Page 364 of The Gods Order

Creed stands a little straighter, his gaze fixed on the sky above us, while Kyzen’s arm brushes against mine. His warmth grounds me despite the anxious excitement racing through my veins.

Seismet lets out a low rumble that vibrates through my chest.

“What in the realm is taking them so long?”

“Don’t you dare rush this moment with your impatient ass,” I grumble.

“Impatient? We’ve been waiting an eternity.”

“We’ll wait another if need be.”

“You’re wasting your breath, Thayla,” Verlet says, although he’s practically bouncing on his hooves. “If he hasn’t learned patience by this point in his life. He never will.”

Before Seismet can say another smart-ass comment, I shush him and suck in a breath as V turns his head.

He’s not glancing at us, but at his family. At Lestari.

At the hatchlings who are about to take their first true flight.

Then he faces the open sky. For a heartbeat, everything stills.

The wind. The voices of our family murmuring behind us. Even my own thoughts. Then he leaps. Lestari follows without hesitation.

The hatchlings…

Oh gods, oh gods.

Their little talons dig into the dirt as they race to the edge. Their tiny bodies plummet after their parents, wings tucked close as they disappear beyond my sight.

I hold my breath, and the silence that follows feels endless.

I know it’s only been a second. Only a breath.

But when you’re watching something precious fall, time has a way of stretching far too—

V bursts upward first, his wings spread wide as he climbs back into the sky. Lestari follows, soaring beside him.

And then the hatchlings.

One. Two. Three. Four.

They shoot upward after their parents, their small wings beating wildly as they catch the current and ride it higher. A laugh bursts from my chest so sudden and full it almost doesn’t feel like mine.

They did it.

They’re flying.

Before anyone can say a word, before my mind can remind me to be careful or sensible or anything other than this impossible happiness…

I run.

The edge races toward me. The wind catches my hair, and my feet leave the ground. I nosedive down the side of the mountain without another thought. For a blissful, timeless moment, I free-fall.

My men, Seismet, and Verlet all fall with me.

And together, our wings snap out.

The rush of wind steals a gasp from my lungs as the air catches beneath me, lifting me higher. My hair whips around my face, and a laugh tears from my chest again.