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Rukh sat on his knees in front of the open furnace door and stirred up coals with a poker. Flames reappeared in some places, but in something about ten minutes it would be possible to push the damper and go to bed. Red-orange light beautifully circled the yellow scales and chest plates, glided, barely touching, on the leathery wings, clinging to the horns, hiding the dorsal crest in the shade. Added a red tint to Naythel's black fur. It became quite warm in the house so that Teyghar would not freeze without a heavy blanket - the winged's warm cloak remained in the guesthouse, and light blankets Rukh had were too light and short for the night cold.

The griffin closed the furnace door and stretched out on a cot. He saw the spine of the book in the light of the lamp but did not decide to take it. The reflector cap directed the light in his direction, but beyond the bright light, the shapes were still guessed in the dark. Teyghar settled himself against the wall on his side, folding one wing behind, and covering Naythel with the other. Griffin could see the yellow scales and the glossy membrane of the wing. Oh...

'Need a hug too, Rukh?' the fanged smile and the playful gaze of yellow eyes distraceted griffin from contemplation.

'No, Teyghar, thank you,' Rukh squeezed his ears. It was not polite to stare like that, no matter at the girls or the boys.

'Do not be shy,' a sharp black muzzle lifted above the pillow, and large ears turned to the griffin, 'there is still room for you.'

Rukhgert unheard Naythel's remark.

'Tell me, Tey ... how does it feel?'

The draconid carefully looked at the griffin, appreciating intonation and gaze.

'Wings?'

'Yes.'

Teyghar thought for a moment, and then with his wing, he touched the griffin's shoulder.

'Turn off the light.'

The slight creaking of the wheel and the light began to fade, and then darkness came. Eyes got used quickly: first, a slit in the stove became visible, and then curtained windows with a twilight strip. A table came out of the darkness, mugs standing on it. The last to be seen was a large dark silhouette on the bed. Silence. You can hear the wind blowing, twigs and pine needles falling on the roof. If you will go outside, you will hear clouds that came from the west to cover the Bergenburg plateau and not allow it to cool. The weather might go bad next week, but it will be hot for a few days. Poplars are not mistaken in this.

Whisper. Deafeningly loud in the night wilderness. Whisper with hoarse, laryngeal growls.

'This is strange, right? Both are winged, but both cannot fly. I can only glide from the slope, not far from the ground. Your wings are even weaker, not everyone will feel them, and no one sees.'

Rukh felt how fast his heart was beating. Rarely anyone noticed his wings. Rukhgert Stern, an ordinary griffin. Hands were noticed - with such hands you can be a culinary specialist, mechanic, farmer, butcher, surgeon. They are easy to work with, easy to wash - no wool, no feathers all the way to the elbows, only yellow skin, which reminds scales. Lightness and liveliness were noticed. They noticed the beak and the ability to pronounce the sounds of any speech without lips speak Common language without an accent and learn the languages of other nations. But no one except his sister and uncle said that Rukh was winged. It was a hit in a dream, in fantasies, in truth. The feathered one felt that he had wings, sensed them, imagined them well, but could not fly on them. Only in rare dreams did he manage to rise into the air. Those dreams were recorded in a separate notebook and stored as the very best, and now...

'Consider yourself partly lucky, Rukh. You can sleep on your back without sticking your horns either into the pillow or into yourself. Neither the dorsal crest nor the third pair of limbs bothers you. Your wings are hiding from unpleasant people and bad weather, but mine are not. I can hug with them, I can spread them towards the wind when I get tired of wearing a coat and crumple their membranes for the sake of warmth. If it is warm enough, I can use my wings as an umbrella and cover a friend in light rain, and you, at any time can cover your friends from melancholy. Your wings embrace can also be felt, and not only to you, Rukh. It attracts others. You can make a wizard out of yourself if you will be less obsessed with wings for the sake of wings, and try to find some more use for them.'

'I will try to. Thank you, Tey,' Rukh did not know the right words, and what was there to say?

'And you, Rukh. Wish you pleasant dreams'.

'Good night'.

'Winged dreams guys'.

'And you, Nath.'

How did it happen that someone knew so much about you though you did not communicate very closely? It is good that they have a good relationship, but it is still scary to share such things with anyone. How strange that this conversation did not happen before. Sometimes it happens that there is someone good, you agree and agree with him in many respects, but you hardly communicate with each other, as if there was nothing to discuss as if you already know everything you could say to each other. Then, out of sudden, there is a topic, and you understand that you were in need to hear your thoughts from the outside of your head.

