Page 42 of To Sway a Prince
Zephyrus's wings unfurled with a loud thrum. They caught the currents, steadying us in the vast blue expanse. Glorious—completely glorious—freedom and connection melding into joy. The wind in my face and pressing against me with such force. I loved it!
"Look over the Chasm," Ramiel called out, his voice clear as glass within my mind.
Forcing my eyes open, I adjusted my grip and looked down. I gasped.
The Chasm stretched beneath us like a living entity—a river of deep purple mist that cut through the rocky valley. It billowed and frothed, tendrils of vapor reaching upward before dissipating into the air. Sunlight caught the edges of the mist, turning them silver and pearl. The section nearest the tower was the thickest and largest, like the base of a bottle. But it tapered into a narrower line as we continued flying north.
"It's beautiful." I caught the bitter and sharp scents of powerful magic. They stung the inside of my nose and lungs but filled me with exhilaration
The mist churned and pulsed with an otherworldly rhythm, steaming where it met the jagged rocks. From this height, I could trace its path as it wound through the mountains, disappearing into the distant horizon.
In all my travels, I had never seen anything like this.
We soared and swept high above, following the Chasm's path. What a wondrous place this was. Jagged mountain peaks rose like sentinels around us, their snow-capped summits gleaming in the morning light. Forests of pine and ancient oak blanketed the slopes in a rich tapestry of green that contrasted sharply against the mist of the Chasm. As the clouds gathered and crowded the eastern sky, the shadows below merged with the mist.
Ramiel guided Thalorion closer, the ancient dragon's wings barely seeming to move as he glided beside us. "Few ever witness it from this perspective," he replied, his voice clear in my mind despite the rushing wind. "There it is in all its glory. What do you think, Astraia?"
"Terrifying and magnificent." I couldn't tear my eyes away from the spectacle below. It was as hypnotic to watch as fire on a hearth or ocean waves lapping at the shore.
Zephyrus banked, giving me an even better view of the magnificent purple expanse. The filtered morning sunlight caught the mist, creating rainbows that danced across its surface. Utterly stunning.
The dragons continued to fly north. My heart raced, my blood surging with delight. "So what exactly is the purpose of this flight?" I asked.
Ramiel pointed toward the Chasm. In the warm sunlight, the mist seemed more lavender than true purple here. "The Chasm itself runs for fifteen miles down the Seam. We're going to fly along the length of it and see if we can spot our wounded leviathan. I saw some signs that he might be hunting this morning. He still seems relatively stable considering how bad his condition was. I've been trying to get it close enough to the rifts to see what injured it. If we can heal him, he'll calm and stop trying to break through the barrier."
"You're sure about that?" I asked, frowning. How could he possibly know with such certainty?
He nodded, his gaze fixed straight ahead as he maintained a steady grip on Thalorion's horns. "The leviathan isn't meant to live in our world. It's a creature of liminal space. That's why it belongs in the Chasm. It would be like a freshwater fish swimming in the ocean. But its demise wouldn't be immediate. It would take days, and in those days, it would go on an ever more violent rampage. It starts trying to break through the Chasm when the pain becomes too much for it like a creature thrashing in the shallows."
Pity coursed through me. I could imagine how I might respond if I couldn't breathe. The nightmares often included that. Flailing, thrashing, struggling. Praying desperately that something would provide relief. "And you're really going to help him?" An almost painful softness stirred within me. I wanted to hug him.
"If I can." Ramiel adjusted his silver carver gloves. His shoulders dropped a little. "That will stop the incursions for now. If I can't, I'll go as far as I can with healing him and then use the last of my magic to seal the Chasm with my death throes. Maybe drag the omenfang in with me. The leviathan will die from that. Most of the dragons too if they disobey and try to intervene. But it will buy time. After I'm gone?—"
"You won't be gone. We're going to figure something out," I said, sharper than I intended. "Remember what we agreed."
He laughed at this. "Yes, my lady." He raised his eyebrow as he met my gaze, hair flowing beautifully in the wind. "Now…we aren't likely to run into any difficulties with this stretch. Hopefully nothing difficult in our entire inspection, but why don't we take advantage of this stretch? Show me your moves, gnat." His voice was at once distant and distorted by the wind but spoken directly into my mind. And that sparkle in his eyes set me ablaze.
I cast a coy glance in his direction, savoring the burn of excitement deep within my chest and gut. Then I looked down at Zephyrus. "He wants to see what you can do, big guy," I said, scratching him behind the ear. "Start with a barrel roll and then just do what feels good, eh?"
Zephyrus huffed, then trilled three times. His warning for me to hold tight. I clenched my muscles and leaned down, tucked tight against his muscular neck.
My world flipped upside down as Zephyrus tucked his wings and plummeted. Wind screamed past my ears. My stomach lurched into my throat.
Knots take me, I'd almost forgotten how intense this could be!
We plunged toward the Chasm, purple mist rushing up to meet us. At the last second, Zephyrus snapped his wings openand barrel-rolled right above the vapor. I clung to him, fingers digging into scale ridges, thighs clamped tight.
He banked hard left. Then right. My body shifted against his neck with each turn, but I adapted.
A flash of silvered dark-green scales—Thalorion cutting across our path.
Zephyrus twisted, spiraling under the larger dragon's belly. I glimpsed Ramiel's silver hair streaming behind him.
Instincts guided me. I anchored myself to Zephyrus with a knot spell. Magic shimmered gold between us.
Up. Down. Sideways. The horizon spun like a child's top.
Glorious and horrifying all at once!
