No… whatever I’m lying on, it’s… it’s…
Maybe shehaddied, and now she was in Heaven, lying on a soft fluffy cloud.
Because there was literallynoother explanation for the softness she felt beneath her cheek and palms, the warmth, the wind rushing through her hair…
Finally gathering up her courage to open her eyes and peek out at what was happening around her, Natasha couldn’t say exactly what she was expecting to see – the Pearly Gates? A choir of angels? – but what shedidsee didn’t actually look all that out of place. Just blue sky, trees, an enormous pair of feathered wings on either side of her, spread wide to catch the updrafts of wind –
Wait… wait… WHAT?!
Blinking, Natasha shook her head, and forced herself to actuallytake inwhat was going on around her.
Beneath her palms was soft, golden fur, which became lighter-colored but equally soft feathers beneath her fingertips.
And, uh, yeah, those are definitely wings…
Wide, broad wings, their feathers gently ruffling in the wind as she was carried higher and higher above the ground, the canopy of the forest laid out in brilliant greens below her.
Natasha could feel her heart thudding wildly in her chest as she tried to make sense of this situation. But her head was spinning, and no explanation she could come up with madeanysense whatsoever. When she looked to her left, she could see a broad, golden-furred back and a long tail streaming – a tail that lookedexactlylike a lion’s tail, with a little puff of slightly darker fur at the tip.
Turning her head and looking right, she found herself staring at a feathered head – the feathers were a lighter gold where they met the fur that coated the rest of this… this…whatever it was, but became white as they continued upward, to the head of what wasvery verydefinitely an eagle, judging by the large, hooked beak she couldjustsee from around the back of the feathered head.
Okay. So. It’s… a lion. With wings. And the head of an eagle. And I’m flying on its back. It swooped down out of the sky and caught me just as I was about to plunge to possible death, and now it’s carrying me on its back. Okay.
Natasha’s head spun.
Now that I think about it, isn’t there a name for a kind of creature that’s half lion, half eagle?
Of course there was, she thought, even as she felt like shemightbe going just the tiniest bit crazy.
They’re called griffins. I’m riding on a griffin’s back.
She swallowed.
A griffin just like the one Kieran told me he turned into.
Natasha felt a strange kind of hysterical laugh trying to bubble up inside her. Was it possible she’d gone crazy? That the fear of falling onto those rocks had made her start to hallucinate a world where everything had actually worked out wonderfully – a world where Kieranwasn’ta liar and had in fact told her the whole truth about everything, and was now here to save her from some pretty nasty injuries, at absolute minimum?
Yeah, that must be it,Natasha thought, as she looked dazedly around her.I’ve just imagined my ideal world. And now I’m dreaming. I guess I better enjoy it before I wake up and find out whatreallyhappened.
And to be honest… enjoying what was happening wasn’t actually all that hard.
Gripping on to the griffin’s fur to make herself more secure, Natasha had to admit that soaring through the air, all the world laid out below her, was pretty exhilarating. This was definitely better than her usual dreams, which were usually stress-induced nightmares about missing important deadlines or pissing off important clients. Here, in the crystal-clear air, the white sunshine on her face and the forest below, riding on the back of a griffin, Natasha couldn’t imagine ever caring about either of those things ever again.
The sky somehow seemed even more blue, and the mountains around them even more spectacular and beautiful. This early in spring they were still slightly snow-capped, but Natasha had never imagined how they’d look from this angle before.
Even though the air was chill, the warmth of the griffin kept her from feeling it. It was the perfect way to travel, Natasha decided, as the griffin dipped its wings and turned in a wide circle, slowly and gently so as not to jostle her with any sudden movements, and then gradually began to descend back down toward the forest.
I guess this is where the dream ends and I wake up,Natasha thought, as the trees below grew larger and larger. She wasn’t sure why she felt that she’d be rudely awakened as soon as they reached the ground, but somehow, it just seemed like the logical thing to think. Up here, she was held safe in a bubble of unreality. Down below, she was probably going to be in urgent need of medical attention.
The griffin at least did seem to know where it was going – it guided them down to an obvious clearing in the canopy, where its massive wings wouldn’t get snagged on any tree branches. It drew them in slightly, dropping them through the gap in the trees, and Natasha saw once they got lower that by the clearing there stood a house.
It was old and stately, and clearly in its prime it would have been a magnificent residence. It was old and run-down now, though, the paintwork fading and flaky, some of the beams of the porch and steps obviously sagging, and it was missing quite a few roof tiles. But still, it was beautiful – if someone ever wanted to give it some tender loving care, it could be restored to its former glory.
It must be – it must be the house Kieran said he was staying in, the one that belonged to his great uncle…
Natasha swallowed, as she remembered that it was also the house that Eula had told her was haunted. It definitely didlooklike the kind of house that would be haunted – old, stately but worn, with generations’ worth of secrets locked up in its nooks and crannies.
But I don’t believe in ghosts,Natasha told herself as the griffin came in gently to land a few feet from the house.But then, I guess until about fifteen minutes ago, I didn’t believe in shifters either.
