"Kuro… ” Asha trails off. “You’ve met Gust too, haven’t you?”

Gust…?

That must be the prey-bird’s name. It seems he told it to Asha but not me.

I frown and gaze at the ground. I can’t stand to look at her… it feels like I’m responsible for the horror flashing in Asha’s eyes. I never wanted to hurt her, only prevent her from getting in trouble with Keuvra. Was there some way I could have handled this situation better?

“When did he start talking to you?” Asha takes an unsteady step towards me. “How much do you know?!”

I gaze at the sky and quickly flick my head away. The terms of my Divine Flight were clear: assist Asha in becoming a member of the flock and keep my muzzle shut about Gust. This isn’t even the first time Asha has mentioned him, but… I won’t lie to her. She’s my mate, my sunshine on cloudy days. I can’t lie to her! I already feel terrible for suggesting there was a reason she was brought to Felra. Oh, gosh, I hope Keuvra will forgive me for what I’m about to do!

“He led me to you,” I murmur, barely louder than a whisper. It feels like the weight of the entire moon against me. “On the day you landed in Felra, I saw a glowing prey-bird perched upon a tree. When I flew to investigate, it took off and led me towards the clearing where you were fighting the False-kin.”

Asha opens her muzzle to speak, but no words spill out.

“That night, he woke me up and asked me to help you. He said…” My voice trails off. Are the jaws clamping down? Is it only a matter of time before our leader punishes me? I furrow my eyes and continue, “He said you would spend time in Felra, maybe a long time. Keuvra wanted me to help you, Asha.”

Asha winces, and she slams her eyes shut in pain. How much heartache is she enduring? I can’t imagine what it feels like to believe everyone is always trying to manipulate you. I’ll admit, I’m concealing some details about my meeting with Gust. I want to be truthful to my mate, but this is so much more than Asha can endure.

“So, it’s true,” Asha whimpers. Her body is beginning to shiver. “The deities were manipulating me all along. How could I…”

…! She’s going to…!

“Asha, wait!” I leap to her side and quickly nuzzle my head against her neck feathers. I’ve seen this reaction far too many times! She’s about to—

SKREEEEEEAK!!!

As her voice echoes across Vaercia, Asha falls to the ground and buries her head against the stones. She girts her fangs and howls, “I was so stupid! I shouldn’t have stayed in Felra!!”

“Asha?!” I cry, wrapping my wings around her. Instead of the explosion of anger, tears are streaming down her face. She curls her talons as she wails in agony, causing the stones beneath them to crack and shatter. Asha’s heart begins to stampede and her whole body shakes uncontrollably. I’ve never seen her have this kind of reaction before. What’s going on? Shouldn’t Asha be angry? Argh, skunkscent! What should I do?!

“It’s okay,” I murmur, unable to think of anything else to say. “You’re my mate and I love you.”

Asha inhales sharply, gasping for air as her body continues convulsing. As best as I can, I work to preen the feathers on her crest. Asha once performed the same act of compassion, and it helped me calm down. I can only hope it works for her, too.

“I love you, Asha.”

As I work her feathers, uncomfortable thoughts stew inside my head. This is yet another outburst of emotions from Asha that I can’t understand. Usually, she explodes with anger when she’s stressed out, but… what is this? Why is she so overcome with misery? Is there no more anger for her to express?

I’m no stranger to powerful emotions, but I’ve never understood Asha’s rage. It’s so spontaneous; one moment, she’s irresistibly sweet, and the next, she’s an uncontrollable monster. And she’s been like this since she joined the flock! Asha first lost control of herself on the day I brought her to my den in the lower valley. Then again, after she tried to fly home and discovered Relmoon had tricked her. And I’ll never forget the most painful moment of our relationship was when she charged me outside Nakino’s den, leaving me no choice but to defend myself. Time and time again, her outbursts fail to make sense to me. Oh, Kevura, I wish there was something I could do to help her! It shatters my heart to see her so miserable!

