"Why the rush?" Khalid asked, his voice muffled by the beige shawl he kept wrapped around his head. "We have no way to pass through the gate."

Priscilla huffed feverishly as she ran forward, lifting her dress hem above the ground. "Walking on this sand is a nightmare."

"Oh, hush," Zhou clucked. "Stop complaining: as Khalid has pointed out, once we reach the gate, we'll be camping out for a bit until we finalize the technology required to go reach Equinox."

After Zhou's reprimand, the verbal complaints stopped, though Priscilla and Khalid ceaselessly glared daggers at the sand as though it were a potent adversary. Lisa ran just to the right of Zhou, using her magnetic sense to push the sand out around her feet, giving her significantly more lift with each step.

The administrator boons help a lot, Lisa observed, noting how the concussive force produced by whipping her feet down into the sand magnified with her electromagnetism. It's amazing how easy this is. Keeping pace with the other kursi and the rest of the vanguard was simplicity.

She shielded her eyes against the ambient light streaming through the clouds, making out the distant form of Eyrin. He really has no idea how to fly, does he?

---

"You aren't going to die," Clarissa rumbled in a gravelly alto. "Calm down."

"Do I look nervous to you?" Eyrin yelled, struggling to be heard over the high-altitude winds.

Clarissa cocked her head sideways, stealing a glance at Eyrin's face. "You should be."

He whooped, shaking out his mane. "This is incredible. I think I'm beginning to understand the fervor humans feel for COTD."

Clarissa snorted. If he holds on to my neck any harder, I'll choke to death. "Is this your first time riding a quasi-sapient?"

Eyrin whooped again as Clarissa traced the edge of a cloud with her wing, twisting in air. "I think I'm doing fairly well," he replied smugly, humor glinting in his eyes. "I haven't fallen off yet."

Clarissa drew Eyrin into a tight spiral, nearly throwing the kursi off. She chuckled low in her chest as Eyrin gripped onto her neck with renewed vigor.

"This," he panted, "is what the Hideaway--no, the verdora, need."

Clarissa slit her eyes. "The verdora need to fall tragically to their deaths?"

Eyrin didn't say anything for a moment. Then, he laughed, his entire body shaking. "If I fall, will you catch me?"

"I'm not going to let you die; you're one of Leprosy's precious kursi."

"Leprosy?"

Clarissa sighed. "Don't ask; you'll meet that asshat when you go to Earth."

"Well," Eyrin said, eyes darting downward. "Catch."

---

"Oh my god," Ida shrieked, pointing up.

Lisa gasped. "The hell!?"

"That little brat," Zhou hissed, uncharacteristic worry saturating his tone.

They all watched as Eyrin fell off his devilbat, plummeting downward. The devilbat didn't even react for a moment, clearly stunned. Then, she dove-tailed around and shot downward after the Prince. A few seconds later, when he was only two hundred feet from the ground, the devilbat scooped him up in her talons, carrying him back up into the clouds.

Lisa let out a sigh of relief. Well, I'm sure Bath wouldn't have let Eyrin die after promising Juserin he'd watch out for him. Even so, the kursi's unexpected fall put her on edge.

---

"Excellent," Eyrin sighed, his body limp in Clarissa's talons.

"That all you have to say?" Clarissa asked, her expression incredulous.

"Yes."

"You jumped from my back."

"I did."

Clarissa's fanged mouth hinged open. "...Why!?"

"You aren't going to die," Eyrin murmured, twisting her words around. "Calm down."

"If I let you die, I very well might!" she hissed insistently. "Don't ever do that again."

Eyrin remained silent for a solid minute, almost leading Clarissa to think he'd fallen asleep in her talons. Which is impossible, she thought. I'm jerking him up and down like a rag doll.

"What if I procured a parachute?"

"What if...no!" she blustered. "I'm supposed to be the angsty one in this partnership. I'm a Devilbat, a creature of the night, a walking goth icon." She shook her head, flipping her mane, which she'd painstakingly dyed black. "And here you are, recklessly jumping into open air on a foreign planet!"

