Feather’s Blossom (3 page)

He blinked. “You hunt? What do you use?”

“A spear usually. Today, I only have knives with me.”

He paused with his suit over his hips. “You are kidding.”

“No. No one here goes about unarmed. It is a dangerous place. The valley is pretty contained, but we still get predators.”

He knotted the arms of the suit at his waist. “Beautiful and deadly. You are quite the collection of archetypes.”

She didn’t know what to do with the flattery. “Thank you?”

He grinned and sat next to her. “Thank you. Your help has saved my life, and as soon as we get to a communication unit, my family will send someone for me.”

Ty nodded. “Of course they will. You should be able to fly for short distances by tomorrow morning. We can hop back to my family farm in a few hours.”

Seldrin cocked his head, “So, in just over a day, we will be with your family?”

“Yup. The day after that, we can make it through the mountains. That will get you to your com unit.”

“You are going to accompany me?” He looked rather pleased.

“If you are not with me, you won’t find your way out.”

“Ah. I see.” He settled back and ate his ration pack.

“I don’t think you do, but it is nice of you to play along.” She smiled and sipped at her tea. It was cold, but it was better than chemically purified water.

Once she was done with her tea, she stowed her canister in her pack, and while he ate, she shook out the blanket and flattened it to fit in her pack. She paused and inhaled the scent of the man who had slept on it, but she quickly shook her head and kept packing.

He packed up his supplies, and by the time she had verified that she had everything, he was ready to go with his suit still tied around his waist.

“Aren’t you going to finish dressing?”

He grinned. “No. The bandages cover enough and keep me warm.”

She would beg to differ. His abdomen was open to her gaze and her fingers itched to trace the minutia of the muscles and their change in topography. There was also a layer of fine down that arrowed to the point where his suit covered him. She wanted to run her tongue down that dark line to see where it led.

This was going to be a very long day.

When they left the cave, the heat of the sun took all the dampness from their clothing in a few minutes. Their trek southward continued with stops every few hours for her to check on the swelling of his wings.

“Do you want to continue or shall we rest for the night? The sun is going to be down in an hour.” She smiled brightly.

“Can you make a fire? I flunked out of survival techniques.” Seldrin smiled in return.

“Start the ration warmer and put some food on for me. I am going to get some firewood.”

She dropped her pack, pulled out the flat straps that she used for gathering wood and she strapped a serrated knife to one thigh. “I will be right back.”

Before he could say another word, she launched herself up and toward the sparse tree line.

She had done this before but never with a waiting audience.

She found some dry scrub, sawed it off at the base and tucked it in the straps. She moved on to a larger tree and got thicker branches to last the night. When she had about half her available weight allowance, she returned to Seldrin just as the light turned red.

He had remembered part of his training and dug a pit for the fire.

She put the scrub in, stacked kindling on top and reached into her pack for the fire starter. The sparks flared and died, and with darkness coming on quickly, she had one choice. She removed some of her insulating feathers and tucked them in for the next fire strike. This time, it worked. The fire caught and flared.

“Do you always burn parts of yourself?”

She snorted. “More often than not a feather ends up in there as fire starter. It seems to be my method.”

He looked at the fire. “I can’t fault your results.”

She sat back and dusted her hands off. “May I share your rations?”

“Of course. Just a moment and I will prepare something for you.”

Ty waited, and when the meal was hot, she took the fork he handed her and prodded at it with distrust. It looked like something her sister had created while she was learning to cook. Her first bite was pleasantly surprising. “This isn’t bad.”

“They have to be palatable. If not, it would make for a lot of unsuccessful survival attempts.” He smiled. “Water?”

She took one of the bottles and sipped delicately. “Thank you.”

“You are welcome. So, you have lived your whole life in this valley?”

She looked around to see if anyone was close enough to hear her. “I fly out frequently to do private trades for presents for the family. If there is a birthday coming up, I go out stargazing and come back the next day.”

