SkyFall (Taken on the Wing Book 2) (35 page)

“
How do you do it, Flay? You don
’
t see Con at all unless you
’
re away from the Council with him. I feel
like I cut my spirit out when I sent Soar away.
”

Flay
’
s fingers continue to work, sending
sparks up Tempest
’
s big flight bones as the
swollen muscles relax.

“
My loyalty to the Council is not from
Aledaar
’
s relic,
”
Flay
starts.
“
I know you
’
ve been wondering. When I chose
Conflagration I knew about the relic and Aledaar. Con promised it would be okay
but it wasn
’
t. As soon as Fury found out
he brought me before Aledaar and told me how it was going to be.
”

Flay
’
s strong fingers stop their work and she
drops to Tempest
’
s side, curls up around her
bent knee and helps herself to a piece of Tempest
’
s
jerky.

“
There would be no physical torment for me
if I told Aledaar to stick it up his boney feathered ass.
”

“
Flay!
”

“
It
’
s true!
”

For a moment they giggle at the
irreverence of the remark then Tempest
’
s
brow crosses with concern for her friend.

“
There
’
s
Conflagration
’
s life, for one,
”
Flay begins to list the reason
’
s she can
’
t disobey Aledaar.

“
And?
”

“
My
sire
’
s.
”

“
Oh,
”
Tempest
isn
’
t sure she
’
s heard it all. Flay plays with the hem
of Tempest
’
s tunic, eyes down, mouth a
troubled red line.

“
He
’
s in the Council
’
s dungeon at the moment,
”
she says.

“
Oh,
Flay.
”

“
He has some time. The law says four full
moons when the prisoner does not resist then his life is forfeit if Aledaar so
chooses. That
’
s only a week away.
”

“
What are you going to do?
”

“
My sire would be angry if I did anything
stupid to save him. I know, Tempest. I know if I told you anything you could be
forced to turn on me.
”

The idea doesn
’
t hold with the truth but Flay doesn
’
t know Tempest is free, free of Aledaar
and his will and immune to any order Aledaar could give except the ones with
consequences for Soar.

“
Come on, let
’
s go back,
”
Flay
bounces to her feet.
“
I want to spend some time with
Con.
”

“
But don
’
t we stay the night?
”
Tempest is tired enough with one night
’
s rest. Another so soon is going to be
exhausting.
“
It
’
s
beautiful and warm and smell the ocean, Flay.
”

“
No, I want Con then my own sleeping mat.
”

Without waiting, Flay runs and dives from
the hill they prepared for the night.

Tempest has no choice but to follow and
races through Flay
’
s wake to catch up. The warm
sunset lightens the red of Flay
’
s armour as it brings out the
gold in her hair and Tempest
’
s wings.

Tempest
’
s own red armour is nearly the same size
as Flay
’
s and she
’
d been put in it as soon as she recovered
from the relic. Accompanying the leathers are knee high boots which lace up the
front, a dagger at her hip and a short, curved boot knife designed for slicing
open the laces. The boots slide off anyway so it isn
’
t more than a quaint addition like the
leather helmets they left behind. They did wear their modern wrap around safety
glasses. No dragonkin would be seen on the wing without them.

“
To the Council,
”
Flay shouts.

With a powerful tensing of the muscles in
her back, Tempest generates her charge. She
’
s still drained from their earlier trip
and Flay is nearly to her portal by the time Tempest has enough energy to spark
hers. It runs up over the tops of her wings and she uses their entire span like
a large radar dish, focusing her energy and placing the seed for her portal far
ahead.

“
You
okay?
”
Flay calls.

“
Brilliant,
”
Tempest answers as her portal finally
cracks open. Each beat of her leathery wings brings her closer and she sags,
fighting to stay alert.

The shattering lightning strike of Flay
’
s portal closing jars Tempest awake long
enough to fly straight then her own portal has her and spits her out the other
side.

“
Shit,
Tempest,
”
Flay shouts.
“
Where are you going?
”

There is nothing but white and blue ahead
and no sign of the Council
’
s mountain. Tempest shakes her
head in confusion. How could they both have gone so far off course?

“
Turn around. It
’
s the other way.
”

“
O-ay,
”
she answers. Mouth troubles.

There it is. The mountain looms ahead.

