IncuBUST

Stars

I don't know how long Quetz and I flew. Time seemed to lose all meaning. I felt like a star, a breeze, a raging fire. Watching Quetz fly was like watching a force of nature; his snake-like body curling through the air like a living tornado. I spiraled around him tiny in comparison, but feeling the thrill of heat radiating from his scales, catching the updrafts from his massive wings I felt larger than life.

I laughed like I hadn't in ages and it was whipped away by the wild wind. I caught up to Quetz and landed in the nest of feathers surrounding his neck. I pulled my wings in close to my body to reduce drag and hunched over whispering, "Show me what you can do."

We were suddenly soaring straight up closer and closer to the stars. When I was young I used to think if I flew high enough I could reach the stars, I would become one of them. I could glitter and shine and spread light through the world. Sissy told me that I was an idiot and that the stars were in space and we couldn't possibly fly that high. Mother yelled at her for crushing a young fae's dream. Now I thought that maybe with Quetz I could finally reach the stars.

I felt ice start to form on the tips of my wings and in my hair, my eyes watered and the freezing air tore at my lungs.

I heard Quetz voice in my head, Hold on tight. I clutched at his mane of feathers and gripped his body with my knees as he spun in midair and suddenly we were plummeting towards the earth faster than life, the tiny dots in the field that I knew to be Barapha and Octavia became larger and larger.

Just as I was beginning to get really nervous his wings jerked open and we skimmed the length of the field the grass nearly brushing his scale plated underside. He swooped back up into the air and I howled my delight and he let out a roar of similar delight along with a long stream of thousand degree flame.

He made to dive straight through the fire so my wings popped open almost automatically and I soared over the bed of flickering orange and yellow flame feeling the heat caress me so hot as to be nearly unbearable.

I rolled over onto my back and continued tumbling through the air head over heels until I couldn't tell which way lay the sky and which the ground. Why did I ever stop flying? It was a bliss almost as potent as feeding and a combination of the two...my whole body was alive with the feeling like a raw nerve exposed to every pain and pleasure the world had to offer.

"Chase!" I heard Barapha shout and I opened my eyes not quite remembering when I shut them. I could see him a speck of shimmering white in the sea of dark green grass and I spiraled towards the ground suddenly unsure of how to land and too exhilarated to care.

I smacked into him and we turned somersaults through the grass until finally skidding to a halt and I found myself perched on top of him my wings flaring out to block the light of the moon. I grinned at him and asked, "You wanted something?" He smiled back and reached up to skim his icy fingers along the thin membrane of my wings.

"I could think of a couple things I want," he murmured and I felt him sap the warmth from my body. I sighed and was about to lean down to feed, but before I could I felt a light tap on my shoulder.

I sat back on my heels and turned to see Octavia shivering slightly in the cool spring night. Being left with Barapha probably didn't help much either.

"I was the one who wanted something," she signed. "He was just getting your attention for me." I looked down at Barapha and murmured, "How nice of him." He shimmied his hips beneath me and I giggled.

"What is it, O?" I inquired and she suddenly looked flustered.

"It's almost eleven," she gestured and I nodded standing up. Barapha whined and grabbed at my pant leg.

"Alright, let's go home," I said and Barapha jumped up tackling me and crying, "Don't leave just because the dumb human needs her beauty rest!" Octavia made to issue a snarky reply but I caught her hands in mine and said, "I need sleep too. I have work tomorrow."

Barapha scoffed and muttered, "Incubi don't need sleep if they feed enough." I was about to reply when Quetz came whirling towards the ground. He was still ten feet in the air when he was engulfed in flames and in his human form he hit the ground running towards me.

Before I could utter a word he caught me in his boiling grasp and swung me around wings and all. He set me back on the ground and again before I could say anything he grabbed my face in his searing hands and pressed his mouth against mine.