Veer looked down at the steaming bowl in his hand, sighed like a scolded child, and hurriedly set it on the table. Then, without another word, he followed her out into the open air.
As soon as they stepped out of the house, Kaya scanned the surroundings, then turned to Veer.
"Is there any place on this godforsaken mountain where I can open sothing dangerous without... you know, killing half the tribe by accident?"
Veer paused, tilting his head. "Sweetheart, are you planning to unleash a thousand snakes up here?"
Kaya shot him a glare sharp enough to cut stone.
He imdiately raised his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay! Sorry. You an a safe place, right? Sowhere no one else will get hurt?"
Kaya gave a curt nod.
Without warning, Veer slid an arm around her waist, spread his wings wide, and shot into the air. Kaya’s grip tightened around him as the wind howled past. Her eyes burned from the dust tearing against them, and the ground blurred below, rushing closer like Veer was slicing through the clouds themselves.
After what felt like forever—but was barely fifteen seconds—they landed with a heavy thud on barren ground.
Veer gestured grandly. "Do whatever you want here."
Kaya looked around at the empty stretch of earth, then tilted her head up at the looming mountain. Her brows furrowed. "Veer, I asked you for a safe place. Not... this." She swept a hand at the wasteland. "Do you honestly think this is where we should open sothing dangerous?"
Veer spread his arms wide, grinning at her. "Sweetheart, this is the safest place to do anything dangerous."
Kaya narrowed her eyes at him. "Veer, this is literally the foot of a mountain. If I ss up, don’t you think the whole damn thing could explode or sothing worse? And you call this safe?"
Veer chuckled, the sound rich and careless. "Baby, we’re a vulture tribe. We eat the dead and rule the skies as one of the strongest clans up here. Do you think anyone else dares to co near this place? For a hundred miles, you won’t find another tribe—they’re terrified of being eaten."
He tapped his temple with a smug look. "And our senses are sharp. If sothing dangerous really happens, it’ll take a few seconds before it even reaches the mountain. In that ti, I promise you, my people would already be gone. Nothing touches us without us knowing."
Kaya pulled two pieces of cloth from her pocket and tossed one to Veer. "Tie this around your nose," she said, securing the other over her own.
Veer copied her, but his eyes lingered on her with concern. "Sweetheart... you really aren’t going to do anything reckless, right? Even if you leave snakes here, I can run and protect you—but there’s a high chance I could get hurt. I don’t want you to be injured. So, how about I put you sowhere safe first?"
Kaya grumbled, irritation flashing in her eyes. "Shut up," she snapped, and reached into her bag. She carefully pulled out five small wooden bottles and set them on the ground. Slowly, she uncorked them, stepping back a few paces as the faint slls drifted into the air.
When she saw the odor had softened, she placed a leaf on the ground and gently poured out the contents. So were speckled with fungus, while others looked perfectly preserved—but all of them shared one thing: vibrant, impossible colors. Purples, yellows, even a mushroom with black-and-yellow spots on a soft pink background. Kaya studied them carefully, her eyes narrowing.
Normally, Kaya would never have dared to do this. She had held back for a long ti, her hand hovering over the bottles, poking cautiously at them with her bamboo stick. But suddenly, a wave of dizziness swept over her. Her head spun, and she clutched it tightly, struggling to stay steady.
She hadn’t touched or opened any of them recklessly—she had followed exactly what the woman from the Wolf Tribe had instructed—but still, her body reacted. The room seed to tilt, and her vision blurred.
Kaya turned toward Veer, who was standing a few ters away, just as she had instructed. But now, instead of seeing just one, she could make out two—or even three—figures moving in the distance. Her heart skipped. Sothing about the way they were watching her didn’t feel right.
.
.
.
Suddenly, her heart started pounding wildly in her chest, then, as if dragged by so invisible force, she stumbled and fell to the ground. The last thing she saw before everything blurred was a figure rushing toward her.
Veer, holding Kaya tightly in his arms, gently patted her face. "Kaya? Kaya? What happened? But... what is all—" he paused, unsure how to continue.
Kaya looked up at him with a silly, bright smile. "Wow, handso! You’re here again?" she teased, grabbing his chin and tilting it slightly. "Where are guys like you even made?"
Seeing her cheeks flush red, Veer’s concern deepened. "Sweetheart, what did you do?" His voice carried a hint of fear.
Kaya just smiled mischievously. "Nothing!"
Then Veer’s gaze fell on the pile of ingredients Kaya had placed carefully on the leaf earlier. He grabbed his forehead in disbelief. "Damn it! What kind of bastard gave you this?"
Normally, these ingredients, if used individually, could be poisonous—potentially deadly. But when fernted, combined in precise amounts, they didn’t kill; instead, they made the person completely drunk... and the effect lasted for days. Veer looked at Kaya, exasperated, and pointed at her flushed, silly face. "Sweetheart... who gave you this?"
Kaya’s grin widened. "Who are you calling ’sweetheart,’ darling?"
"D-D-D-Darling..." His voice trembled, cracking halfway through. Veer’s eyes widened as he looked at Kaya, the mixture of exasperation, fear, and disbelief written all over his face. He groaned, burying his hand in his hair. "Damn it!"
Without another word, he scooped Kaya up into his arms, holding her in a perfect princess carry. Her arms instinctively flailed for a mont, then she relaxed, still grinning up at him.
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