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Chapter Fifty-Two: A Familiar Stranger
Ilyria held the token between her hands. At first nothing happened. There was no mist. The ground beneath her feet was still the stone of the House of Madame Skia, and when she looked up and looked around, she saw …
… the faces of her friends as though through a dark veil. They stared toward her but no longer at her. She saw Flame’s confusion. She watched Fierce flapping and hovering, claws outstretched. Fierce was just outside the veil and Ilyria knew that she would be able to pass through.
“No, Fierce,” she said, and her voice echoed in the strange space. Her breath came in puffs of white cloud as though it were cold, yet her skin prickled with moisture and warmth. Fierce tilted her head, then flapped a few more times and went to settle on Miasma’s shoulder. Miasma winced as Fierce settled by making biscuits with her paws. She is no dragon, thought Ilyria, all cat.
Ilyria turned in the darkening space, her steps sounding muffled against th
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Ilyria and the Lightning Bird Chapter Fifty-Three: Five Days to Twin Moon
“Suluu,” she said. Though her mind was racing she could not find the words to say to the man who had spent intimate days, weeks with. The man who she had even considered having a baby with. The man who she had betrayed Astrapi with. “Ilyria,” said Suluu. His voice cracked and she saw his need. Why do you stay away from me, his grey eyes seemed to ask, why do you not run toward me? She remembered the feel of the water against their skins. It was the last true memory. The water at the oasis. The feel of his mouth catching the water droplets that ran down her skin. The cool night air on their bodies. And then he was gone. She could not bring herself to recall the time lost in Utzed. That was an illusion that felt unfair. A conjuring of the twisted minds of the sirens. Not what she had wanted, Madame Skia had been wrong. The sirens had taken her loves and turned them all into physical desire only. There was so much more. She looked at Suluu standing in hi
Ilyria and the Lightning Bird Chapter Fifty-Four: Astrapi's Story
“I did not want you to take on that journey to Utzed,” said Astrapi, beginning his story, “But you were so angry with me, I knew you wouldn’t listen, so I joined the caravan as Suluu. It was easy enough as long as I didn’t let Thassa see me.” “You believe I am the one to find Nicos on my own, but you didn’t believe I could be the one to find Utzed?” Ilryia was no longer angry, just incredulous. Astrapi’s concern for her sometimes showed itself in strange ways. Or not at all. Like when he had left her on Yxat. “I’m sorry,” said Astrapi, “I know this is hard to follow at times, but I’m learning about you as we go. I am always amazed by you.” Ilyria tried not to show how much his praise meant to her but then gave up and grinned happily at him. “Me too, actually,” she said. “I’m also sometimes amazed by me.” They laughed together, Ilyria snorting flower tea from her nose which made them laugh even more. They settled again, leaning t
Ilyria and the Lightning Bird Chapter Fifty-Five: Menos
Astrapi was shouting something at her, but she could not hear him over the sound of the sandstorm. Her ears were filled with the shifting, sighing sand that felt as if it coated every inch of her. Beneath her scarf she licked her lips and her tongue came away coated with it. So far, Menos was more like the City of Sand than the City of Earth. Astrapi was still shouting and she turned her head, to see him, irritated as the tiniest exposed parts of her skin were strafed. He was holding up his arm and pointing at it. His arm? He wanted to show her something on his arm? Her arm. Of course, the codes. It would be impossible to bring out the map in this storm though so what good would the codes be. She held up her arm, shaking her head and as she did so, the sleeve fell. Something bright red and blinking shot out from her arm and hovered directly in front of her face. Astrapi was nodding and gesturing with his hand to move forward. She took a step and the b
Ilyria and the Lightning Bird Chapter Fifty-Six: Benguzi
Ilyria and Astrapi rose higher and higher as the ground beneath them churned. The garden was gone, the changing city made of sand was gone. Even the sandstorm that had swirled around the city building and rebuilding the spires and domes and craters, had dwindled. Where once there had been buildings there were now only waves blowing across the desert sands. With Astrapi’s hands around her waist, and her feet tucked around his, she pushed up her sleeve. The skin there was smooth and pale and absolutely blank. She turned her head in a panic. “Astrapi,” she said, “Look!” But Astrapi was struggling to hold both her and the harness. The bag holding the seedling swayed wildly and Ilyria was afraid it would fall. If it fell to the earth below, it would be lost. Astrapi nodded. He had seen it too. They had to find somewhere safe and soon. Either of them would be able to conjure a path back to the aerie. But then they would lose time travelling to the n
