"Sure, and if you don't live in a town, I can visit you. We're not afraid of lone farms or small villages, but we'd rather stay away from towns."
"I don't blame you." Sayla smiled despite herself. "I hate them too, and I was born in one of them!"
"So, you need to get out of here. Dwarves' tunnels or up above?" Winged Elaliah asked.
"I think I'd rather go out from up above. If someone can take me there, I'm sure I can find Eagle to help me back down." She grinned. "I know I can glide, so going down shouldn't be as hard as going up!"
Winged Elaliah chuckled. "Tell me, Sayla, would you like a male to take you up?"
Sayla blushed. "Would that imply... something?" she asked.
She had never let anyone touch her. Keenan had always been very respectful, although she'd been vaguely aware that his friendship was more than that. He hadn't said anything out loud yet, and she often thought she wouldn't mind when he did.
But a male Sila... A wondrous winged being that could take her high up and... Her cheeks were hot and she couldn't look her half-sister in the eyes.
"Only if you're ready," Winged Elaliah answered gravely. "If you think it's too early, I can ask an elder or another woman. Or I can take Winged Rilsay to a neighbor and take you up myself."
"I'd rather you took me, please," Sayla said still burning. Her heart was pounding in her chest. She wasn't ready. Too much, too soon.
Winged Elaliah smiled and nodded. She took off with the baby and left him in another nest, then came back. She took Sayla under her armpits and lifted her almost vertically, flapping her feathered wings and channeling air to push them up.
Winged Elaliah deposited Sayla on the rocks around the opening of the shaft.
"Thank you," Sayla said, relieved. She hugged her half-sister who was taller than her and squeezed her back.
"Be safe. Air is with you," Winged Elaliah whispered.
An eagle's call distracted them and both looked up.
"Eagle!" Sayla squealed in delight and waved at her friend.
"Ah, yes, you do have wings," Winged Elaliah said with a chuckle. "Good luck, Winged Sayla. Hope to see you again!"
Sayla squeezed her waist one last time, then turned to look at Eagle who was gliding towards her. She was so happy and excited to see her friend she almost didn't notice when Winged Elaliah dived back into the shaft and vanished into its depths.
***
Keenan sat on the rock, brooding. Almost three weeks since he'd left Inex, trying to catch up with Sayla. He'd moved camp, taking Sayla's things with him after realizing three people were sitting around that campfire. He hadn't seen Sanylo or his friends anywhere, but he had decided to just move further east on the slopes, hiding among a rock formation at night.
His leg was almost healed and he didn't limp too much anymore. He knew it was useless trying to get rid of his pursuers, since Jeramy was such a good tracker. He wondered why they had followed him after losing Sayla's tracks in the forest. But then maybe their half-brains had decided he could lead them to the runaway girl, since he knew more about her than any of them, her brother included.
And then he saw something jumping down from the mountain. It didn't look like a mountain goat or a chamois, more like a willowy girl with breeches, with a golden eagle flying over her. She seemed to bounce from rock to rock as if she had no weight and Keenan gaped as she came closer.
It was indeed Sayla coming down from the mountain in that unorthodox way. Only a half-Sila could pull it off!
Keenan snapped back to reality and rose.
"Sayla!" he called, waving his arms. His voice echoed back to him. She stopped and waved back, then resumed her bouncing pace.
The eagle reached him first and landed on a nearby rock. Sayla jumped down from a tall stone and ran to him, laughing out loud.
"Keenan!" She threw her arms around him and squeezed. "I knew you'd follow me!"
"Of course I'd follow you, you left without saying good-bye!" he scolded, blocking the urge to kiss her blind. She was shining with happiness. She must have found what she was looking for.
She giggled. "Did you get my note?"
"Yes, not that it said much," he grumbled. "I also found your bow and quiver and what's left of your gown."
"Good, where did you make camp?"
"Over there." He guided her with an arm around her frail shoulder. Gods, he had missed her. "Did you miss me?"
She flashed him a smile. "Yes. I was hoping to find you here and not have to go back all the way to Inex."
