Earth Bound

by Avril Sabine

  Brianne glanced towards the opening of the cave. Daylight was struggling to enter. “I’d like to get to where we’re going before it’s dark, if possible.”

  “It’s less than an hour away.” Bellamy gathered his gear.

  She bit back a sigh. What she wouldn’t give for wings right now. She was sick of being stuck on the back of a horse. It wasn’t natural. Her people were made for soaring through the sky.

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Talon

  Talon stood at the edge of the campsite, staring into the star-studded night. His father had probably been right about him not making a good general. He’d had to walk away from the bickering. Some had wanted to ally themselves with the Caelians while many still didn’t trust them. Brianne had pointed out they’d once been allies until the Prilonians had tricked them. He’d left her there, arguing. They’d probably waste the rest of the night and still not make a decision.

  Hearing footsteps headed his way he turned and saw Brianne. Lantern light showed how tired she looked. She was stopped by Bellamy. It took all his willpower not to march over and tell Bellamy to leave her alone. His hands tightened into fists as she smiled at Bellamy, nodding her head before she continued walking towards him, stepping out of the light from the lantern that had been hung nearby.

  “What did he want?” Talon demanded when Brianne reached his side, nodding towards Bellamy.

  “To tell me it wasn’t him who did wrong by Warner, but someone trying to make trouble for him.”

  “Who?”

  “He doesn’t know, but he did say he knew it wasn’t you.”

  “Really?” He didn’t even bother keeping the derision from his voice.

  “Yes. He said if you wanted to get even with him you wouldn’t go behind his back to do it.”

  “Maybe he’s not a complete idiot, but I still don’t trust him.”

  “I wasn’t asking you to.”

  They fell silent a while, both staring out into the night until Talon broke the silence. “Have they stopped arguing yet?” He wanted to get on with planning the attack, not listen to them decide who to trust. They shouldn’t trust anyone.

  “No. Bellamy was on his way to see what they were up to.”

  “Do you have to bring him into every conversation?” Talon growled. His sister had done it on the ride to the encampment. Anyone would think he was one of the gods come to visit.

  “What’s so terrible about him?”

  Talon started to point out Bellamy’s faults, then decided to try a different tactic. “What was so terrible about Macklyn?”

  “He told everyone I was dead.”

  “You hated him before then.”

  Brianne took ages to reply. “He always had to be better than me.”

  Talon nodded. “Exactly.”

  They fell silent again. The next break in the silence was when a noise drew Talon’s attention and he swore.

  “What?” Brianne turned to face the direction of his gaze.

  “Bellamy,” Talon muttered. He was the last person he wanted to see, but it looked like Bellamy planned to join them regardless of how welcome he was.

  Bellamy came to a stop in front of them. “They’ve finished arguing.”

  “What did they decide?” Brianne asked.

  Talon was glad it was Brianne who asked, he’d rather not have to talk to him.

  “They’ve agreed to help, on their terms,” Bellamy said.

  “What are their terms?” Brianne asked.

  “I don’t know, they wouldn’t tell me, only sent me to get you.”

  Talon walked beside Brianne, dreading putting up with more bickering. He was certain they weren’t going to like the terms. When he stepped inside, he soon found he was wrong.

  Brianne held up a hand, interrupting one of the officers who started to speak. “There’s no point discussing terms with me, I don’t have the authority. I’ve been asked to set up a meeting. If you have a map I can show you the three sites they’ve offered as possible meeting places. They’re on the border and open enough so you can see there’s no risk of ambush.”

  Talon shook his head, disgusted by the fresh wave of arguments Brianne’s words brought. By the time a meeting place was decided upon and they were shown to a tent, Brianne was yawning.

  “They’re so lucky I didn’t have my bow with me,” Brianne muttered as she lay atop the bedroll set out on one side of the tent, a lantern sitting on the ground at her head. She hadn’t been allowed to take the bow into the meeting. It was waiting in the tent for her.