Ilyria and the Lightning Bird Chapter Fifty-Seven: The Chord of Life
“What in Oren’s name was that?” said Ilyria, fighting to control her temper. There was no time for it. They had a job to do here, and they were down to roughly three days by her calculation in which to do it. “You were laying unconscious one minute in a ridiculous room full of mirrors and now you are here? What is going on? Is this what you had pictured?” Astrapi held up his hands in surrender. “Forgive me, Ilyria,” he said, his tone contrite, “This,” he said turning around and gesturing toward the hall around them, “This is what I remembered, this where I tried to take us.” Ilyria’s anger abated as she saw that Astrapi’s apology was genuine. “I remembered too late about the defense system. And then,” he smiled at her, “I remembered that you would figure it out and that there was nothing to worry about.” “What kind of a defense system is a room full of mirrors?” said Ilyria, “And what if I had not?” There was a brief flicker of worry across As
Ilyria and the Lightning Bird Chapter Fifty-Eight: Two Nights Before Twin Moon
They ate quickly from the provisions Astrapi had packed. Ilyria felt bone-weary after the thrilling night they had spent. She leaned against a pillar at the entrance to the ledge where they had danced most of the night. The fluorescent shapes were gone now and the earth below them was shaded with pre-dawn indigo. She did not turn to look for the moons because she knew what she would see and she feared the further reminder of how little time they had left. She berated herself. They should have slept while they had the chance. Instead, they cavorted like lunatics. She grinned. They had. And it had been glorious. She thought then that if the Twin Moon rose and they were unable to save Idixat or the rest of their world, it would be terrible to have lost a moment of such unforgivable, unreasonable joy. She would not trade it for a night of rest. Astrapi wrapped the gold harmonicus carefully in its snug leather holder. He smiled as he packed it away in the bag that already c
Ilyria and the Lightning Bird Chapter Fifty-Nine: All is Lost
Ilyria stared up at the sky. Impassive and beautiful, it was streaked through with magenta where dawn’s light broke through the darkness. Yet it augured no hope in her, only sadness as to what would become of them all. Astrapi, if he were even still alive, would he be condemned to life as the Lightning Bird, forever at the outskirts of life and love? Zlo would rule with cruelty, of that she had no doubt. Her mother’s destruction would be complete. Madame Skia? Thassa? Nicos? They had survived since the One World. But would they survive this? She shook her head, thinking of the companions. Bonbon—did she even know what Thassa was? Loulou and the Mogul would never have a chance to fight for a love that the Palace would probably never tolerate. From what she now knew of the Princess, Ilyria felt certain that she would never allow her son to marry someone she herself had not selected. Ilyria had glimpsed the cold cruelty that lay beneath her enchantment. Miasma? Miasma could not survive
Ilyria and the Lightning Bird Chapter Sixty: Idixat
The guardians had abandoned the city gates. The stood wide open, the iron carvings depicting the long lineage of Moguls now looked ominous. Each Mogul looked the same as the last. Each with their own version of the Princess. Ilyria shivered. She had to remind herself that the Princess had helped her. So why was she so chilled by their last encounter. What had she said? That she was proud of her creation. Ilyria had assumed she meant the garden of the enchantment where they had last met. But was that what she had really meant? And it scared her to the bones to see the man that Nicos had once been, gone, replaced by the milky-eyed pet to the Princess. The guardhouses at the gates were empty. Ilyria glimpsed through the window that the table had been set as for dinner. A jug was on the table with drops of condensation still forming. Ilyria licked her lips and skin flaked off under her tongue. She looked around. The streets around the gates were deserted as well. She could still
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