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Agloaopheme/Aello - CH 3: Love Soars

By: Tyvara

Agloaopheme -- Name of a siren in Roman Mythology.

Synopsis: Deon regrets his behavior and vows to do right. After practicing flying he waits for Caly's return, when another storm hits, he worries for her safety.

Deon woke alone the next morning. Part of him regretted that Caly had snuck away without waking him. He'd rather liked waking with her snuggling against him. The other part was relieved to avoid the awkwardness from last night. He hoped she hadn't made a silent escape because he couldn't perform as expected. That made him realize how important he was. If my sole purpose is mating, then I should find a better way to deal with moments where I can't perform, instead of rolling over. I wouldn't want her to snub me like that, and she deserves better than that kind of treatment.

Although he felt like lowlife scum, since Caly wasn't there, he couldn't fix anything. What he could focus on was improving his flying skills. At least he could work on that. Getting out of bed, he checked the brazier for food and found a small meal of fish and bread. He worried for a moment about having enough food for the whole day, but remembered Caly mentioning that she would be out hunting and trading with the locals today. Maybe that's why she left so early. He ate the last of the food, barely tasting it as his hunger took over again.

Afterward he headed up the walkway to the cliff. The sky held wisps of curling clouds. Although reaching the hilltop tree didn't hurt his groin, he decided stretching before he began practicing. If it worked as a human, it'd probably work as a harpy. Besides, he wasn't going to injure himself again and have a repeat of last night.

Stretching in this form consisted more of figuring out his range of motion as a bird-man, rather than reviewing more familiar human-like forms of pre-exercise routines. His center of balance had now become extremely important, as it changed depending on how he positioned himself. His strange kingfisher feet didn't move in any familiar way, and his tail added an extra concern when running or jumping. It also served to stretch out his injury, which at this point didn't even bother him after a full morning of stretching.

It wasn't until mid-afternoon that he'd become familiar enough with his new body that he wanted to venture into flying again. He got into position, head down, wings spread. His pounding heart pulsed through him a mixture of fear and excitement. Determined not to give himself time for his nerves to get the better of him, he broke into a full run, dashing for the cliff's edge. With each stride he jumped a little higher, and flapped his wings harder. By the time he neared the ledge, he soared above it enough that he didn't need to kick off. Instead he floated beyond the island out toward the ocean.

When the last of the island disappeared beneath him, his stomach dropped, but he turned his eyes away from the sloshing water below and flapped harder, knowing that only his continual wing-beats would keep him aloft. It took considerable effort for him to get any higher, but Deon's main concern was not dropping from the sky like a rock. He was perfectly content to fly level. Level meant he wasn't falling.

Thick clouds hung above him, white and fluffy, their cottony tufts stretched out over the ocean. The water stretched beyond the bend in the horizon. Deon feared he could fly for a long time before finding another glimpse of land.

After continuing on, his flapping became smoother, and he had a few moments where he could simply glide. That afforded him a chance to look around him, and he realized how dingy the sky had become. It'd be best if he turned around. Banking left, he made a large turn, and when he faced the direction he'd come from, the island stood as a tiny mound in the distance. He almost panicked at how far he'd traveled in such a short time. A couple of deep breaths kept his cool and he flew back toward the island. At least he wasn't surrounded by ocean. He had a direction to travel toward.

Before he realized it, Deon had flown beyond the island and had to turn around again. But when he reached the sandy shores a second time, it dawned on him that he wasn't quite sure how to land. He'd spent all his time figuring out how to fly, that he'd skipped over landing. Well, now's as good a time as any, he thought, searching his mind for anything that might help him. He thought about all the birds he'd ever seen fly, trying to remember what they looked like when they landed. But birds are different than harpies. Then he thought of Caly, when she'd landed on the sand. He remembered how her wings jutted back, and the graceful form she took as she fluttered to the ground.

Of all the places to land, the beach looked the softest. Making another wide turn, he headed back toward the beach. When he thought he'd centered on a good spot to land, far enough away from the rocks or the water, he attempted to duplicate Caly's landing.

