Page 38 of To Ashes and Dust
“Is it possible to do a partial shift?” I asked, walking around the surface of the boulder, feeling out my legs, stretching and folding my wings.
His brows narrowed. “I’m not sure I follow.”
“Like.” I frowned, trying to find the best way to explain. “If I wanted to fly but didn’t want to shift fully, could I form wings?” I lifted my clawed foot, flexing my sharp talons. “Or form talons on my hands for fighting?”
He rubbed his jaw, his face scrunching as he thought. “I can’t say. I’ve never heard of anyone doing it. It’s only ever been a complete shift. While the rest of the immortals can only shift into two forms at most, Elena could shift into nearly any creature as a demigoddess, but she never did what you’re describing.”
I slumped.
“I mean, I can’t say it’s not possible. Surely, as a demigoddess, if anyone could do it, you could. The magic was originally gifted to us by Artemis, and she could take the form of anything, man or beast.” He pondered another moment. “You won’t know until you try, right?”
The transformation seemed to only require an image, imagining feathers over my skin, wings instead of arms, talons instead of toes. I wanted to see if it was possible; it could be useful.
“Try gliding down from the boulder. See if you can land on the ground here. I know we started this way before, but let’s take a step back and check your form.”
I stepped over to the edge and looked down. In my human form, it hadn’t felt so high up, but the small form of a tawny owl I was now made the drop feel farther. I stretched out my wings and leapt. My wings beat unevenly as I lowered to the ground, talons outstretched. My feet met the dirt, a bit harsher than I intended, but it wasn’t a crash.
“Perfect. You just gotta master the shift of your body from flight to landing. We’ll do it like this until you’re more confident.”
“I just can’t seem to get it when I’m outstretched on a descent. It throws my balance off.”
“It took me a while to figure it out, too,” Zephyr admitted. “Don’t worry.”
I let out a heavy sigh. “You seem so natural at it.”
He shrugged. “Yeah, that happens when you’ve had nearly eight hundred years to practice.”
Eight hundred years. I shouldn’t be surprised, not with Damien being nearly a thousand, but I hadn’t realized how old Zephyr was, hadn’t thought about how old any of them might be. I couldn’t even begin to comprehend or fathom what they’d experienced in their long lives.
Black dust enveloped me as I shifted back to normal. “Damien told me you were there when Moonhaven fell.”
The light left his pale green eyes, and his lips parted, but he didn’t speak.
I immediately wanted to take it back, wished I hadn’t asked. “I’m so sorry. If it’s difficult to talk about, you don’t have to. I just hoped I could get more answers. No other visions have resurfaced since…” My chest sank when I imagined what I’d seen through Elena’s eyes in her final moments, and I didn’t let myself continue. “I wanted to learn more about my past lives. I figured I might get to know what she was like.”
He leaned against the rock, his voice monotone. “No... it’s ok.”
I walked over to him, and he offered me a smile, but I couldn’t help but feel it was forced.
“I assumed you might’ve known Elena, so I was just curious if you could tell me anything about her.” My lips pressed into a thin line, guilt churning in my gut, fearful I was picking at old wounds.
“I... uh... guess you could say that.” He inhaled, rubbing the back of his neck. “I... I meant to talk to you about it sooner, I just couldn’t figure out how to bring it up.”
Something in me stirred, and I couldn’t understand it, but I suddenly felt almost dizzy. “Bring what up?”
His throat bobbed, and his eyes didn’t meet mine. “Well... Elena was... She was my sister.”
Sister...
Sister?
The world stopped, and yet at the same time, it didn’t. Gravity pulled me in all directions, and I thought I might pass out. I’d been Zephyr’s sister in a past life?
I remembered the look on his face when I’d relived Elena’s death, the fall of Moonhaven. Horror and sorrow had marred every feature of his sweet face when I’d awoken.
“I mean... she was my half-sister. We shared a father, different mothers. My mother died, and our father later re-mated...” The words fell from his lips in a flurry, and I’d never seen him so unnerved, so rattled.
“I think I knew,” I muttered. “It’s difficult to explain... Maybe it was the part of me that’s Elena that knew all this time.”
