Page 127 of A Soul to Steal

How hard could it be to fly through one? Not that Aleron had ever done so.

He turned to go northeast, but he didn’t make it a single wing flap before rain poured on them. He grunted at the weight of his wings, and how difficult it became to fly with water soaking his feathers and fur. Pushing with all his might, he sought a place of safety for his bride while trying to avoid the worst of the storm.

It circled around them, moving from west to east until he was forced to fly north. Just when he managed to escape it, a problem arose.

“Fuck, Aleron,” Gideon cursed with chattering teeth. “We have to go back.”

Aleron looked out at the large distance, finding only water. They’d reached the land’s end and had nowhere else to go.

“I will take you down to the ground,” Aleron offered, turning his gaze to the long mountain range below them.

“No!” Gideon yelled. “Mountain ranges are just as dangerous as the Veil. And with the storm sheltering the Demons from the sun, they’ll probably come at us like a swarm.”

With a heavy heart, Aleron turned to take in the world behind him. It looked dangerous to take his bride through it, but he was right: dropping to the land here would do more harm than good.

A strike of lightning forked across the sky, and he was beginning to feel each one tingling in his flesh. They lifted his fur before they struck, as if it was compelled by the energy they gave off.

He raised his snout.Maybe up?

With that thought in mind, hoping to get above the clouds, Aleron flew in a diagonal ascent with great difficulty. Wind pushed him from every direction, and Gideon had long ago buried his face into Aleron’s chest with tightly clenched eyes. A small amount of fear clung to his scent, but Aleron knew it must be stronger, the water washing away the worst of it.

Just as he reached the clouds, every fibre of fur, every feather, lifted in aversion. A horrible tingle assaulted his entire body, almost... electrifying it.

He halted his wings and let them fall, to get as far from the clouds as possible. Just as he spread them again, a lightning bolt struck the top of a nearby mountain, and they were far too close. Aleron yelped at the loudness of the sound and banked to get further away from it.

White filled his sight, and the further he flew into the brunt of the storm, the more they were buffeted around. The winds gurgled rather than whistled and had the chilly force of a Mavka slamming into him at full speed.

An unexpected gust came from the right rather than the left.

The roar that exploded from him parted his fangs and was followed by constant whines and whimpers. Agony radiated up his right wing and down his entire back, each flap shunting a pain so excruciating that he almost stopped moving it.

Had he been alone, he may have. He held his bride tighter, gnashed his fangs, and flew down towards the mountain range.

Fuck the storm, fuck finding a safe place to rest. With the pain he was in, he’d rip a Demon from their cave nest just to escape this weather. He’d spend the remainder of the dark storm protecting his bride in whatever shelter they could find.

“Are you okay, Aleron?” Gideon shouted while sputtering water, peeking his head out from where it was buried. “I can hear cries coming from your chest.”

Aleron could do nothing more but shake his head and search.

When he found a lit opening, he dived for it. High on the mountain range, facing east on one of its peaks, he sought the light. Likely it would be a Demon who knew of fire, and he prepared himself for a battle.

Just as he was about to set his feet down in front of the cave mouth, a strong gust shoved them inside. He slammed against the ground, but curled his body around Gideon as much as he could to protect him.

The moment they halted, he sprung to his hands and feet with a snarl, searching for the source of multiple Demon scents that littered the air.

He found three – two females and one male – up against a wall. All three were winged Demons, two large in height and strength, while the last one was small. However, the little one looked more like a youngling than an ill-formed Demon. The male had flared his wing out protectively to shelter the females.

Both females had patches of pale skin spotting through the usual void-like Demon colouring and horns. The male looked entirely human except for his bat-like wings, claws, and fangs,but he lacked horns like them. His hair was dark brown, his skin tanned, and his shape fully humanoid.

He was shirtless, but his pants were a deep navy, whereas both females wore grey-and-brown dresses.

Shifting into his faster and stronger monstrous form, Aleron kept Gideon below him by shoving his chest down. The shivering human stayed where he was.

“Leave,”Aleron warned, his voice deeper than usual due to the change.

The male narrowed his red eyes at Aleron. “If you think I will force my family into a storm like this, know I will not do so willingly.”

“I said leave!”Aleron roared, stepping a pawed hand forward.

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