She gave Gaelin a firm nod, bidding her new ally farewell, before moving towards the edge of the forest. Making her way towards the river, she unfurled her wraith wings. Concentrating on the use of her aetheric wings, she tried hard to focus her mind on beating them furiously, an art that she had all but forgotten. Her body became lighter as her feet slowly left the ground. Though she was drastically out of practice, only managing to hover a pace above the ground, nevertheless, it was sufficient to achieve her ends. She hovered towards the centre of the river, knowing that her enemies could not reach her there. Re-orientating her body westwards, towards the heart of the vale, she tightened her grip on her bow then sped off into the fading night.
There was a short pause after Leyla’s