"We're not going back to Inex," he said, determined. "I don't think it's good for any of us."
"All right..." She frowned. "Are you limping? Did you sprain an ankle?"
"Actually, I had a discussion with your dear brother," he replied. "It's almost healed, though."
She nodded, unhappy. "Definitely not going back to Inex," she grumbled.
"Yes, you are." Sanylo's voice startled them.
Keenan cursed under his breath. He had forgotten they were following him. They had probably seen her coming down the mountain as much as he had, and they had come to wait for them at his camp. Confrontation was inevitable now, but he'd protect his Wonder Girl.
"Says who?" Sayla retorted, staring defiantly at her brother.
"I do. And you will marry Duncan. Or Jeramy," Sanylo replied bluntly.
"Forget it, Sanylo." She huffed and crossed her arms on her chest. "I'm not going anywhere with you or them."
"Do you really think Stinky Keenan can protect you?" Duncan said, sarcastic.
Keenan put a hand on his knife's handle and scowled at them. Over my dead body. You won't take her from me, no!
"Cowards." Sayla spat. "Three against two. With swords against knives." The eagle shot a warning call of some kind. "And talons," Sayla added with a smirk.
Sanylo slowly unsheathed his sword. As the blacksmith's son, he was the most dangerous. A fletcher and a tracker weren't as good with swords as he was.
"Duncan, give Keenan your sword."
Duncan scoffed and obeyed. Keenan weighted the blade, but he wasn't really proficient with the sword. Sayla rushed to grab her bow and quiver, but Duncan stopped her and held her against him, in spite of her squirming and kicking.
Keenan clenched his teeth and raised the sword. "Come on, Sanylo. Let me win your sister from you," he said.
Sanylo scoffed and attacked. Sayla screamed, "No! Sanylo, stop!"
Keenan parried the blow and tried to stab his opponent. Sanylo didn't give him time to mount a real defense or attack and hit his armed hand with the flat of the blade. Cursing, Keenan dropped the blade.
"You stay away from my sister," Sanylo said, pointing his sword at Keenan's throat. "I warned you. You're dead now."
Keenan's defensive reflexes made him raise both arms as the sword came down to chop him. His bracers protected his head and neck from the blow, but his bones blocked the blade. He screamed in pain and fell to his knees, holding his wounded arm.
He heard Sayla shout something, waited for the next and final blow, but it didn't come. He passed out.
***
"Sanylo!" Sayla shoved both her elbows in Duncan's belly and took his breath away enough to make him let go. She rushed forward and jumped on her brother's back before he killed Keenan.
Sanylo cursed and threw her to the ground. "Enough of this, Sayla!" he said angrily, putting away his sword. He picked her up and put her on his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "Let's go," he told his friends, leaving passed out Keenan behind.
Sayla battered her brother's back with her fists, screaming to let her go, until he finally put her back onto her feet and slapped her. "Be quiet, Sayla," he threatened. "Or I'll tie you up and gag you to take you back."
Sayla took her knife and forced him to step back. "I'll cut your throat first," she said through clenched teeth.
Sanylo snorted and Duncan twisted her wrist, making her drop the knife with a yelp of pain.
"Eagle, help!" she calle
d. She didn't stand a chance alone against three young men.
Eagle dived and her talons ripped Duncan's shoulders. It was his turn to scream in pain and fight against the raptor's beak trying to take his eyes out. Jeramy seemed too stunned to do anything, but Sanylo unsheathed his sword again and stabbed Eagle, the blade passing through the feathered body like butter.
Sayla screamed as her friend dropped to the ground, bleeding. She glanced up to Keenan's still body, then at Eagle exhaling her last breaths.
Air. Air was her element. Air was her way. As the three young men surrounded her, she called for wind. The strong current built a protective bubble around her, allowing her to think.
They needed air to breathe. She could take it from them.
She inverted the manipulation and created a bubble of air so still around their heads, that soon they were gasping for breath, their faces ashen. Sanylo was wheezing, eyes bulging out of their sockets, Duncan turned red and started coughing and Jeramy was sweating profusely. All three fell to their knees, panting.
