“Would either of you tell me what the hell happened last night?” said Noah. Neither Dara nor Fia answered. “How can we resolve this if you don’t tell us?” he said.

“There’s nothing to resolve,” Dara said. “I already have a solution to your problem. I don’t understand why you won’t agree to it.”

The problem was that Dara wanted to leave, but their next mission’s success greatly depended on him. Pekka was quieter than usual. He only said he would still help them at Trench Forests even if Dara didn’t join, but when it came to Dry Lands, he was no more useful than the rest of them. The dealer bug was found in the white-sand biome. The nearest one was in the far southwest of Carnation, across canyons and a merciless golden-sand desert. To take horses, they would need to go around the canyons, which would take extra days, and the horses would attract the predators of the Dry Lands, which were plentiful and of more than one kind. The most vicious of these were nocturnal pack hunters that tracked the sound of Garden horses’ hooves.

In the sand deserts, the horses struggled anyway. They would need the Ayyar Oxen, which were native to the desert but injured easily during long trips on hard ground, so they couldn’t take them along. The initial plan was to find wild ones and break them if needed or just walk through the sand desert. Unfortunately, the only person among them who had been to the white-sand biome, fought the desert predators, and even tracked and trained Ayyar Oxen was the man who now stood to leave. However, he offered a very attractive deal in exchange for going back on his word. If he were to fly there alone, he could be back in as little as two weeks if all goes well. 

Fia had observed every flicker cross Dara’s face as he explained things, and she was sure there was more to it than he let on. Since she didn’t know what he was hiding and didn’t want to ask after what happened last night, she simply denied his help and decided they would figure out another way. 

“You’re not responsible for us,” she said, and for a split second, anger flashed across his eyes.

He hid it well and spoke calmly when he did. “Would you walk away if the roles were reversed? It’s so easy for me; I can fly there and back in two weeks, and for you, it would be three or four months in the desert. I’m afraid I will end up watching over you that entire time, unable to leave. Don’t be so harsh on me.”

The simplicity of it all made Fia doubt him even more. She realized he hadn’t said a word about what to do once in the white-sand biome. The moment she started asking about the insect, Dara’s mannerisms got more proper, if it were possible, and she knew she was on the right track. The insects were flightless and the size of a cat. It would be easy to capture them for him; he could shoot from above and not have any problems. Then it just hit her. 

“How do they live?” she asked. Dara’s brow twitched, a hint of annoyance. She felt triumphant. He beat around the bush like he often did, talking without saying anything. Fia looked him in the eye. “Dara, answer the question clearly; let’s, please, be pragmatic about this.” He considered it for a moment, she could see the conflict in his eyes, but he gave in. The insects colonized in caves. So, he won’t be able to fly to get away, and he may need to deal with a swarm. 

“It’s too risky going alone,” she said. “You’ve been bitten once already,” 

“I didn’t know the risk they posed back then,” he argued. “It would not happen again.” 

But this wasn’t true. Swarms were unpredictable, and if bitten, he could easily end up another victim of the desert. Noah had supported Dara so far, but now, he sided with Fia. It only meant one thing, either they go without him and he ends up trailing them, or they drop the whole thing until they found another way. Fia proposed the latter.

“What if he takes one person with him?” Akira said, who had not said a word so far. ”Dara, can you fly carrying someone?”

“I can’t carry one of the men that far,” he said, “but I can certainly carry you.”

“Yes, I can go,” she said.  

Noah looked at Fia. Akira was a natural wonder with a bow, but she rarely held a sword or stepped out of a city without a skilled entourage. She couldn’t track, hunt or survive alone in the desert. If Dara became incapacitated, it would be over for both of them. Fia knew what Noah’s look meant. She nodded approval. 

“Fia should go,” he said. 

“I agree,” Fia said. Dara looked at her with that unreadable face. She continued, “If you won’t take me, then we need to spend time preparing Akira. But if you do, then it’s only two weeks. Then you can leave.” 

He stared at her for a long time. So long that it made Akira and Noah nervous. Even Andrik, who had been sitting quietly with his arms crossed all this time, stirred. Fia stubbornly held his gaze. Two could play this game.

“It’s fine for me if it’s okay with you,” Dara said at last. 

“Okay, then we go together,” she said.

They were to fly out the same night.

---

It was two hours after sunset, and Fia had changed back into her robe, secured all weapons, and packed water and food for the way. Dara preferred to fly at night, which also worked to avoid the hot desert sun. She went to the roof alone, where he was waiting for her. It was awkward enough being carried by him; she didn’t need an audience too.

