Dark flight - Lore of the angelic book 1

Like a song

Ophelia

I sprint down the hallway with the werewolf at my heels and Persephone bumbling after us. The seer is no good at combat, and she refuses to leave those ridiculous shoes behind even now. My respect for her drains more every moment I see her judgement abilities in a moment of crisis.
"Our deal stands, I will let you go wherever you need to, and will not follow. You can go get help, get that Alice girl, I don't care. This may be our only chance."

The werewolf's blood still coats my throat, thick and sweet. I feel alive. I feel my power returning. Nothing beats the blood of a shape changer.

We turn a corner and I slam Perce against the wall next to me as a group of guards march by the adjacent hall. I wait and count her little bird heartbeats as we wait. 10, 11, 12... We continue on. My feet sting from the cold stone floors. it's damp everywhere, and the cold is oppressive. This is the ouroboros... the worst prison in the realm of seasons. still, freedom beckons. So close I can almost taste it...

the glimmer of moonlight is like a beacon of hope as we dash through the side exit, I hustle Perce into the small footpath and look back at the white wolf, pelt stained with blood. He is hesitating... and I know why.
"If you stay, you can't help him. Run, for his sake."
His ice blue eyes are mournful and his ears tuck back as he tears himself away from the grimy grey wall hewn directly into the side of the mountain.

I can't believe that worked.

Alice

"Are you sure we aren't lost?"
I ask, as another branch hits me in the face and scrapes along my cheek. I spit, having gotten a mouthful of leaf.
"positive."
Replies my guide, my scout, my dear friend Wolf, who is currently steering our mighty steed off the footpath and into the wilderness.

I try to reply, but another plant lands in my face and I try to brush it away as dignified as I can muster.
"Don't you trust me, Alice?"
I wonder why he doesn't get hit by the foliage at all.
"Yeah, normally the answer is yes but right now we are like ten minutes away from the last sign of civilization and a two-hour ride out from the city and I am beginning to worry you are going to hide me in a cave and just didn't want anyone to know for my safety or something."

He chuckles.
"No worries, we are almost there."

"You said that ten minutes ago..."
I am cut short in my spite, as Westwind steps out of the trees and into a little, encircled meadow. A large boulder sits at the centre of the space, overgrown with moss and round. the grass is covered in little white flowers. I gasp.
"This is..."

Wolf slips out of the saddle, and pats his horse, letting the reigns hang down loosely.
"Beautiful? Perfect? Gorgeous?"
He grins and produces our provisions basket.
"I think the words you are looking for are 'thank you, Wylandir, this is a lovely place and it was worth the minor discomfort I felt on the journey'..."
I try my best to look down at him angrily, but when he opens his arms to help me down off the horse, I reply with a bright smile instead, and allow myself to fall into his embrace.

He twirls me around once.
"Do I weigh nothing to you?"
I ask, and he grins and shakes his head.
"The heaviest thing on you is your bow. You could stand to put on a few pounds, you willowy thing."
I smack his head lightly.
"None of your business, sir."

He places me down on the rock at the centre and begins to unfurl a rolled-up blanket for us to sit on.
"A picnic... I always wanted to have one. Something about eating off the floor like that is novel."
He unpacks several treats, a spread of fruits, pastry and bread with cheese and butter.
"You have never been?"

I slip off the boulder and sit on the blanket, cross legged, and help him prepare the spread.
"Oh the wine is supplied, with regards, by our very own Fern. He insisted."
He produces a large bottle of white wine and I swallow.
"Seems like a lot for just the two of us?"
He looks contemplative for a moment.
"Well that's Fern for you. Always over the top."