A sudden lump in my throat made it hard to swallow.It would be too dangerous for you to be there—you saw in my memories what Raven was like when she was transformed. The west wing is now full of at least thirty of these walking corpses.
She tossed her head and looked over to where Talon stood with Zamir.He will take you far from here if you ask him to. I’ve seen the way he looks at you.
I couldn’t deny the way that it made my stomach flutter to think he might care for me enough to defy the emperor and help us escape, but even if he was willing, I couldn’t do it.Even if we run now, the Devourer will continue to grow in strength until it’s unstoppable—that’s what the Mistral king said, as well as his spy. It will consume the souls of everyone here, and then it will come for the rest of us.
Then let this Mistral king deal with it if he knows so much about it,Shazeera said angrily.Why must it always be you who makes the sacrifice?
I’m not willing to take the risk that Mistral will be able to stop it,I said firmly.Ozul has made it clear that it will stop at nothing to devour my soul. I could argue that it already attacked me through Lady Corvina and Lady Starling, so I’m merely going on the defensive. The Mistral spy also told us the souls of magic users give it even more power, so it will certainly go on to threaten our people. How can I risk the lives of so many others when I might have a chance at helping destroy the Devourer?
I don’t want you to risk yourself for a chance. The wind spirit told you before that there was a way to harness the wind, so I think you should do everything possible to be prepared to fight that demon.
Ride the tempest, tame the storm?I repeated Mistral’s words. I had been so set on facing the Devourer, ready to throw myself into battle at the nearest opportunity. But Shazeera’s words pulled me up short, like sliding to a halt mid-gallop. I dragged in a breath, the rush of urgency that had been pumping through my veins now suddenly at war with the nagging feeling I was missing something.But I still don’t understand exactly what was meant by that,I told Shazeera.
A tempest is a windstorm, so perhaps taming a storm, learning to control it?she ventured.Talon and his eagle spend all their time navigating the wind—I’m sure they can help you prepare.
I gave her a searching look.Are you just trying to delay my facing the Devourer?
She snorted.Of course. But you also know I’m right. If there’s a way to strengthen your wind power, you must do it.
I heaved a sigh and nodded. Shazeera’s instincts were always right, and I trusted her advice. If she said I must seek out a way to gain more control over my power, then I would do it—even if it meant delaying an attack on the Devourer.
Talon wasn’t far from us, and it was easy to catch his eye. He came to my side immediately, making my pulse quicken.
“Talon,” I said, “may I ask for a favor?”
“Of course,” he said. “Anything.”
“When I spoke to the wind spirit, he told me that to be able to ‘tame the wind,’ I would have to ‘ride the tempest.’ Shazeera and I believe it has something to do with facing a storm—like a windstorm—and learning to control it.” He listened carefully without comment, and I drew a deep breath before asking, “I don’t know how to find a storm, either, but I remember you telling me about turbulent wind when I flew with you for the first time. Do you think Neo would know where to find something like that?”
He flashed a grin at me. “Actually, if you’re looking for windstorms, you’ve come to the right place. The wind above the mountains is extremely turbulent.”
“Is it dangerous, though—for Neo?”
He shrugged. “Flying through mountain waves—wind that rolls down the mountains—can be dangerous, sure, but Neo has flown here all his life. There’s no better flier. And dangerous for us or not—I would never let you go alone.”
I threw my arms around him, even though it made the wounds burn. He returned the embrace, his strong hands pressing me closer to him. “Thank you so much.”
“Of course,” he said and slowly pulled away to look at me again. “When do you want to go?”
I glanced at Shazeera, who bobbed her head meaningfully.
“Now would be good.”
“I’ll summon Neo.”
Not long after, we heard the steady beating of wings, and Neo came into view. He soared gracefully over to us and landed about fifty feet away. With one last caress on Shazeera’s soft neck, I followed Talon to Neo’s side.
“Thank you for agreeing to this, Neo,” I told the eagle, and he fixed one enormous eye on me.
“He said it’s an honor,” Talon said, “and it is. We want to do everything we can to help you—you’ve agreed to fight a great evil that my cousin unleashed upon us.”
My cheeks warmed at their sincere words. “I pray I don’t let you down.”
“You could never let me down,” he said close to my ear as he held his hands out to give me a leg up onto Neo’s back.
As soon as I got into a kneeling position, Talon followed. Now that we had kissed so intimately, the feel of his strong thighs straddling my body made heat flood my cheeks instantly. His biceps flexed as he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close to his chest.
With a few powerful pumps of his wings, Neo lifted off easily, gaining altitude fast.