"I don't see the problem," he replied. "You said you'd catch me."

Clarissa groaned. "Get on my back," she ordered, shaking him up and down.

"Your talons," Eyrin drawled, "are they naturally black?"

"No!" Clarissa howled. "Now get off!"

Eyrin flexed his abdominal muscles, pulling up out of the devilbat's talons and reaching for her back. Then, he jumped off. Again. However, this time, Clarissa was ready: she immediately dove around and flew under so that Eyrin landed directly on her back.

"How fast can you fly?" Eyrin asked calmly, as though he had been riding on her back the entire time.

"Fast enough to make you sick," Clarissa replied, voice riveting with indignation as she accepted the question as a challenge. "What's your problem, seriously?"

Eyrin laughed, the carefree noise making Clarissa flinch. "I love flying," he replied, his voice filled with conviction.

"Me too," Clarissa said, "but I'm not crazy like you are."

"Clarissa," Eyrin said, his voice suddenly sharp and sober. "Do you truly think me a fool?"

Clarissa inhaled, shocked by Eyrin's sudden change in mood. "Uh..."

"I am many things," Eyrin sighed. "I am a Prince. I am a kursi of Illudis, a verdora. I am also a member of the Hideaway." He stopped, as though catching his breath. "I am also my parents' son."

Clarissa narrowed her eyes as she dove through a strip of billowing clouds. "None of that means anything to me."

"Who are you, Clarissa?" Eyrin asked.

"I'm a devilbat."

"Where are you from?"

"Basalith. The first city-seed of Earth, the house of the Church and Dragon."

"To what family do you belong?"

Clarissa reared her head, beating her wings through the air with gusto. "I don't have a family."

"How did you get here?"

"Enough questions," Clarissa roared. "I'm here because I want to be."

Eyrin chuckled melodically. "Do you still want to be here?" he asked, staring intently into the barely-distinguishable red-on-red horizon.

"I said," Clarissa growled, "enough."

"Your mane is beautiful, you know," Eyrin murmured, running his fingers through the silky strands. "Do many devilbats care for their hair like you do?"

"None that I've met," Clarissa grumbled.

"Do you see the feathers, in my mane?" Eyrin asked.

"I can't see anything behind me," Clarissa stated indignantly. Then, as though sensing that Eyrin would remedy this situation by jumping off in front of her, she added, "But yes, I've seen your feathers."

Eyrin nodded. "When the Hideaway first found me, I was seven." He lay his head against Clarissa's neck, settling into a more comfortable position.

Clarissa breathed a quiet sigh of relief. Seems like he isn't going to jump off again. "My father, Keldor, had disappeared; it had been fifteen days since he left, and I was alone. I didn't go hungry, though I was terrified that he wasn't coming back. So, I left our house and set off. Soon, I was lost in the Wilderness."

When he speaks...I feel like I want to listen, Clarissa noticed, frowning. Damnable kursi.

"What's the Wilderness?" she asked gruffly. Speaking of which, what's the Hideaway?

"It's where verdora go to have fun...of a different sort."

"The kind of fun that includes jumping off of a flying devilbat?" Clarissa snorted.

Eyrin's eyes glinted, his fingers tightening on her neck. "That's exactly the kind."

"It--it is?"

"Yes. Do you see the verdora below?" Eyrin asked, focusing his own eyes on the vanguard.

"They're riding the horse quasies," Clarissa observed. "Why?"

"You can't see from this height, but I guarantee they're all delirious with exhilaration."

"Wait, what!?" Were they all poisoned or something? Were verdora just crazy?

"Patience," Eyrin said, once more relaxing his grip. "As I was saying: a group of thrill-seekers were adventuring in the Wilderness by my father's house. Their escort, a man named Tramin, found me, and took me back to Xelin. Effectively orphaned, I spent three years at the Hideaway, training to become an escort."

"What does an escort even do?" Clarissa asked.

