“The windstorms are the worst at the top of the mountains, so we’ll have to fly high,” Talon said, leaning forward so I could hear him.
We climbed higher and higher until the palace and the city of Naharu were beneath us. The Angora Mountains spread before us, with peaks still higher than we currently flew.
Talon’s voice was in my ear. “Are you all right? Not lightheaded?”
“I’m fine.” I did feel a little dizzy, but I didn’t want to hold Neo back.
The wind streamed over us like a river, rippling Neo’s feathers and tugging at my hair. At times, it was so strong it felt like it would rip me from his back. But Talon kept me safe, warmth pouring into me from everywhere his body touched mine.
We flew until the palace was a distant speck behind us. In the sky, with Talon and Neo, I felt free for the first time in a long time. Amongst the clouds, there was no fear of undead creatures coming out of the shadows, or assassins sent by palace nobles. On the back of an eagle I once feared, I felt my chest lighten. I hadn’t realized how much I was living under the weight of oppressive fear until it was temporarily lifted—even though I knew it would come back the second I touched the ground. My worries hovered at the back of my mind, waiting for the opportunity to come to the forefront again, but flying amongst the clouds kept them at bay.
After another twenty minutes of flying, Talon told me, “Neo says we’re approaching a windstorm on the northern peak. Ordinarily we’d fly higher to avoid it, but today we’ll fly straight into it—if that’s what you want us to do.”
I turned and met his gaze. I was about to tell him not to risk Neo and himself by flying directly into the storm, but then I stopped myself. The wind spirit had said to ride the tempest, not look down on it from a place of safety. “Yes, if it won’t put Neo in too much danger.”
Neo let out a warble beneath me, and Talon grinned. “He says he’ll pretend you didn’t just insult him right now.”
I shot Talon a sheepish look and touched Neo’s feathers. “Forgive me, Neo! I know you’re an amazing flier. Yes, let’s do it.”
He pumped his wings hard, flying straight toward a snowcapped mountain peak. Below us were other mountains, studded with trees and shrouded by wispy clouds.
Soon the wind became so strong that Talon pushed me downalmost flat against Neo’s back as he leaned over me protectively. He said something near my ear, but the gusts snatched his words away as soon as he uttered them. The feathers on the edges of Neo’s wings rippled as he made constant adjustments.
The farther we flew into the storm, the more vicious the wind became, until I could feel it tugging at me from beneath Talon’s heavy body covering mine. It poured over our bodies like endless waves. Neo didn’t flap his wings or try to fight it; he kept them spread wide, letting the currents carry him.
I closed my eyes and focused on the wind streaming over us. At first, it was like a roaring beast, the sound deafening. But I concentrated on the way it streamed past me, and how I could feel it all around me. Within the roaring, I could detect something else, something like music. I focused on the sound, trying to block out all other sensation. The more I listened, the more I could hear it. It sounded like the way we sang—primal ululations that conveyed everything from deep mourning to joy and celebration. The music made it seem like the wind was a living, breathing creature. And maybe it was.
I thought about how I connected with Mistral, of that powerful windstorm inside me that seemed to hover on the edge of my consciousness. I had only called out to him, and he had answered me. Would this storm be the same?
Focusing on the way the roaring wind had turned to music in my mind, I sang back to it—quietly at first. There was no reaction or response. So I made my voice louder and louder still, until I could almost hear my song over the wind. And suddenly, silence hit me like being struck deaf. All around me, the wind still raged, though I could no longer hear it.
I reached deep inside me where the power lay in wait. And instead of calling forth any wind, I focused on the storm in frontof us. When I closed my eyes and listened to the roaring gusts, I could see the wind. Neo flew in a rushing river in the sky, full of white-capped currents prepared to sweep us away at any moment. All the other times I had used my power to destroy my enemies, I had released a burst of power. Now, though, I called the feral windstorm before me, picturing it as nothing more than a light breeze. It fought like a fish caught on a hook, bucking and thrashing against my mind. I maintained my concentration, beads of sweat tracking down my forehead despite the cold. We struggled against each other, but I had only to think of how desperate I was for the power to defeat the Devourer. I refused to give in.
Little by little, the storm stopped fighting and allowed its strength to pour into me. Deep inside my subconscious mind, where the cliffs overlooked the bottomless ocean, the windstorm’s strength fueled the power within. Usually, any attempt to call the wind drained me, but this had the opposite effect. I felt like I had just woken up from the perfect amount of sleep and had cold water splashed on my face, invigorating me. My heart beat strong, and even the aches in my ribs and muscles from Raven’s attack faded.
Neo straightened out as the wind calmed, gliding high above the mountains. Slowly, Talon sat up, and I did the same. I released my death grip on the pommel and looked around me in awe. When Talon had first suggested that I could control the wind around us for a more comfortable flight, I didn’t believe it was possible. Now, there was proof.
“You’re incredible,” Talon said in my ear, and I glanced back to find him grinning proudly at me.
“I’m still in shock,” I admitted. “But this must have been what Mistral meant, because I’ve never felt stronger.” Power coursedthrough my body, making me feel like I could take on the world. I pictured unleashing all this massive power onto the Devourer. Surely nothing could stand against it.
“Were you able to call the wind?” Talon asked.
“In a way. It wasn’t like when I summon a cyclone and release it in a massive burst of power. Instead, I grabbed hold of the windstorm and absorbed its energy.”
“And, in doing so, calmed the storm,” Talon said with enough awe in his tone to make me blush.
Neo glided easily through the air, back toward the palace, with only a light breeze ruffling his feathers. Somehow I had done that—controlled the very weather around us. I could only hope it wouldn’t have the effect it usually did on Shazeera and me.
“Yes, and maybe this time it won’t—” I cut myself off abruptly before voicing my thoughts on Shazeera. I had never told Talon the repercussions of my power, and I was suddenly afraid to trust him that much. He watched me with a curious gaze but didn’t pry. Honestly, if he had asked me to continue, I might have shut down. I had only to think of everything we had been through in our short time together to realize he was worthy of knowing my biggest secret. I hesitated for another moment before finally saying, “Summoning the wind usually harms my bond with Shazeera, and I’m unable to communicate with her afterward.”
When he stayed silent for a moment, I glanced back at him again. His eyebrows were lifted in shock. “Why would using your power harm your bond with your horse?”
“It’s complicated,” I said, looking down at Neo’s golden feathers. “We still don’t understand all of it.”
The commander of an aerial army came out in him then, and I could practically hear his brain examining my nonanswer. “Theother times, when you’ve released wind power, you’ve been unable to communicate with Shazeera?” When I nodded, he continued, “And this time you’re hoping that because you absorbed the energy instead, it won’t have the same effect?”
“Yes, but I’m too far away to test it right now.”
