If I fall, I might die. It would take them a long time to find me since I hadn’t told anyone I was coming.
Sweat beads along my skin, but I take a few fortifying breaths before stepping forward toward the junction of her shoulders and neck. It’s far too wide to straddle properly, but she is unearthly still as I sink to my legs and take up my best approximation of a riding position.
I look around, trying to find something to hold onto.
As I do, the twinkling sound floats over crystal, and a small handle forms over one scale.
I let out a long breath and reach for it.
As my hand connects with the solid material, the mother of allglacialmarasstarts to move. It feels like the earth quakes beneath my feet as she stands.
Gods only know how long she has laid dormant, but I can feel every quiver and groan of rock as she stretches her legs. It takes ages for her to take her first step.
Then, slowly, scratching chords drown out the beauty of her musicality as wings peel away from her sides.
I try to adjust my position to accommodate her movements as solid crystal expands. The sheer size of the being beneath me inspires terror and joy all at once. It is mesmerizing.
The cavern deep in the mountain looked like it was plenty spacious, but now, with her entirely unfurled, she looks like some celestial steed of a divine being, swallowing every inch of the space.
Just as I think I’ve got a hold on her movements, she takes a step forward, and I slide across the sharp scales. My grip on the crystal handle slips. My inner thighs slip and chafes against the surface, and I cry out at the stinging, sharp pain.
It hurts like hell.
“Hostia?1,”I scream as another movement thrusts me forward, nearly vaulting me off the creature.
My arm pulls out of my socket, and I hear a pop that produces more awful pain.
I scream again.
“Por los dioses?2,this was a mistake,” I huff.
Reaching with all my might, I manage to swing myself up and latch onto the handle with both hands. With a firm grip I pull myself up, despite my screaming shoulder. When I am back on the neck of the creature, I feel the sickening power beat against me.
Blood drips down my legs, and my arm throbs, but my Fuegorra heats up, knitting my skin and bones back together.
What happens next is what steals my breath.
My magic has always felt erratic and dangerous, but withdrathorinna, the lyre string running from the tip of my head to my toes finesses its perfect tune. It’s not merely a harmony in the air, but a rightness in my body that makes me want to soar.
I let out a yelp, now anticipating her movements as she brambles through the space. I hear theruc’radesandruc’cielessqueak to light as she squeezes herself through the hole. The space is not nearly big enough. I duck as close to her body as possible as she pulverizes everything in search of the open air.
Stones stumble down, sharp and deadly heavy, but none touch my body.
Fear pierces my heart when I think of the humans and Enduares above. I am helpless to the movements of the creature beneath me.
Keep them safe.
I pray at the same time I curse my idiocy.
Why did I come here alone?
As we clear the space, we crawl out onto some hiddenplateau along the black Enduar mountain range. Relief floods my body, all the way to the tips of my fingers.
I let out a whoop as her wings stretch once again, this time reaching their full, vast glory. The first beat is followed by a joyous cry from her tongue-less body. The air stirs in a relentless torrent, blowing back my clothes and hair.
Once again, I hold on for dear life, waiting for her to move. She doesn’t—just sits. I kick my bare feet gently into her sides, and she continues to stretch in the moonlight.
For the first time, I fully realize that I have let this monster out of the mountain with no real way to control her or get her back in.