Dara’s robe was tied around his waist, and he wore a black fitted shirt that allowed his wings to open. His bronze elytra had a dull shine in the moonlight. They looked like normal shoulder blades in shape and size, explaining why they were practically unnoticeable when covered. 

“Shall we go?” he asked. 

Fia nodded. and he swooped her up, one arm behind her back and the other under her knees. 

“Dara! No!” 

A few confusing minutes later, she stepped in close to him and awkwardly put an arm around his neck, and he finally understood. He adjusted his robe and weapons to the other side, put an arm around her waist and pulled her close. The warmth of his body made her breath hitch and she finally understood the modesty of being carried like a princess. Too late. 

His adam’s apple bobbed and she made a conscious effort not to stare. She breathed in and smelled his hair. No, his skin. Possibly both. The smell was enticing, woody, nostalgic… Pencils. Dara smelled like a box of freshly shaved pencils but sweeter. She swallowed. He was too close! 

Something brushed against her arm and she flinched. His elytra had lifted. She glanced at him, envious of his nonchalance and glad for it. Grayish-white satiny ends peeked out from under the elytra, shy and trembling at first, almost unworthy of their debonair master. Then, delicate folds unfurled one after the other until they bloomed out into large semicircles, reaching out almost five feet on either side of his body. The paper-thin membrane with champagne edges was translucent once opened, reflecting a dull rainbow where the light from the house hit it right. The creases were still visible on the wings, fanning out to the rounded bottom. 

“Let me know if it gets uncomfortable,” he said and took off.

Once airborne, the flight was quiet. They flew in silence for what seemed like several hours. She watched his wings for a while, then looked at the starry sky since the ground was hardly visible. But soon, the natural sleep cycle, combined with boredom, made her doze off. 

She ran through the dark forest, dodging gnarly branches. She wanted to escape the person ahead of her but she couldn’t slow down, and the faster she ran, the closer he got. Ground crumbled beneath her feet, and she fell.  

Fia’s eyes shot open. The blue glow of twilight lit the sky. Dara had interlocked his arms to keep her from slipping and for the first time she found value in Noah’s lack of inhibition who would’ve had her straddled like a baby by now. She dismissed the embarrassing mental image, tightened her grip around Dara’s shoulder and pulled herself up. “I’m sorry, I dozed off.” 

He let go of his wrist and wrapped his hand around her waist without shifting his gaze from the horizon. “It’s okay.” These were the first words they’d spoken since he took flight. 

She looked down at the hint of ground below and thought of Mikael and the Trench Forests. Nothing about this flight felt like that one. Dara glided more than he flapped and his breathing was even despite the distance they’d covered; it was quieter and hence calmer. Nevertheless, she was reminded of the burden she was. “Am I too heavy?” she asked. 

Dara snorted, looking exceptionally pleased with himself. Fia made a face. The man had to settle for carrying her because he couldn’t handle Noah or Pekka and now he had the audacity to—it dawned on her. “You could’ve carried anyone.”

“I was fourteen when I arrived; I could’ve carried anyone to Devil’s Breath and back.” 

Arrivals with developing bodies were known to have a physical advantage in the long run. Fourteen sounded like an exaggeration but she was far too upset to care about that right now. “Have you even seen the insects?” He glanced at her and just blinked in acknowledgment. “But they’re not as you said?” He shook his head. She continued asking questions and he continued to provide silent answers. “Are they bigger? Smaller? So, they’re smaller. Really? About the size of a mouse? Smaller? A walnut? A walnut! Dara! Do they even live in colonies?” His lips curled. “Are they even dangerous?” 

“The bite, yes, but they are solitary creatures that live in the sand.” 

“Let me off.” He acted like he couldn’t hear her anymore. “Let me off, Dara. Did you think this would impress me?” 

“Impress you? Flattering yourself much?” 

Fia felt her insides tighten. “Let me go!!”

His eyes shifted to her with sudden surrender and her breath hitched.

“No, Dara!” She whimpered as his wings dropped to his sides. Fia clung to him as they plummeted through the sky, her scream caught in her throat. She looked down, not knowing when they had flown to such a height, and felt as if her soul was leaving her body. She looked back at Dara, who was looking at her with a tranquil face, no care for the fact that they were hurtling to the ground at an unimaginable speed.

His calm was contagious, and Fia relaxed. He still had one arm wrapped tightly around her. She was glad she was scared speechless, and didn’t give him the pleasure of watching her scream for her life. She gave him a reprimanding look, and his lips curled. After a lingering look, he looked up at the horizon, and she followed his gaze. The sunrise had lit the sky in an orange hue, the sand a surreal golden. The half moons shone dimly, like two scoops of the desert thrown into the blue sky.