Wings ... Every griffin dreams of them at least once in a lifetime. Some of the feathered ones even feel it. However, only a few of them recreate wings in detail, as if remodeling the shape of their souls. In the Common World, the ability to apply and change the soul determines the ability to make sorcery. All physics, chemistry, everything works the same as in Native Worlds, and the only one thing is outstanding here. The thing that the wizard born here does with himself - only this goes beyond the usual.

Rukhgert could not sleep. He wanted to share something valuable in return. According to the sound of breathing, no one had fallen asleep yet.

'Tey, are you awake?'

'Yep'

'I... Starting from childhood, I just dreamed that wings would appear someday. Maybe I will turn into a dragon or draconid, I thought. Our hands are similar. My sister, moreover, winged, learned to fly, and I was happy for her. But at the same time, it was so sad that she could fly, but I could not.'

Goosebumps ran down his spine after this confession. Is it good that he talks about all these things? Attentive silence did not mind him to proceed.

'But flying is natural for my sister. She pays for it with her paws instead of her hands, and fast lifespan. My little sister is already older than me. Sometimes it seems that I can go crazy with this. Before you appeared in Bergenburg, Teyghar, there were no draconids here with whom I could talk about wingedness.

'But you have a sister.'

'Somehow I did not touch this topic with her...'

The gaze of yellow eyes was felt even in the dark, and the wing hugging the griffin from above drove away thoughts of sudden movements, whether in a body or words. The griffin continued:

'We do not really have a relationship with her. She enraged me almost all the time; I was proud of her and ashamed of her. We used to quarrel and make peace...'

'Like everyone else with their siblings,' Naythel said quietly.

'Yes, I'm sorry, but... your younger ones remain younger. The elders are the elders. You can become smarter or dumber and catch up with each other, yes, but your kin does not turn into a huge forever-hungry colossus. You still sulk that she took away your toys, and she is no longer interested in them. You did not get used to the fact that she became a teenager and hormones hit her in the head when she just started to cope with herself, and she grown up and became just like you, and flew away to study at the Griffin Academy, and you still dreaming about flying and adventures. I am afraid that the day will come when all my friends will go to other towns to study things and just start to gain money to build their own homes, and even before I start doing the same she will return with her husband and children.'

One of the last embers quietly cracked in the stove, breaking the silence. Rukh sighed; Teyghar hugged him stronger with a wing.

'Generally speaking, I would be glad to converse with her, and the thing is in me - to perceive her differently. Nevertheless, she is far away now,' said Rukh.

'And here I am, trying different ways to become better and gain wings, and I almost killed my friend and myself with magic,' Rukhgert added to himself.

'I lost my relatives there, in the old world, and I probably won't see them again,' Naythel said quietly, 'now Teyghar and Otherkin are my family. It is easier to behave nicely with those you choose, but you can also choose how to behave with family. If they are healthy and sane, then you'll come to an understanding.'

'I hope Nath. I just wanted to be alone, and now I understand that I have lost.'

'You can still catch up, Rukh. You can do it,' Teyghar's hot smooth wing snuggled closer, touching his skinny yellow hands and the cold cot parts.

'Thanks. Don't freeze, okay?' Rukh stroked a thick membrane.

'Fall asleep, then I'll fold my wing back. If you feel lonely or freeze, feel free to join.'

'Thank you,' the griffin answered with an embarrassed smile and closed his eyes.

***

'It turned out worse than expected, but still acceptable,' the dragon's beautiful voice echoed with a faint echo in the twilight of the grotto. Feline in an old-fashioned three-piece suit only grinned, and Evor shook his head.

'Still, we can't use the gate yet. What about the response?'

'We are waiting and listening, observing before continuing work on the new scheme,' Glen replied.

'You do not trust your own idea?' The feline asked softly.

'Why do you think so? Everything went smoothly on the test environment. But the test is not an exact copy, there were no talented adventurers, for example, and I have to double-check everything and be more careful than before. How is Rukhgert? Is he recovering from shock?'

'I hope he will be back in shape in a few days. Maximum week. I will say once he returns.'

'Then following Rayavartiyat, I will take a couple of days off since nothing is happening here,' Bound nodded to his interlocutors, 'keep in touch.'

'Do not go far.'

'I will be in the Common or the world of felines, do not worry. Let me know once the action begins.'