The Sila don't kill. The soothing voice came from nowhere. Relax, Sayla. Let them breathe.
I'm half-blood! I'm also Human and they will pay for what they did to my friends!
No, you're not. You're pure-blooded Sila, Sayla. Don't you want to meet your real father?
Shocked, Sayla relaxed her grip on the young men and looked around to find the source of the voice in her head. She saw a white light vanish with a last message.
Go to the Central Massif and find your true self. And don't let Eagle die without your comfort.
Sayla turned towards the bird. Eagle was so weak...
Sayla caressed the golden-brown feathers and stared into those yellow eyes that had trusted her.
She took the dying raptor in her arms like a baby and rocked her until she was still. Then she looked at the three young men who were staring at her goggle-eyed from a seated position.
"You want to keep breathing? Leave me alone and go back to Inex," she said in a low but threatening voice.
"Your sister is a witch, Sanylo," Jeramy said with panic in his voice. "I'm out of here!"
"Yes, I don't want to marry her anymore," Duncan added, scrambling to his feet.
Sanylo glared at her, but left with them. Who knew what he'd tell their parents. She didn't care. She put down Eagle and went to see if Keenan was coming back to his senses. The strips of linen from her chemise turned out useful to bandage his arm. It was a bad cut, probably a broken bone, but he'd heal.
Unlike Eagle, he'd be all right.
CHAPTER NINE
Keenan awoke lying on his back under a starry sky. Warmth came from a crackling fire on his right side. He turned his head and saw Sayla seated beyond the fire, rocking something and humming a song.
"Sayla?" Keenan tried to sit, putting the weight on his arms, but the left one hurt like hell. He remembered Sanylo's attack and sat half-rolling to his right. Wincing, he massaged the bandaged wound.
Sayla was looking at him, serious. "How do you feel?" she asked.
"I'm fine," he answered. "Or I will be. Thank the gods it's the left arm. All my left side is ruined now."
She half-smiled. "You should take more care of yourself," she chided.
"I was coming after you! I was worried for you!" he protested.
"I can take care of myself." She looked down at the thing in her arms. Keenan realized it was a dead golden eagle. "Unfortunately I can't take care of the ones I love," she added somberly.
"What happened?" he asked, sliding closer to her. "Where is Sanylo? And the others?"
"Deep in the forest and hopefully back in Inex in a few days," she answered.
"How did you...?"
She looked at him. "I took their breath away. Literally. Jeramy called me witch before running away."
Keenan opened his mouth and closed it, amazed. His Wonder Girl had skills!
"Unfortunately it was too late for Eagle." She looked away again. "Sanylo killed her. That's how I found the strength to do what I did. Although a voice told me not to take their lives."
"A voice?" he asked, puzzled.
"I think Air spoke to me," she said, thoughtful. "It said Sila don't kill. So I didn't kill them. But I was so mad at them, I could have probably done it."
"Whoa!" Keenan crouched next to her and caressed the dead eagle's head. "Would you like help to bury her?"
She looked at him. "I've been thinking... her wings carried me up there. She doesn't need them anymore. You think you can make some straps and attach them to my back?"
Keenan stared at her, incredulous. But then the tanner who loved to work with leather immediately started making plans. "We'll need some materials... But yes, I think I can make straps to attach them to your back."
Sayla's smile was very sweet. "I knew I could count on you, Keenan."
She offered the dead eagle. Time to get dirty and give his Wonder Girl real wings.
***
Sayla watched as Keenan cut Eagle's wings. He spread them and folded them twice to check the movement.
"They might not last," he said. "But I can make you leather ones copying this shape later on."
"Do it." Sayla took Eagle's maimed body and went to dig a grave.
She found a place near a rock and used her knife to dig. Then she gently laid the bloodied body to rest.
May your feathers and bones return to the land and allow the most beautiful flowers to blossom on this mount. She was both sad for a lost friend and excited at the prospect of using Eagle's wings on her own.