“If we are so far from your home, what were you doing out here?”

“Ah. I was actually stargazing. There was the meteor shower that you fell with. It was what I was on the plateau to see.”

“It was also what crippled my ship. My instruments didn’t pick up on the event until it was too late.” Seldrin grimaced.

“I am guessing you were distracted. Why were you coming here anyway?” She finally asked the question that had been circling her mind.

“Oh, I am the new ambassador from my people to yours. With our prince marrying a woman from Orion’s Rest, it was thought to install a member of his extended family here. That would be me.” Seldrin shrugged.

“So, you are not a fan of the wingless?” She frowned and geared up to defend her family.

“No. It is not that. I was just sent here alone to take over a position that has been vacant for decades. I am going to be starting from scratch. It is a heavy burden and a great undertaking.” He ran his hands through his hair. “I do not know if I am up to it.”

“I am sure you will be fine. You seem to be able to adapt to a variety of situations.” Ty smiled, “You are certainly good at taking orders.”

“Ah, you are excellent at giving them. Whatever you have told me to do, I am sure it was for my own good.”

Ty smirked. “I am sure it was. Now, do you have a sensor pack in that survival kit? It might let us get some more sleep tonight.”

He reached into one of the med kits and pulled out a handful of sensors. She grabbed them and skipped in a circle, positioning the line twenty feet from the fire.

“That is quite the distance.” He muttered.

“If the wolves come in, you need a second to get your knife out.” She reached into her pack and handed him a blade. “Here you go. I will take the other one.”

She kept her saw blade in easy reach as she flipped out a survival blanket before putting her own woven blanket on top. “I believe I can unravel your bandages now. By the morning, you should be able to do short hops.”

He nodded and knelt without her asking.

She hid her smirk at his obedience. She unwrapped the bindings, and when she had completed the unveiling, she patted him between the wings. “There. All done.”

Seldrin rose to his feet and extended his wings.

Ty blinked at the span she was looking at. It was exceedingly impressive. Her heart beat a little faster, but she busied herself in rolling up the bindings that she had used for easier storage in the packs.

He did a few experimental flaps and sparks flew from the fire.

“Whoops. Apologies.” He settled his wings and looked down at her with a smile. “You have done a phenomenal job with the healing.”

She nodded. “My mother made sure to teach each of my siblings how to set my wings when they were old enough. My father would stand by in case they got a little too enthusiastic.”

“You injured yourself that much?”

“I tend to fly in storm conditions.” Ty shrugged. “It happens.”

“You fly in storms?”

“Storms, rain, lightning, if there are lost sheep that need to be brought in to safety, I fly.” Tyhana didn’t bother saying that she also looked for lost hikers, children and caravans that took a wrong turn. It seemed like bragging.

Seldrin smiled and flexed his wings straight upward in what she called the sun salute. The tips of his wings were outlined against one of the moons. “You must have very strong wings.”

“I managed to build up muscles over time.”

“May I look?” He smiled, and she wasn’t sure if it was appropriate or not, but she turned her back.

“Holy mother. I have never seen musculature of this nature. Do your wings swivel out?”

She felt the delicate probing touch on her back. Her skin pebbled from the strange caress. “Um, yes they do. It is how I hover.”

He paused in his examination. “You can hover?”

“Yes. It helps with the hunting.”

His hands moved from the centre of her back, across the upper swell of her wings. He seemed to know what he was feeling, but he didn’t comment.

When he finished his exam, he stroked one finger down the centre of her spine, and she shivered dramatically. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be. It is very flattering.” He took a seat on the bedding and settled back onto the ground with the fire at his side.

“I broke my wings a few times.” She wanted to pull her hair over her shoulders, but she sat there attempting to look calm.

“I felt that. They were very well healed.” He laced his hands behind his head and smiled.

His torso was now bathed only in firelight.

She nodded. “My family got a lot of practice at bone setting.”

“Well, there is nowhere to go tonight. Will you share my pallet again?”

