The Shining Falcon

«It is. And I will shorten your journey a bit, my dear.»

Maria turned to him, puzzled, then drew in her breath with a sharp gasp. Apparently avian forms ran in the royal family, because Finist's uncle had just shed his monk's robes to become a great golden eagle.

A golden eagle large as a man.

It isn't possible! thought Maria wildly, then, Don't be a fool!

Of course, a magician could alter size as well as shape. After all, she had suspected Finist's shape-shifting magic included a casual changing of mass as well as form. How else could a tall young man shrink to falcon-size? Apparently such changes could go the other way as well…

Gentle golden eyes turned to her, bidding her to approach.

«Uh… you want me to ride you?» Maria hesitated, recalling how tired he'd been after casting that disguise-spell over her. Surely carrying what would now be a super-avian weight, plus her own, would be much more of a strain. Not wanting to insult royal pride, the young woman added delicately, «I won't be too heavy for you?» The eagle shook his head.

«And it's all right? Leaving the monastery like this, I mean?»

That merited only a rather condescending glance. Of course, Maria realized. He's still royal. Ha, for all I know, he may even be the abbot!

Gingerly, she seated herself on the smooth-feathered back, feeling the unexpected strength of the muscles beneath the skin, smelling, bemused, a faint, strange scent midway between the sharpness of human and the warm dustiness of bird. After a few awkward moments spent figuring out a way to hold on, she managed to lock her legs around the base of the eagle's wings, hoping she wasn't going to interfere with his flying, and threw her arms about his neck, hoping she wasn't going to strangle him. Those powerful muscles bunched beneath her—

And the great golden bird was aloft, spiralling up. Maria clung with all her might, giddy with fear and exhilaration. At first the eagle seemed to struggle in the air, plainly rusty in the mechanics of flight. Then the wide wings steadied, catching the wind beneath them.

With a wild cry of joy, the golden eagle soared out over the mountains towards Kirtesk.

At first, Maria didn't dare look anywhere but straight ahead. But after the first shock was gone, she found herself staring boldly down at the wild tapestry of a thousand different greens that was forest and field below. Oh, it was wonderful! Someday she must find a way to fly on her own, somehow there must be a magic to let her ride the winds by herself, or with Finist at her side—

Akh, Finist! Maria looked ahead to the walls and towers of Kirtesk with new hope. Surely things would all be well. Surely—

Abruptly the eagle lurched in the air. He'd plainly lost the current he had been riding. Now, judging by the frantic beating of his wings, he couldn't find another. Maria froze on the feathered back, terrified that if she moved, she would upset the eagle's precarious balance.

In a moment he was in control again, wings beating rhythmically. Maria felt each stroke of the wide golden wings surging through her.

But how this must be wearying him! And carrying my weight, too. How can he possibly—

He couldn't. The sound and feel of his wingbeats were growing ragged, uncertain. The eagle staggered in the air, caught himself, staggered again, trying in vain to find a current steady enough to let him rest his wings by soaring. Maria's heart lurched each time he slipped. She should have known it, after seeing how that transformation wearied him. For all his pride, she never should have let him try this. The man was aging, gentle, used to quiet monastery ways; he didn't have Finist's young strength. And he was tiring with every wingbeat.

«Land!» she shouted to him over the wind's roar. «Please, don't try to go on! Just land!»

But stubborn, determined, he fought on. Maria glanced down at the fields still so far below, and heard herself moan.

«Please, please, land!»

The beat of the great wings was growing slower as current after capricious current slid away from him… Maria could hear the eagle gasping for breath. He lurched sideways—

And lost his hold on the sky. Maria screamed, clinging to the eagle with all her might, wondering in panic if it could possibly matter to her if they fell together or separately. Earth and heaven whirled together in a sick-

Chapter XLV

Earth Magic

The forest was all about her, dark, terrible, in the moonless night. The air hung heavy and still, stifling with the smell of rotting vegetation—

The forest was all about her, waiting …