Page 5 of Monster Queen Rising

Fen

Wind.

I have not flown in years.

My wings open at the top of the ridge.

I don't remember how to fly.

My body does.

The cell took the sky from me a long time ago.

I beat them once. Wrong.

They spread on their own, catch the lift rising off the ridge, and suddenly I'm climbing. I remember on the second breath.

Thaw is at my left wing. Two hundred yards out. Bigger than me. Scales catching the moon when the moon comes through cloud.

Crull is below us. Running. The orc form covers ground quickly. He is keeping pace.

I am between them.

Crull glances up. The amber eyes find me through the trees. He is running flat-out and his head comes up to find me in the sky, and his look says, welcome back.

I push harder.

My wings catch a degree more air. Thaw sees it. He does not pass me. He stays at my wing. He is letting me lead the pace.

I bank into the current. The air shifts against my wings, and I follow it. I drop a wingbeat, find a thermal off the east face, and ride it up.

Thaw rides the same one beside me.

I bank harder. The wings cut at an angle and I glide down sharply.

I smile. Then I level.

We are not flying for me.

Every wingbeat stretches the bond tighter.

She is behind me. Every mile says go back.

Jen's voice stays with me. Her hand around mine an hour ago. Her palm against my face in the cold-storage room. Distance is the worst thing I have chosen.

The cell was done to me. The dosing was done to me.

This is my choice.

I choose it anyway.

The straps. The needle. The order to stay still.

No.

She told me not to die on the way.

I won't.