Below me, Asha stirs. She gasps for air and lifts her head to gaze silently across the island. She seems crestfallen like she was expecting somewhere else to be here.

“Kuro…” she trails off. “Why did this happen to me? To my family and my Kingdom? How could the deities allow this?”

I gaze down at her. It takes me a moment to form a response. “There has to be an explanation. You know they can’t interfere with Jade.”

“I know…” Asha mutters. “I know about Azurrel’s doctrine, and why the deities are forbidden from interfering. To do so would disrupt the ‘natural order’ of the moon. But Gust has helped us ever since we met. He…”

Asha trails off as the negative thoughts overcome her once more. She buries her face into my neck feathers and begins to sob anew.

I sigh, feeling the weight of the decisions that led us to this sorrowful moment. I admit it — when Gust told me that Keuvra would allow us to be mated, I felt emboldened to pursue Asha. Sometimes, it was to my detriment. It’s all my fault, of course; I began courting her far too quickly. In hindsight, it’s obvious that Asha wasn’t ready yet for romance. But after learning that Keuvra had given me a Divine Flight to help Asha, it felt like it was my duty… no, my destiny, to be mated with her. On nights like Couple’s Night, where it seemed like we would never be together, I kept reminding myself what Gust told me. And when Asha and I finally kissed on that golden dawn… everything finally came together, and all was right in the world. It felt like I had Keuvra to thank for fulfilling my life’s dream.

But after hearing her curse the deities, I can’t help but wonder if Asha’s right. Did Keuvra really have some kind of ulterior motive for asking me to help Asha? But, why? Was it really because the deities didn’t want her to interfere in the downfall of Ellyntide? Argh, this is all so stressful… I was going to eventually tell Asha about the rest of my meeting with Gust, but I’ve changed my mind. She deserves to know it wasn’t the Chimeric Stone that changed her into a Lithan, but her mental well-being is more important.

Just then, I sense something at the edge of my vision; the skies over Varecia have turned golden bright, illuminated by the uncomfortable glow of searchlights. No doubt, the Farlanders who live here have been terrorized by Asha’s wailing cries. To make matters worse, Maki is beginning to rise against a cloud-cluttered horizon. We’ve been in Varecia for far longer than we intended. I feel my feathers rise in apprehension — I know Asha is miserable, but we can’t stay here. We need to leave Varecia as quickly as possible.

“We should go,” I say, nudging my head against hers. “I—I can see more airship-prey over Varecia.”

Asha gasps and rips her from my embrace. Across the city, airship-prey fill the skies like a flock of migrating prey-birds. They’ve heard Asha’s yells, and now they’re tracking us like a scared prey-animal. At seeing the scene before us, Asha’s breathing becomes erratic again.

“It’s alright,” I nuzzle my head against her neck. “We’ll be safe, I promise.”

As she often does, Asha stares at me deep in thought. “Yeah,” She murmurs after an uncomfortable moment. “We should go.”

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I rub my head against her one last time and stand on all fours. Asha is slow to join me, taking a silent moment to begin moving. Eventually, she clears her nose and stares back at the mausoleum behind us.

“Kuro,” she speaks in a fragile voice. “I don’t want to leave my family.”

I join her at her side and drape my wing across her. “You’re not.”

Asha looks up at me and slowly, a gentle smile returns to her face. Oh, I’ve helped to make her feel better!! It warms my heart brighter than the sun when Asha smiles at me. I would do anything to protect her smile.

“Come on,” I say, beckoning with a wing.

I begin walking towards the nearest ledge but only make it a few steps before sensing Asha isn’t following. I look back and find her staring into one of the dens. Her crest perks in surprise, and she turns to bound forward towards me.

“Which way should we fly?” I ask as she catches up to me.

Asha rumbles in contemplation as we continue towards the ledge. Since we’ve landed, Maki has risen through a mostly cloud-free sky. We can no longer rely on the cloud cover that hid us from sight during our flight here. To our left, the densest part of Varecia is still crowded with searchlights and airship-prey. Naturally, we can’t fly that way.