He threw back his wings and thrust his legs down. The weight of his legs now reaching for the ground pulled him down faster than he'd expected, and he beat his wings like mad to slow his descent. But as he got closer to the ground, his wings blew sand in his face, so he closed his eyes and stretched out his toes, grasping blindly for the incoming feel of soft, forgiving sand. Once he did, he stopped flapping and let his toes sink into the warm beach.

His muscles burned from his endeavors. But it felt great, as if his muscles had been craving this exact feeling. His head still swam, with a different sensation than if he'd been swimming all day. He kept feeling the brush of the breeze against his feathers, and the strange battle between the wind keeping him up, and gravity trying to pull him back down. Everything was too real to fully comprehend beyond how wonderful he felt. He wanted to get back into the sky again. By now the sky was thick with dark clouds, making it appear later than it really was. Still, the sun was too close to setting for him to want to venture out at night. If the sun set, he'd never be able to find the island again. He'd have to wait until tomorrow to try again. And with the clouds looking like they might open up if he stayed outside too long, he wasn't going to chance flying now.

Deon couldn't wait to tell Caly about how far he flew today. She'd be so excited, and it'd shorten the time left on the island.

Then it hit him like a ton of bricks. He didn't have much longer to spend with Caly just the two of them. For all he knew they'd head out for her home tomorrow. Last night's stupidity swirled in his mind like a constantly rewinding nightmare. What sort of asshole snubs the girl who showed them this amazing new world? I'm not the same person anymore - heck, I'm not even a person now! I won't treat her like she doesn't matter. I'll do whatever it takes to make her happy, because if it wasn't for her, I'd be dead. Or worse, I'd be living a life away from her . . . as a man. Flooded with the memories of his former self, his past life, he brushed it all aside. He could be anyone he wanted to be, and he wanted to be the kind of bird man that makes the Harpy girl of his dreams happier than she'd ever imagined. And that started with the best and most sincere apology of his life.

Determined, he headed up the beach toward their cavern shelter. When he reached the opening, no one was home. His heart sank. He'd really hoped Caly would be waiting for him like the night before. Without her inside, the cave seemed so ordinary. The brazier lost its ornateness, the tub appeared as a cavern pool, their nest just a pile of thatch and cloth. His stomach growled in further discomfort. Stroking his feathered stomach with his winged hand was the only alleviation he could offer. Glancing back outside, the sky looked darker than it had at the beach.

He hoped she'd return soon. The thought of her out there in the oncoming storm unsettled him.

To distract himself, he set about lighting the brazier. There were striking stones nearby, and Deon fumbled with them before opting to use his feet to hold the stones. To his surprise, his feet worked rather well. Better than he'd ever expected. It didn't take long to get a fire going. As he stoked it with his breath a flash of lightning lit up the cavern entrance. Not far behind came the crash of thunder.

Deon focused on the opening, hoping to see Caly's form or shadow . . . but nothing. His feathers rustled nervously.What could be taking her so long? He didn't know the area, so he wasn't sure if there were any dangers here. Actually, he didn't know anything about here. He'd never really seen harpies before Caly found him - well, not outside his dreams. She'd mentioned nymphs the other day, so for all he knew this place could be full of all sorts of terrors. He'd studied enough of Greek mythology to have an idea of the possible monsters out there. That alone got his nerves rattling so fierce that he couldn't sit still.

As he stood up, another flicker of lightning lit the sky. Beyond the cave was a bleary black. It'd be past dusk soon. Then a thunderclap grumbled in warning as he began to pace. Pacing only agitated him further, but it afforded a chance to check the fire and the opening, so he persisted. Please let her come home soon.

Instead, rain poured into the wind-churned ocean. The thunder grew closer and louder, until Deon held no doubt that the storm was focused on the island alone.

Why had I been so foolish last night? He berated himself as he passed by the cave opening again. The rain was so hard he couldn't avoid getting wet each time he checked outside. His imagination began to get the better of him. What if she'd left him because he wasn't a good enough lover? He'd be alone on this island. He had no idea how far it was to a mainland. He didn't even know if the tree on the hill produced fruit. Scenes of every castaway he'd ever read or seen flew through his mind like a nightmare on fast-forward.

