The white Aduns didn't look at Khan. It used its beak to scratch the feathers on its wings before inspecting the environment and giving voice to short screeches.
Khan didn't know what to do in that situation. Liiza didn't give him any instruction, but something told him that the test was over.
The Aduns standing on the grey snow was the first white creature that Khan had seen during his climb. All the other eagles featured darker shades, spanning from grey, blue, or completely black. The event didn't feel like a coincidence when Khan considered his situation.
'A white eagle for the alien boy,' Khan thought while struggling to find a decent foothold on the mountain's surface. 'It sounds proper.'
Khan studied his surroundings and showed a complicated expression when he realized that he didn't know where the mountain ended. Snow had submerged the entire flat area and had made walking over it dangerous.
The snowy surface was even frail. Khan didn't know how the eagle could avoid falling inside it. The creature was slightly smaller than the other Aduns seen during the climb, but it was still quite big compared to humans.
The Lightning-demon style gave Khan the ability to perform soft steps. He could reach the Aduns even in that environment, but he would risk falling inside the snow once he stopped.
"Hey!" Khan called. "Come here! Let's fly away together!"
Khan tried to contain his voice, but a few tremors still spread above him and made him slam his back on the mountainside. His fear of another avalanche caused an instinctive reaction developed during his climb.
No snow arrived, but the white Aduns also ignored him. The eagle had yet to turn toward Khan since its landing on the grey area.
'Do I have to jump on it?' Khan wondered.
He didn't like the idea of performing reckless actions, especially since the Aduns seemed to be his only way out of that situation. It would be hard to find the previous path with all that snow on the flat area, and the risk of falling was high. Going up appeared far easier.
'I hope it doesn't drop me mid-way,' Khan sighed in his mind while preparing for the imminent sprint.
Liiza had spoken about taming the Aduns, but Khan didn't know if the meaning in her mind matched his. Still, he was out of options, so he bent his body and let himself fall forward.
Khan never fell on the grey snow. His figure vanished as faint footprints appeared on the soft surface. The Aduns suddenly felt a foreign weight landing on its back, and a loud screech inevitably escaped its beak.
The Aduns started to fall inside the snow due to the additional weight, but it promptly flapped its wings to lift its body in the air. However, legs suddenly clawed themselves at the base of the wings.
Khan had studied Liiza thoroughly. He couldn't avoid memorizing the position of her legs and arms when the two flew across the sky.
"Calm down!" Khan shouted from the eagle's back. "Let's be friends!"
The eagle didn't seem to like that approach. It gave voice to a loud screech when Khan wrapped his arms around its neck. The cry generated another avalanche, but the Aduns set off before more snow could fill the area.
The environment changed in an instant. The wind blew on Khan's face while the Aduns flew around the mountain, and the sight of the distant surface made him tighten his arms and legs on the creature's neck and wings.
The Aduns gave voice to a painful cry before rotating on itself to get rid of the unwanted presence on its back. The world in Khan's vision spun, but he did his best to suppress his fears and soften his grip.
"I'm sorry, ok?!" Khan shouted. "I didn't want to hurt you!"
The Aduns ignored his words and tried everything in its power to make Khan fall. It rose high in the sky before diving at incredible speed and stopping only when the ground became too close. It spun mid-air so often that it almost affected its balance. It even tried to slam Khan on the mountain's side, but nothing worked.
Khan endured everything without releasing his grip. It didn't matter that his skin started to burn due to the scorching friction with the air. He didn't care that his insides seemed about to shoot out of his mouth. He even ignored the clashes with the rocky mountainside.
Deep injuries ended up opening on his back and shoulders after the Aduns slammed Khan on the rocky side multiple times. Most of the blood flowing out of his wounds dispersed in the sky as the eagle accelerated, but some of it fell on the white feathers and tainted the previously spotless creature.
The eagle didn't appear bothered by the blood falling on its feathers. It actually stopped slamming Khan on the mountainside and limited itself to spins and sudden dives.
The Aduns eventually grew tired and stopped trying to get Khan out of its back. It continued to fly among the mountains at a moderate speed and avoided performing sudden movements.
Khan didn't trust the eagle at first, but a bit of confidence formed inside him after flying for almost an hour. He tried to imitate Liiza's movements to see if the Aduns followed his orders, and a broad smile inevitably appeared on his face when he succeeded.
Lightly pulling the feathers on the Aduns' neck would make it turn left and right. Tightening and relaxing his legs would trigger ascensions and dives. The eagle reacted to those simple gestures, and Khan slowly grew used to the strength he had to exert to avoid hurting the creature.