“What about this way?” I ask, extending a wing to our right. “There are mountains over there. I’d feel safer flying with so few Farlander lights.”

Asha shakes her head. “That’s on an airship-prey flight path to a city called ‘Rhl.’” She pauses, and her face grimaces. “We would have to fly over the eastern weald. I don’t have the strength to return there.”

The eastern weald? That sounds familiar. Where have—

…Oh, that’s right. Asha told me it was the place where she transformed into a Lithan and watched her best friend die trying to protect her. Yeah, we can’t fly in that direction.

“So, that leaves directly in front of us.” I sigh, gazing ahead. Searchlights shine like glowing tree trunks from an endless expanse of Farlander dens, drifting silently through a dark, cloudless sky. There aren’t as many lights as the densest part of Varecia, but Asha assured me it would be a huge mess to be caught in one of the beams.

“They’ll be looking for us in the sky,” Asha says. “If we fly low, then maybe we can avoid the searchlights.”

“And what if someone on the ground sees us?” I ask.

Asha shuffles her wings. “Hopefully, our feathers will be too dark for them to recognize us. Once we leave the city, we’ll be able to avoid the places where Farlanders live until we return to Felra.”

I curl my talons inwards — I don’t want to know what will happen if the searchlights capture us. Still, I can’t look anxious in front of Asha. She needs to see her mate projecting confidence.

A strong wind whips against my feathers as we approach the ledge, bringing the pungent stench of Farlander scents. Before us is the vast field of Farlander dens, punctuated by a patchwork of searchlights.

“Then we’ll try our best!” I announce, unfurling my wings. “Asha, are you ready?”

Slowly, she opens her wings and looks at me with a soft growl of acknowledgment.

We leap from the cliff and fall into a gentle dive to gain speed and quickly pass the searchlights. Gazing at the scene before me, my heart begins thundering against my chest. Here we are, flying through a field of Farlander dens, surrounded by airship-prey on all sides. No Kin has ever attempted something so dangerous. If we survive unscathed and return to the flock, they’ll tell stories about our trip to Varecia!

As we glide closer to the lights, Asha’s head perks up suddenly. “Another cloud bank!” she announces, flicking her ears forward.

I look past the searchlights and gaze skyward to see a low cloud bank dimly lit by the city’s lights. Broad and dense, it’s just like the clouds we flew through on our trip into Varecia. If we can fly there without being captured by the searchlights, then we’ll surely return to the flock safely. I flick my gaze to Asha; Communicating without words, we agree to rise into the clouds after passing the lights.

Asha lowers from the sky mere wingspans ahead of me, flying just above the tops of the trees. Farlander dens whiz below us, overwhelming my senses with a potent mix of burning wood, small prey-animals, and other strange scents I don’t recognize. I stifle a cough, worried it could call attention to a wayward Farlander on the ground. How long will it take to reach the clouds? I’m anxious to make it there, even though the searchlights before us seem so imposing. Lights that shine taller than the Grandfather Tree? Why do Farlanders create such frightening things?

Asha slowly banks right, leading us along the outside perimeter of the dens. Somewhere far to our left, we pass the first set of searchlights idly scanning the sky above us, none the wiser to our covert escape near the ground. We pass the second, as silent as a resting jimbal in its den. As we pass the third, I gaze skyward to see Maki rising from a cloud bank over the center of Varecia. We can no longer rely on the cover of darkness to conceal our escape. Will we make it to cloud bank in time?

As we glide past the fourth set of lights, the closest ones yet, I feel my nerves begin to relax. It seems like we’re halfway through the field of Farlander dens; it won’t be long before we reach the clouds!

Then something unusual happens.

