CHAPTER 14 MILI
“I have to go to the volcano, Grandmother,” I say.
Then, I hear the strangest sound: someone gasping, a mere few paces away from me. Still jumpy with the memory of Kar, I whirl around and make eye contact with a dark-haired man. He’s hiding behind a fallen oak, and I quickly notice another man beside him. They’re handsome , I think quickly, right before a sensation of utter panic sets in. I mean, have I learned nothing after the experience with Kar? Two tall, dark and handsome men in the middle of the forest definitely spells trouble.
I realize, suddenly, what if these men are actually dangerous, what if I’m being hunted. Why else were they hiding from me, watching me.
Before either of them can react, I launch myself into the air and start sprinting down the stone path, as fast as my legs will take me. After picking up a decent momentum, I open my wings and let the wind lift me into the air. I glide expertly, weaving through low branches and soaring above brush. Quietly, I thank the Mother of Ethelinda for my agility, then I duck out of the path and into the woods.
I hear a shout from behind me, “Mili, wait!” but I don’t stop. I don’t even let myself wonder how these two strange men know my name; I just fly. I fly, and fly, and fly, gliding over tree roots and bushes and brambles and toadstools, and ducking under branches and vines and spider webs. Terror courses through me, and I flap my wings harder, vowing to stop for nothing.
They are two large, full-grown hunters from the look of it, so if they do intend to harm me (as I’m assuming they do), I won’t stand a chance. As such, I make it my primary goal to outpace them. Getting to the volcano, I try to convince myself, will happen eventually; if I veer off-course, I’ll just find another route as needed.
I don’t entirely believe in that plan, but there’s no time to sit down and reevaluate. All I can do is fly.
About an hour into my airborne sprint, I have to slow down to keep from falling unconscious. I’m fast, but not remotely used to flying such long distances at such a rapid pace, and my body is feeling the toll. My throat burns from taking in gasping breaths, and my head spins from breathing so shallowly for such a long time.
After another half hour at that moderate speed, a horrible thought crosses my mind – what if I just gave up here? I force back a sob at the idea. I could do it, I know. I could just give up and let these strange men take me. I’m being hunted, Chrysthinia is sick, Aurora is perpetually dissatisfied, Kar left such a bad taste in my mouth, and I’m just tired.
I’m not just exhausted with this flight, either; I’m tired of it all. I’m tired of praying for the town, tired of my futile efforts to heal everyone, tired of seeing all our food and flowers shrink away and die before me without any of it in my control to help.
The morbid train of thought gets blissfully interrupted, though, by the vision of a towering cinder cone a few hundred wing-paces away. I cry out in delirious relief, hardly believing my eyes. I close them forcefully, then open them again, and choke out a laugh when the volcano remains in front of me.
I force myself to speed up again, realizing with a jolt that I can make it, I can survive. My body feels leaden with the effort, and I feel tears of exhaustion stinging my eyes, but I don’t stop.
The end in sight, I steal a glance behind me, praying quickly to the Realm that the two men have fallen behind. I almost scream, though, when I turn to see them still only a few dozen paces behind me. I don’t know how they’ve kept up with my flying, and my head spins with confusion and terror. They seem to have sped up as they realized I was headed for the volcano, too, because the distance between us is closing.
The volcano’s massive granite gates heave open as I turn to face them again, though, and I push harder than I ever have to reach them. The earthy ground beneath me turns to rough rock, and I pant as I drop to the ground, letting my wings curl back up behind me. I choke back a frustrated cry as I realize that even now, I’m worried about my manners: it’s not polite to enter a stranger’s home in flight , and I really need to make a good impression on the dragon.
I push myself harder to keep pace as I switch to running on foot, and sprint mindlessly into the opening in the gates. I turn behind me once more to see that the two men have stopped, and it looks like they’re screaming my name.
It’s futile though because in the next moment I feel myself plummet as the ground drops out below me. I try to fly to catch myself, but the fall is too fast, and the wind slams my exhausted, helpless wings closed. My body rotates from my momentum, and I spin from facing the chasm floor to the ceiling of the volcano’s entrance hall.
Just as I’m losing consciousness, there’s the hazy sight of a colossal dragon above me, wings outstretched powerfully spicing the air. I feel the dragon’s talons wrap protectively around me, and I gasp, but instead of fear, a sense of security washes over me - I’m held firmly in its grasp, suspended in the air without the terrifying sensation of falling, as if nothing in the world could harm me anymore.
Then everything goes dark.