Soul Bonding: The Stone Ring

Prompt: Soul-bonding (4)

Featuring: Azeryth, Kira (rider)

Wordcount: 1203 

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Only the soft whoosh of the wind echoed as Azeryth lazily glided, slowly gaining altitude. A small black-haired figure perched on the stryx, clutching his neck feathers more out of habit than necessity. The saddle provided much more comfort and security, even though Kira didn’t need it. A week had passed since Azeryth had rescued Kira from the pit, while she, in return, cleared his mind of pain and misery inflicted by months spent there. Yet, it felt like barely a day had passed. Was the deal with the devil even worth it? She, and consequently Az, were now bound to be the target of one of her kind. Kira sighed and glanced up at the stars, letting the breeze play with her hair. The night sky opened up before them like a giant pit, ready to swallow. They were all alone, with only the merciless shine of the stars to guide them. It was somewhat comforting to know that perhaps the soul of things have changed, even calming. She was a simple thief mere weeks and now, ready to complete her bond with a stryx. So much had changed and yet…

“Stop it. Stop brooding or I will throw you off.”

Kira didn’t reply to the mental message from Azeryth, letting the silence mingle between them before slowly saying, “Did anything changed?”

“What do you mean?”

“Are we truly free now? Or just bound by different chains? Take these rituals, for say. What are they but traditions, bound to be followed even if you don’t believe in them.”

“The tributes to the gods? I mean sure, I wouldn’t mind giving a tribute to myself.”

Kira laughed out loud. They were closing in, and Azeryth started to crane downwards towards the glimpsing rocks. “You, cheeky bastard!” she snorted, “the worst part is that I can’t even tell if you are being serious. And what would your highness to be a deity of? Of pretentiousness and malicious compliance?”

“Hehe, I wouldn’t mind, as long as my field would also include stunning feathers and unmatched skills!”

“Yes, I get it - arrogance.”

Azeryth didn’t reply, only grinning. Kira shook her head, chuckling. The tyto was impossible, and yet her mood was lifting. The stryx suddenly came to a stop, and the rider barely registered the landing. Only when she finally concluded that she should not think too deeply about all of this, she glanced around. It was a large clearing, with shapes circling it. Kira couldn’t quite distinguish them due to the clouds covering the only light source, but she assumed these were the rocks. She slid off the saddle, standing next to Azeryth, her cloak lazily flapping with the wind. 

“I don’t even know what to do,” she murmured. 

“Well, I deduce that the only thing we can do is wait.”

“Brilliant observation,” Kira snorted and unceremoniously slumped against the tyto’s leg. A chill breeze passed and the scrawny thief instantly took cover behind her coat, trying to wrap it closely. Azeryth cocked his head, looking down at his rider. “You look like a giant caterpillar.”

Kira scowled at the bird. “I just don’t happen to be born an arrogant sack of feathers.”

“Me? Arrogant? Says who?”

“Fine - at least I am willing to admit that that makes two of us—“ Kira suddenly went quiet, looking past the tyto’s head at the sky. She silently tapped the stryx on the leg and pointed, after which Azeryth looked up. 

The cloud that had swallowed the light had moved on, opening the window to the stars. Thousands of crystal lights sprawled over the raven blanket, with distant galaxies painting shapes on the midnight canvas. The full moon softly shone from far above, throwing light on the clearing. As the moonlight intensified, so did the mystic glow of the runes on the rock formations. Kira squinted, looking at the runic markings. “They look like the ones on my back…”

Without tearing away his gaze from the night sky, Azeryth softly hummed, “Didn’t ‘the devil’ explain to you what they meant?”

“No… she knows that I will run away if I learn everything I need.”

Azeryth didn’t reply and the quiet exchange had ended. The two stared in wonder at the beauty opening up around them. Suddenly, something creaked. Kira instantly turned to look at the source of the sound and, to her horror, found a small rock floating upright to her level of vision. With a squeak, Kira scrambled back and grabbed Azeryth’s feathers. “I knew I hit my head a bit too hard back then,” she whispered. 

Azeryth looked alarmed as the rocks all around them floated up as if pulled by an invisible force. Kira threw a glance at the stryx. “Is this supposed to happen, or I am going mad.”

“I don’t know. Although, the second part of your sentence is probably true anyway.”

Kira smacked the obnoxious dragon more as per tradition rather than meaning harm before carefully moving towards one of the rocks. Upon her touch, it bobbled slightly but returned to its original position. Kira turned around, grinning. “Do you think it can hold me?”

“Hm… I’ve been wondering that as well. I’m sure Glaux won’t take it as a disgrace if we throw you at one of the bigger ones.”

Kira continued to grin and turned back, softly tracing the cyan rune with a finger. The shapes felt painfully familiar. She turned around, making her way to Azeryth who watched another rock and peeked over his shoulder. He seemed to have gone strangely quiet. Kira carefully put a hand on his wing. “Hey, you don’t have to pretend, you know. You don’t have to be anyone you don’t want to be. We can go.”

Azeryth hastily looked away. “No, I’m fine. Just… so many things had happened. The last few months were ripped away from me as I was driven into a blind frenzy. I was stripped of any control - emotional or physical.” The stryx slightly opened his second pair of wings - the result of the alchemical experiments. 

He continued, his mental voice growing quieter. “I can’t even fly effectively with these, I wasn’t born with them. I have to keep my secondary wings closed during flight, and that messes with the centre of balance. A whoosh of strong wind and I am a goner. I thought that when I see the sky after months spent in darkness, everything will be made right. But instead, I am a mess that can’t even fly properly.”

“Hey, don’t say that. I didn’t even notice something was wrong.”

“That’s because you have never flown before. And it’s not just the flight.” Azeryth went quiet, looking at the runic stone. Kira sighed, after a moment of hesitation, hugging the stryx’s neck.

“I can’t promise things will get better, but I will be there for you. We will figure it out together if you wish to.”

“That would be nice.”

The rider and the stryx stood together, watching the rocks start their slow descend. The glow slipped away as the glow of the stars was replaced by muted darkness. Kira raised her head, looking at where the dancing nebulae formed the shape of a giant moth before tugging Azeryth. “Let’s go home.”