Page 37 of Rook
She'd found a stream that morning, narrow but swift, cutting through moss-covered rocks in a way that reminded her of the woods where they'd first kissed. The water was clearer than anything she'd seen on Earth, so transparent she could count the pebbles on the bottom from twenty feet away. She'd knelt beside it and splashed some on her face, tasting the mineral sweetness on her lips.
The path wound deeper into the woods, her boots silent on the cushion of fallen leaves. Overhead, the canopy filtered the sunlight into dappled patterns that shifted and danced with each breath of wind. Birds called from the branches—not quite the same songs she knew from home, but close enough to make her chest ache with nostalgia.
Vemion was a lot like Earth, strangely enough. Rook had mentioned something about convergent evolution and similar atmospheric conditions, but Sasha suspected it was simpler than that. Maybe the universe just had a soft spot for green places where people could get lost and find themselves again.
She paused beside a tree whose trunk was wider than her van had been, pressing her palm against the bark. It was warm beneath her touch, almost like it had a pulse. The sensation traveled up her arm, a gentle hum that made her think of Rook's fire, controlled and comforting.
A shadow passed overhead, too large and too purposeful to be a cloud.
Sasha tipped her head up and saw a dragon flying. Massive wings beat against the pale blue sky, each stroke powerful enough to bend the treetops below. Scales caught the sunlight and threw it back in flashes of gold and crimson. Even from that distance, she could see the elegant sweep of his neck, the predatory grace in every movement.
Her heart did that stupid fluttering thing it always did when she saw him in his other form.
Sasha ran to the edge of the woods and stopped at a large clearing.
The dragon landed.
The impact shook the ground beneath her feet, sending small animals scurrying from the underbrush. He folded his wings against his massive body, each one easily thirty feet from tip to base. His head, larger than her entire torso, swung toward her with liquid grace. Those familiar golden eyes, now the size of dinner plates, fixed on her with an intensity that made her breath catch.
The first time she'd seen him, she'd been more than a little terrified. Summoning fire with a thought was one thing. But when he did it, Rook still fundamentally seemed human.
When he was the size of a house and covered in scales, it was impossible to forget that he wasn't.
His nostrils flared as he scented the air, and smoke curled from between his teeth in a contented sigh. Sunlight played across his scales, each one perfectly formed, overlapping like armor forged by some cosmic blacksmith. The muscles beneath rippled as he shifted his weight, power contained but never hidden.
You're staring, mate, he whispered in her mind.
The voice was still Rook's, warm and amused, but it carried an undertone of something ancient and wild. The telepathic connection had been startling at first—like having someone else's thoughts suddenly appear in her head—but now it felt as natural as breathing. More intimate than touch, more honest than words.
Yeah, that had also taken some getting used to.
"I can't admire you?"
Her dragon snorted, the sound like steam escaping from a locomotive. Smoke puffed from his nostrils in twin plumes, dissipating in the warm air. His massive head dipped lower, close enough that she could see her reflection in the golden depths of his eyes. Close enough to feel the heat radiating from his scales, warm as a summer day but completely under his control.
He spread out his leg so she had a ramp to climb onto his back.
This part was still kind of terrifying.
The scales beneath her hands were smooth but textured, like touching warm stone that had been polished by centuries of water. Each one was perfectly fitted to its neighbors, creating an armor that looked both beautiful and utterly impenetrable. She could feel the massive muscles beneath his hide, power that could level mountains held in perfect check.
I won't let you fall, he reminded her.
His mental voice carried absolute conviction, the same tone he'd used when promising to protect her from the slavers. When Rook made a promise, the universe itself seemed to bend to make it true.
"There's a first time for everything."
She gripped the ridge of scales along his spine and hauled herself up, her thighs straining as she straddled his broad back. The position put her just behind his shoulder blades, where the powerful wings attached to his torso. She could feel them flexing as he prepared for flight, muscles bunching and releasing in preparation.
Then he was off, launching them into the sky above the woods.
The ground fell away beneath them with stomach-lurching speed. Sasha's hands fisted in the scales at Rook's neck, her knuckles white with the force of her grip. The wind hit her like a physical thing, whipping her hair back and filling her lungs with air so clean it made her dizzy. The trees below shrank to toy-sized models, the clearing where they'd taken off becoming just another patch of green in an endless tapestry of forest.
Rook's wings beat in a rhythm she could feel through her entire body, each downstroke lifting them higher into the crystalline air. The sensation was like riding the world's most powerful motorcycle while strapped to a rocket, terrifying and exhilarating in equal measure. Her stomach dropped with each dip and soared with each rise, leaving her breathless and laughing despite her fear.
The air tasted different up there, thinner and sweeter, carrying scents of flowers and rain from miles away. It filled her nose with the perfume of an entire world, layer upon layer of growing things and clean earth and something indefinable that was purely Vemion. Below them, the forest spread out like a living map, broken by streams that caught the light like silver ribbons and clearings that looked like emerald jewels scattered across green velvet.
Breathe, mate. Rook's mental voice was tinged with amusement. You're safe.
