Amara sighed as she stared out the window. Trees raced by at impressive speeds, as did the occasional field of corn or soybeans. The clouds in the sky stayed frustratingly still, taunting her with their ability to stay aloft. Not only was she stuck on the ground, but for the last few hours, she’d been stuck in Vee’s car. She’d heavily reclined the passenger seat, and her feet were propped up on the dashboard, but comfort eluded her no matter the position.

She could barely even remember the last time she’d been in a car. Had they always felt so cramped? Most frustrating of all, Vee refused to tell her where they were going. At first it had almost been enjoyable, Amara had tried pestering Vee into giving up her secrets, but as minutes turned to hours, the exciting mystery turned to boredom.

It had been nearly an hour since either of them had said anything. Vee had music playing to fill the silence, but Amara’s thoughts were preoccupied with other things. She kept thinking back to last night, to seeing Chloé screaming out in pain.

“Maybe she’s trapped between planes, or her consciousness got scattered, something along those lines. Even then, I still wouldn’t be able to do anything.”

Uncertainty weighed on Amara as she recalled Tessa’s frustrated words.

Is there really nothing we can do? I saw Chloé when I was coming out of the Dreamscape, maybe I just need to go back. What if I’m the only one that can help her because of my abilities? What if she’s suffering, and I’m just ignoring her by wandering around the waking world?

The rhythm of the car suddenly changed as Vee slowed down. They traveled down an off-ramp, eventually merging onto a small side street that was completely devoid of traffic. A few minutes later, as they approached a small cluster of trees, the road vanished entirely. The car began shaking as dirt and gravel replaced smooth concrete, and a short while later, Vee parked the car with a huff of satisfaction.

“Here we are!” Vee said with a smile. She smacked Amara’s leg before stepping out of the car, holding her hand up to her face to block out the sun.

Amara did the same, eager to stretch her legs after the long trip. “So, are you finally going to tell me what’s going on? I wasn’t planning on leaving campus today, let alone taking a hours-long trip to the middle of nowhere.”

“You’ll know it when you see it, I promise.” Vee began walking further from the dirt road, her car beeping as she locked it behind her.

With a heavy sigh, Amara followed her friend deeper into the trees. A cool breeze rushed over them, kicking up their hair along with small flurries of dust and dirt. The trees rustled and bent with the wind, and as they walked further away from the road, they found more shade amongst the foliage. The cool air felt nice, and as they traveled down the beaten dirt path, Amara noticed a small railing off to the side. Still trying to figure out where they were, she walked to the railing and gasped as she pieced it together.

Roughly a dozen feet in front of her, the ground vanished completely, replaced with a massive pit nearly a mile wide. The entirety of the man-made pit was lined with incredibly steep cliffs, and Amara saw several places in the distance where thin, winding roads led to the bottom. Trees encircled the entire area, which is how Amara hadn’t seen it earlier, and the stiff breeze was likely due to the massive gap in the earth.

Vee stepped closer, taking a deep breath before exhaling with a smirk on her face. “It’s nice, isn’t it? It’s an old quarry that got abandoned decades ago.”

“I mean, sure, it’s a decent view.” Amara turned to Vee, leaning against the railing. “But why are we here? I know you didn’t drive us all this way just to show off an old quarry.”

With a playful smirk, Vee hopped over the railing and began walking towards the edge of the cliff. “I’ll show you! C’mon, it’s this way.”

“Just be careful, alright? It’s a straight drop down to the bottom.” Amara followed suit, walking slower as she approached the edge. In front of her, Vee nervously crouched and peered over the edge, holding her hair back as she did. She whistled in appreciation of the view, then looked around one last time.

“You’re telling me. That would be a nasty fall.” Despite her words, Vee continued standing dangerously near the edge of the cliff. She turned to look back, Amara meeting her eyes as she tried to figure out what was going on.

“So, are we looking for something?” Amara asked, stepping closer.

Vee said nothing, instead staring at Amara while she stepped backwards towards the cliff. Her foot met a small pebble, sending it tumbling over the edge, and she closed her eyes.

“Hey, be careful,” Amara said, her voice tense.

Vee took another deep breath, her body shaking slightly as she released it. When she opened her eyes again, a faint smirk appeared on her face, and she jumped.

“VEE!!”

In a panic, Amara ran forward and dove after Vee. It had taken a few seconds to reach the cliffside, and her heart raced as she tried to catch up. Vee was easily a few dozen feet in front of her, her hair billowing in the wind as she plummeted towards the bottom of the quarry. Amara held her arms close to her body, doing everything she could to catch up. She manifested her horns, a familiar buzz returning to her body as she read the air currents, and began reaching out as she closed the distance.

Seconds later, after they’d nearly fallen halfway down the cliff, she managed to catch up to Vee and grab her hand. Pulling her close, she manifested the rest of her true form and tried to catch the wind.

“Vee, you idiot! What were you thinking?!” Amara yelled, the wind dulling her voice. Vee wrapped her arms tightly around Amara’s neck, her blonde hair occasionally blocking Amara’s vision.

Yet, for some reason, she was laughing.

“This isn’t funny, Vee! You nearly killed yourself! You know I can’t fly!” Amara growled.

