A Betrayal of Storms by Ben Alderson

Chapter 18

Gyah was a shapeshifter. An Eldrae. A fey with the ability to rip, snap then repair her body into something new. A powerful creature whose wings hardly had to move to keep us aloft in the air as we flew over the Sleeping Depths.

Her body was long and thick, like a snake made from black glass. She had wings, but no other limbs to hold herself from the ground. Her two options of traveling were slithering or flying.

We sat in a row, each clinging to one another in fear of falling from Gyah's slick side. I tensed my thighs, worrying it would cause her discomfort.

Erix, as I was growing all too familiar with, sat close behind me. His own thighs gripped on either side of me, his hands wrapped around my waist where they comfortably rested on my lap. If we were not high up, slicing through the dark sky with a terrifying body of water a sure drop below, I may have allowed myself to enjoy his closeness. But there was no time for that now.

It was a long while before a glow of fire from below could be seen. A campfire, gleaming in tones of red, orange and yellow, haloing its light and keeping the chill of winter away. The Hunters. It had to be them.

Althea shifted before me, pointing to the glow as she too noticed it. Then my stomach lifted awkwardly as Gyah began her sudden descent. Soundless, she slipped above the lake's dark waters. Even the air dared make sound as we began our descent.

From the heaving rise and fall of Erix's chest at my back it was clear he was far more nervous of flight. He had not seemed shocked to see Gyah shift into this form, nor did he hesitate climbing onto her back after me, but the tightening of his hold suggested I had uncovered a fear of his.

Gyah touched down a distance away from the camp, far enough that we could not see the glow of fire among the darkness; moonlight was our only source of light. I watched, in awe and unknowing, as she shifted back to her fey form in an unravelling of smoke. There she stood, skin ashen from exhaustion, but fully clothed as though she had never been any different.

Althea offered an arm when Gyah stumbled a step forward. "You were fantastic."

"Thank yo... you Princess." Gyah yawned, holding onto Althea as though she were a pillar keeping her up. "Give me a moment and I will be ready to proceed. It has been many a month since I have last allowed the beast to take over."

I moved to Erix who was pale and silent. "Are you alright?"

He looked up at me, the lines around his eyes relaxing. "Beside the urge to spill my guts across the ground, I am fine."

"Good," I said. And I meant it. "You knew what she was, didn't you?"

"I did, but only when Althea informed me before leaving. The Eldrae," he whispered, "they are rare beings. The majority of the surviving lines reside among Elmdew, so I was surprised Gyah now claims Cedarfall as her home."

I regarded her from a distance, noticing the points of her ears and tall, straight frame. "There are others?'

"Of course. They are much like you. Half fey, Gyah is the descendent of a powerful line of beings who could change forms. They were believed to be created directly from Altar, father of our kind. Like all the Old Gods, Altar was greedy in love and had many partners. Gyah and her kind are the offspring of one of his many relations, or so that is what the stories say... Part fey, part creature."

I wanted to ask him questions, but they hitched in my throat as I looked up at him. Flakes of snow still fell around us, some catching across his head and in the dark lashes that outlined his steel-colour eyes.

"It would seem I have a lot to learn," I muttered.

Erix wrinkled his nose as a flake landed at its tip. With the back of his glove he smeared it off, leaving a trail of glistening, cold water across his cheek. "That you do."