Page 43 of Lies That Bleed
As we flew over the farmlands and closer to Riverine, I stroked Liana’s neck feathers.
‘How should I give you directions?’ I asked her. She’d never been out of The Wilds.
‘Think in pictures and send them to me,’she responded.
Think in pictures… okay. Every human-creature bonded was different, and each pairing had to figure out how they would best work together and eventually fight together in battle. It was a huge part of what we would learn at boot camp.
I flashed pictures into my mind’s eye about different parts of the city, and then finally stopped on the giant stone castle that we called home.
‘Oh that’s easy. I see it from here,’Liana said.
I reeled back. She did? I squinted, peering at the ground. There was no way she saw my house fromhere when we were still hovering over the north end of the city. I certainty couldn’t see it.
‘I have special vision,’she told me, and understanding dawned on me.
That made sense, and was super cool.
‘What other gifts do you have?’I asked.
‘I can breathe fire, emit a poison from my talons if I want to, fly, see super far, fly super fast. I’m a good judge of character just by smelling someone, I am obviously immune to fire, and I regenerate and rebirth so that I never die.’
Hah! That was all.‘You’re amazing.’I reached out and stroked her neck feathers.
She nuzzled into my hand.‘Oh, and I heal within minutes. I think you got that from me too.’She peered back at me, noticing I had no burns on my body.
‘Thank you for that gift,’I told her honestly. I couldn’t imagine the pain of trying to heal from burns that bad.
‘Can I ask you more questions or is this annoying?’I asked her. A creature and their human had to work out their personalities in the beginning. It could be a bit like having a new roommate. I didn’t want to overwhelm her.
‘Not annoying,’she told me, and I sensed a smile in her voice.
‘I saw that your mate passed and that you had children.’
She nodded.‘But they are all gone now.’
I frowned.‘How can they pass when you are immortal?’
‘They were males like my mate. Only females rebirth.’
Right, she had shown me that.
‘I’m sorry.’
‘I also consider Onyx as one of my children.’
I grinned at that. Thinking of Liana mothering Onyx made me smile for some reason.
‘And that golden egg, you said it was yours but your mate is gone…’I was almost embarrassed to ask the question, but if a baby firebird was going to be born in The Wilds without a mother…‘Should we go back for it?’
Her entire body rattled with what at first sounded like a cough and then turned into what I now recognized as a laugh.
‘Aisling. You are a woman who bleeds, yes?’
My cheeks went red and I knew I never should have asked her.
‘Yes,’I confirmed.
‘But every time you bleed you are not pregnant?’
