The Firelands

Chapter 14 - The Glass Cliffs III

7th day of the Second Month, Love's Moon

4:00 am

The Glass Cliffs

Four hours after crash-landing to earth and somehow helping free a werewolf, Theth sat cursing said werewolf. Four hours! Incendio had yet to come back from wherever he had gone and Theth still felt he should wait. He wasn't going to wait in the cave – not when he knew it was a prison – but all he had against the elements were the clothes wore and his wings, and it was so much colder down in the world below.

Tucking his wings tighter around himself, he watched the landscape before him. A few hours ago lights had appeared within the forest, bursts flaring up into the air. After seeing one of the Angelic Realm's towns go up in flames just hours before, he knew he was watching explosions, perhaps an attack – were attacks common down here?

It hadn't taken long for more fires to appear, appearing in the other villages Theth had seen until the horizon was a wall of flame. Around the same time as the first attack, he had noticed a disturbance at the palace. Simultaneous attacks so close – great.

Of all the nights to be waiting for a werewolf.

At that moment, a freezing gust of wind struck him directly in the face and he ducked his head down behind his wings, shivering and glaring.

"They really are black," a voice said beyond the wings and Theth felt a sharp tug on one of his feathers, startling him so suddenly then his wings burst open and, on impact, he sent his company back over the edge of the cliff.

There was a yelp, a flash of red hair and a crash below and Theth cringed at the groan that followed. Moving forwards, he leaned over the edge and looked down to see the werewolf lying on a small ledge.

"Are you alright?" he asked, he wasn't sure how hard he'd hit the werewolf, and his wings could break bones if he wasn't careful.

"Fine," came the moan of a reply, "just fine."

Incendio sat up; rubbing his head, then looked up and grinned at him. Theth let out a breath then moved back just before the werewolf jumped up and landed in front of him, sitting down, crossing his legs and resting his hands on his ankles.

"Did I scare you?" he asked.

"No, merely startled," Theth said.

"They're not the same thing?"

"No."

"...Oh," Incendio frowned, thinking about it.

"Where did you go?" Theth asked.

Incendio looked at him, then looked over his shoulder.

Theth looked in the direction he looked. "You went home?"

"Not exactly. I thought I would, I wanted to see the party up close... but when I got there, I couldn't make myself enter the city?"

"Why?"

"I'm supposed to be in jail. People could recognise me. It's been thirteen years, yes, but Flare and I are identical, apart from the hair colouring, people would know my face and I was the only Vesson with red hair. I was..." He brow furrowed.

"Scared," Theth muttered.

"Yes, I suppose, I was scared of what would happen if someone saw me. I didn't want to be put away again. My parents must hate me to have ordered my imprisonment, I don't want them to know I'm free, I don't want to go back." He looked at Theth. "Is that bad?"