The hawk continued to slowly descend, eventually landing in a small clearing surrounded by trees. Xhai dismounted with practised ease and bowed respectfully to it.
"Thank you for your assistance."
The hawk responded with a sharp cry before taking to the air again - surprising Xhai, who had expected it to want to sleep for a while - and shot off in the direction it had come from, obviously intent on returning home. That the residents of a nearby city would discover the mutilated and partially eaten bodies of several cows the following morning was completely unrelated.
With an amused snort, Xhai pulled the hood of his cloak up, covering the top half of his face in thick shadows despite the lack of any real light to begin with, and took a look around the clearing in an attempt to get his bearings.
We flew east to get here, so that means north is.....that way.Nodding to himself, he then turned his attention to more pressing matters.
This seems like a good place to bed down for the night.....but....I'm not sleepy. Huh. Guess now's as good a time as any to get some practice in, then.He stared intently at his hands for a brief moment, and finally a pair of shimmering domes appeared around them, their shape slowly changing and growing sharper before finally settling. With a smirk of satisfaction, he began moving through the forms he'd been taught back at the Temple.....
(If it makes things easier to picture, Xhai's air-powers, be it the blades or one of his "bubbles", can be identified by a disortion in the air where they're present. Think of a
cloaked Predator, and you're not far off.
Also, I done goofed. I did some basic research when I was designing Xhai and his backstory, but it turns out that Peregrine Falcons mostly eat
other birds. Probably gonna hafta retcon that into something else sometime soon.
)