  Talon tugged off his boots once he sat on the other bedroll. “I hope they don’t expect us to be at the meeting or I’m likely to hand you your bow.”

  Brianne chuckled sleepily. “Put your boots back on.” She closed her eyes, still on top of the bedroll.

  “Why?”

  “We’re at war. Do you want to fight barefoot if we’re attacked in the night?”

  Talon stared at her, lying within arm’s reach. His eyes travelled over curves, before returning to her face.

  Brianne opened a single eye. “Go to sleep.” She closed her eye again.

  Talon leaned forward. “Open your eyes.”

  She kept them closed. “Why?”

  “Open them.” Several minutes passed before she opened her eyes. He stared at clear blue eyes. “They’ve changed colour.”

  “You woke me to tell me that?”

  Talon slowly smiled. “You weren’t asleep.”

  “Just about,” she grumbled. “So you kept me awake to tell me my eyes have changed colour.”

  “No. I kept you awake so I could see what they looked like.”

  “Go to sleep, Talon.” She rolled to face the side of the tent.

  He leant forward so he could see her face clearly. Her eyes were closed. “I like them.” Moving away, he sat on his bedroll and started to pull his boots back on.

  Brianne rolled to face him, her eyes open, a slight smile on her lips. “Were you expecting a compliment in return?”

  Talon grinned. “I thought you were going to sleep.”

  “I’m trying to, but someone won’t shut up and put the light out.”

  Talon finished pulling on his boots and reached for the lantern, turning it off. “Goodnight, Brianne.” He lay on his stomach, letting his wings out. He felt a hand brush across his feathers.

  “This is what I like. Much better than ordinary blue eyes.”

  He captured her hand, linking his fingers through hers. “What happened to the feather of mine you took?”

  “It’s in my belt pouch.”

  He tried to see her in the darkness, wishing he hadn’t put the lantern out.

  “Goodnight, Talon.” Her voice was soft and drowsy.

  He momentarily tightened his fingers on hers before he closed his own eyes and tried to sleep. Morning would come too soon and they had to ride for the border and finish arranging the meeting.

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Brianne

  The next morning Brianne glared at Talon, wishing she had something to hit him with. “Shut up and let’s get going. It’ll take long enough to get to the border without you slowing things down.”

  “He’s not coming with us.” Talon sent a glare in Bellamy’s direction.

  “We don’t have a choice. Your people didn’t ask, they ordered us to take him. Of course they’re going to choose Bellamy. They know you hate him. Besides, he’s not that bad.” She regretted the last few words the moment she spoke them and saw Talon’s expression.

  “We don’t need him. He’ll slow us down.”

  She reached for Talon’s hand, but he pulled away from her. “Talon-”

  “I don’t trust him.”

  Again she tried to take hold of his hand, stepping close to him. This time he let her. “I know we don’t need him. Even I’ll slow you down. Having Bellamy with us means you can fly ahead to let my people know and I’ll have backup in case I need it.”

  “You’d trust
him to fight at your back?” Talon pulled his hand from her grasp.

  Brianne nearly growled. She couldn’t say anything right this morning. Losing patience she jabbed at his chest with a finger. “Quit whining and get on your horse. We don’t have a choice. He’s coming with us. Get over it.” She strode towards her horse that was tied to a hitching post near where Bellamy stood with his own horse. Mounting, she shot another glare at Talon, who continued to stand where she’d left him, then headed in the direction of the border.

  Bellamy joined her and within minutes Talon brought his horse along the opposite side to Bellamy. Most of the journey to the border was made in silence. A few times Bellamy started a conversation, but most of them were abruptly ended by Talon.

  When they drew closer to the border, Brianne asked Talon to fly ahead. It took an argument to convince him. She watched him fly off, leading his horse from her own. “What happened between you two?”

  “I stole his girlfriend when we were sixteen.”

  “Why?”

