The Heavenly Host

The man’s large golden eyes suddenly caught her. So entranced was she that she barely noticed the mischievous grin on his face. She only noticed the extremely chiseled jaw with perhaps a day’s worth of stubble. The stubble extended to most of his head, and Jenn blinked to realize that the man’s head had been shaven on both sides, leaving a single stripe of long hair running down the center, almost like a horse’s mane. The hair was black at the base, tapering up to a brilliant gold at the tips. It was breathtaking, Jenn realized.

If she thought his face took her breath, that was before her eyes drifted beyond his face. What she had thought was a dark cloak was not a cloak at all, but large, black, feathered wings rising up from his back. They were slightly unfurled to assist in his balance. The wings were lined with a gorgeous shiny black down on top, along with deep black coverts, while the lower primary and secondary pinions changed to the same gold as his hair.

The guard was an aetós or aetón or... she really did not know the word. “aetós...” Jenn managed to whisper in surprise. She had heard of the legendary beings, but had never seen one, nor expected to.

The guard smiled broadly and then chuckled, apparently familiar with the reaction he was having on her. “Aetóên,” he corrected gently. “I am an Aetóên in the common tongue. aetós is equivalent to humans; Aetóên corresponds to the singular human. But in particular, I am named Danfaêr.” He effortlessly lifted her and her heavy pack and spun them around from the ledge and onto the large landing pad at the top of the mountain. He released her gently, ensuring she was stable, and then turned back to where Trevin had apparently fainted into Hethfar’s arms, as planned.

“Whoo.” Gastropé let his breath out, shaking his head. “I guess that bridge really is treacherous if three of us tripped and fell.”

“You tripped, I was shoved, and she planned her faint so she could cuddle,” Jenn said while internally scolding herself over her reaction to Danfaêr.

“What are you talking about?” Gastropé asked, looking at her as if she were crazy.

“Never mind; it’s just ridiculous.” Jenn shook her head.

Gastropé frowned for a minute and then his eyes widened. “Oh, I see why she would do that.” He stopped and thought for a moment. “I have to admit, Treyfoêr smelled really good. If I was into guys...”

“Please!” Jenn said, wanting him to shut up.

“We’re ready to load up!” Maelen called over to them. He gestured for them to join him, so Jenn and Gastropé headed over to where the seer was standing near a wagon. Actually, Jenn realized, it was a rather odd wagon; it had large iron wheels that were sitting on parallel iron rails. The wagon had sides about four feet high.

Maelen pointed at his own pack in the wagon. “We put our gear here and then ride in the next cart.” He gestured to a platform on wheels closer to the mountain. The platform had several wooden bench seats with backs and end panels, sort of like Jenn had seen in churches. There were metal bars running along the backs of the benches so that people in the following bench could hold on.

In all, there were four carts. The wagon cart and bench carts were in the middle. On the ends were more bench carts, but those bench seats had no backs, and it appeared, in the dark, that they had leather handholds for each position on the benches.

“Elrose,” Trevin said, walking up with the sorcerer, “we sent your large gear through on a previous trip, so it’s already on the other side near the bridge gateway. Everyone load your stuff in this cart; we will then tie it down with a tarp. Maelen” — she turned toward the seer — “I’d suggest you and Gastropé put your staves in the cart as well. The ride through the mountain is a bit bumpy and you’ll probably want to hang on in the cart.”

“Do we go all the way through the mountain?” Jenn asked.

Trevin smiled and nodded. “Almost straight through at this altitude. It’s about two leagues.”

“I thought we had to be at the bridge at fierdrise? I don’t think we can make that,” Gastropé said.

Trevin just chuckled. “Oh, we’ll make it; it’s only about a ten-minute journey.”

Gastropé looked at the wooden carts on metal rails. “We’re going to be traveling at twelve leagues an hour on this contraption?”

Trevin chuckled and nodded. “Up and down numerous inclines and through several large caverns and over a couple of large chasm bridges. So, as I said, you may want to hang on tight.”

Maelen and Gastropé secured their staves quickly in the cart. It was hard to say, but Jenn thought Maelen may have turned a shade of Gastropé gray. Elrose shrugged and put his pack in, his dark skin color hiding any signs of nervousness. Jenn and Gastropé placed their packs in the cart and one of the Aetóên she did not know began covering the loaded cart with a tarp.