She covered the feathered corpse with earth and stones to protect it from scavengers, and then went back to the camp where Keenan was still studying the wings.
"Yes, straps might work, but you probably need something on the wing itself to open it or swerve or whatever," he said, frowning.
"You'll find a way," she said, putting the pot on the fire. She had gathered what was left of their provisions, and she prepared a warm stew for both. "You can use the fabric of my gown. It's good, strong wool."
"Good idea. I'll need glue and stitches." He put down the wings and stared at her. "But Sayla... if not Inex, where to?" he asked, worried, as she handed him the pot.
"South," she answered. "That voice that belonged to Air said I should go to the Central Massif and meet my real father. I'm full-blood Sila, Keenan, Myckim didn't sire me."
"That's why you look so different from them! You probably take after your father! But what happened to your wings?"
"And that's the dreadful thing I learned that made me run away," Sayla said gravely. "My mother cut them off at birth."
Keenan's eyes widened in shock. "The scars on your back! Oh, Gods, how could she?"
"I don't know, and I don't want to know anymore," she said with a shrug. "I met my half-sister and she suggested I go to the Central Massif too. So that's where I'm going."
"I'm coming with you," he replied. "There's nothing left for me in Inex. But we don't have money. How are we going to cross the plains and reach the Central Massif? And do you know the way?"
"I remember all those maps from the shop. Yes, I think I can find the way," she answered, thoughtful. "As for the money..." She pondered. "Barter? We can hunt on the way and sell skins and furs."
"And when we get to a town... will you marry me?" He stared expectantly at her, forgetting to eat.
She smiled.
"You know, the Sila don't marry, but they do spend their life together, if they find the right one. My half-sister had a baby and no man by her side. This doesn't mean I don't want you by my side, because I do, it only means I don't care about any priest or other official tying us together."
"You mean you want to spend your life with me?" His voice shook and his hands trembled.
She stared at the stubble on his face, the blond mane and blue eyes that were always so adoring, at the bandages on his arm and leg from the wounds inflicted by her brother...
"Yes." She slowly smiled. "I want t
o spend my life with you."
He almost threw away the pot to hug her. His lips sought hers and she thought her first kiss wasn't too bad. He tasted fine, but he didn't take her breath away. She took his, though, since he pulled away panting.
"I love you, Sayla," he said, slowly grinning from ear to ear.
"Love you too." She picked up the pot and gave it back to him. "Now eat, you need your strength."
Still grinning, Keenan obeyed. While he ate, Sayla told him of her adventure – Eagle, the dwarves, the Sila. His eyes were wide in wonder by the time she reached the point of the Sila nest and her half-sister.
He asked questions and wanted to know every little detail of her journey. Then they lay side by side under the stars and she asked what he had done. Even the "boring parts" didn't sound boring, coming from his mouth.
She had missed his voice, his company, his warmth. She curled up against him and drifted off to sleep.
***
Keenan awoke with the sun. Sayla's body was still against his, a warm form that put butterflies in his belly. He caressed her hair, still braided but quite scruffy, and smiled. They both needed a bath. Possibly together, so they could get to know each other intimately.
The night before she had mentioned something the Sila called "mating flight" – she thought she might feel that call someday. If he gave her wings, she could fly off and mate with another winged being in the sky. But then she'd come back to him. He was the one she wanted to spend her life with.
Even if he didn't have wings. Even if he was just Human. She had said he was her destiny and wanted to spend her life with him. It had been worth waiting until she was ready. He had told her how he'd asked her father to marry her and she had giggled.
His fingers brushed her round cheek and fleshy lips. He wanted to laugh out loud, feeling so happy and complete at last...
Her eyelids flapped open under his gentle caresses. She slowly smiled.
"Good morning, Keenan," she said sleepily.
"Good morning to you, Sayla," he answered tenderly. "Should we head for a town? I think we both badly need a bath."
She giggled. "And fresh bread. And apple pie," she added.
Quests Volume One Page 20