Page 34 of Rhaz's Redemption
We waited until the other dekes passed us on the trail and then Zander took me down a winding path that led to the base of a cliff.
“It’s a dead end,” I said between panting breaths. I’d been running to keep up with the long-legged sirret.
“No,” he shook his head. “We have to climb.”
“I can’t climb that!” I could do many things, but climbing a steep cliff was not one of them.
“Then you will hold onto me while I climb. We must warn the others.”
I looked at Zander then at the wall ahead of us. “Alright,” I nodded. If we got back in time we could make a plan to help get Rhaz out of his father’s grasp.
I climbed onto Zander’s back and he made impressively quick work of scaling the rock wall. It didn’t take long before we were at the top.
“I don’t understand,” I looked around us and found there was nothing connected to this cliff. I thought when we reachedthe top there might be some mountain path that would give us a more direct route home, but there was nothing.
“There’s nothing here,” I commented.
Zander ignored me, however, as he fell to one knee and gazed out at the horizon. “The mountain is ahead of us and the wind is at our backs.”
Wind? What the hell did the wind have to do with this?
“Yes, I can see the mountain, but what I can’t see is how you plan to get us there.”
The black-haired sirret turned to me with a resolute look on his face.
“Do you trust me?”
What is this? Aladdin? Are we about to ride a magic carpet?
“Trust you to do what, exactly?”
The words no sooner left my lips that Zander’s arms started to glow. His scars looked almost like feathers. They started at his shoulders and reached all the way down to his finger tips.
“Do you trust me to fly you to the mountain?”
He stood to his full height and I watched in amazement as he shifted into a phoenix. His arms became wings of fire, and his eyes glowed red.
“You’re a shifter,” it was a statement not a question. I could see the truth before me.
“Yes,” he confirmed with a nod. “I was lucky. The night my first shift happened I was far away from the village on a hunt. No one saw me, and I kept it a secret.”
“That’s why you weren’t exiled with the others,” I commented.
“Yes, like I said, I was lucky.” A flicker of sorrow crossed his face like an expression of guilt for not having to face the same challenges the other guys did.
“And you’re sure you can carry me? I’m a heavy girl.”
Zander cocked his head to the side like a confused bird and gave me an assessing look.
“I’ve flown carrying dead jagwas twice your size on my back. You will feel light compared to them.”
“Alright then,” I tentatively walked toward the shifter with wings made of fire and he squatted down so I could use his bent knee as a stepping stool.
Then I climbed onto his back, careful to remain clear of his flaming wings. Once I was secure, Zander glanced back in my direction and asked, “Are you ready?”
“Ready as I’ll ever be,” I gave him a tight smile that did little to conceal how nervous I was about this, but it would be the quickest way to get home.
He turned his gaze forward and announced, “hold on tight!”