  Bellamy shrugged. “I don’t remember all the details now. We were always in competition with each other. There was some stupid argument and he said something about having a girlfriend and that no one was even slightly interested in being with me.” He grinned. “What else could I do with a challenge like that?”

  Brianne slowly shook her head. “Ignore it?”

  Bellamy laughed. “Sure.” A moment passed before he continued. “She wasn’t worth fighting over. A week later she ditched me for someone else. He wouldn’t have had her long even without me interfering. She was always looking for someone better.”

  They fell into silence as they continued to ride towards the border. It wasn’t long before two squads flew towards them, a dark winged figure amongst them. Brianne halted her horse, and dismounted. The small amount of ground she could cover before they reached her wasn’t worth worrying about.

  “They’re friends?” Bellamy dismounted, his hand dropping to the hilt of the sword he wore at his side.

  “You could say that.”

  “What would you say?”

  “That’s my grandfather on Talon’s right and my uncle on his left. You might want to almost close your eyes as they come closer or they’ll be full of dust when they land.”

  Bellamy nodded, but his hand stayed on the hilt of his sword.

  Briant was the first to land, reaching out a hand to rest it on Brianne’s shoulder. “I knew you could manage, Sprite.”

  With a sharp nod, she gestured towards Bellamy. “Grandad, this is Bellamy. Bellamy, Officer Finnin.”

  Bellamy held out his hand with a respectful nod. “Sir.”

  Briant shook the hand before he turned back to Brianne. “You happy with the plan for us to meet so far into their territory?”

  “Yes. It made sense. Now we don’t have to wait for them to reach the border before we start making plans to attack.”

  “Are they to be trusted?” Ewyn asked.

  Brianne grinned. “Is anyone?”

  Ewyn answered her with a grin of his own before he turned to a soldier behind him. “Take the map the Tersten showed us and get everyone moving. We’ll go on ahead.” He turned to another soldier. “You bring their horses to the meeting point.”

  “How are we to get there?” Bellamy asked.

  “Hope you’re not afraid of heights.” Ewyn called forward another one of his soldiers. “You take the dirt walker. Conal, you take my niece.”

  They travelled back much quicker, reaching the meeting place well before the appointed time. The Terstens were setting up tents to use as meeting rooms.

  Once introductions were made, Briant took Brianne aside. “Go see Conal. Take your boy with you.” He gestured towards Talon with his head.

  “Why?”

  “Off with you. You’ll find out soon enough. I have other matters to deal with.”

  Brianne watched her grandfather. He strode back to the cluster of officers chatting while they waited for their meeting space to be prepared so they could get down to serious business. She noticed that someone had listened to her and had provided stools for her people to sit on. They must have raided every farmhouse in the area to get enough chairs and stools for everyone, if the mismatched furniture was anything to go by.

  It didn’t take Brianne long to collect Talon and find Conal. What did take time was finding somewhere private to speak. She glared at Bellamy who had followed them.

  “I have my orders,” Bellamy said.

  “This doesn’t concern you,” Brianne said.

  “If we flew away he wouldn’t be able to follow,” Talon said.

  “It’d end the meeting. They’re worried you two are planning something so the Caelians end up winning,” Bellamy said.

  Brianne sighed. “Why does everyone have to complicate things?” She turned to Conal. “Should we wait or can he hear what you’ve got to say?”

  Conal stared at her a moment before he answered. “They want the two of you to try and find the rebels.”

  Brianne was certain she must have misheard. “Cross the Feronian Mountains?”

  Conal nodded. “They think a small party would have a better chance of sneaking in.”

  “Why do they want the rebels found?” Talon asked.

  “To keep the Prilonians busy on all sides, especially when we take the Holy City,” Conal said.

  “They still haven’t captured it?”

  Conal shook his head. “No, but no one can get out. Both the tunnels have been found and we’ve stopped several escape attempts. It was decided the garrisons should be the first priority. We don’t want the Prilonians coming over those mountains unexpectedly.”

