FIVE
The Mountain
I follow him to the nearby forest. Neither of us speak; Adom because of the dark mood encompassing him, and myself because nothing I say will help my position. The forest thickens around us, huge trunks twisting from the ground as if to suffocate us. It puts me in mind of the two kidnappers whose massive hands roughed me up only hours ago.
When we find ourselves behind a dense copse of trees, Adom strips, folds his clothes and places them beneath a bush. He crouches on all fours. His body contorts, his back arches, and his face elongates into a snout. When he has fully changed, I climb onto his back, hiking ample skirts to my thighs.
He leaps into the dawn sky and spreads his wings wide, the morning sun shining through the translucent skin. With one flap of those memb
