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Chapter Eight: Astrapi and the Magos
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Ilyria felt as though she had been waiting for this moment all her life. Her eyes locked onto his and she stepped forward. The Lightning Bird folded her toward him, his arms strong and steady. She felt the heat of his body and his fragrant breath on her face, “Don’t be afraid, Ilyria,” he whispered to her as her body become light and they left the ground. Her eyes never left his. She heard the powerful whoosh of his wings as they rose high up into the night air until they were enshrouded in the chill damp of the clouds. Only then did she look down below her to where Idixat was only a place of scattered lights in the vast indigo velvet of the desert. She felt unafraid, even when he wrapped his legs around hers and changed their position, holding her close to him in a lover’s embrace as he flew them both away.
Ilyria believed she must have fallen asleep in the arms of the Lightning Bird as they crossed the night sky, as improbable as that seemed. Yet she woke in the warmth of
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Ilyria and the Lightning Bird Chapter Ten: Not Justice
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Ilyria and the Lightning Bird Chapter Eleven: A Dance for the Princess
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Ilyria and the Lightning Bird Chapter Twelve: Enchantments and a Kiss
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Ilyria woke to the smell of warm bread and blossoming plants, and another damp salty smell she could not recognize. She sighed and turned over. Her eyes flickered half-open as she felt Suluu’s warm body lying on his back next to her. Her hand lazily traced the contours of his smooth chest, delighting in the way his skin puckered beneath her fingers. He turned to look at her, his lips parted in a smile and his eyes hooded with his desire. “Hello,” he murmured, pulling her toward him, “You’re awake.” “I am,” she said, tracing her fingers over his lips. Then her stomach rumbled noisily, “and I am so, so, so, so hungry!” She sat up trying to recall when last she had eaten and suddenly a rush of images flooded over her. She sank her face into her hands. Astrapi, impaled. The Princess and Zlo’s blood dripping from the spines of The Shackled One. Madame Skia’s wounded body lying shrouded by the shimmering moon dust. The monster’s final moments. She looked up
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Ilyria and the Lightning Bird Chapter Sixty-Nine: The Palace
A woman at the back of the procession gave a long guttural howl. Every hair on Ilyria’s body stood on end. “Use the glamour,” said Miasma, “Help me, use the glamour.” “And do what?" said Ilyria, "Where do we even go?” Aerie? No then they would be too far away. They had to be in the Palace. Palace? What part of the Palace? The Princess’s chambers? The Princess’s garden? She felt for the token in her pocket already knowing it wasn’t there and that she wouldn’t use it even if she had it. The Princess, she decided, could not be trusted. Vatra? Yakip?No. They had to be here. “Make a run for it,” said Thassa, readying himself as if to do just that. The procession moved with purpose now, bearing down on them. Their fac