Then a worse thought struck him through the heart -- what if something happened to Caly? He scanned the sky for her again as terrible images flashed with every bolt of lightning; of her injured with a broken wing or leg, crying out for him or her sisters; a ferocious chimera cornering her, then tearing her limb from limb. The deafening thunder almost carried desperate screams and blood-curdling roars all imagined, that rang in his ears. He'd never been afraid of thunderstorms before, but right now he couldn't be more on edge. She was probably fine. Chances were she was somewhere safe, avoiding the weather. But those nagging worries persisted. No matter how hard he reasoned with himself, he couldn't shake the fear away.

Deon lost all sense of time. He abandoned pacing to sit in their nest and turned his back to the entrance, hoping that if he stopped obsessing over what was outside then it would ease his troubled thoughts. But in the nest, the smell of her spicy feathers overwhelmed him. His thoughts changed to visions of her struck by a bolt of lightning, her burnt body spiraling into the ocean. Burying his head he prayed that she'd be alright and make it through this storm.

After a while, the thunder faded to distant thrum, and the night returned to a dank darkness heavy with rain. He left the nest and stoked the fire.

A flutter of wings melded with the pattering rain. At first, Deon thought it was only another trick of his mind, until the very real scrape of claws on rock made his heart jump.

Caly, soaked to the bone, swung into the cave. "That storm was awful! I had to wait it out. The only storm worth anything is a Zeus born one." She giggled, looking at him through wet hair.

Without wasting another second, Deon ran to her, took her in his arms and held her close. Her wet feathers sucked the heat from him, and he shivered, but it didn't matter. He didn't say anything. He couldn't form words right now. He just held her, absorbed in the feel of her body against his. Happy to have her back in his arms again.

"Is everything alright?"

Her words sent a jolt through him and he kissed her, pressing his lips to hers as if he'd never feel their touch again. When his lungs ached for breath, he pulled back and whispered, "I'm sorry."

"What?" She quirked her feathery eyebrow quizzically.

"I'm sorry for the way I acted last night. I'd hurt myself trying to fly, but I didn't want you to know how bad it was, and you were so sexy, and then I got hard but it hurt so bad . . . and I couldn't." The words tumbled out of his mouth so fast the sentences rolled together. I'm a jerk. I didn't know what to say. But I shouldn't have just rolled over and ignored you. That was stupid. Please, forgive me." He kissed her again.

She pushed him away. "Was that all?" Relief washed over her expression, her eyes almost tearing at the corners. "I thought it was something worse. Why didn't you tell me?"

"I'm sorry. I just got embarrassed and acted so stupid. I'll never do it again. You disserve better than me, but I'll do everything I can to make it up to you."

Caly shook her head. "You're my mate. Of course I disserve you. Zeus gave me the sign. I'm just glad it wasn't something I did. Sirens have a tendency to be . . . pushy lovers."

Deon hugged her. "It will never be your fault. You're perfect."

"Thanks." She squeezed him. "Sorry that I was so late getting home. Flying during a normal thunderstorm is way too easy to get struck by lightning. Flying in the rain I can do, but natures lightning is unpredictable."

"How do you know the difference?" he asked, releasing her.

"Zeus born storms compel us to be out in them. We can't stop ourselves. But a regular storm, we can easily avoid them." Caly reached down and brought up a bundle clutched in her foot. "I brought food. I didn't know how long we'd be here, so I got some dried supplies."

"You know, I think I'm starting to get the hang of flying. I flew almost out of sight of the island today. Landing's a little tricky, but I did a lot better than yesterday."

Caly perked up. "That's wonderful! You'll have to show me tomorrow." Scooting around Deon, he headed for the brazier where she left the pack.

"Wait!" Deon reached out to her. "I'm not finished."

"With what? Aren't you hungry?"