"Escorts provide many services," Eyrin explained. "All of which involve exciting the client."

"Exciting the client...?" Sounds like a fricking Kray City prostitution ring. The Hideaway...Yikes.

"Danger," Eyrin said slowly. "Escort's bring clients safely into--and out of--danger."

"Why?"

Eyrin chuckled. "My father would say that our society is sick." He sighed, turning his head so that his other cheek rested on Clarissa's neck. "That in repressing our sense of adventure and covering it with propriety and culture, we lose part of ourselves."

Clarissa beat her wings downward, riding a warm patch of air. "What do you think?"

Eyrin snorted. "I've had more than enough adventure for one verdora, and yet I still crave more." He sighed. "In the simplest terms, adrenaline drives verdora into an elated psychosis."

"Wait; you're all adrenaline junkies?" she rumbled, voice dripping with disbelief. How could the verdora, the most stick-in-the-mud society imaginable, get high off of danger!?

"Which is precisely why our society prevents us from coming into contact with dangerous conditions," he elaborated. "Leading to demand for escorts, fueling an economy of high-stakes adventuring, all of it illicit."

Clarissa gnashed her teeth. "If you already know about this, why'd you jump off me like a crazy person? Twice? Don't you have any self-control?"

Eyrin remained silent, electing not to respond.

He's quiet now!? Clarissa balked. She swerved wildly, corkscrewing and dipping through the cloud line. She looked back, trying to determine whether her antics produced any effect. He doesn't look any different, she thought. Though, now that I think about it, I still haven't flown fast enough to make him throw up. She grinned wickedly, flaring out her wings and tail. Then, she pushed her wings down, her form rocketing forward with a thunderous clap. This'll show him.

---

Eyrin stared intently at the vanguard below. I'm glad Lisa told me about this devilbat. According to her, the devilbat was a gift from the Church and Dragon to Juserin's son. Though the devilbat's sapient-like intelligence made its status as a "gift" more than slightly worrisome, Eyrin endeavored to discuss the topic of quasi-sapients with the other kursi at a more convenient time.

Though at the very least, I hope to turn Clarissa into an ally.

The Prince had given the Devilbat an incomplete, intentionally mysterious glimpse into his past, one he had carefully curated years ago. The abandoned orphan turned danger-seeking escort, finding family in an enclave of outlaws. Most clients found this tale tantalizing: after all, an escort that had a dark, mysterious past made them feel as though the danger were real, as though they were truly adventuring with the kind of person they wished they could be.

Of course, the personage was a one-dimensional fabrication: the true circumstances behind the disappearance of his father, as well as his own connection with the Hideaway, were secrets kept close to his person. However, nothing in the story was fallacious--Eyrin recognized the omitting the truth was a much better tactic around astute, politically-inclined individuals--practically all verdora--than outright lying. His father had gone missing, and he had wandered off into the Wilderness. Tramin senior had scooped up his small form and dragged him off to the Hideaway. In the absence of his father, he had trained to become an escort, learning from the organization's young members how best to bring straight-edge, prim-and-proper verdora into situations of danger.

In truth, the main omission in Eyrin's story was the fact that he was a kursi.

Which, in the end, is the crux upon which everything else has turned.

---

"Clarissa."

The devilbat's head snapped around. "What?" she asked crossly. I can't believe he didn't get sick from my flying, damn it.

"I appreciate your attempts at elevating my adrenaline levels," he said, smiling sadly, "however, you aren't an escort: you lack the appropriate training."

Clarissa gaped. I lack...the appropriate...training? Clarissa hissed. Even if this guy is a kursi, she thought, I wanna kill him!

"Though, well, no, I shouldn't..."

"What!?"

Eyrin's eyes focused on hers. "I could teach you."

Clarissa blinked, then looked away. "The hell you can."

Several minutes of silence passed.

"Damn it," Clarissa muttered under her breath. "Tell me more about what exactly escorts do."

Eyrin smiled. "If you insist."