The Aduns still opposed Khan's orders from time to time, but they felt like jokes. The creature was only playing around at that point. It had already accepted its pilot.
A grey figure eventually flew toward Khan. Liiza and her Aduns appeared among the dark sky and began to follow him.
"This is great!" Khan shouted, but his words lost themselves in the intense winds that enveloped him.
Liiza shook her head and showed a slight smile before pointing at the base of a mountain. Her Aduns folded its wings and began to dive toward that spot, and Khan promptly followed them.
Liiza's landing expressed how nimble those creatures could be. Her Aduns unfolded its wings when it was less than two meters from the ground, and the sudden move managed to put an end to the incredible momentum accumulated during the dive.
Khan was on his first flight, so he approached the landing carefully. He kept tightening his legs whenever his Aduns gained too much speed, and the creature ended up performing a spin before reaching the ground just to piss him off.
"Give me a break," Khan complained when the eagle gave voice to a happy screech. "It's only my first time. I'll let you go as fast as you want once I get the gist of this."
The Aduns seemed to understand the meaning behind his words, but it replied by folding its wings and rolling on the ground before straightening its position. Snow covered Khan when the eagle went back on its claws, and his expression revealed how helpless he felt.
"You got a playful one," Liiza announced while continuing to wear her faint smile. "It must be young."
Liiza jumped off her eagle and neared Khan. Yet, her eyebrows arched when she saw that he wasn't leaving his Aduns.
"I thought you would have wanted to talk," Liiza exclaimed as her smile vanished. "I'll lead you to your camp now."
"Wait!" Khan exclaimed when Liiza turned to jump back on her Aduns. "Won't it fly away if I jump off?"
Liiza turned and understood the reason behind Khan's hesitation. She even realized that the misunderstanding was her fault since she had forgotten that Khan had been on Nitis for less than a day.
"The Aduns has already accepted you," Liiza explained while pointing at the white creature. "It won't allow others to ride it as long as you are alive."
"Oh," Khan couldn't help but exclaim while turning toward his eagle. "Aren't you sweet?"
Khan started to pet the eagle, but the creature saw that moment of distraction as the chance to roll on the ground again and cover Khan with another layer of snow.
Liiza covered her mouth to suppress a laugh when she saw Khan covered in snow. The scene seemed exhilarating, but Khan decided to get right to the point.
"How can I call it if I'm on the ground?" Khan asked while removing some snow from his shoulders and head.
"Come down, and you'll see," Liiza announced while crossing her arms.
Khan and the eagle exchanged a glance, but he eventually released his grip and jumped off the creature's back. Liiza had no reason to lie to him. She had even gone against her superior to help him.
The white eagle didn't fly away. It shook for a bit to remove the snow accumulated on its body, but it soon lowered its head to face Khan.
"Put your forehead on its vertical eye," Liiza explained. "Think of a name in the meantime."
Khan nodded without turning toward the Niqols. His hand reached the side of the eagle's head before his face bent toward its forehead. The Aduns closed its third eye when Khan's skin touched its feathers, and a strange event followed.
A foreign presence entered Khan's mind. He could sense a vague weight becoming part of his thoughts and releasing a series of faint sensations.
'Snow,' Khan thought, and the sensations solidified and fused with a small shard of mana inside his brain.
Khan's eyes widened when foreign emotions spread through his brain. They carried some tiredness but also sincere respect.
"Am I sensing its mind?" Khan asked while separating himself from the eagle and taking a few steps back.
"It's a mental connection," Liiza explained. "It consumes mana to remain active and send words to the other side, but you can sustain it since you passed the test."
"Wow," Khan exclaimed while testing the mental connection.
Sending thoughts on the others side felt almost instinctive. It didn't need training, but the Aduns didn't understand everything he said. The same went for Khan since the eagle could only speak through sensations. Yet, the creature clearly expressed that it liked the name Snow.
"I'm starting to like this planet," Khan laughed while returning near Snow and rubbing its feathers.
Khan turned at that point. An honest smile appeared on his face as the memories of the flight crossed his vision. Liiza had made him experience one of the most amazing things in his life, and he wanted to express his deep gratitude.
"Thank you for everything you have done for me," Khan exclaimed while performing a slight bow. "I hope I can repay this favor in the future."
"Don't thank me yet," Liiza commented as her expression became stern. "You still have to face your superiors."
****
Author's notes: Just one today. I ended up feeling quite down after the second shot of the vaccine. I even feared that a fever would arrive, but luckily I avoided that. Everything should go back to normal tomorrow.
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