Hades
The ground fell away beneath me.
The first few beats of my wings were violent, each downstroke a thunderous clap that rattled loose stones, tugged at clothes. Air surged under me like a living thing, fighting and yielding in the same breath. My body strained against gravity, every muscle burning, but then—suddenly, impossibly—it gave.
We rose.
Unsteadily at first, my legs still reaching for the familiarity of the dirt.
I gritted my teeth, pushing back the instinct to stay close to the ground and letting the air beneath my wings carry me. My chest constricted momentarily, the cavity suddenly too tight from my hammering heart.
The village shrank below, a patchwork of pale faces and flickering light. Gasps followed, fading with the ground itself, until there was only the roar of the wind, the whip of my wings, and Kael's grip tight against my shoulders.
