It tugged at Ezer’s cloak and hair, cold and biting and trusting, and Six’s eyes widened, two dark orbs. She cocked her head the way all birds so often did, testing the feel of it. She lifted her beak, breathing in the smell of winter and woodsmoke.
‘That’s it,’ Ezer said, hands before her. ‘That is the wind, Six. Afriend.’
The beast closed her eyes, leaning into it. It was like watching her breathe for the first time. Like watching herlive.She lifted her wings higher, so that it ruffled through her feathers, tugging at the enormous blades of black that someday soon would carry her into the sky. They had grown.
Shehad grown, taller than she was just weeks ago. All her downy feathers were gone, and her paws seemed more suited to her body. She was the size of a war horse now, instead of a small pony.
‘You’re meant for this,’ Ezer said, stepping closer. ‘The sky, the snow, the cold. And there in the distance, Six. That is yourhome. You can go there, if you learn to fly.’
Six’s tail twitched back and forth, not in conversation, but on instinct. She stared out across the cliff as the wind danced away.
Towards the Sawteeth, and that roiling shadowstorm.
Towards her true home.
‘We’ll do it together,’ Ezer whispered. ‘Every step of the way.’
She realized, suddenly, that Six wasn’t just a raphon.
She was a friend.
A confidante.
A safe space for Ezer to rest her weary heart.
She washers.
Ezer picked up the lead rope.
And this time, when she held out her arm as Kinlear had showed her, asking Six to break into a lunge …
The raphon obeyed.
‘Good,’ Kinlear said gently from the edge of the circle. She’d forgotten he was here, and the sound of his voice snapped her back to the present. ‘Lead her through several minutes, so she knows the patterns. Then we’ll try with you on her back.’ He smiled at Ezer. ‘You’re doing it. Just like I always knew you would.’
She smiled back through her scars.
Six set her paws in full against the snow, lowered her wings against her sleek, catlike body, and began to move. It was beautiful, watching her jog. Ezer stood in the center of the ring, and Six practically pranced past her, keeping in a perfect circle.
The wind whistled past, ruffling Six’s neck feathers as she broke into a run.
‘Yes,’ Ezer said. ‘Good girl, Six!’
‘She’s magnificent!’ Kinlear laughed beside her. He placed his hand on Ezer’s arm. ‘She iseverythingwe’ve been waiting for, Raphonminder!’
Together, they marveled at Six.
Her paws were soundless on the snow, and it was the first time she’d ever looked graceful. The first time she looked truly lithe and – Ezer’s heart did a sad little tremor – she lookedfull grown.Her dark body shimmered, feathers and fur like liquid ink as the clouds broke, and a spear of sudden sunlight trickled through them. Ezer gasped and glanced skyward at the same time Six did. Through the wards, the light was pure, blazing gold.
Gods, it had been ages since she’d seen thesun.
And Six …
Six had never.
The raphon paused, as if she weren’t certain what was happening above her.
‘It’s all right,’ Ezer said. ‘It’s the sun. Cats like the sun.’
