Free Sky Warriors: Poleuthan's Thief (Sky Warriors Saga Book 1) by Nicole Pendragon

hooves beat against the ground loudly and jarred her bones with every step.
    “Don’t dare come back!” hollered one of the two remaining Justice Guards, his voice slowly becoming distant. “Your base has been destroyed and your friends are dead!”
    “She can’t go anywhere,” the other Justice Guard said loudly with gloat. “Her only option is the Artic Dessert, and entering there is certain death anyways,”
    The first guard laughed loudly in agreement.
    Ange felt tears run down her face, warm against the chilling air that cooled her hot and burnt face as the rinorse kept running west and straight into the snowy cold Artic Dessert. She glanced back, seeing the guards hollering in victory and the bright lights of Cyridell grow distant and cold. She blinked, forcing the tears away as the cold wind whipped around her.
    A though echoed endlessly in her head as she felt her consciousness slip.
    What do I do now?

 
    Chapter 5: Lands of Barren Snow
     
    A disturbance rumbled through the ground, felt under long black talons and thick padded feet heavily covered with soft white feathers. The large beast raised his black-horned crowned head and looked east towards the bright city and then to the base of the mountains.
    It glanced momentarily at its guarded treasure, glittering brightly under the moonlight. Lately the blade had seemed to sheen with greater brilliance, sending a flare of ghost-like feeling through it that made it wonder if it was the feeling of hope. It could call upon ancient memories and confirm the feeling but it wasn’t as strong as it should be, as it could be, so long as the other half of its soul remained lost to it.
    It stood up reluctantly and peered past the flat plain that its charge rested upon, wondering what was wrong. Its white feathers dancing like grass under the cold breeze as a storm gathered over the sea and over its snowy desert.
    What it had felt had not been an earthquake, it was too short, too weak. It felt like the explosions the humans ignited under its mountains, but that was only during the day and they were slightly weaker than this. They didn’t echo through the mountain’s body like this one had.
    Another rush of half-dead emotions surged through its body, curiosity and disgruntlement. But there was one thing it felt almost familiar, a powerful pull toward the southeast and over its snowy desert and to the origin of the quake. Like the tug it had been feeling over the past decade, but it had been weaker, tonight it was overpowering and sent worry through it which was the one emotion that was especially strongly felt.
    Deciding to investigate, the large creature unfolded a pair of silky white wings, their lower halves dusted with a few tiny black flecks. One of its wings was nearly twice the length of its long powerful body. With a single sweep the giant was in the air, gliding the cold currents down the mountain. Snow flurries started to rush through the air as the beast swept its piercing sun-yellow gaze over the land before trending it path against the mountain toward the source of the tremble. Silently, it beat its powerful wings and rose higher into the sky and above the clouds as a storm of flakes followed its body, hiding its shape as it brought the storm over the mountains and into the city and valley below.
    It didn’t do it intentionally, it could not control the full mass of its powers, not till it found the other half of its soul. Till then, its birth element would protect it. The beast quickly found itself miles high in the sky over the site of what looked like a devastating explosion. Its eyes had no problem zooming in on the tragedy. The scent of blood, dust, and sol powder reached its nose even at this height as smoke rose into the sky.
    But gazing at the sight did not quell the fear that had begun to build in its chest since it took flight. A powerful pull made it turn back around, back to the snowy desert, leaving the storm behind it to hail on the disaster