His brow rose. “Are you suddenly wary of drawing blood? That’s not the warrior I saw slaughtering demons twice her size in the melee.”
She shrugged. “I have a strange affinity for the moths.” Because they’re prey, and so am I.
“We needn’t kill them, if you don’t want to.”
She shielded her eyes, catching a flicker of movement in the dark sky.
Gracefully, the two bats glided onto the roof, just a few feet away.
Bael mounted Vesperella, gripping his neck while Ursula climbed onto Sotz’s shoulders. She wrapped her legs around Sotz, and the fabric of her dress fell away from her thighs. I’m going to have a bit of wind burn by the end of this journey. Bael stared at her for a moment longer than necessary before lifting into the air.
By the time she and Sotz found their way to the roof’s edge, Bael was already circling in a wide arc above her.
She tightened her thighs around Sotz, leaning forward to whisper into his ear. “Follow Vesperella.”
Sotz beat his wings, taking flight off the roof’s edge. He climbed higher, until he flew just beside Bael and Vesperalla.
“Nice work!” Bael shouted over the wind.
“Soon, it’ll be second nature.”
Bael’s flight climbed higher in the sky, rising above the crater’s rim, and Ursula followed a few yards behind, moving in time with the beating of Sotz’s wings.
“See if you can keep up,” Bael yelled. He leaned down, increasing his speed.
Ursula leaned low over Sotz’s neck. Simply adjusting her weight was all the encouragement he needed. His wings beat more strongly as they raced around the crater’s edge in the pearly sunlight. Ursula’s hair blew wildly about her head, but she could still see a stunning view of the crater.
Ahead of her, Bael and Vesperella charged forward, extending their lead and climbing higher into the sky.
Ursula crouched even closer to Sotz. “Can you catch them?”
Sotz’s wings whooshed thorough the air and they sped up. Ursula’s pulse raced as the wind whipped over her skin.
Despite the icy cold that bit into her exposed knees, a strange feeling rippled over her body, almost as if she belonged here, up in the air under a clean, black sky.
She pulled alongside Bael, thrilling at the speed of the flight. They’d climbed higher than she’d ever flown in the carriage, swooping up above Asta’s spire. A frothing sea of moths rose up before them.
With a whoop, Bael directed Vesperella straight at the moths. Sotz plunged after them so fast, Ursula almost lost her grip. She tightened her grasp on the bat just as they hit the edge of the cloud.
The moths parted as they entered, both encircling them at a safe distance. Sotz’s ears perked up, and a low growl rose from his chest. A rich sound vibrated through her gut—the deep thrumming of the moths’ beating wings.
Sotz winged forward, deeper into the cloud.
Ursula leaned into him. “We’re not killing today, Sotz. Just riding.”
Another growl rose from his throat. She had the feeling he wasn’t thrilled about that idea.
Beating his enormous wings, Sotz rose again, climbing out of the cloud of moths until she could see the black sky once again.
From here, Bael led her and Sotz around the edge of the cloud. The writhing mass extended high into the dark sky. Form there, the light of Asta reflected off of the moth’s wings, washing them in flashes of purple and violet. There was something almost hypnotic in the way they undulated around the spire.
One hundred feet above her, a bat burst from the cloud, a bleeding moth in its jaws. Another followed. She could hear the beating of their wings as they passed over her. Sunlight highlighted their forms in the dark sky, beautiful and terrifying at the same time.
Far above her, another bat burst from the cloud. Ursula gasped. The pale form was unmistakable—the white bat of the Gray Ghost.
“Bael!” she shouted.
He turned to look at her, but when she tried to point, the white bat had disappeared.
“What was it?” he asked, circling back.
She followed his path, the wind whipping through her hair. “The bat of the Gray Ghost.”
“Did you see where it went?”
“No!” Bloody thing disappeared. Much like a ghost.
Leaning down close to Vesperella, Bael began curving back to the manor. Ursula leaned closer to Sotz, picking up speed to keep pace with Bael. Her pulse raced with a sharp thrill as they swooped lower over the city. I actually think I can do this. I can keep pace with Bael just as well as anyone.
She might have frostbite on her legs at this point, but the clean feel of the lunar air called to her. Somehow, she felt she was meant to fly.
And clearly, so was Bael.
Vesperella dove sharply for the roof of Abelda, and Ursula followed close behind. As the black marble drew nearer, Sotz beat his wings, slowing his descent. He glided gracefully to a landing by Vesperella’s side. Bael was already dismounting.
She stepped off Sotz. The inside of her thighs burned from exhaustion, and the outside from the freezing wind.