She bit her lip. “You are feeling better. I can sleep in my wings.”

“As your guest, I am requesting that you join me. I feel safer with you guarding me.”

She snorted. “I very much doubt that.”

“Fine, I give off more heat than you do. Come and share it.”

He made his request an order. He extended his arm to her, and she picked up her knife, setting it near her feet before she moved against him and settled her wing over his bare chest. She was in a cocoon made of feathers and the strangely compelling scent of a man of her own species.

She squirmed around until Seldrin pulled her tight against him and held her in place.

“Let’s get some rest. If I am going to fly tomorrow, I need my sleep. No squirming, Tyhana.”

She was wrapped in warmth, and she matched her breathing to his. Covered in feathers and his body providing heat, she slept.

Growls in the darkness woke her. Tyhana slipped out of Seldrin’s embrace and grabbed her knife.

She kicked wood toward the embers but kept her gaze toward the darkness around them. When light flared, she saw their eyes and moved toward the warning sensors. She snarled herself, a low growl in her throat that caused a few of the weaker pack members to turn.

She heard Seldrin slide to his feet, and she watched his shadow as he approached her. She pointed to the spot where she wanted him with her wing, and he drifted off to the left.

As the wolves finally got their nerve together, they howled, and as they passed the circle, a shrill beep rang out.

The noise startled more of the pack of twenty, sending them back into the darkness, Ty leaned forward with her knife held easily in her hand, and the moment that the wolf reached her, she pushed up and flew up and over the pack, landing behind them and pinning them against the fire.

Seldrin mimicked her a moment later.

The beasts howled and growled, pacing and trying to get back into the concealing darkness.

Ty nodded to Seldrin, and together, they went up and over the wolves once again, landing between them and the fire, scaring them back into the empty grasslands.

“That was not the way I am used to waking up.” Seldrin grumbled.

“I know. Do you want to try a flight? We can make it home in three hours if you can do a straight flight.”

“We can try. If I need to stop, I will.”

She grinned and packed up again. With the adrenaline in their systems, she wanted to take advantage in it.

She filled her pack with a few heavier items from the other packs. She didn’t want to insult him, but she didn’t want him taxing himself.

She pulled out the unburned wood and kicked dirt over the embers until the only light was from the stars and the one moon still above.

“Which way are we going?” Seldrin stood, and he had the packs strapped tightly to his hands.

She pointed. “Aim for the southern star just to the left of the moon. If we can do this flight, we can be at my family’s home for breakfast, and while you rest, we can communicate with the capital.”

“I have done too much resting.”

“Tough. You were feeble and bloody when I found you. I am not returning you to your people or office in anything but the best shape I can manage.”

“Fine. Lead me to your home.”

She grinned and shot upward, flying until she could feel the wind that scraped over the mountains tugging at her wings. When Seldrin joined her, she began a slow pace that took them over the farms with the white sheep glowing in the dim light.

He kept pace with her as she flew for hours.

As they approached, she used the com, clicking three times, waiting and then clicking again.

Her father answered. “Tyhana, go ahead.”

“We are almost home. If there are search parties, recall them. He needs breakfast and rest. Kick Tomas out of his room and hide his porn.”

“I believe he would do better in your room.”

“Oh. Right. The wings. Well, we are going to be there within the next half hour. Put some pants on, Dad.”

He chuckled. “Your mom is heading to the kitchen as we speak.”

She smiled and put the com away.

“Why did you do that click signalling when you started?” He swooped close and spoke clearly.

“Oh, if I am waking my father up, I want to make sure he has time to focus. So, one set of signals to wake him, one set to let him know it wasn’t a dream.”

Seldrin smiled. “Very smart.”

“Trial and error.”

They were flying over the north field, and she dropped suddenly to pet the top of the sheep as she passed.

When Seldrin tried to follow suit, the sheep ran in all directions.

Giggling while flying was difficult, but Ty managed.