Chronicles of the Caltigara- Phantom Lake

This takes place in the same universe as the Legend of the Translator. This time, with dialogue!
For reference, Caltifyhr is the one on the right, Owar'an on the left.
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The night's calm shade was soothing the heat of running.Owar'an stumbled as she tried to keep up with Calitfyhr. He was going really fast, so it must have been important, whatever it was.
"What are we doing!? she shouted to Caltifyhr. "It's almost sunrise! We have to get back!"
"You'll regret it if you do!" he shouted over his shoulder.
Owar'an slowed down to giggle to herself. Even if she was afraid to admit it, he was right.
As the minutes drove on, the forest grew lighter, and a fine mist took shape. The smell of moisture filled the senses as it swirled around their footsteps. It was thin enough that they could see each other, but too thick to see much farther.
At last, they came to a clearing. They stared out over a small lake. It was only a hundred feet across or so, but the fog was still too thick to see the other side. They stopped to rest on the shore side.
"Caltifyhr," said Owar'an. "It's almost dawn. You have to get to your training, and I have to..."
"SHH," Caltifyhr hushed her. "Just wait. You'll be glad that you came."
A few long minutes of silence passed. The lake grew brighter and brighter, and the mountains became visible in the distance. After what seemed like an eternity, the sun finally peaked. The calm was smoothly broken by an eerie, ghostly wail. Owar'an's eyes sparked.
"Are those..."
Caltifyhr slowly nodded, then pointed across the lake. "Look," he whispered.
Owar'an peered through the mist. It had soothed down enough to see the dense shrubbery on the other side. As the mysterious calls grew louder, she could see shadowy, four-legged creatures moving through the trees. The odd, flat-beaked mouths and the long crests behind them were lined with deep blue stripes, almost making them invisible in the fog. Owar'an could simply stare with her jaw dropped.
"Phantoms!' she whispered. "But how...?"
"I've been coming here every night for the past year," he told her. "They migrate to this spot every three moons, and only when the moon fully shines. Beautiful, aren't they?"
Owar'an, still in a daze, stuttered. "Well, yes.. but why would you?"
"I knew how badly you wanted to see them." Caltifyhr wasn't focusing on the phantoms like Owar'an was. He was distracted by the brilliance of her blue eyes, the beauty of her soft yellow plumage, and the way that the sun caught her orange leaf-cloak. It was another few minutes when she looked over to realize that he was staring at her.
"What?"
He shuddered his paranoia aside. "Nothing," he insisted. "It's just that, well... maybe I could've had some flowers... maybe a song? I don't know..."
"Hey," Owar'an interrupted. "Whatever you're trying to do, it's working." She pressed her head against his breast, almost as if to sleep. "I'm just glad that I'm here with you, right now."
Caltifyhr was a little surprised, but the feeling of her close to him was more relaxing than anything else he knew. He let his head rest on her neck and closed his eyes. Time stood still. The sound of the phantoms seemed to fade away. Nothing else mattered but this moment.
Maybe this was what the translator meant by paradise.


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Rendered in Photoshop. Names from a language I made up.