“What are you afraid of?” she asked facetiously.
“Oh, you know, just plummeting to the earth, nothing major.”
“Do you trust me?”
He paused for a moment asking himself that very same
question. Up to this point he’d found no reason to doubt her motives. If she
had wanted to eat him, for instance, she could have easily done so when they
first met alone in the darkness on the edge of the forest. She’d seemed genuinely
sincere when she apologized for what had happened to him. If she had wanted to
discredit him she had the opportunity. She could have flown off and never
returned leaving him the crazy old gnome who claimed to have seen an owl, but
she came back. On top of this there was something earnest behind those saucer-like
eyes and jovial smile. It was intangible but very real.
“So how does this work?” Aubrey asked tentatively.
“Well, I have to hold you in my talons, I guess. I’ve never
given someone a ride before, at least not willingly.” She chuckled in a way that
did nothing to alleviate Aubrey’s fears.
With a flutter she hopped down onto the ground next to him.
She stood nearly a foot tall and towered over the eight inch gnome. He was
about to ask how she would go about picking him up when suddenly she unfurled
her wings and with a few quick beats was airborne. Before Aubrey could take a
deep breathe he found himself gripped firmly yet delicately in Adrianna’s
talons. The wind rushing past his face caused him to close his eyes. He felt
his hat begin to slide off his head and he franticly grasped at it with both
hands. It was only then that he realized he had been gripping her foot for dear
life. Now, with nothing but her strong grasp holding him, he forced open his
eyes…
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