deep breath of the fresh air, relieved to no longer be within the confines of the strix’s nest. Although the wind had died down, night had long since fallen. Wrapping her arms around herself, she shivered. Silvas’s glowing eyes turned toward her.
“We won’t go far. Even by flight, it is a long journey back to the Arx. I won’t risk you falling in your exhaustion. I will carry us down to the upper foothills of the mountain. There we should find a small stretch of ground to comfortably take our rest before we continue on.”
Nodding her agreement, Diana backed up just enough to give him room as Silvas changed into an enormous griffin. Yet he looked different than he had before. Instead of the white feathers he had possessed, the tips of his feathers were now inky, and his coat was speckled. She paused to stare. To her surprise, he didn’t seem to notice the difference, he merely cocked his head at her curiously when she didn’t immediately seat herself on his back. He rumbled at her questioningly, but she didn’t voice her concerns. Even to her, it seemed like a silly thing to be hesitant over. Directing a tight, nervous smile at him, Diana hauled herself over his withers and seated herself comfortably.
Silvas turned his eagle-like head in her direction, a soft clicking purr coming from him as he stepped lightly, swaying his body briefly, making certain that her seat was steady on his back. His purr became louder with approval before he abruptly faced forward once more and leaped gracefully from the ledge, his wings spreading wide to catch the currents as they dropped.
Diana’s heart dropped into her belly. This experience was far different than the rapid rise from the ground that she had experienced before. For a heartbeat, she knew terror as they dropped until Silvas angled his wings to catch a current and beat them a few times so that they dropped at a gentler decline. The world around them was silent except for those occasional beats of his wings as he adjusted their descent, and Diana clung to him, her own breath loud in her ears. Her eyes, however, were attentively trained on the landscape of stars in the heavens around them. Those tiny glowing lights were comforting in a world darkened by nightfall.
They soared for a time, but before long they touched down on a relatively flat stretch of ground, and Silvas saw to her comfort at once. Diana was grateful since she could barely see anything outside of the shadowy outline where the moonlight illuminated the edge of a rock here and there. She noticed that, while he wasn’t inclined to bring back the illumination between his antlers, he was careful to see to her needs. Once he assured himself that Diana was settled comfortably, Silvas eased down behind her, drawing her against his warm, bare chest.
“No fire?” she mumbled.
He shook his head. “It is better not to call any other attention to our presence on this mountain. We will rest for a few hours.”
She prodded at his bare chest, her finger stroking over the light fuzz of fur that covered his body. “Won’t you be cold?”
His chuckle rumbled from his chest under her ear. “No. I wear clothes because I enjoy them, not for warmth. Rest, uxorem,” he whispered.
Diana nodded and leaned back against him to leech some of his heat, and she drew the warmth and peace of their bond around herself. She still had some awareness, though she was fading fast into slumber, when she felt him also relax and drop down into the warm pulse of their bond along with her. She yawned and wondered if he would also sleep, or what immortals did to refresh themselves. As he settled more deeply against her, it certainly felt enough like sleep to her. She yawned again and dropped into the thick fog of slumber.
It hadn’t felt like she slept long, and was in fact still dark, when she was awakened by a snuffling, growling sound at the edge of their camp. She knew that Silvas had also awakened from the coiled tension in the arms wrapped around her. A low vibration like a voiceless growl came off him, his glowing eyes stark white slashes in the dark.
Three large icy blue orbs—much larger than a typical eye—stared back, their position shifting as if each one belonged to a separate creature. Diana was aware of Silvas bristling, the growl starting to ripple