Chapter 28: The Storm of Shadow.

The Lycan picked his way through the long grass, brow intent and low. He moved so silently, that I was afraid my own breathing would seem like the great woosh of a thunderous wind to him. We had camped in an alcove of stone, waiting for an incoming rainstorm to pass. Seren was convinced it would hit the next morning and for once, the Lycan and she agreed on something.

It was my turn to scrounge up something to eat and before anyone could offer to come with me, the Lycan had risen and thrown on his jacket.

He crouched, beckoning me to do the same. I kept close to him, bending low. He traced the edge of a hoof-print on the soil, glancing at me. "Dinner?" His whispered.

"And I thought you could only hunt rabbit."

A fang peeked as he smiled. "A castle-born boy needs to learn to hunt. Country born Lycans are admittedly, better hunters."

"You should take some tips from Ailbrich."

"He's taught me more about life than any fancy tutor."

I thought of Sage. How he had and my brothers had taught me to fight, hunt, cook, bind and make salves for wounds – to survive. I had tutors who had taught me to read and to write, but after that, it had only been important that I learn to sew and cook. Even though, as a high-born lady, servants would have done that for me. Before Seren, I would have lived that life and I would have just existed. A half-soul, drowning under Bashkar's cruelty and my own self-hatred. Any children I had would have rotted under a mother who existed only as a canvas of skin and torment, and a father who would delight in their suffering.

"I understand that."

"I know." He glanced at me again, holding my gaze this time. A moment passed, before his cheeks darkened and he cleared his throat, shifting his attention to the hoof-prints that cut through the long grass. "Seren's appetite must be enormous. For a creature her size. I wondered how she doesn't call more attention to herself."

"Seren knows to hunt only wild animals. She's as sharp as a knife."

He held up a hand, waiting for me to pause. I did, a hand pressed to the soil. Aden took off, quiet and quick. He was gone across the grass, launching over the mount of a fallen tree. He was then a dark shape of brutal muscle and fur. The deer, standing a long ways away in the distance had no hope. As the poor creature clocked the dark shape hurtling towards him, he was on him. A bite to the neck, severing the buck's neck.

His muscles twitched and he kicked into the ground. Luminescent eyes turned to me and the Lycan held the buck aloft, chest heaving. I approached, my stomach snarling. Dinner.

"Brutal." I clucked my tongue. "Graceless."

The Lycan sniffed, dropping the buck.

"You would never have made it with all this brutal bravado." I stared up at the Lycan, hands on my hips. "I can't imagine you sneaking around cities and towns, hiding in shadows to gather information or stalk a target."

Fur sunk beneath skin. Bones shortened and teeth sunk back into gums, his mouth forming into a half smile. Dark eyes twinkled. "I don't have the patience to do what you do, Lilia Merek."

I examined him critically. The buck lay on the ground at his feet now. Blood coated the Lycan's chin, his dark hair ruffled. "You don't belong in a castle."

His head tilted. "Is it that obvious?"

"I can recognise a trapped soul. Especially since I've been one."

Aden didn't reply as he knelt to the ground and hauled the buck over his shoulder. He didn't balk as the blood leaked down onto his shirt and it clung to his skin in a sticky mess. "And what would a Dragon-Rider do if there was no war? Settle in the skies?"

I lifted my eyes to the sky, a shiver racking my spine. Barely a blip in the sky, hidden amongst the darkening clouds of a beckoning storm, was Seren. If anyone else looked up, she was a bird. A tiny one in the sky, but I knew it was her. Her soul called mine. "Seren deserves to fly amongst her own kind. She and I are bound for life, but she deserves to fly and dance in the sky with other dragons."

"A dreamer?"

"No." I looked back at him. "A distant plan for the future. A future she deserves."

"And what of you?"

I gave him a humourless smile. "You would love to know that, wouldn't you Lycan?"

"Of course I would." The Lycan stepped past me. "But your answers are your own. I am learning to wait, not to take."

"A lesson learned in childhood."

"You are a thief too, Lilia Merek."

I liked the way my name sounded, falling from his lips. So casually. A hint of humour. I followed a step behind him, hiding the smile on my face. I stepped where he did, trying to mimic the silence of his footsteps.

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The storm came in a wash of rain and thunder.

Seren sat outside the system of caves and I sat under the ridge of the roof, enthralled by the rain. A faint headache throbbed behind my eyes, my stomach heavy. A sickness. How badly timed. The thundering rain against the stone of the cave lulled me. Seren was in love with it, her eyes raised to the dreary evening skies. Rainwater sluiced down her angular face and dripped off the ridges of her horns, the points of her wings.

Her tail tapped around the stone, excitement shaking her like the cold could not.

"Go."

She looked back at me, somewhat unwillingly. "I am guarding the cave."

"We have watchers. Lycans can see well in the dark. This is a beautiful storm."

"Come with me."

