And out of that small peak funneled a line of dark winged creatures.
‘Ravens?’ Kinlear said.
‘Not ravens.’ Ezer’s scars stretched as she smiled. ‘Raphons.’
Wild raphons.
They had burst from the darkness below, where the black rock was thick, and the shadows were deep. It was an entire line of raphons, soaring skyward, some full-grown and others barely fledglings. There were so many Ezer couldn’t count their number.
Six seemed to pause in the sky, her own breath held as she watched them and listened to their cries.
Your kind,Ezer thought as she buried her hands in Six’s fur.Your family, Six.
But as soon as she thought it, she realized thatshewas Six’s family too.
The kind that was found instead of given.
Six slowed to give the flock space as they climbed higher into the sky. As the wind howled past them, the raphons turned. Some flipped backwards, their wings tossed by the wind, their tails curling, their bodies belly up, as if they were in free fall.
As if they’d done this a thousand times.
Then they dropped from the sky.
Their wings flattened against their dark backs, and their beaks were like spears as they dove.
It was glorious.
The most beautiful sight Ezer had ever seen, and she couldfeelthe adoration in Six.
The need to join them in flight.
‘Go ahead,’ Ezer whispered.
And she smiled as she let all control go.
Six kicked into another gear. Her paws tore at the sky as if she were running across solid ground, and Ezer dug her hands deep into her fur as she went faster, faster, until they reached the edge of the flock.
‘Ezer,’ Kinlear warned. ‘I don’t think we should?—’
‘Wemust,’ Ezer breathed.
Six let out a screech.
The sound rumbled through Ezer, and her eyes were wet from tears as Six joined the others.
Another raphon was suddenly beside them. Another came up behind, and another below. They wereinsidethe flock now, surrounded by wings of blackest night. Ezer’s heart could have burst from her chest. All her life, she’d watched winged creatures fly.
And now she was one with them.
She’d never felt more alive.
Six let out another caw.
The sound was beautiful and urgent. A question, she sensed.
And the raphon beside them answered.
The beast had an enormous feathered black mane, its beakdouble the size of Six’s. A male, and beside it soared a smaller female and her pup. A family unit.
