Page 73 of Swift Wings Shadowed Heart
—If they didn’t stink before, they’ll surely stink now that you blew on my boots,I mutter, turning away from him and wiggling into my leathers. My feet are embraced by warm leather when I stuff them into the boots. They feel a little tighter but should stretch back out with use.
—I’m ready, I say
He bends his knee, and I climb. Sky’s Edge stretches around us, bathed in moonlight.
—It’s beautiful, I marvel, a strange sense of peace washing over me. It feels foreign or perhaps forgotten. Maybe I felt this way once when my mother was alive.
Zephyros walks toward the edge. A thought occurs to me.
—My eyeballs are going to fall off without goggles, I say.
—No need for them.
I open my mouth to ask why not, then shut it back.
Trust.
When we reach the edge of the plateau, Zephyros leaps into the air. That feeling that’s becoming wonderfully familiar hits my stomach. A lift, then a drop. Wind blows my free hair back, whipping it behind me, but I don’t feel its sting on my face or eyes. Zephyros has formed that protective bubble again. I can see all the way to the faraway horizon without any difficulty.
—This is why Vaylen needs no goggles, I say.
—No. He usesWind Wallto block the wind.
Wind Wall is a defensive maneuver, one I will soon learn.
—I thought Wind Wall could only be used at a bigger scale, I say.
—He has enough subtlety for that much, he says with contempt—I am surprised he is allowed to use it, given the Sky Order’s preference for…standards.
The way he says it makes it sound like a dirty word, like he disapproves. He isn’t wrong. Standardization is touted as an effective means to expedite training and keep costs down. I always thought of it as a good thing, but maybe there are disadvantages.
—Once, things were different, he goes on. Not so many rules, and so much power. We could sometimes wield more than one element and pass knowledge from generation to generation through Weavers, such as this bubble. Now, so much is lost.
My mind reels. I never knew Weavers did that. There can only be one explanation: after the Dual Blight, they must have stricken all knowledge about what Weavers could do from the books, then time took care of the rest.Wyrm’s rot!
—You should not waste your Weaver powers. You should take advantage of them, listen to learn and grow wise.
—Listening to people’s thoughts is wrong.
—Is it?
—Yes, I firmly believe that. Please don’t ask me to do that.
I sense something like a tired sigh from him.
—So much waste, he says.So much misinformation. You would not think that way if you had been born before the so-called Dual Blight.
By the four winds!What is he saying? Would I have embraced my Weaver gift before the decree that marked us a blight? I want to know everything, but where to begin? I think about it as we ride in silence, quickly eating the distance between Sky’s Edge and Emberton. The sights distract me. I can’t believe I’m doing this. If anyone finds out, I’ll surely learn how the Sky Order punishes disobedience. But that’s a topic I’m not ready for, though there’s something else that has been on my mind for some time. I begin, planning each word carefully.
—Um, I’m afraid Silas will remain a thorn in my side from now on.
Zephyros’s only response is a rumble in his chest that I feel in the soles of my boots. The sense I get from him feels like a closed door. He knows where my comment is leading, and he doesn’t want to talk about it. Well, no point dancing around the subject then.
—What happened to Merrill Pyrewing?I ask.
No response.
—Silas thinks you should be put down because his brother is in a wheelchair. Completely ridiculous, of course!
