Chapter 661 Into The Sky

The carriage finally came to a stop before the enormous city gate, the horses slowing to a gentle trot before the driver pulled the reins and brought them to a complete halt. Liam leaned slightly forward and looked through the open side of the carriage, recognizing the massive stone walls that had seemed almost impossible when they first arrived. The city was still alive despite the early hour, with merchants moving toward the entrance, travelers preparing to leave and guards standing at their assigned positions with the same bored expressions they had worn the previous day. Liam reached into his clothes, pulled out the required payment and handed it to the young driver, who accepted it with a grateful nod before Liam stepped aside and waited for Irina to descend. She gave the driver a polite nod before joining him, and together they walked toward the enormous gate without attracting any questions from the guards. Apparently, leaving the city was far less complicated than entering it, and neither of them had any intention of wasting time discovering why.

The moment they passed beyond the gate, Liam felt something inside him relax. He glanced upward instinctively, looking at the open sky that stretched endlessly above them. There was no longer any restriction preventing him from taking flight, and the thought alone made the corners of his mouth lift slightly. He had become accustomed to the strange limitations imposed by the city, especially after seeing the enormous no-flying sign above the walls, but now there was nothing standing between him and the sky. Still, Liam did not immediately spread his wings. He knew exactly what would happen if people caught sight of them. There were too many travelers, merchants and curious eyes around the road, and the last thing he wanted was to turn himself into a spectacle before they had even begun their mission. He also had no desire to spend the next few hours answering questions about what kind of creature he was. So instead of taking off immediately, he continued walking with Irina, gradually putting more distance between themselves and the city gate until the sounds of the road began to fade behind them.

Irina noticed what he was doing but did not ask about it immediately. She simply walked beside him, occasionally glancing toward the surrounding landscape as they moved farther away from the city. The morning air was cool against her skin, carrying the faint scent of grass and distant trees, while the road gradually became less crowded until eventually there was almost nobody around them. Liam finally stopped when he was satisfied that they were far enough away that even someone standing at the city gate would have difficulty seeing them. He turned toward Irina, who stopped as well and looked at him expectantly. For a moment she wondered whether he was going to say something important about their mission, but Liam merely looked at her with his usual calm expression before speaking in a surprisingly gentle voice. "Now I carry you."

Irina blinked.

For some reason, those four words hit her harder than they should have.

Of course he was going to carry her. She knew that. They were supposed to reach Elaris Village as quickly as possible, and Liam could fly at a speed that would make traveling by road look ridiculous. If he was going to take her with him, carrying her was obviously the only practical solution. Yet somehow she had not thought about what that would actually mean until he said it aloud. Her eyes flickered briefly toward him before she quickly looked away, pretending to study the empty road. "Okay," she answered, and she hated how much more nervous that single word sounded than she intended.

Liam apparently noticed nothing unusual. He simply gestured toward her and told her to turn around. Irina hesitated for the briefest moment before doing as he asked, presenting her back to him while trying desperately to keep her expression under control. She could feel the heat creeping into her face and immediately became annoyed with herself. This was ridiculous. She had fought monsters, vampires and creatures capable of tearing human beings apart without hesitation. She had survived situations where death had been practically breathing down her neck, yet somehow standing still while Liam prepared to hold her was making her more nervous than it should. She silently blamed the strange atmosphere surrounding him, because admitting that the problem was Liam himself was something she absolutely refused to do.

Liam stepped closer behind her. His hands gently settled around her waist, firm enough to secure her but careful enough not to hurt her. The instant his hands touched her, Irina’s entire body became rigid for half a second. She immediately forced herself to relax, but she could feel her heartbeat becoming more noticeable in her chest. The cool morning air seemed strangely warm now, and she suddenly became far too aware of how close he was standing behind her. Liam did not seem bothered at all. To him, this was simply another necessary part of the journey. His grip tightened slightly as he adjusted his position, and then he spoke calmly beside her, telling her to hold on tightly.

Irina nodded quickly.

