Page 21 of Broken Bonds

“Ravine,” I hear her say. “I’m trapped.”

Frowning, I carefully follow her voice and come upon the slippery edge of a shallow ravine. I peer down into it and spot Samantha sprawled out at the bottom in the snow.

“Samantha!” I shout down at her.

She peers up at me and relief crosses her face, but she also looks exhausted. It’s as if she’s just been holding out for someone to find her, and now that I’m here, her strength drained from her and she falls unconscious right before my eyes. Shit, that’s not good. I don’t know if she’s hurt or the cold has sapped her energy, but either way, I need to get her out of there and back to the facility.

I look up and down the ravine, trying to find a way down there to her. There’s no easy way to do it that I can see, and if I manage to get down there, I’m not sure that I could get back out while carrying her. I grit my teeth as I realize there’s really only one way I can rescue her. Instinctively, I look around, but then quickly remember that there’s no one else around to see what I do next.

Taking a deep breath, I summon my fire from within me. My body begins to shift and change, my physical form changing as I become a full phoenix. Much of the time we don’t fully shift but maintain a partial human form but since I’m trying to keep my secret from Samantha, suddenly appearing with wings would be a dead giveaway. The other birds fall silent as they recognize the creature that has suddenly appeared among them. Once the transformation is complete, I spread my wings and drop off the edge of the ravine. I swoop down to the bottom and land next to Samantha. Lowering my head, I press it to her cheek and am startled by how cold she is.

Dangerously cold.

I realize I need to warm her up before I try to move her. She’s on the verge of freezing to death if I don’t do something. Covering her with my wings, I focus my warmth to filter through my feathers and surround her. My body pulses as I push my energy out and into her. The wind’s bite grows a little sharper as I part with some of my warmth, leaving me more vulnerable to the elements. I’m not in any danger, though, so long as I don’t give too much of my heat to her.

Suddenly, her eyelids flutter and then open. She stares up at me and I stare back as I fight every instinct in me telling me to change back before she realizes what’s going on. If I do that, though, she’ll freeze and we’ll never get out of this ravine. So, I just keep looking at her as my wings pump heat over her body. A second later, her eyes widen as realization seems to finally hit her.

“Wait…wait, what is this? What are you?” she murmurs, her tone growing frantic as she attempts to sit up once she realizes a giant bird is hovering over her. “You’re not…this isn’t possible....”

“It’ll be okay, Samantha,” I say without thinking, just trying to calm her down. How could I be such an idiot?!! Instead of reassuring her and calming her down, my words only seem to freak her out further. Which, of course they do. She’s staring up into the face of a huge bird and it’s talking to her in English. It would be weird if she wasn’t freaking out; no doubt the shock settling into her system is tamping down her reaction a bit.

“What the hell?” she yelps. “Aleixo? Is that you?”

Reluctantly, I nod. “It is. I promise I’ll explain everything later, but for now I need to get you to…”

“You’re a phoenix!” Her voice is rising as she fully digests what’s going on. “That’s what you are, isn’t it?”

Now a strange excitement has filtered into her gaze that makes me frown, but I tell myself I can’t worry about that right now. The sun is hanging low in the sky, and I’m not sure I could even survive a night out here. Not even in my phoenix form.

“You shift between forms?” she asks, her voice fast and words rambling. “No, that’s a stupid question. Of course you shift between forms. You were human earlier when I left you, or do you think of yourself as human? What do you refer to yourself as? Human? Phoenix? Shifter? Are any of those terms derogatory to you?”

She’s starting to babble, making less and less sense with each second that passes, and I let out a huff of frustration.

“I told you I’d tell you everything once we’re safe.” I snap my beak at her. “Now shut up and let me help you get out of here. Can you stand?”

She instantly clamps up, but I’m not sure it’s because of my sharp rebuke. Slowly, she shakes her head.

“Uh…no. I can’t stand up.”

“Broken leg?”

“In a manner of speaking. My prosthetic is damaged and can’t hold my weight.”

Damn it. I’d considered the possibility that she could be hurt, but the reality makes things a lot more difficult. She can’t walk, which means I not only have to lift her out of here, but carry her all the way back to the base. She’s small and so shouldn’t pose a problem weight-wise, even with the extra pounds of equipment she’s wearing. Landing will probably be our biggest obstacle, as I’ll have to do so in a way that doesn’t jar her leg. I also don’t have anything to set it with, so it’s going to dangle beneath her and probably hurt her.

The bond protests at the thought of bringing her pain, but I quickly silence it. Temporary pain is a small price to pay to keep her from freezing to death.

“I’m going to get you out of here,” I tell her.

“How?” she asks, appearing baffled. “Can you carry my weight?”

I nearly roll my eyes at her. “Of course I can, but it won’t be a comfortable ride.”

Before she can ask me any other questions, I lift my wings away from her. She begins to shiver immediately, and I know we’re on borrowed time. I quickly move behind her and lift one of my feet to carefully latch my talons into the shoulder of her coat. With a flap of my wings, I lift into the air and grab her other shoulder as well.

“Woah,” she protests, jerking in my grip.

“Hold still,” I order her. “I don’t want to drop you.”

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