His stomach grumbled before he could get the words out. But he ignored it. Food could wait. "Starving, but . . . I have more of an apology to give." He took Caly in his arms again. "And there's something else I'd rather eat." He kissed her again as he guided her toward their nest. She let him, and when their feet touched the edge, he lay her down against the blankets.

Caly gazed up at him and smiled, her eyes made more orange by the glow of the flickering fire in the brazier.

"You're beautiful." Leaning over her, he stole a soft kiss before he lay on top of her. He cradled his head against her breasts. The musky-sweet smell of her filled his lungs. Using his wing, he nudged her breast closer until he could pop a nipple into his mouth.

With a yelped gasp, Caly wrapped her arms around Deon. Her little thumb gripped his back feathers each time he swirled or licked her nipple.

When he paused, he blew across her nub.

It instantly hardened and Caly's breath quickened.

Sucking her nipple back into his mouth, he teased the tensed flesh with his tongue, batting and swirling, and nibbling ever so slightly, keeping it hard. The moment the warmth of his mouth began to soften her, he released it again. He blew harder this time, sending a steady stream of cold air across her pale nip.

It returned to a perk nub. Caly gasped sharply the end trailed off with a musical moan.

The sound sent shivers down Deon's spine. Good shivers that made the base of his dick pulse. He turned his attention to her other nipple, repeating the process until both nipples were tight little buttons. He sat up to better admire them. He wanted to hold them, but his wings just didn't work the same way as hands. All he could do was cover her breasts with his wings and tease her nipples with his small thumbs.

She exhaled another of her musical moans.

The way she lay there with her white body covered in his teal wings, she looked like a curvy fashion model in some exotic lingerie. That thought sent another shiver down his spine. Keeping his wings on her breasts, he scooted toward her pussy.

Her legs spread without any prodding. "Oh, Deon."

Deon admired her daintily feathered mound. "This is what I should have done last night." He knelt and kissed her outer lips, right above her clit. He let his lips linger there, absorbed in the feeling of her pussy pressed against his mouth. Parting his lips, he slipped out his tongue and spread her lips apart. He swooped the tip of his tongue back and forth, grazing the head of her clit.

Caly yelped and her legs quivered as she crunched the nest with her talons.

Encouraged, Deon swirled his tongue more, using the tip like a pen to write cursive messages across her swollen clit. His wings still rested on her breasts, his thumbs randomly swirling around her aroused nipples, teasing her.

Each heaving breath from Caly came faster, sharper, with quick moans every time Deon licked a sensitive spot.

He watched her while he licked. He loved the look of her writhing under his careful touch. Her shaking thighs sometimes steadied enough to pinch his head between them, muffling the sound of her moans. But he could still watch her squirm. Her arching body almost danced with his motions, moving with him in one moment, then away the next, but each pose she took appeared more beautiful than the last. His dick got harder with every moment. The soft blankets on their nest rubbed against him and felt so good. He let his own arousal fade to the back of his mind, letting Caly's fuel his own, until his only focus was her climax.

Wetness coated his chin, her feathers were all damp and juicy, and the back of his tongue twinged a bit from the exertion. Over and over, he traced fanciful words, interspersing them only by randomly swirling his tongue down her slit and dipping between her folds before returning to her clit again.

Her legs shook and a burst of wetness coated her entire vagina. "I-i I'm s-so close."

Deon could taste it and he kept at it. He wouldn't rest until she came. He let his tongue ache in protest, he didn't care. He wanted to be coated with her climax.

With another burst of wetness, Caly let out a loud scream.

Deon was glad her legs covered his ears, because even through the filter of her body, the scream still pierced him. He continued licking while her body twisted about, riding the waves of her orgasm.

After a few final shutters, her legs relaxed and slumped wide apart. She batted at Deon's head with her wing. "No more," she giggled. "I've already come."

Finally he let his tongue take a well earned rest. It throbbed against his mouth, but it felt good to hear her get off, so it was worth any price. He began to roll himself off her, but she gripped his arm with her wing.

"Wait!" She eyed his swollen penis. "Please. Put it in me." The look on her face pleaded as much as her tone.

