The Deadly Curse

13.2 | Giant

//giant, part 02// 

Nissa had pinned her hair back with clips that appeared to be made from sticks and flowers. She looked stunning. Her thousand-watt smile matched her perfectly.

"Belline, ya look like a dreamboat!" she greeted, to which I curtsied. As she helped me onto Gaia's nest, she asked, "Ready?"

I nodded. "Very. How about you? You nervous at all?"

"I'm stoked," she answered. She lathered something in her hands, then rubbed Gaia's glass coat. I assumed it helped with flying—maybe protected her coat against anything in the sky. "To go back to a place from my Spriteling blooms – it's excitin'! I always wanted ta go back to tha caves once I was older. But moving to Yantra to be a breeder got me too busy. So I'm glad I can do it now!"

Finished preparing Gaia for the trip, Nissa turned to me and asked, "You nervous to talk to Fate?"

"Yes and no," I admitted. "I've been rehearsing what I'll say for a couple days now. But I am nervous. I'm dropping in on her unannounced. I'm not quite sure what sort of impression that'll make."

Together, we mounted the dizayen. Somehow, Gaia could carry both of us with relative ease. Of course, dizayen were bred for Sprites to ride them, and Sprites were much heavier than humans. I must've weighed practically nothing to Gaia.

As we made our way up through the canopy, from behind me, Nissa remarked, "Oh, I'm pretty sure Fate knows you're comin'. She knows everything that happens on Eternity."

The idea that Fate probably knew about my arrival both comforted and worried me. At least I wouldn't anger her by popping in unexpectedly. But I was still uninvited. If she did think like a grandmaster chess player, though, then undoubtedly she knew why I sought her out. And if that were the case, then she might've already had her answer. No matter the argument I provided, she'd made up her mind. Maybe I had no chance.

"She sounds like an omniscient being."

Nissa clapped her hand on my shoulder. "Hey, it'll be fine. She's fair. Objectivity personified."

With that, we settled into an air current. As we coasted through the sky, far above the worries below, serenity slipped through my pores into my bones. While we passed over the tree that housed the Western Wind Cities, my body and mind relaxed. I gave into the freedom of flight.

When we left the Wind Cities, however, with stretches of forests below us, my brain kickstarted again. I rehearsed my speech two—three—six times.

Before my nerves could overthrow me, I asked over my shoulder, "Is it a long journey there?"

"Longer than you think. Though, when we were Spritelings, it felt quick. We were laughin' and tellin' stories the whole way there. We showed off our flyin' skills, too."

"You said you moved to Yantra City? Where did you live before?"

"Iola City. Oh, it was a nifty place to live. I had lots of friends. But the jobs they got for Iolans just ain't for me. I was never any good at craftin'. And I've always loved these babies." She patted Gaia's flank. "So as soon as I could, I packed up and moved to Yantra. They got the better breedin' levels. Plus, ya can actually make a livin' workin' with the dizayen here."

"Was it hard, to leave your friends?"

"Oh, sure. But it's not like I never see 'em. We visit each other when we can. And of course, I see Leddy lots." She giggled.