Tempest laughs and follows after Flay but
after a few beats of her wings the confusion settles into an uneasy knot. Flay
banks to the left and come to think of it the ground does as well. Whatever.
Tempest eases over in the same direction and stalls, dropping like a stone. The
winter-blue sky flips past over and over and she grabs at it to hold it still.

“
Oh
hell, Tempest,
”
Flay
’
s lips mutter by her ear and the tumbling
slows as the horizon levels out before them.
“
Damn
it. Oh, fuck.
”

Tempest reaches up and tries to smooth
the worry from Flay
’
s face. Instead she jabs a
finger in her eye.

“
Let me talk when we get in,
”
Flay orders.
“
You portalled six times today, not twice,
understand?
”

“
Fuck sex times? Oh, sorry.
”
It
’
s the first time Tempest remembers
swearing ever and it
’
s embarrassing. Horrifying,
actually.

“
Oh shit, yes,
”
the cursing continues and Tempest snorts.
Flay
’
s bad mouth is worse than
usual.

“
Flay?
Oh, no.
”

The main entrance comes up awful fast and
Tempest gets her hands out again, this time to spare herself a painful face
plant into the mountain.

“
Easy,
”
Flay
whispers.

The red armoured guards whisk past then
the tunnel walls move just as quickly. A drunken right and then a left bring
them closer to the den the two females share.

“
Lady Flay?
”

“
My
Lord Fury.
”

“
Hi,
”
Tempest says from over Flay
’
s shoulder and remembers her
instructions. Given the filter between her brain and mouth is off it
’
s better to do what Flay said and keep
quiet.

“
What the hell is going on?
”

Flay tries to kneel for him but Tempest
can
’
t hold herself up and the two
fall sideways into the wall.

“
Lord
Fury,
”
Flay says.

Even in her shaky state, Tempest can tell
Flay is nervous. It only takes Fury a few steps to close the distance between
them.

“
I was teaching Tempest the danger of
portalling too many times and pushing herself too far.
”

“
And?
”
Mistrust comes off Fury in waves but that
’
s nothing new when it comes to how he
feels about Flay.

“
She portalled six times. I wanted her to
experience the symptoms and we
’
re going to our den so I can
show her how to recover.
”

“
Indeed. Are you sure she isn
’
t drunk?

Fury doesn
’
t wait for an answer and takes Tempest
firmly by the back of the neck. He studies one eye then the other then gets
under her wing and probes the spent muscles.

“
What were you thinking, Flay?
”
He
’
s angry but he helps pull Tempest up a
little higher before she can slip from Flay
’
s
grip.
“
She
's drained. The light in her eyes is
almost gone.
”

“
We discussed her symptoms between portals
and she started and ended at almost the same place so she never appeared
anywhere alone,
”
Flay lies.
“
This is a lesson she cannot learn from a
simple talk.
”

Fury shakes his head so vehemently he
appears to shiver.

“
If anyone sees her like this, Flay, it
isn
’
t you who will be punished.
”

“
Thank
you, my Lord Fury,
”
Flay sighs then as quickly as
Fury storms away, the two females are off again down the long tunnel to the
female dragonkin dens. Fortunately, their route is deserted and Tempest does
her best to hinder their progress as little as possible. The further they go,
the harder it is to do more than keep her feet from tangling with Flay
’
s.

Tempest understands Fury
’
s threat. The one to be punished can only
be Flay
’
s imprisoned sire.

Once in their den, Flay kicks the mat
aside and leans Tempest against the opposite wall. She stands to pull her
armour free before stripping Tempest down to adornment, scale and skin.

“
You need heat,
”
she says.

Tempest expected heat.

Flay leans forward, arching her spine
like she
’
s going to throw up. She does,
after a fashion, except it
’
s the nasty acid dragonkin
keep in their version of a gall bladder. As it comes up she ignites it with a
charge originating in the same muscles she uses to portal.

In seconds, flame chars at the rock. A
second burst circles the hot centre she made and evens out the cool spots.

“
Up you get,
”
Flay
tugs her up then as they lay down she arranges their wings to keep the heat in.
“
That
’
s it.
”

Flay breathes hard, forcing more heat
through her skin and filling their gold and green leather cocoon in warmth.

“
You
’
re pregnant,
”
Flay whispers.

“
Yes.
”