Fia’s mouth hung loose. She had never seen a desert, much less seen it from such a vantage point. It took her breath away. She looked back at Dara. He was still looking at her in a strange, blissful way, and she couldn’t help but smile. His eyes lit up. He opened his wings halfway and wrapped his other arm around her, pushing her head and body into him before opening his wings fully, jolting them to a stop. He removed the other arm from her as soon as they were gliding. For several minutes, neither spoke. Dara soared, gaze set straight ahead. 

“Why are you flying so high?” she asked. 

“Less chance of running into something.”  

“Dara… Why did you lie?”

“Because I was angry at you.” Fia’s brow knitted, and she stirred uncomfortably. He glanced at her. “You think you can see through me like you have some superpower, but it’s because I let you. If I wanted to manipulate you, I could do so, and not you or any of your friends would be able to stop me even if you all worked together.”

Fia felt embarrassed at how easily he played them. The little hints in his demeanour that she mistook for giveaways were all deliberate and yet he looked more aggrieved than her.

“You waltz into my life whenever you please,“ he went on, “and then as you leave, you have the audacity to always say or do something so exceedingly infuriating that I can’t sleep and no amount of flying or walking makes it any better. You keep apologizing, but never for the right reason. It’s always something that never even crossed my mind. You think you are so smart now but you are no better than the delinquent teenager who couldn’t speak when she saw me.” 

Fia’s mouth flew open, then snapped shut. She cleared her throat. “About the bounty hunters…”

“Damn it, Fia! Who cares about the bounty hunters? I went to kill them and found them dead. I didn’t even dwell on how they were killed.” 

“You went to kill them?”

“Flattering yourself again?” 

She was, to her own disappointment. “Why did you go to kill them?” 

“They were chasing the Gifted at the behest of underground traders. I had to make an example of them.” 

So not only was he a skilled liar but also a killer. Surprisingly, the latter didn’t bother her as much as the former. “How did the others die?” 

“They fell from a very high place.”

Fia glanced down and reflexively clutched his collar, felt his grip tighten around her waist and caught his stifled smile. “I’m not still a delinquent teenager,” she said pointedly. “How old are you anyway?” 

“Fifty-seven.” 

“You’re not even that much older than me. We’re like Ruttie and Jinnah.” He gave her a puzzled look. She rushed to change the subject. “It’s not like I couldn’t talk to you at all; it was only in the beginning.” 

Dara’s head recoiled incredulously. “Nothing sensible came out of your mouth. Absolutely nothing. You followed me around for six months, and then you didn’t even say goodbye. Do you know how many times I visited the Capital when you were there? Seven! In those seven times, you never made an effort to meet me. You were my star pupil, and it seemed like you actually were fond of me till the night before we parted. Who treats their trainer like that? Nothing about you is normal.” 

“It couldn’t have been seven times.”

“Seven times! I met Noah all seven times! And I met Mikael and Akira on most of them, but I never even saw you!” 

“You came on such short notice, and it was always so rushed. I had work….” Her voice trailed off. 

“If you really wanted to, you would’ve made time.” 

“If you wanted to meet me, you would’ve stayed longer.” 

“Why would I stay longer to meet a young girl who was so infatuated with my appearance that she couldn’t think straight?” 

Fia exhaled sharply. “You are so full of yourself!” 

He let out a quiet breath “You didn’t ask me to wait; if I did it on my own, it would’ve been… inappropriate.”

She had little to offer as an explanation, so they both went quiet. 

“Who is Jinnah?” asked Dara. Of course, he wouldn’t just let it go.  

“The founder of my country.” 

He nodded. “Who is Ruttie?” 

“The prime minister.”

“The prime minister?”

She nodded. She’d slipped up mentioning the star-crossed lovers, but there was no way she was going to let him know Ruttie was Jinnah’s wife, twenty-four years younger than him. In her heart, she apologized to Liaquat Ali Khan, the real first prime minister of Pakistan.

“We remind you of your country’s ruler and his prime minister?” said Dara, incredulously.

“Not his prime minister; he wasn’t a king! You need to get out of this monarchical mindset. He was the leader of the independence struggle, and she was the first democratically elected prime minister of the country.” 

Dara’s eyes smiled even though his lips barely moved. “I look forward to finding a nation for you to exercise your political aspirations.”

Fia nodded approval and felt his belly shake. “Will you leave when we get back.” 

“No.”

“Did you ever have the intention to leave?” 

“No.”  

“I don’t like you very much right now.”  

“I don’t care.” 

“Please don’t let go.” 

He laughed.