Then the world exploded beneath them.

Boom!

Liam launched himself from the ground with such tremendous force that the earth beneath his feet cracked outward. Irina barely had time to react before her stomach dropped as they shot upward. The leap alone was absurd. They weren’t simply jumping several meters into the air. Liam was ascending with such explosive speed that the ground seemed to vanish beneath them almost instantly. The surrounding landscape shrank at a ridiculous rate, trees becoming smaller, the road turning into a thin line and the distant city walls appearing less imposing with every passing second. Irina’s eyes widened despite herself. She was one of the strongest vampires on Earth, a creature whose physical abilities surpassed anything ordinary humans could comprehend, yet even she would never have attempted a leap like this without some kind of supernatural ability supporting it.

Liam continued climbing until they reached a height where the air became noticeably colder. Then, just as Irina began wondering whether he intended to keep jumping all the way to the village, something changed behind him. A brilliant surge of energy ran through his body, and from his back, a pair of enormous wings suddenly unfolded.

The sight was breathtaking.

The wings spread outward with tremendous force, catching the rushing air beneath them before Liam brought them together in a powerful clap. The resulting gust erupted around them.

Whoosh!

They shot forward.

The acceleration was so sudden that Irina’s hair whipped violently behind her, her clothes snapping against her body as the landscape below blurred into streaks of green and brown. The city disappeared almost immediately behind them, swallowed by distance as Liam flew forward at a speed that made ordinary travel seem almost laughable. Irina instinctively tightened her arms around him, but even with her monstrous senses she struggled to process the world around them. Everything was moving too quickly. The sky, the clouds, the forests below and even distant mountains seemed to smear together as though reality itself could not keep up with Liam’s speed.

The wind became the biggest problem.

It slammed into Irina’s face relentlessly, forcing her eyes shut. She tried to keep them open for several seconds, but the pressure became unbearable, and she eventually lowered her head while holding onto Liam more tightly. She could barely breathe properly with the wind striking her from the front, and Liam noticed almost immediately. He slowed down slightly before looking toward her and realizing what was happening.

"Turn around," he told her over the roaring wind.

Irina opened her eyes with difficulty and looked at him in confusion.

Before she could ask what he meant, Liam shifted his position and pulled her around so that she was facing him instead. His arms wrapped securely around her, bringing her directly against his chest while his wings continued carrying them through the sky. The difference was immediate. His body blocked most of the violent air resistance, creating a small pocket of relative calm around her. Irina could finally breathe properly again.

She opened her eyes.

And immediately regretted it.

Her face was buried against his neck.

She froze.

For several seconds she simply remained there, unable to decide whether moving away would make things more awkward or staying exactly where she was would make them worse. Liam seemed completely unaware of the problem, his attention focused on flying while his arms kept her securely against him. Irina could hear the steady rhythm of his breathing despite the tremendous speed at which they were traveling, and then she caught his scent.

Her thoughts stopped.

He smelled ridiculously good.

There was something clean and warm about his natural scent, mixed with the faint fragrance of the robe he wore. It wasn’t overpowering, yet it was impossible to ignore from this distance. Every breath she took brought the scent closer, and Irina immediately realized that being pressed against him like this had created a completely different problem from the wind.

She swallowed quietly.

This was supposed to be a mission.

A dangerous mission.

They were heading toward a village where people were mysteriously dying in their sleep and others were having their consciousness drained from their bodies. There could be some unknown creature waiting for them. They had no idea what they were going to face, and the dwarf had explicitly warned them that they could lose their lives.

So why was she standing here thinking about how good Liam smelled?

Irina squeezed her eyes shut and silently cursed herself.

Liam, completely oblivious to the internal battle happening inside her, adjusted his grip slightly to make sure she was secure before accelerating again. His wings cut through the clouds, carrying them farther and farther from the city as the vast landscape stretched beneath them.

Irina could only remain in his arms, her face still against his neck, desperately hoping he couldn’t hear how fast her heart was beating.