I smiled. "You know that is an offer that I cannot say no to."

The shiver of being watched called my attention back to the cave. Luca sat with his back against the wall, staring out at us with a pinched expression. He had been toying with the idea of talking to me for days, but his fear always won out. I wondered if he was afraid of Seren, or of me.

"Your brother misses you."

"I am right here."

"But so far away at the same time."

Seren sensed the direction of my thoughts and inclined her head, with a sliver of growing mischievousness. I brushed off my legs and moved into the cave, dropping beside him.

"Luca."

"Lilia." Eyes, so like mine, regarded me carefully. "How are you faring?"

"Alive. That is enough."

He pursed his lips. "Is it?"

I arched a brow. Years had not washed away my ability to sense the sour note in Luca's mood. Years away had not washed away my ability to smooth it over. "It is enough if you know what it truly feels like. Come with me."

Luca eyed the thundering rain. "Into the storm?"

"You want to understand me?"

"Yes." Understanding dawned on his face and barely concealed excitement. Luca would play the stubborn and obstinate one, but he was as excitable as me. We had always been twins in that regard.

"Then hurry on."

Grumbling, Luca rose to his feet as I moved back through the cave. The others watched, their conversations filtering away as Luca joined me at the mouth of the cave. Seren eyed my twin critically, before motioning to her back with her snout.

Luca glanced at me, paling.

Ailbrich had moved to the mouth of the cave, a strange and forlorn expression on his face. When I glanced at him, he was quick to mask it. I wondered if he wanted to fly too – if the carefully leashed man wanted to experience the freedom of flight.

"I would prefer not to die in a storm." Luca murmured but clambered up into the saddle. I snorted at the graceless rise and he scowled down at me. "Are you coming up?"

"I intend to." I waited until he was seated comfortably and then I secured him as best I could. Seren was several years old, and strong enough to carry the weight of two people. It was strange to share her back with someone and Luca leaned back as I took the front, brushing a cautious hand along her scales.

"It feels stronger than iron!" He murmured.

"It is." My lips twisted, mischievousness rising at the incoming fright. "Now hold tight, dear brother."

The surge of powerful muscles was unmistakable. Luca cursed as Seren surged, leaping out from the rock in a tremendous surge. Her wings snapped out, the powerful bones holding the leathery membrane surging as she climbed. She climbed into the sky and Luca held fast, the rain wetting his hair and face and soaking into his clothes. Seren didn't torture him too much. She smoothened out, dancing below the worst of the clouds.

"It's freezing, Lilia." Luca gasped.

I didn't hold onto the saddle. I sat back and watched the rainwater on Seren's scales shine like jewels of rich blue. She navigated the storm as easy as breathing, instinctual in her manoeuvring of the gusts of wind. The rain was freezing and brutal, the wind cutting like knives against the skin. "Don't you feel alive?" I breathed.

"I suppose so." Luca said, his tone begrudging.

I twisted in the saddle and Luca yelped, grabbing at me as if I meant to plunge into the darkness. I didn't. Not now. His other hand gripped the side of the saddle tightly. "You do. You just don't want to admit it."

"It's cold."

"You're sulking."

The tiniest smile cracked. "A little bit, I must admit. It is nice."

Seren's intentions turned. I barely managed a warning before she began to surge, hurtling down through the skies with her wings tucked tight to her sides. The wind battered us and Luca's fears were too great and he held on tight, curses streaming from him like the wind around us.

She began to glide over a great road, devoid of people. The farms were shuttered tight against the storm, the walls of wattle and dab fighting against the rain. Seren twisted before she lost too much height, her great tail whipping to swing her around. Laughter, nervous and fearful, fell from my twin and the distance that would have taken hours was reduced to sand between our fingers. The fire inside the cave was still lighting as Seren landed, her claws tapping against the stone.

His legs were shaky as he dismounted, but the brightness of his eyes was unmistakable. I stayed in the saddle as Seren shifted repeatedly, eager to truly fly into the storm and feel it on her scales, on her wings.

"Thank you Lilia." Luca smiled up at me. "I don't think I could do that every-day, but... it is wonderful."

"Where is my thanks, brother by blood." Seren snorted. "I am wonderful. Now, let us into the storm before it loses it's violence."

I shared her joy, so closely that it felt like it was my own. I looked to the dark skies, violent mauve and rumbling. The excitement that rose up inside me was a base desire, stark in the need to feel the wind and rain on my skin. To feel the violence of the storm that would purge the grief from my soul and the cobwebs from my mind. The headache brewing in my skull throbbed. Out in the wild, the growing darkness seemed to ripple.

"Is it safe?" There was a kernel of worry in Sage's voice.

I couldn't look away from the skies. Perhaps it was the cold causing the edges of my mind to pulse and twist, or maybe it was my growing impatience. "I have to."

"How well does a dragon fly in a storm?" Ailbrich questioned.

