The wind rushed past them in sweeping, rhythmic currents, cool and clean as it curled around the massive wings of the white Gama. Morning light spilled across the heavens in molten gold, brushing the clouds with a pale, ethereal warmth. Below, the world was still half-asleep, shrouded in a blue haze that clung to the horizon like a discarded veil.
Selyndra sat at the front, her golden hair whipping behind her like a solar flare. Her eyes narrowed against the gale, but her expression remained anchored in a quiet, steady confidence. Behind her, Iris leaned forward with crossed arms, her black hair streaming and her red eyes sharp with thought. At the rear, Seraphaine's white hair fluttered like raw silk, her purple eyes half-closed as she drank in the high-altitude breeze.
The Gama's feathers shimmered with a polished ivory sheen, its wings beating with slow, titanic strokes that sent deep vibrations through the girls' bones. For a long interval, silence reigned—the sky was too peaceful to disturb.
"How do you think the boys are doing?" Iris eventually asked, her voice raised to cut through the roar of the wind.
Selyndra exhaled, a small smile tugging at her lips. "Knowing them? Either perfectly fine… or orchestrating a catastrophe."
Seraphaine laughed, leaning into the conversation. "Morvath is likely lecturing a wall. Dravien is definitely ignoring him. Vaelus is pretending his pulse isn't racing. And Eiden…" she paused, her eyes softening. "Eiden is probably just trying to keep them all from unmaking the mansion."
"If we come back and find the roof missing," Iris muttered, rolling her eyes, "I'm not helping with the repairs."
"We'll rebuild it," Selyndra said simply. "And then we'll scold them."
"In that order?" Seraphaine grinned.
"In that order."
Their laughter was scattered by the wind, lost in the peach-colored clouds. The Gama dipped its wing, adjusting to the warming air currents. Their black robes snapped like dark wings against the morning sun.
After a while, Selyndra tapped the side of the saddle. "Bag."
Iris unstrapped a small black satchel and pulled it between them. Seraphaine reached in and produced a small wooden box. "Cards?"
Selyndra nodded. "We have the time."
Seraphaine shuffled the deck with practiced ease, the cards whispering a soft, rhythmic song. They shifted into a small circle, balancing effortlessly on the bird's broad back. As the cards were dealt, they glowed faintly with mana.
"You're cheating," Iris said before a single card was played.
"I haven't even looked yet," Seraphaine countered.
"The intent is there. You're cheating."
Selyndra sighed. "Just play."
They played for hours as the sun climbed its arc. Each round was punctuated by playful accusations and Seraphaine's dramatic gasps whenever Iris made a particularly ruthless move. They were in the middle of a heated climax—Seraphaine groaning at a devastating play—when the Gama's voice rumbled beneath them.
"This is your stop," the bird said in a deep, tectonic tone. "Don't miss the jump."
"Oh—" Seraphaine blinked, the cards flying from her hands as the wind snatched them.
"Right," Iris echoed, standing firm.
"Let's go," Selyndra commanded.
They leaped.
For a heartbeat, they were weightless—suspended in the infinite blue, robes billowing like dark petals. Then the world rushed up to claim them.
A forest of blue.
It was a thousand shades of sapphire and indigo. Dark blue trunks twisted toward the sky like calcified pillars of the sea. Shimmering blue leaves vibrated with crystalline light, and rivers of glowing azure snaked through the undergrowth.
The girls slowed their fall, mana pooling beneath their boots as they drifted toward the mossy floor. They touched down softly, their presence fading into the forest as they suppressed their auras. The air was cool and fragrant with a sweet, alien scent.
"Azure Wilds," Selyndra murmured, inhaling the stillness. "It's been an age."
"It's beautiful," Seraphaine whispered, her eyes wide.
Iris crouched, touching the glowing moss. "Stable. No corruption. Good."
They began to walk. The forest hummed with the soft vibration of the glowing rivers and the distant, melodic calls of unseen beasts. Blue fireflies drifted like embers of cold flame, leaving trails of light in their wake.
Hours bled into evening. The forest shifted into deep indigo, and the rivers brightened into brilliant neon veins. They talked of the mission and the strange serenity of the woods until the night finally settled. They rested beneath a massive tree with roots that curved like thrones, the nearby river casting a soft bioluminescent glow over their faces.
Morning arrived in shifting patterns of blue light. They continued their trek as the sound of rushing water grew from a hum to a roar. Finally, they reached a clearing dominated by a waterfall—a cascading curtain of liquid light that crashed into a pool of glowing mist.
And there, at the water's edge, stood a woman.
Her back was turned to them. Long, blue hair hung wet and heavy down to her waist. Her skin seemed to glow from within, translucent and pale. She held her arms across her chest in a gesture of quiet, elemental stillness.
The girls froze.
The woman turned slowly. Her eyes were two pools of brilliant blue—calm, ancient, and profoundly serene.