Gaël stood silent for a moment, frozen in uncertainty.
The wind howled around them, hurling torrents of rain that stung their skin and chilled their bones. His fingers trembled, perhaps from the cold, or perhaps from something else, something deeper and more complex he refused to name.
Astraéa was still staring at him, her gold-and-black eyes sharp and piercing. She waited, impatience burning fiercely in her gaze, a sense of urgency that allowed no hesitation or retreat.
"Why did you follow me?" she repeated, her voice edged like a blade.
Why did I follow her...? Gaël thought.
The answer seemed simple enough, yet the words refused to come. His heart hammered so loudly that his pulse echoed in his ears. Instinct had driven him. Reason told him he should have stayed under the dome. But something stronger than fear, deeper than logic, had pulled him here.
He swallowed hard. His gaze briefly drifted toward Nyx, the black ermine still perched casually on the rock. The creature's amused expression seemed to say,
'Well, are you going to admit it or not?'.
That silent mockery irritated Gaël deeply… but not as much as the truth he was avoiding.
The gentle look of the white ermine, now back to her smaller form, was far more comforting.
Finally, he lifted his head.
"I..." His voice cracked slightly. He clenched his fists, gathered his resolve, and spoke again more firmly:
"I couldn't just stay there, waiting under the dome while everything fell apart out here. You looked like you knew exactly where you were going… so I followed."
Astraéa raised an eyebrow. Not enough. Her silence demanded more.
Gaël continued, forcing the words out:
"You're running straight into danger. And I... I felt I might help somehow… that maybe I could be useful."
He looked away, embarrassed.
Silence stretched out between them.
_ _ _
"He's an idiot."
Nyx's voice resonated mockingly in Astraéa's mind, slow and teasing.
She sighed, her shoulders barely relaxing. Tension still thrummed through her veins, though she refused to acknowledge it.
Fatigue. The word hovered in her mind like a dense fog, heavy and cloying. She brushed it aside mentally. Not now. Not here. But her face, marked by the relentless rain and internal struggle, betrayed the weariness she tried to hide.
Eos, curled gently at her feet, intervened with a mental whisper, his voice soft and gentle in contrast to his brother's:
"But he's brave…"
Astraéa pursed her lips. 'Brave or reckless?' The line was thin, especially with hot-headed youths like him.
Her gaze returned to Gaël, scrutinizing him. His short black hair dripped with water, plastered to his forehead. His clothes, soaked through and smeared with mud, spoke volumes of the desperate chase he'd undertaken to follow her. Yet his eyes didn't waver, not a hint of regret within them.
"You should have stayed under the dome," she said softly, yet her voice still carried its usual firmness. "I'm not your problem."
Gaël, despite the biting rain and her obvious rebuke, offered a faint, sincere half-smile.
"Too late for that," he replied lightly, though his eyes remained earnest.
A tense silence settled over them, broken only by the intensifying rain hammering on rocks and leaves, creating a symphony of wet echoes. Astraéa briefly closed her eyes, caught between frustration and an unacknowledged spark of amusement. When she opened them again, determination glowed in her two-toned eyes.
"Don't follow me again," she warned. It wasn't an order, it was a sharp, unvarnished truth.
But before Gaël could respond, the valley itself spoke.
A deep, guttural rumble rose from the depths below.
Heavy. Visceral.
Like the growl of a beast too large to exist.
The sound wrapped around them, vibrating through stone, seeping into their bones.
Nyx mentally chuckled, excitement clear.
"Oh… this just got interesting."
Astraéa whirled toward him, jaw clenched.
"Knock it off, Nyx!" she snapped aloud, anger finally breaking through. "If you hadn't stuck your nose into everything, we wouldn't be soaked to the bone, standing here waiting for the sky to fall on our heads!"
Nyx, still perched atop his rock, gave an amused purr. Then, with feline grace, he jumped down. His black paws sank effortlessly into the mud.
Under Gaël's astonished gaze, Nyx's body stretched and grew, muscles rippling beneath his black fur. Bones cracked audibly, eerie yet captivating, as his small form expanded dramatically. His fur bristled, then smoothed into a thick, sleek coat of midnight black.
Within seconds, Nyx towered over them, as large as a great wolf, just as his sister had been earlier, his crimson eyes glittering with mischief.
Gaël stepped back instinctively, his hand sliding beneath his tunic to grasp something hidden.
Nyx spoke aloud this time, not to Astraéa, but directly to Gaël.
His voice, deep and velvet-smooth, rolled through the air like an alluring growl:
"I rather like you, human."
Gaël froze.
Nyx advanced one step, claws gently scraping the stone, and tilted his head with feigned innocence. A smile, or something close to it, spread across his muzzle.
"What do you say… want to go for a ride?"
Without waiting for an answer, he crouched slightly, offering his broad, muscular back as a mount.
An invitation. Clear. Unexpected.
Gaël blinked, utterly stunned.
_ _ _
Gaël blinked. Several times.
Rain hammered against his eyelids, sliding down his cheeks in icy trails. His breath clouded the cold air in shaky puffs.
In front of him stood the black ermine, rather, what Nyx had become, fixing him with eyes glowing red in the darkness, like two burning embers ready to consume the night.
"You want me to... ride you?" Gaël murmured, his voice tinged with disbelief.
Nyx tilted his head, ears perking up with mocking grace, then shook himself, sending droplets scattering from his fur.
"Would you prefer running through this downpour, slipping in the mud, and collapsing from exhaustion? No judgment here."
His tone was teasing, though not hostile. Merely entertained, like a predator amused by prey too stubborn to accept reality.
Gaël glanced toward Astraéa. She stood with arms crossed, her expression wavering between irritation and astonishment.
'What am I even doing?' Gaël thought. 'Chasing after a beautiful girl, tumbling down a mountain, and now… climbing onto a giant ermine?'
Gaël took a deep breath. The cold air sliced into his lungs like blades of ice. No time to overthink.
He stepped forward, reached out his hand... and touched Nyx's fur.
The sensation surprised him. He had expected roughness, a harsh texture, but it was soft. Warm, despite the chilling rain. The silky fur beneath his numb fingers felt deceptively delicate. Yet beneath this softness pulsed wild, raw, untamed power, a beast's heart beating under black velvet.
'He could crush me like a twig,' Gaël realized.
Nyx turned his head slightly, an amused glint in his eyes.
"Climb up," he rumbled, voice deep and resonant. "I haven't got all day. The quicker you mount, the less ridiculous you'll look."
Gaël clenched his jaw, casting a final glance toward Astraéa, who raised a hand as if to protest... but he didn't wait.
'If I back out now, she'll think I'm a coward.'
He swung a leg over the ermine's broad back, scrambling clumsily upward, finding himself seated higher than he anticipated. His hand sank into the thick fur, searching for balance.
Nyx gave a low, deep chuckle.
"Hold on tight. I won't slow down for you."
Without another word, he leapt forward.