"No I don't want any thank you," Fynaurie called over her shoulder. Vaxor was hunched over his kill, wings around it protectively. Even a rider had to keep away when their eagle was eating. At the end Vaxor usually offered to let her strip the rest of the carcass to be cooked, but she had been well fed already.
Vaxor stepped away and turned to preening himself. Even among his kind he was a particularly fussy bird with his feathers.
Fynaurie was happily sketching away with charcoals. This was further west than she had gone before. They were supposed to be in the air watching the terrain for danger. Vaxor had decided he was hungry and she had decided that she wanted to sit down and enjoy the landscape.
Fynaurie couldn't draw the sky very well with a stick of charcoal, but her eye kept being drawn to a whisp of cloud high above them. It looked more like a trick of the eye, like a colourless rainbow that didn't quite form.
Her people had an organisation known as the Windspeakers. She was a Dragoon, a soldier and scout. Even she had some talent in sensing the movement of the air. She could even summon a breeze that could ruffle Vaxor's feathers if she really concentrated on the magic. Something felt wrong.
"You ready to fly again?"
Higher and higher they went. She could feel them drawing closer, but this was as high as they had ever gone. The air was remarkably still.
The twisting thread was almost impossible to see. So much so, that they had entirely passed it by before she realised.
They soar slowly above it, Fynaurie trying to get a sense of what it was and how far it went. It was not a cloud. It was like a thread weaving it's way towards the horizon.
"Let's fly through it," she said, because she rarely thought anything through. Vaxor was heavy, in a dive he would surely pass through any turbulence.
She was very wrong. As they hit it, Vaxor immediately opened his wings and fanned out his tail to try and stabilise himself. Winds howled past her ears, whipping through her leathers. The tumbled and twisted through the tunnel of wind untim Vaxor could level out.
The ground was far below but they were passing it by at an alarming rate.
"Dive again!" She cried out, hoping Vaxor would hear. He did.
Many miles north west of her home, rider and mount came tumbling out of the sky.
Vaxor stepped away and turned to preening himself. Even among his kind he was a particularly fussy bird with his feathers.
Fynaurie was happily sketching away with charcoals. This was further west than she had gone before. They were supposed to be in the air watching the terrain for danger. Vaxor had decided he was hungry and she had decided that she wanted to sit down and enjoy the landscape.
Fynaurie couldn't draw the sky very well with a stick of charcoal, but her eye kept being drawn to a whisp of cloud high above them. It looked more like a trick of the eye, like a colourless rainbow that didn't quite form.
Her people had an organisation known as the Windspeakers. She was a Dragoon, a soldier and scout. Even she had some talent in sensing the movement of the air. She could even summon a breeze that could ruffle Vaxor's feathers if she really concentrated on the magic. Something felt wrong.
"You ready to fly again?"
Higher and higher they went. She could feel them drawing closer, but this was as high as they had ever gone. The air was remarkably still.
The twisting thread was almost impossible to see. So much so, that they had entirely passed it by before she realised.
They soar slowly above it, Fynaurie trying to get a sense of what it was and how far it went. It was not a cloud. It was like a thread weaving it's way towards the horizon.
"Let's fly through it," she said, because she rarely thought anything through. Vaxor was heavy, in a dive he would surely pass through any turbulence.
She was very wrong. As they hit it, Vaxor immediately opened his wings and fanned out his tail to try and stabilise himself. Winds howled past her ears, whipping through her leathers. The tumbled and twisted through the tunnel of wind untim Vaxor could level out.
The ground was far below but they were passing it by at an alarming rate.
"Dive again!" She cried out, hoping Vaxor would hear. He did.
Many miles north west of her home, rider and mount came tumbling out of the sky.