Vee squeezed Amara again, then whispered into her ear. “Oh, can’t you?”

Amara stopped talking, taken aback by the statement. She’d been so preoccupied with catching Vee that she hadn’t thought about anything else. At Vee’s urging, she turned her head to look at her surroundings.

Dozens of feet beneath them, rock and gravel raced by at incredible speeds. They were no longer falling; Amara’s wings were fully extended, gliding through the air as she unconsciously made tiny adjustments in line with the feedback she was getting from her horns. They passed through small pockets of differing air pressure, soaring up and down as they did, and Amara gasped.

She was flying.

“I… that’s not…” Amara stammered. “I should at least set you down and find a more comfortable position!”

“Don’t you fucking dare, Amara,” Vee whispered again. “You can figure it out. I believe in you.”

Still stunned by the last minute, Amara’s mind began racing with possibilities. She barely had time to think about her actions, and it felt like her body was moving purely on adrenaline. Curiosity took hold, and she flexed her wings once, twice, three times. They felt strong, supportive, and completely under her control. With a nervous breath, she pulled them back, then thrust downwards.

She had an idea.

They ascended higher, and Amara repeated herself. Following her own intuition, and the sensory input from her horns, she climbed higher and higher as Vee held tight. Terrified of dropping her, Amara wrapped her tail around Vee’s waist as they flew, then set her sights on the clouds above. The air began to cool, and she was forced to adjust the movement of her wings slightly, but was otherwise shocked at how little resistance she faced at this height.

In her arms, Vee began shivering slightly, and Amara extended a small pocket of warmth to keep her warm. They continued ascending in silence as they held each other tight, and other than occasional twitches as Vee looked around, neither dared to readjust themselves.

The higher they climbed, the more intense the wind became, but Amara kept pushing. She was closing in on the nearest cloud, and she desperately wanted to see the other side. As it raced closer, she held out a hand and launched several small bursts of hellfire, puncturing the cloud and giving them a clear path to the sky above. Her heart pounded in her ears as she closed the distance, her eager breath betraying her excitement. Her tail, still wrapped around Vee, pulled her even closer as Amara prepared to break through. Hellfire began to gather underneath her feet, growing hotter and brighter as Amara condensed it, before she finally let it go in one loud burst.

The explosion catapulted her through the cloud, and she felt remnants of water vapor sting her face as she raced through. Vee gasped before yelping with delight, burying her head in Amara’s shoulder as they soared above the clouds. Seconds later, as the momentum from the explosion faded, Amara stopped climbing.

She paused in midair, her powerful wings slowly beating to hold them both aloft. The cloud underneath them was moving quickly, and soon gave way to a spectacular view of the countryside beneath them. Amara took a deep breath, then placed her hands on Vee’s waist to create some distance between them. Vee took the hint, adjusting her grip so they could look at each other, and they both met each other’s eyes.

“Do you trust me?” Amara asked.

Vee said nothing, instead smirking and raising an eyebrow.

“Alright, fair point.” They both laughed, the sky surprisingly quiet now that they weren’t racing upwards. With a small nod, Amara hinted that she was ready, and Vee returned the gesture. Amara swallowed nervously, held Vee even further away, and stopped moving her wings. Gravity took hold, pulling them back down to Earth. Amara held one wing out to turn them upside down, and once they were completely inverted, she pushed Vee away and let go.

They drifted away from each other and, despite the wind rushing past them, Amara heard Vee gasp with excitement. She held out her arms, catching the wind as she closed her eyes, and angled her head towards the ground to keep her hair out of her face.

Amara mimicked her every move, torn between wanting to enjoy the freedom of the sky and wanting to see Vee’s expression as they raced through the air. She noticed that Vee was spinning, ever so slightly, and adjusted her wings to stay in front of Vee as they fell. She kept her eyes trained on her friend, watching closely as she beamed with excitement. The sun occasionally passed behind her as they circled each other, and Amara was struck by how at peace Vee seemed.

As she continued watching Vee, she started seeing strange flickers of light appear above her. Confused, she narrowed her eyes and engaged her demonic senses, hoping to figure out what was happening. After another few seconds, she saw that light wasn’t simply appearing above Vee, it was refracting through something. Her first thought was that water had somehow gathered ahead of Vee, but that didn’t make any sense. The light she saw was splitting too cleanly, creating faint rainbows that seemed to bend and cascade across Vee’s body as she fell. Soon enough, there was enough light to see what was causing this strange phenomenon; an ephemeral, invisible disk hovered just above Vee’s head, catching the rays of the sun before scattering them around Vee.

Wow.

She’s beautiful.

From above them, Amara saw the ground rushing closer, and she decided it was time. She used her wings to adjust her angle, closing the distance with Vee before turning around. Vee reached out, wrapping her arms around Amara’s shoulders once again, this time from the back. Amara looked to her side, looked Vee in the eyes, and they both nodded.

Looking forward, Amara flexed her wings in preparation, then quickly opened them. She caught the wind, sharply angling up to stop their descent and level out. Vee’s body pushed against hers, confirming that she was safe and secure, and Amara smiled.

“Where do you want to go?” Amara asked, looking back again.

“Everywhere.” Vee hugged her tightly from behind. “Show me everything!”