Who was he to argue? He brought his dick up along her slit. Wetness coated him and made him shiver. Angling his hips, he thrust forward and he slid into her.

Caly let out a deep relieved moan as her wet, warm pussy tightened around him, keeping him deep inside her despite his efforts to pull back to thrust.

Deon loved the tight grip she had, and her juicy walls coated his dick like ripples of wet silk. Beneath him, Caly moved her hips with him, as if she couldn't bear to have his cock out of her for more than a few millimeters. Her lust made him want her all the more. They moved that way, like one creature, writhing, thrusting, moaning and grunting. He kissed her open mouth, their moans melding into each other's.

The second he took his lips away she said, "Take me, Deon. I need you!" Their gaze met, hers filled with passion, and need - and love. "Fill me. I want to feel you come in me."

Deon's thrusts took on a mind of their own. He let go of every single thought beyond how good she felt gripping him. In one glorious split second, Caly's motions missed a thrust, so that their hips left a gap between each other. When Deon pulled back, exposing his shaft to the cold air, he slammed himself back in.

They collided again with an erotic yell of satisfaction.

Again.

Caly screamed her delight. She stopped moving her hips and held on.

Again.

"Right there. Right there!" she cried out.

He couldn't hold himself anymore. A guttural yell slipped from his lips as his orgasm rippled through his shaft and exploded into her. His come loaded into her in thick streams.

Caly wrapped her wings around him, and she gripped his hips with her thighs, holding him while he came.

After a few more thrusts, his dick shuddered, and he felt his muscles begin to collapse. He forced himself, rather than fall, to slowly sink down on top of her, resting his head on her breasts. He kept his dick inside her, where it was nice, warm and drippy. If she let him, he'd stay that way all night.

They both sighed between heavy breaths. They didn't move from each other's grasp for a long time, long enough that when the silence was broken by a groan from Deon's stomach, they both jumped.

Caly grinned. "I think we should eat before that stomach of yours growls any louder." She shuffled underneath him.

Forced to roll off her, Deon had no choice but expose his cock to the cold cave air. The shock sobered him out of his euphoria quicker than he would have preferred.

Caly rolled off the nest and went for the bundle by the brazier. "I'm glad I got some dried foods. You won't have to wait for anything to cook." She returned and handed him a smaller paper-wrapped bundle. "Eat as much as you like, but it should fill you up fast enough."

The bundle unwrapped easily. Inside were hunks of jerkied meat and thick rolls. He could hold food in his wing easily enough and he began eating. The ache in his stomach soon subsided, but it wasn't until most of the food in the bundle was gone before he felt any sense of relief.

Caly finished with her meal and rolled the rest back into the paper before returning it to the brazier. "I like your methods of apologizing," Caly said softly. "I wonder how Alexyna will respond to you."

Deon perked up. "What do you mean by that?"

"She's . . . more forceful. I guess it comes from her role as our protector and hunter. She's the strongest between the three of us." Caly returned to the nest and sat by his side.

"What does she look like?"

"Tall, muscular --"

"No, I mean, you have the look of some subspecies of barn owl. Are your sisters also like barn owls?"

Caly shook her head. "I'm not really like the barn owl. I've got some of the markings of one, but a lot of my coloring is like a white faced owl. It's my face and the solid pattern on my back that gives the impression of a barn owl."

"I'm not sure I've ever seen a white faced owl before."

"Well, the way my feathers look in the front, all wispy grey atop the white, and my orange eyes. Those are more like the white-faced than a barn owl."

"So then, what do your sisters take after?"

"Alexyna's like the eagles. I've never seen an eagle like her. She traveled the furthest of any harpy I know. She says her journey made her strong. She faced a lot of horror to get to us."

"Why did she have to?"

"Zeus called her, drove her across the ocean to be our sister. We'd be lost without her. Phoebie's so into her books, and I'm . . . shy for a harpy. She's our protector."

