Dance of Shadows / Azriel x Oc

Chapter Nine

I squeezed my eyes shut, aware of how tightly I was gripping Azriel's neck. I hoped it hurt. 

He was flying fast, too fast, though the beat of his wings were swift, and his arms around me were strong, assuring me he wasn't going to drop me. At least the butterflies in my stomach were now a product of my fear of flying, rather than the male who held me. 

I refused to ask him to slow down, refused to give him the satisfaction of knowing how terrified I was. I was almost certain he was doing it on purpose.

"Will you stop squirming." Azriel scolded. I opened my eyes, finding his own hazel ones narrowing at me. I shot him an icy glare of my own. "I don't really have any certainty that you won't drop me." Azriel rolled his eyes. 

"If you keep moving around, I might." I froze. The male laughed.

"I'm only joking. I would never drop you." His gaze turned light, his tone playful. If we hadn't been thousands of feet in the sky, and he hadn't been the only thing keeping me from falling to my death, I would have punched him right in the face.

"What the actual fuck is your deal?" I almost yelled, not able to contain my anger. Azriel looked away at my frustrated expression, focusing towards where he was flying rather than me. I felt him stiffen a bit though, felt his breath catch.

"What do you mean? I'm being nice." He replied innocently. I rolled me eyes.

"You know what I mean. You act like you hate me, for no real reason, because according to everyone you're usually the calm and composed one. Then you go all crazy when I want to go one a mission. Just... what the hell is your problem with me?" I couldn't keep the pain out of my voice. Azriel's flying faltered, suddenly falling a bit, before continuing to soar at a steady pace. "Stop that." I hissed, not being able to stop myself from grasping him tighter. My arms were tied around his neck so closely that I hadn't even realized how little space separated our faces.

Azriel looked at me once more. His eyes, for once, had emotion in them, that wasn't hatred or frustration. The were filled with sadness. He sighed. "I don't hate you, Asteria." He said softly. I hardly heard him over the roar of the wind. It had begun to snow softly, the white flakes sticking to my black hair- and Azriel's. "I find that a bit hard to believe." He didn't avert his gaze from my eyes.

"You're right. I owe you the truth." He took a breath. "Asteria you're-"  

Azriel was cut off by a loud, pained scream. His own scream, I realized abruptly. He wrapped his wings around me, cocooning my body.

He was shielding me, I registered. Because he was being shot, over and over, with arrows. Why wasn't he using his power? I wondered. They were swerving left and right, up and down, but he still kept getting hit. I panicked, unable to see anything, not knowing what was happening under the protection of the Illyrians wings. All I knew was that Azriel screamed one last time, before his body stilled.

And then we were falling, down, down down-

I clung to Azriel, unwilling to let him go. The arrows had stopped, thank the mother. But that didn't stop the fact that we were falling rapidly toward the Sidra. 

I can't swim, I suddenly remembered. 

I started frantically thinking for a solution as we neared the river. Once we were only meters away from colliding, I shifted myself to be positioned under Azriel as I held out my hand, urging my power to obey me. I silently cursed myself for not remembering how awful I was at controlling it when I was panicked. 

We stopped inches before the Sidra, my back touching the water as I floated over it, Azriel's unconscious body floating only inches above me. I almost laughed with relief,  when something  sharp hit my waist. The power I was using immediately vanished, and we both fell into the water.