One of the lights from the fourth set begins shaking erratically. With a swift motion, it jolts across the sky and lowers its beam directly in front of us! Asha’s feathers stand on end, but she says nothing as she flicks her tail to dive suddenly. I follow suit, gasping aloud as the searchlight moves sideways across the sky faster than any creature I’ve ever witnessed. Tail feathers brush treetops as the light passes silently overhead, a feather’s edge away from capturing us.

That was far too close for comfort! But before I can relax, the rest of the searchlights begin lowering from the sky to hunt the same section of air we were just flying through. Somehow, they’re communicating silently across the field of Farlander dens! How is that possible?! A pit forms in my stomach — is that what it feels like to be hunted as prey?

Above our heads, the sky is turned bright as sunhigh. Asha pounds her wings, trying to gain speed against the rapidly advancing beams. She squeaks, sensing one of them lowering to our altitude. She tilts her wing to bank hard to the left, and I flick my tail and bank hard to the right. With the wind howling against my feathers, I catch a fleeting glimpse of golden light across Asha’s tail feathers.

“Fwegh!”

With the trees clipping our feathers, Asha has no choice but to gain altitude. But by now, it’s far too late. All at once, the searchlights communicate with each other and begin converging close to our location.

“Close your eyes!” Asha shouts.

I furrow them just in time. In an instant, the sky turns brighter than the brightest warmwing day. I’ve been captured!!

KREE!!

I open my eyes just enough to see a golden pillar of light illuminating Asha as she rises through the sky. She’s been captured, too! I flap my wings to follow, but try as I might, the searchlight remains affixed to me. It’s no use!!

VRRRRRRRRRRRRR….

Like an enormous creature coming to life, a piercing and dissonant cry begins howling across Varecia. What’s going on?! Are we in danger?!

“KURO!!” Asha cries. “It’s okay!! Get to the clouds!!”

I cry out in acknowledgment, hoping to mask the terror in my voice.

RARR!!

As if the searchlights weren’t frightening enough, now there’s a huge monster coming to life in Varecia!! How can Farlanders have such power?! We have to flee as quickly as possible!!

Pounding my wings to keep up, It’s not long before we reach the safety of the cloud bank. Asha is the first to arrive, gliding headlong and without hesitation into the swirling darkness before us. As she disappears from sight, it becomes apparent that these clouds are far thicker than the ones we flew through earlier. That’s fine by me! We should be able to hide from the monster coming to life somewhere across Varecia. As I slip into the mists, I find my vision completely obscured. With Asha nowhere in sight, I cry out to my mate.

ROARR!!

SKREE!!

We communicate by long-range cry, flying through the clouds as long shafts of diffuse light franticly dart about in a futile attempt to capture us again. As we fly on, the beams begin to disappear until there’s nothing left but darkness and the lonesome howl of the monster coming to life. I exhale, feeling a momentary respite. Our return trip to the flock just got a whole lot more dangerous, but we were able to escape the searchlights without getting hurt. Asha sounded confident when she told me not to worry about the monster… I don’t understand what’s going on, but I trust her. If Asha says we’re safe, then we’ll be safe.

We fly for a time, the sound of the monster still echoing around us. Asha and I have continued our long-range calls, but we still can’t see each other through the darkness. Just how big is this cloud bank? As the monster’s cries begin to subdue, I start to hear a new sound from ahead of us. A low, grumbling noise. Could that be…?

SKREEEEEEEAK!!!

The furious cry of a Lithan splits the air like a crack of thunder. It’s Asha’s!! But what’s happening up ahead?! Oh, Asha, please be safe when I find you! I pound my wings to regain speed until the wind whips against my feathers. The grumbling noise I heard earlier is growing louder and louder. I know this sound well — every time I hear it, it makes my blood turn to ice. Oh, Asha, please don’t tell me you’re…!

Without warning, the clouds come to an end. I shake my head to clear the mists from my eyes and gasp at the portentous scene before me.

It’s an airship-prey!

And, Asha… Asha is…!

“ORLANDO?!” she snarls. “What are YOU doing here?!”