  “I’m going with you,” Bellamy stated.

  “No.” Talon’s hand rested on the hilt of his sword, his wings still out.

  Brianne placed a hand on Talon’s arm in the hope it would stop him from drawing his sword. “He won’t be able to go where we’re going. We’ll have to fly to reach the top of the mountain if we want to avoid being caught.”

  Talon grinned. “I guess the dirt walker will have to stay behind.”

  She nearly laughed at how he managed to put the right amount of derision in the term, but thought that wouldn’t be a good idea. She spoke to Bellamy. “You can come to the foot of the mountains and wait for us to return if you want.”

  “No. You can’t expect my people to let yours make all the decisions,” Bellamy said.

  “The Terstens are my people too.” Talon took a step towards Bellamy.

  “Not since you grew wings. No one trusts you not to side with the birds.” Bellamy put the same amount of derision in the word birds as Talon had put in dirt walker.

  “I’ll take him.”

  Brianne turned to Conal. “What?”

  “The dirt walker. I’ll take him up the mountain.” He grinned. “And I’ll even promise not to let go of him when we’re in the sky.”

  Bellamy took a step back, eyeing Conal. He was silent a moment before he nodded. “I’ll let my superiors know.” He started to walk away then turned back to face them. “If you leave without me, it’ll end the negotiations.”

  Brianne watched him stride away. This was going to be interesting. She wasn’t sure how she was going to keep Talon and Bellamy from killing each other.

  “I’ll let the First Officer know.” Conal strode away when Brianne nodded.

  Talon stared after the two retreating figures. “We could leave now.”

  “No, you heard him. We can’t risk ending the meeting.”

  “I don’t trust him.”

  Brianne met his gaze. “Do you trust me?”

  Talon nodded without hesitation. “Yes.”

  “Then we’ll watch each other’s backs. We’ll be fine.”

  Talon nodded slowly. “I’ll make sure of it.”

  Chapter Forty

  Talon

  Talon wrapped his arms around Brianne’s chest, pulling her against him as he gripped her shoulders, he
r bow in her hand. They’d spent the night camped in the foothills, not wanting to cross the mountains in the dark. A faint hint of light filled the air as he and Conal, carrying Bellamy who held a crossbow, flew into the sky. Talon didn’t like having to leave his own crossbow slung low on his back between his wings when Bellamy was armed. It felt wrong. Conal pulled ahead and he wanted to race him. Instead he controlled the urge to win knowing he’d never reach the summit if he didn’t pace himself.

  Brianne tilted her head towards him. “I love the feel of this. Flying is the best sensation in the world.”

  It was easy for her to say. She didn’t have to force her way through the air. Didn’t have to make uncooperative wings tilt at the right angle to go in the correct direction. And didn’t have to worry about landing when she reached her destination. He was over halfway up the mountain when it became a struggle to keep heading skywards. The summit didn’t look any closer and muscles, that he hadn’t known existed, ached. Conal continued to head for the summit and Talon forced himself on.

  Once Conal was over the top of the mountain, Talon couldn’t see him. Was he expected to fly down the other side? That wasn’t going to happen. Trees brushed against his feet as he crested the summit, barely able to maintain his height. Spotting Conal and Bellamy in a clearing on the upper slopes of the mountain, Talon forced his wings to tilt so he could reach his destination before he crashed. Bellamy would never tire of telling everyone if that happened.

  Talon staggered as he landed, barely keeping his feet, his arms tightening on Brianne. When he loosened his grip, she turned to him with a grin.

  “We made it.” Brianne slung her bow on her back.

  Talon nodded then grinned. “You sound surprised you’re still alive.”

  “Well, considering your flying skill I probably should be.”

  “Then I guess it’s time to teach you how my people show we’re glad someone is still alive.” He tugged her to him, his lips meeting hers. Their lips had barely touched, when the sound of a sword being drawn caused him to jump backwards and draw his own.