(COMPLETE)
Lady Mhysra Kilpapan was blessed from birth with a distinguished family, a glorious home and a giant eagle miryhl of her own. Fully aware of her luck, she wants for nothing in life - except a chance to become a Rift Rider. The elite force...
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"YOU KNOW, I'M not sure you should bathe in a reservoir," Mhysra said later that afternoon, as she scrambled around her soggy miryhl, riffling her fingers through his damp feathers, getting out the dirt and encouraging them to dry. "It's not very hygienic."
Pulling his head up from preening his flight feathers, Cumulo sniffed. "Where else am I supposed to bathe?"
Mhysra turned to view the world around them. Nimbys was just one of many mountains making up the northern edge of the Imercian range, but it, like all the others, was doused in a heavy blanket of snow. Most of the mountains had some source of water amongst their craggy peaks, but likewise the majority of them were frozen. The only reason this lake above Nimbys wasn't was because the city worked very hard to keep the water flowing.
"Good point." After all, a bird of Cumulo's size could hardly be expected to roll in the snow, like a pair of playful ravens were currently doing on the slopes above them. Especially considering the state Cumulo had been in.
"It's too late now anyway." Cumulo sniffing, giving himself a thorough shake and fluffing up like an oversized chicken. He squawked in dismay and frantically began preening his feathers flat again.
"I suppose," Mhysra sighed, helping to smooth him down. He was so vain.
"And I could hardly turn up at the Rider eyries looking like I did. It would have created completely the wrong impression."
She certainly couldn't argue with that. "Well, you look splendid now."
He puffed up his chest with pride.
"Apart from your tail, but I'm sure it'll grow back soon."
Cumulo deflated, peering over his shoulder and waggling the offending appendage. The feathers were bent and ragged, but the rest of him looked good. The shore around them was scattered with broken feathers, several of which had been carried off and partially chewed by the nakhound pup.
A shadow swept over them and they both looked up, Mhysra shading her eyes against the pallid sun, Cumulo half-mantling his wings in protective readiness. An enormous miryhl circled above them before coming into land. It wasn't the first they'd seen this morning, but all the others had been part of Rider patrols and flown onwards with curious glances. Mhysra soon realised why this one was different.
Not only was the almost-black female the largest she had ever seen – and since female miryhls were normally bigger than males, this one had to be female – there was also a familiar Rider on her back. Tall, broad across the shoulders with merry green eyes and a scar across his brown cheek, his was a form she could hardly forget. The stripes on his uniform only made him more memorable.
"Lieutenant Stirla," Mhysra greeted, as the grinning lieutenant slid down from his saddle and ruffled his miryhl's neck feathers. "What brings you up here?" She hoped it wasn't to tell them off. She'd told Cumulo he shouldn't bathe in the reservoir, but when had he ever listened to her?
