the Citadel and never seeing Six again. Never seeing Arawn or Kinlear or Izill.
The thought of those three ached her, for she’d never had friends before. And they’d come to be exactly that. She imagined those goodbyes would hurt, but she would heal. She was used to being on her own.
But it was the thought of leavingSixthat broke her.
