Sun's Embrace
Art of Faenya spooning with Lunarkeys, as part of a long running playful story we're working on together.
Below story and Lunarkeys and Luminari are from Lunarkeys
Faenya and the Thordani are mine.
Art by Jakkal
Faenya and the Thordani are mine.
Art by Jakkal
He had literally walked upon clouds, and yet this felt like he soared even higher.
The goddess' embrace was beautiful in the broadest sense, and still more so in its tiny details. She stood some two feet over him, but the blazing aura that surrounded her seemed to stretch her visage broad enough that it made her flock's reverence of her as the sun forger barely stretch credulity. The warmth of her happiness cut past the heated touch upon the skin and reached deep into the soul. This wasn't just the bliss of a bonfire in the dead of winter; this was a balm for the soul. Within her embrace, it was hard to believe there was such a thing as night.
And then the evening, when the sun - the actual sun, he had to remind himself - went down; the light seemed the twinkle of a star brought to the world's surface, its talons wrapped around him. The feathers were brilliantly soft down, but they glowed in such a way that the golden light slid easily past the lids when he dared close his eyes. The talon tips were sharp, but they looked far more carved from liquid gold than the killing tips of her flock's famed warrior culture. Maybe it was just the love, softening down the edges that made up her fighting spirit. The sun could kill, and the spear she'd shown him - Aeredrie, right, the Stormbringer - had power enough in it to theoretically shatter a mountaintop.
But it all seemed so far away, when the downy wings closed around him.
How long had it been to get here? Two decades? Three? The drowning of one world, with him a tiny piece in the cosmic wheel, yet she had brought him back with her, shown how the end of a world had been but one game of thousands played by the gods of this place. Him, as battle planner, then as advisor, then friend and confidant.
And then something more.
The games played here weren't games of the ones he knew upon the surface; they called them such, but they were elaborate ploys, jockeying for power. She hated them so, but as one of the lesser in the grand pantheon, had been forced to play. His optimism, oft-mocked upon the surface, was her own balm. With her flock a tiny mote in the grand game, she had had to fight for every last scrap of wretched mountaintop she could muster. Enough to carve out a civilization, something that might survive. Her flock revered her upon the surface, but here, she had been alone.
How one could dismiss her, he had never understood. And somehow, that had been everything she had needed.
The bleak clicked, nibbling affectionately upon an earfin. The eagle goddess hadn't the lips to show her affection through kissing, but she did just fine expressing love as it was. The talontips tickled under his coat, and she sighed, the warmth of her breath washing over him. His heart lifted, and again, it felt as though even the clouds were far below them.
"You are not sleeping", she observed. He hadn't really known what to expect of an actual goddess' voice - something deep and thrumming, something that befitted a titan. Hers was lighter, airy, but the only ripple of its divinity was the effects it had upon his mindset.
"Just thinking." The muzzle lifted in a smile.
"Ah, of the next month?" Another turn in the cosmic wheel, with another shift of the world. Another game. He didn't really care.
"No. Just you."
She took a moment. That tiny little hiccup in her thought process; the first fifty or so times he had called her beautiful, or wonderful, and she had hesitated. He had never lied, but never had she thought of herself in any of the grandiose terms he had used. He couldn't see the slight heat in her cheeks, but the warmth around them both nonetheless grew. "You flatter me."
"Shamelessly. But then again, why wouldn't I?"
The beak let go, and she nuzzled into the back of his head. Absurd, thinking a goddess - especially one like her - could be embarrassed. Flustered, even. The heat grew further.
But if anyone were to convince her of her worth, well, he probably had the best shot of it.
The goddess' embrace was beautiful in the broadest sense, and still more so in its tiny details. She stood some two feet over him, but the blazing aura that surrounded her seemed to stretch her visage broad enough that it made her flock's reverence of her as the sun forger barely stretch credulity. The warmth of her happiness cut past the heated touch upon the skin and reached deep into the soul. This wasn't just the bliss of a bonfire in the dead of winter; this was a balm for the soul. Within her embrace, it was hard to believe there was such a thing as night.
And then the evening, when the sun - the actual sun, he had to remind himself - went down; the light seemed the twinkle of a star brought to the world's surface, its talons wrapped around him. The feathers were brilliantly soft down, but they glowed in such a way that the golden light slid easily past the lids when he dared close his eyes. The talon tips were sharp, but they looked far more carved from liquid gold than the killing tips of her flock's famed warrior culture. Maybe it was just the love, softening down the edges that made up her fighting spirit. The sun could kill, and the spear she'd shown him - Aeredrie, right, the Stormbringer - had power enough in it to theoretically shatter a mountaintop.
But it all seemed so far away, when the downy wings closed around him.
How long had it been to get here? Two decades? Three? The drowning of one world, with him a tiny piece in the cosmic wheel, yet she had brought him back with her, shown how the end of a world had been but one game of thousands played by the gods of this place. Him, as battle planner, then as advisor, then friend and confidant.
And then something more.
The games played here weren't games of the ones he knew upon the surface; they called them such, but they were elaborate ploys, jockeying for power. She hated them so, but as one of the lesser in the grand pantheon, had been forced to play. His optimism, oft-mocked upon the surface, was her own balm. With her flock a tiny mote in the grand game, she had had to fight for every last scrap of wretched mountaintop she could muster. Enough to carve out a civilization, something that might survive. Her flock revered her upon the surface, but here, she had been alone.
How one could dismiss her, he had never understood. And somehow, that had been everything she had needed.
The bleak clicked, nibbling affectionately upon an earfin. The eagle goddess hadn't the lips to show her affection through kissing, but she did just fine expressing love as it was. The talontips tickled under his coat, and she sighed, the warmth of her breath washing over him. His heart lifted, and again, it felt as though even the clouds were far below them.
"You are not sleeping", she observed. He hadn't really known what to expect of an actual goddess' voice - something deep and thrumming, something that befitted a titan. Hers was lighter, airy, but the only ripple of its divinity was the effects it had upon his mindset.
"Just thinking." The muzzle lifted in a smile.
"Ah, of the next month?" Another turn in the cosmic wheel, with another shift of the world. Another game. He didn't really care.
"No. Just you."
She took a moment. That tiny little hiccup in her thought process; the first fifty or so times he had called her beautiful, or wonderful, and she had hesitated. He had never lied, but never had she thought of herself in any of the grandiose terms he had used. He couldn't see the slight heat in her cheeks, but the warmth around them both nonetheless grew. "You flatter me."
"Shamelessly. But then again, why wouldn't I?"
The beak let go, and she nuzzled into the back of his head. Absurd, thinking a goddess - especially one like her - could be embarrassed. Flustered, even. The heat grew further.
But if anyone were to convince her of her worth, well, he probably had the best shot of it.
1 year ago
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