Wings

Soren loved the feel of the wind in his face, the powerful beat of Tera's muscles beneath him. The great beast powered them through the air, only slightly slowed down by the weight of the halfling on her back.

Far below them the countryside opened up, the spires of conifers reaching up to grab them from the sky, the crags of the cliff faces breaking up before them. Tera glided past monolithic precipices with a great rush and thunder of wings, banking sharply to rise across the sky, the throat of the wind singing them out into open space.

The leather harness creaked as Soren leaned farther forward, gazing over Tera's shoulders, searching the ground for anything unusual. So far they had avoided a motley band of robbers, the smoke from their campfire giving early warning. Other pursuers shadowed them with greater acuity, but the Captain seemed to expect them with a resigned sigh, and not for the first time did Soren wonder what the Captain was hiding.

He spotted a pack of wolves, a few deer, and once, in a secluded glade, a pair of Dryads dancing green to gold through leaves and trees. Nothing to worry them.

Soren to one last look around, rubbing the downy fur on Tera's neck, and strained in the biting wind for one last look, before circling back. He pulled the fur coat closer to him, and they swooped back, gliding for a second through a cloud bank. Despite the recent excursion, the land-bound party had not made much progress, and they were soon approaching.

Tera shrieked in warning, a piercing sound that split the chill air. Soren glanced back down, to where the party should have been, and heard faint shouts and the clanking of metal. Their was trouble.