My yammering and gentle pushes seem to do the trick. Bird-guy stops - whatever the hell it was he was doing - and looks up at me with brows drawn together. He looks... vulnerable. And now that I'm half convinced he doesn't intend to fly me off to tear me to pieces and eat me, I notice how chiseled and handsome his face is. He's big compared to the average human and those proportions are reflected on his face too. His face is almost passable as human, but his eyes are a tad bigger and a little further apart. And there's no way any human could naturally have such brightly colored turquoise eyes. His lips are full and his jawline is strong. His hair is as dark as his wings and not quite neatly cut but soft-looking.
Those little skin lights are busily twinkling at both his temples and I can't help but think that means Mr. Feathers here has some thoughts he's currently working through. I almost want to laugh at that. Instead, I reach up and stroke a single finger down his temple and over his cheek, those little sparkly lights following my movement as I do.
He says something to me in his native tongue.
"I wish I knew what you were saying, big guy," I tell him, offering a smile.
He answers, his rumbling voice deep and melodious but the words are utterly lost on me. The little lights on his skin dance all over and then converge to the area over his upper chest, the sparks pulsing and throbbing there and seeming to get brighter and brighter like a supernova. Looking down at his own chest, the alien man's eyes widen and suddenly he's no longer on top of me, no longer caging me in with his huge, black wings.
I blink at the quick influx of daylight to my eyes and sit up to see Mr. Feathers crouching at my feet. It sounds like he's demanding something when he speaks, gesturing to his lit-up chest and then back at me.
"Hey, buddy, I have nothing to do with... whatever is going on with your skin. That's all on you."
He makes a whining sound at that and I can only deduce he's just as frustrated as I am not to be able to communicate. At my ankle, I feel his tail tighten the hold he still has on me. "Do you think you could let me go?" I ask, leaning over and tapping at his black velvet-covered tail.
Instead of doing that, the oddly handsome bird-man seems to take it as an invitation to inspect my foot, lifting it first with his tail and then cradling it ever so carefully in his warm hands. I wince at the movement. My feet are pretty cut up from all my running and stumbling through the jungle. Inspecting my injuries, the bird-man's brows knit together in concern. He hisses out a one-syllable word that sounds suspiciously like a curse and before I can tell him it's not all that bad, he grabs me, launching us both into the sky with powerful beats of his huge wings.
Chapter 5
RYNN
I cannot believe it.The creature I saved from the mimyckah scum is...a female. She is not like me. She is wingless, tailless, small, and incredibly soft to my touch. She is not from any Trixikka tribe - how could she be? She isa female! Not one locked behind the protection of a Temple. And not only that... but I think she has lit my heart-stars.
It is something of legend now. Something no tribe member will have living memory of. But in the many bellies of the sacred Eyrie Caves, there are writings and drawings of such a thing. Writings and drawings of my people - my people who used to live as one tribe, malesandfemales.Together!That was before the Punishing Sickness. The disease the Goddesses spread through Trixikka females to punish our males for how they had treated them. Now, our females live safe behind the walls of our temple and we swear to protect them in payment for the atrocities our male ancestors committed many generations ago.
But this female -thisfemale here, in my arms, clinging to me so tightly as I fly and shrieking obscenely loud noises of what I can only guess is joy - she is behind no Temple wall. She is here. She has ignited my heart-stars. She ismine.
I twirl in the air with sheer glee. Never have I felt such a feeling. A female. A real female, here in my arms! My odd little female must feel the same happiness that I do, for she yells and holds me tightly, those oddly appealing mounds on her chest pressing into my frame. Tucking my wings in and leaning, I aim for my tribe at the foot of the mountain. Together, we dive through the air, hurtling faster and faster toward my people. The males I am tasked to lead will surely be as pleased to hear of this blessing from the Goddesses as I am.
Landing at the outskirts of our dwellings, I reluctantly release my female. Her legs wobble when her feet meet the ground and I curse myself all over again. She is injured and I had not noticed before. I, High Spear Rynn, had not protected this female from injury. A shadow of shame clouds my heart, but I will get her to the healers as soon as possible. "Come, little-light," I tell her, gently taking her elbow to guide her in the correct direction. Instead, my female yanks away from me and shoves me square in the chest while speaking in her nonsense words.
"Dontyoueverdothatagain!" she yells. It is clear she is vexed with me for some unknown reason but I must admit she is quite adorable in this state. "Iwanttostayfirmlyontheground! Doyouhearmeyoufeatherbrainedidiot!" she continues, gesturing to her feet and then shoving me again. Goddess! This female is glorious.
"Yes. Your feet," I say to her slowly. "We will go to the healers now and all will be well."
"High Spear?" A voice calls from between two of the huts. It is my Second Spear, Mavyx. "Is all well?"
As he rounds the wall of the hut, my little-light yelps, and leaps behind me, making me chuckle. She is flighty, but she will learn that nothing will harm her now that I have her. As it is proclaimed in the words of our people;she will be protected.
"All is well, Mavyx," I tell him, smiling. His brows quirk and he leans to try and see what had slipped behind me just now. I shift out of the way to allow him a better view. My little-light's eyes are big and round as she looks from him to me and back again.
"Goddess," Mavyx exclaims, slack-jawed. "What is it?"
I smile proudly. "A female."
"It... it cannot be. What is she doing out here? Outside the Temple?"
I shake my head. "I do not know these answers, brother. But look," I gesture to my chest, where my heart-stars are alight and have remained ignited ever since my little-light coaxed them out.
Mavyx sways where he stands, staring at my chest - staring at the skin-stars that will never dim because they know I have found her - my mate. "Impossible," he mutters, his skin stars pulsing at his temples.
"And yet here you witness it."
"But-"
My patience wears thin. "Do you dishonor your High Spear by questioning his heart?"
"No, my High Spear," he says, straightening his spine and averting his eyes. I will let it pass. Mavyx is a good, loyal Second Spear and an excellent Protector. My people have never laid eyes upon a female before, much less one who is the mate of their High Spear.
