Heavenly Mortals-Act One

VIII-Qi'ra ( II )

They crossed the land at a speed no one else could manage. Distances that took hours were crossed in minutes. If a normal person were to try and cross the tree-dotted landscape surrounded by mountains to the north, they would have taken hours to complete half of their current distance.

Qi'ra felt the cool air against her face. It was refreshing and exhilarating.

She'd never felt so free.

She was travelling with a strange group with a strange motive that she didn't really find solid, but she was secretly loving every second of it.

Before long, Aetos swooped down and landed. Qi'ra came to a stop with Calum nearly tumbling into her. She never saw him so winded before.

"That meteor shower must have been tiring," Qi'ra said.

Calum looked at her, an eyebrow raised. "A little, yeah. I'm going to have to count on you shadow-travelling. You won't transport me into an abyss, right?"

"We go through an abyss during shadow-travel," Qi'ra said.

"And that disorienting thing that you did?"

"My first shadow-travel experience was the same. You'll get used to it,"

"Alright, so straight that way," Aetos pointed to a stretch of land in the distance. Like the rest of the region, it was dotted with mountains and trees. The temperature was significantly colder than what Qi'ra was used to.

"I will be flying at top speed. Aella will fly with me. But before we go," Aetos lowered himself, eye-to-eye with Calum. They touched foreheads.

"Hey, what-" Calum protested.

"An empathy link," Aetos said. "I will be able to hear your thoughts. If you consciously direct them to me, of course."

"Wait," Calum said, "I read something about empathy links. If I die, will you die too?"

"That theory has never been confirmed,"

Qi'ra rolled her eyes, "Why do I feel like you've read about everything?"

"Did a lot of reading as a kid. And then there's Usoara's book,"

Aetos cleared his throat and said, "Try and put a thought in my head, Calum."

Calum nodded and closed his eyes. Aetos seemed to frown. Qi'ra wondered what he was thinking about.

Maybe he was telling Aetos to kill her, that he sensed deceit?

Aetos put his talons on his hips, "I do not need a bird bath! Do I look like I will fit in a little marble basin?" Qi'ra looked at Calum in confusion.

Calum laughed, "The link works. You and Aella take off. We won't be far behind,"

Aetos nodded to them and turned to Aella, "Come on, Aella," she turned into a column of wind. Aetos spread his wings and took off. The wind from his wings was powerful enough to flatten the grass around them.

Calum turned to Qi'ra, "Are you ready?"

"Yeah, okay," She extended her hand. Calum was hesitant. "What? Scared I'll break your arm?" She asked.

"Yeah, er, my dad told me never to touch a woman without her consent,"
Qi'ra grabbed his arm, "Chivalry is overrated," she kicked his shin, "Ow!"

"That was for breaking me arm in the duel,"

"Well, aren't you good at holding a grudge?"

Qi'ra grabbed him by the neck and flipped him to the ground. He grunted, although Qi'ra knew he'd used Chakra to brace it.