It was the only way to save her life.
As his wings flexed, bringing him higher into the air, the pain in his shoulder pulsed.
He was pushing it, something he shouldn’t do. It could lead to permanent wing damage.
But these thoughts, though coming to him with clarity, were overshadowed by the fact he didn’t care.
He didn’t matter.
A shudder went through him as he pressed forward, slicing through the air as fast as his wings could take him.
He couldn’t even look down at her.
He couldn’t face it.
This was supposed to have been a calm trip to the outpost. He’d had ten days to make her fall for him. Ten days to make her choose him.
Ten. Days.
And now he was on the verge of losing her.
It made something twist in his stomach.
But now as he pressed on, ignoring the pain in his shoulder, he steeled himself against the emotions hammering away at his senses.
He had to be strong to finish this.
His lust. His need. His want. None of that mattered anymore.
All that mattered was getting her to the outpost…getting her to safety.
It’d been about four hours.
Four hours in the air.
Under regular circumstances, he would have been okay. But at the time, his body was feeling the effect of the long flight.
He hadn’t eaten much of anything, only a few of the food packets Song hadn’t eaten, so he knew his energy was low. But apart from the twin suns draining the life out of him, the pain in his shoulder seemed to increase with each flap of his wings.
It was starting to become unbearable. But he would press on.
Gulping, he held her closer. Her soft, pliant body was nestled against his in the same position as when he’d begun flying four hours ago.
She hadn’t moved.
But, even if she was still alive, she wouldn’t be able to.
The nester’s poison had no doubt already spread through her system. The worst effect of such poison: death.
He just had to hope all that occurred from this was that she’d be paralyzed for some time. It wasn’t much hope but that was all he had, and he was going to cling to it.
He still could not look at her. He would pretend she was just closing her eyes, out of her element because they were above ground. Just as she always was when he’d flown with her before.
That was all this was.
As beads of sweat covered his skin, Kyris grit his teeth through the pain in his shoulder and wing.
He would do this.
Just a few more hours to the outpost.
He would get there.
And then she would be okay.
Dark hair…dark eyes…she’d be okay.
It was bad now. So bad that he could now feel the pain in his entire wing blade. It was spreading through his muscles like a fire.
Still, he pressed on, too afraid to stop and take a break, too afraid to even look at her face for fear of what he would see there.
As the pain coursed through his shoulder and wing, he felt himself dip through the sky in a spiral.
Falling. Falling.
He was falling.
Must. Keep. Altitude.
As he fell, he worked his one good wing to keep his altitude.
He had to work that one wing harder than the other for most of the journey now, lest they fall and crash into the ground below.
He couldn’t afford to continue.
It would no doubt cause permanent damage if he kept forcing his wings to carry them forward.
But he also couldn’t afford to stop.
If he did…Song…she wouldn’t survive.
He had to make it.
He had to get them to the outpost.
If he had to choose between flying, something that was second nature to him, something he’d enjoyed since he was a child, something that allowed him to be free…if he had to choose between flying and Song, the choice had already been made for him from the very first time he saw her.
He just hadn’t known it yet.
But now, he did know.
There was no choice to make.
He’d just have to lose his wings.
The suns were getting low. He’d been flying now for what seemed like ages.
Time was moving so slowly and with each second that passed, he knew the chances of her surviving grew dim.
He had to make it.
But as he gave his wing one more flap as he soared through the evening sky, the pain that hit him was almost unbearable.
Never mind the pain across his chest from the open wound, the pain in his wing felt like he was tearing out his spine with his own hands. The pain blurred his vision so much he could hardly see in front of him.
But he had to do it.
He had to make it.
Ignoring the pain, he pressed forward.
The outpost was supposed to be just a few minutes away now.
If he could just...
But his wings couldn’t bear the weight of them both anymore.
As a heart-stopping pain pulsed through the injured wing, Kyris grit his teeth hard as all his energy left him.
Gripping her against his chest, he tried to keep them airborne, but it just wasn’t happening.
He was losing altitude. Fast.
Falling.
He was falling again.
Must. Keep. Airborne.
It wasn’t working. He was going down.
Down.
Down.
But as of it was a beacon of hope, as they fell through the air, he saw it. The tower.
The outpost tower in the distance.
He was close.
Closer than he’d thought.
The outpost was just a few more lengths…
It gave him renewed hope and strength.
It was breaking him apart from the inside out but he flapped his wings again, so hard he felt as one of his wing blades broke.
The pain that shot through him made him grunt and clench his jaw, but it wasn’t enough to stop their descent.
The pain was nothing.
He was a soldier. A rebel. A fighter.
He could deal with this.
No matter how painful this was, the pain of losing her would be worse.
Breathing hard, he caught a slight wind that was passing through his wings and flapped against it.
It would be enough for him to glide closer to