Deon couldn't resist feeling a bit intimidated. He never thought for a second that one of his new harpy mates would be like an eagle. He'd always loved eagles. They cut such a regal profile. Based on Caly, he could only imagine what an eagle-like harpy would look like. He brushed those thoughts aside - he'd rather wait and see the real thing. He didn't have to imagine bird women anymore. "Is she as friendly as you?"

Caly chuckled. "Alexyna has her own way of doing things. She's ruffled a few feathers before, but she knows how to get things done. She can survive."

He didn't know how to react to that. He didn't want to think bad of someone he didn't know, but he doubted she'd be very welcoming to him appearing out of nowhere, encroaching on her territory. Really, as long as he could be with Caly, that's what mattered. He'd put up with anything to keep Caly around. "What about Phoebie?"

"She's like the falcon. Her pattern - is simply the best among us. Phoebie's lovely," she said with a happy sigh.

Her tone made Deon wonder. "So you're not related sisters?"

She shook her head. "Since there aren't any male harpies, most of us group up with each other. It's not uncommon for blood sisters to bond, but that didn't happen in our group."

"So then . . . you're lovers."

"Love between harpy sisters is different than with our Zeus born. With harpies, the larger our group the better our chances are of finding a Zeus born. If none of us finds a male, our sisters are our only companions, so it's best to group with compatible harpies. It's even more so if we find a male; sharing a male is a lot easier if you care about the other females."

"That didn't really answer my question." He paused, trying to prepare himself for whatever answer she gave him. "Do you have sex with each other?"

Caly paused. "Well . . . yes. We're harpies after all. We have to learn the art of lovemaking somewhere. We're very sensual creatures."

"It's alright. I'm just wondering how Alexyna and Phoebie will react to my intrusion."

"But you're not intruding!" Caly reassured him with a wing against his knee. "Harpies want to find a male. We can't have children without them, and a clan isn't really complete without a mate and the possibility of having children." She looked away and her voice grew soft. "Harpies without a mate will always be wanting, even with the comfort of our sisters. Without our sisters it could be unbearable. We don't want to grow into old crones." Caly turned away and her voice got quieter. "We don't want to become what the legends make us out to be . . . . I don't want to be that way."

He attempted to comfort her with his wing on her shoulder. "Have you ever asked what they want?"

"We don't talk about our Zeus born." She still didn't look at him. "We live our lives avoiding the worry of when our mate will arrive. If we focus on our loneliness it can consume us. It's part of our curse."

Deon sat there for a while, not knowing what to think. He wasn't really convinced. The prospect of his own harem of harpies excited him. It would be so much like what he'd dreamt of all his life. He'd just never thought about what might happen if those harpies weren't that open to his presence. He wouldn't mind if they left him with Caly, but it would certainly be more fun if everyone actually wanted him there. But he wouldn't know that until he met them. In the meantime he might as well learn all he could about the harpies he'd spend the rest of his life with. "You said that Phoebie likes books?"

She nodded. "Phoebie has a huge collection of books that she's gathered from all over." Her voice returned to a happier tone. He could see the relief in her relaxed posture as she continued. "Some of her books are so old they go back to a time when the veil between our world and yours was thin. You should ask her about them; she's very proud of her collection."

"I will," he said, lying back onto the nest a wing behind his head. "Since she taught you about magic, can she do any herself?"

"A little, but she'd rather read about it than actually practice." Caly joined him, nestling against the crook of his arm. "I think that's why we get along so well. She's always researching some new spell for me to try out. I never really knew I had a knack for it until we met."

"How did you find out?"

"She said she could sense it in me. That's why she wanted me to be her sister. I've never really understood it. Phoebie has a way about her. She's always thinking about things, observing, reading; she's in her own world a lot of the time. Alexyna and I, we remind her of the here and now."

Deon yawned. He wondered how he'd fit in to all of this. With Caly, things were so simple. But her sisters were an unknown factor that he wouldn't know what to do with until he met them. "I can't wait to show you my progress tomorrow. It's much better than yesterday."

"I would hope so." Caly snuggled against him adding her own yawn. "It's rare that flying is unfamiliar to Zeus born."