The Lycan stood at the edge of the cliff, obviously nervous but biting his tongue. I appreciated the tremendous effort it took not to shove his nose in business that wasn't his.

"I won't justify that with an answer." Seren's impatience was a thin thread. Lightening flashed in the sky and with a whip of wild wind, rain washed over us.

Ailbrich stepped forward, a strange look on his face. "What does flying feel like, Seren?"

Seren looked down at him. The beat of the storm increased and a shiver skipped over her body as instinct called for her to dance in it. Our connection pinched for a moment and I blinked, watching the strangeness on Ailbrich's face abate. She stared down at him for a moment longer, before the Fae dipped his chin.

Seren looked to me. "Lilia?"

I smiled and mounted the saddle, face tipped up to the violent sky. Maybe it was Seren's own base instincts melding into me, but whole body asked to be in the skies.

Ailbrich stayed at the mouth of the cave. Mariyl joined him, solemn eyes tipped up to the dark skies. "I can feel my home in the rain. This storm rages in from the sea."

Seren stirred, restless. That bled into me and it was hard to distinguish where I began and she ended. Mariyl stretched a hand out into the rain, her face twisting.

My heart twisted, in grief and pride for my friend. We were returning to the sea, close to a home she could never truly return to. She had told me once of the life of a mer-woman. A harsh existence, even more so than that on land. A lame mermaid sank to the bottomless depths, alone and abandoned in the dark. She would be able to see her home, but she would just be considered a trapped walker, unable to exist in her old life and so thrown aside by her people to eke out an existence amongst those that barely considered her sentient.

Another wave of pain speared through my skull. The storm had a hook around my ribs, invisible and unbreakable.

Seren hissed, stirring beneath me. She gave no warning, her powerful, serpentine body coiling tight before she released herself back into the skies. She soared high and exhilaration rushed through me. She was me, and I was her. I could feel power and strength surging down my back, shifting through me as if it was my body that dragged great leathery wings through the sky.

There was smoke and fire in my throat, untamed by the freezing rain. A heart far larger than my own, thundering in unrestrained joy and unbridled freedom that could bring a tear to even my eyes.

Together, two bodies, but bound by the rain and our own friendship, we soared through the storm. My headache grew, my vision dimming but I could not bring myself to care. We lost ourselves in the darkness of clouds and soared outwards once more. Seren dove, humming at my delighted laughter.

Lost in ourselves, we flew far away from the group. The scent of the air changed and though I could not see it, I could sense it. Like a thrill in my heart, lulling and hurtling forward. Seren left the eye of the storm and the world cleared below us, illuminating a darkness beneath that was unbroken by the silver moonlight. I felt it's movement beneath me, the current and tide as if it was a part of my own body and mind.

"Is this magic?"

Water. A great magnitude of it.

Seren tipped low, her head sweeping from side to side. I blinked, wincing as my head spliced again. The agony was growing, but the sea whispered to me. The raindrops that clung to Seren's scales, not yet evaporated, were twinkling eyes.

"Lilia." Seren's voice had changed.

Gone was the earlier joy, replaced by something I rarely heard from her. Fear.

I followed her line of sight ahead. The evening was dark and dreary, but what approached was not night. No. A great wall of adamant, a churning beast of shadow and ice bore down on the horizon. There was no form, but it rolled over the great sea like smoke. The moon high in the sky began to feel its approach and the world grew un-naturally dark as that beast stretched from sea to sky.

Seren drew her wings out, coming to a hurtling stop. We hung there for a long moment.

The darkness had no shape, but Seren began to tremble, her breathing quickening. I felt as she felt it – an instinctual part of her recognising an ancient threat.

"Fly Seren!"

Seren gathered herself, shaking her horned head. With a great shake of her tail and a twist, she began to hurtle down to the water where the wind was not as strong. Her wings extended wide and she pushed herself harshly. I bent low to the saddle to prevent the wind dragging at me. I glanced over my shoulder. The wall of shadow ate the light, steadily gaining on us. Seren pushed further, straining from the effort. Flying in the storm, though exhilarating, had drained her.

"I do not think we can escape it." Land beckoned ahead and along the shoreline, I could see the twinkling lights of small fishing settlements. Many miles to the side, I could see the dark rise of a fortress, illuminated by many lit lanterns and the occasional flicker of the adjoining lighthouse farm.

"Yes we can, Seren" I snarled.

Again, I glanced over my shoulder and terror swamped me.

The beast of shadow and ice was right behind us and as I looked at it, it surged once more, opening a gaping maw of slithering shadow teeth and swallowed us whole.

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Welcome back to Freeling Lilia. 

Seren and Lilia cannot stay away from the skies. Tell me your thoughts, theories and conspiracies. 

What do you think this great shadow beast is? 

Are Lilia and Aden growing closer?

What do you think awaits the thieves and soldiers now? 

Until next time - Saoimarie.