Silenced Voice

PART 2 FORCED APART, Chapter 22 Moon

Peace and certainty spread inside Moon. Winter loved her, always had.
How blind I was. I just hope that he could forgive me and that he would trust himself too.

Moon gently nuzzled Winter's ear with her snout and then pulled away a little further, looking into his eyes. Winter's wings were still around her.

"Should we leave? Or would it be safer to travel at night? I did that myself on the other side of the mountain."
"Moon, you are a NightWing, you see in the dark and blend into the shadows. My scales catch the eye here whether it's day or night, but I don't have night vision", Winter answered stiffly - and maybe a little gloomly if Moon interpreted the tone correctly - folding his wings against his sides. Moon stepped back, sat down, and wrapped her tail around her legs.

If only we didn't have to think about our differences... If only he could see how similar we are in our insecurities.

"If the sky is not cloudy, then the moons illuminate, but let's do as you feel is better. You definitely want to get home soon", Moon said softly.
Home. Am I going home too...?

"You are right. Moving at night would perhaps be safer if we were threatened by some outside danger, but on rocky mountain slopes we can hurt our feet in the dark. Besides, I would like to get away from this mountain soon..."
"I understand. With you, I'm not afraid of anyone during the day", Moon said and smiled at him.

It was already noon when they reached the greener lower slopes of the mountain. Moon turned to look at the towering mountain behind them. Winter had said that humans had taken them along the pass through the mountain. Farther down their descent route, the mountain slopes looked steeper from above. It was as if there were incisions in the side of the mountain, and huge boulders rose up to the heights aversively.

The start of the pass must be hidden behind those boulders. It's quite a climb up there, especially if you're dragging a roped dragon with you...

Suddenly something bright caught her eyes. There was something near the boulders that reflected the sun's rays. Then it disappeared and she couldn't see anything special on the slope.

Invincible Lord can't have woken up yet, hardly anyone is intentionally following us. We will soon reach the shelter of the trees. Then we can no longer be seen from the mountain, she calmed herself and turned back down the slope to catch Winter.

The heavy rain during the storm had caused surface soil to slide on the lower slopes, and many stunted trees and bushes of the barren highlands were now lying broken among the piles of earth. A little further to the side, a larger landslide had occurred, which had carried quite large boulders with it and felled full-sized trees as it progressed into the coniferous forest below. They looked for the safest route in the middle of the storm damage and soon reached a part of the forest that had remained undamaged except for branches that had been blown off by the wind. The forest was so dense that they had to walk mainly one after the other, and Moon was just ahead when she felt a touch on her tail.

"Wait", Winter said, peering into the woods to their left.
"Are you going to hunt?" Moon asked, though she could see right away that it was about something other than stalking prey.

"No, I'm not..." Winter answered slowly. "Come, let's go see", he went on, and before she could deter, Winter was already guiding her through the thickets of pines, cypresses, and firs, keeping his head and wings down.
"But wasn't there a destroyed forest in this direction ...? It's probably not safe... "
"Shh, stay low."

Just as she was about to ask what it was, she saw what Winter had meant. A human was walking away from them towards the damaged part of the forest, and had - miraculously - not noticed them yet.