"Why's that?"

She shrugged. "Phoebie might know."

Shuffling, Deon resituated himself with his wing around Caly's. He held her close. All that flying, and then the worry over the storm had him exhausted. Sleep begged him to settle into the nest and drift away. Caly's warmth next to him, her slow breath comforted him.

The next thing he knew, it was the morning.

Caly was up, stirring the fire in the brazier. She looked over as he shuffled in the nest. "Sleep well?"

He nodded. "I didn't realize how tired I was until I'd lain down." He stretched, a couple of his bones popping as sleep melted from him. "How'd you sleep?"

"Well enough. It'll be nice to be back at home where everything's the way I like it. Nothing can beat a nest stuffed with a lifetimes worth of down."

That made enough sense. Their nest wasn't particularly uncomfortable by his standards, but if down pillows were a luxury, he could only imagine what a downy nest made of molted owl feathers might be like. "Well the only way that's going to happen is if I show you my progress."

Caly laughed. "Alright, let's eat first. It'll keep your strength up." She brought two more bundles from the brazier and handed one to him.

Inside his bundle were a couple warm rolls stuffed with meat, cheese, and some mixture of greens. Leeks were probable based on the sharp flavor. He ate until he was satisfied, but not full. The last thing he needed would be the weight of extra food in him while trying to fly.

Once they were finished, they headed outside and up to the top of the island.

Now was the time to show what he'd been practicing.

Caly sat off to the side while Deon went through his little warmup routine. When he was ready, he backed up a bit and made a run for it. Launching himself into the air he flapped a bit to keep himself aloft. He tucked his feet up so that he kept his center of gravity. Soon he soared above the ocean. To turn, he banked to make a wide arch until he faced the island again. When he made his way back to the island, Caly was nowhere to be seen. He had a moment of panic, until she swooped down overhead.

"You're doing so well! How far is the farthest you've flown?"

Riding an updraft he said, "I don't want to lose sight of the island, but with you here with me I'd like to try and fly further."

"I'd love to take you home, but I don't want to tire you out with a long flight. We aren't exactly close."

"Won't the others be worried about you?" They banked, rounding the island and headed back out into the endless sea.

"They likely know. With the Zeus storm and I've been gone for a few days now. I've also tried to pass along what happened to the clans I've traded with."

"That's where all the food's come from." He nodded putting the pieces together.

"Yes, we're excellent fishers, so it's in our interest to trade with the locals. We're also limited with our lack of hands so it helps that there are local clans willing to work with harpies."

"You mean you work with other races? Like what?"

"There's the Agathodemons that deal in wine and grapes. Some are orchardists. There are the centaurs who are the healers, some are smiths too. Phoebie gets her glasses from a dwarf. There are lots of other clans here that help out with the day to day of our lives."

He'd never given any thought to how he'd get by day to day without the use of his hands. That and he'd never given any thought to what life would be like living among the harpies as a harpy. It would certainly be an adventure.

"How are you feeling?" Caly asked with a flap as she caught another updraft.

"Refreshed actually. I really enjoy flying. It's like my body always wanted to do this and it just never worked until now."

"Would you like to try to fly home? I know if you get tired I could carry you. I did it once before during the Zeus storm. You're right about my absence causing my sisters to worry. I don't know for a fact if they know I'm okay, and the sooner we return the better."

Deon had to think about that. As much as he wanted to meet the rest of his new harpy clan, another part of him wanted more time with Caly. They'd only had a few days together. Now he regretted everything. Not having more time with Caly saddened him.

"Oh, don't look so sad. We have our whole lives together; don't think we'll never be alone again. We will."

"How did you -"

"We share a bond. It's not as strong as telepathy, but emotions are easy to sense. You'll start to sense it too in time." She grinned at him.

"So, we're headed to your home?"

"Our home."

To Be Continued

Author's Notes: I had this story primarily written about five or so years ago, came back to it a little after that but then it sat untouched. This story collection I've titled Harpy Love will continue in a few more installments spread out through the Bestiary.