Page 38 of Scales of Time

Essan hissed softly and said, “You are correct, Kris.”

She smirked and kicked her feet. “Are you going to put me down?”

“No.”

He walked over to a wide stool on a platform and settled with her in his arms. Kris looked up at him. “No socialization for me?”

“They can come to you.”

He settled her on one of his thighs and looked at her. “I have gotten used to having your sole attention.”

She laughed softly, and in the distance, there was a trumpeting shriek. “What the hell is that?”

Yorness came up and sighed. “The beast you were riding has been watching for you and calling for you. That was the call that you heard. We have her confined in the barn.”

“Oh. Is she okay? We were flying on a warm cushion of air to give her a lift.”

“Is that how you did it? The news agencies who saw my footage could not understand how you made her fly.”

“Straight skills.” She laughed.

The moment the laughter made its way out of her mouth, the answering shriek from the barn was heard, and then, there was a crash. Other avians were making startled noises, and the enormous crack indicated something else had been destroyed.

The shriek sounded again, and Kris muttered, “I think that’s for me.”

Yorness sighed as the beast was doing flying launches toward them. “It figures that the runt would be attracted to you. Here she comes.”

The bird ran at Kris full tilt, knocking guests left and right. She backwinged, breaking right in front of Kris, and waddled over, making a soft chirping.

Kris looked at Essan, and he sighed. “Fine. We have room.”

She slid off his lap and went to the bird, stroking the feathers and rubbing her head against the bird’s neck. “Hey, little girl. Sorry, I got swept off. The overlord can be a bit of a bully.”

There was a soft hiss from behind her. “And Lady Kris can be unaware I can hear her.”

“Oh, I know.” She felt fluffy wings wrapping around her. “I am going to call you Vahshee.”

The bird chuckled and clacked her beak happily. She was trying to nudge Kris onto her back.

“No, Vahshee. Not without a saddle. I would fall right off if you did anything fun.”

Vahshee blinked, pulled her head back in a chicken-like fashion, and then backed up, whirled, and sprinted to the barn.

Kris looked at Essan. “I think she went to get a saddle. Can I go for a short flight?”

“I will be right behind you.” He nodded.

There was more crashing from the barn and a few startled shouts. Vahshee came prancing back to the party with the saddle in her beak.

She gave the saddle to Kris, but Essan got up and put it in the right position, tight enough, and after that, he lifted Kris and settled her on the bird. She quickly put her limbs in the right places and strapped in.

Essan made an excuse to Yorness, and Vahshee was walking through the crowd. She began to run as soon as she could, and Kris built warm air under her. The wings flapped, and then, they launched. Heavy wing beats pushed them upward until they were in the sky and gliding was possible. The city was visible, and even the farm was available now that she knew where to look.

She glanced to the side, and Essan was flying with them, gliding where they did and banking when they did.

“Okay, little girl. Back to the party.”

Vahshee turned, and they returned to the party with Essan following.