Page 62 of Damned and Broken Gods
I closed my eyes and abandoned myself to my fate.
Would it hurt?
Would it be quick?
“Leela!”
I heard my name, but my eyelids were frozen shut by my crystalized tears, and my heart…Oh, my heart was too full. Too much.
Sorry. I’m so sorry.
A voice cut through the wind. “Leela!”
The sob trapped in my throat swelled as the momentum of my fall increased.
“NO!” Araz’s bellow shook the air, and then a screech shattered my eardrums, a gust of air slammed into me, rocking my body mid fall, and the next moment I hit something that was both hard and soft at the same time.
I couldn’t see, but the heat and the softness of feathers beneath my fingers told me I was on a thunderbird.
A voice bloomed in my mind, warm and comforting.Hold on, child. I’ve caught you, but I cannot keep you upright.
Had I just landed on a talking thunderbird?
I grabbed hold of feathers, pressing myself to its body and burying my face in its heat until the ice on my skin melted and I could open my eyes.
“Leela,” Araz called from somewhere to my left. “Stay down, don’t sit up. Don’t let go.”
Ignore the fool,the voice in my head said.You’re in a good position, simply bring your knees up to straddle and grip with your thighs, then slowly lift your upper body but keep it angled forward. And hold on.
I figured since I was on the bird, then it probably knew what it was talking about, and I really wanted to look at where we were. So I followed his instructions to the letter, finally opening my eyes to get a glimpse of the world.
“Leela!” Araz rode to my far left, his face pale, eyes wild and bright, Vick clinging to his back like a limpet.
“I’m okay!” I smiled to prove it.
He shook his head, his chest heaving. “You…you lucky fool.” He looked across at the thunderbird beneath me, and I tracked his gaze to the gold and crimson feathers on the crest of his head and the tips of his wings.
He was massive, an expanse of feathers and wings, much larger than Ilara. He’d saved my life. “Thank you!” I called out.
You don’t need to speak aloud to communicate with me, child. Simply think your words into thoughts.
Wait…what? Think my thoughts?
What is your name?the bird asked.
I opened my mouth to speak, then snapped it closed and thought what I wanted to say.My name is Leela, but what?—
Leela, I feel your resonance, and I honor it. I claim you as wingbound.
My pulse kicked up in my throat.What does that mean? What’s happening right now?
A low rumbling chuckle filled my head. Leela, child, we have just bonded. You my rider, I your aerial kin. My name is Pakshiraj, and I have waited a very long time for your call.
I wasn’t a thunderbird rider.I couldn’t steer my ride or make it go faster or dive, or whatever, but being bound to Pakshiraj meant I didn’t have to work as hard. He knew what to do. AllIneeded to do was stay aboard. Easier said than done, because I was beginning to realize that riding a thunderbird took some serious inner thigh strength.
I worked out, sure, but this was an area I’d need to work on. I’d have to add an extra leg day to my future training program.
I started to get cramps in my thighs after ten minutes and couldn’t help but envy Vick riding behind Araz, holding on to him, head nestled betweenmydrohi’s epic shoulder blades.Urgh,that could have been me.
