Horrendous noise, he mutters.
This whole exercise is for safety as much as it is to test my new magic, I tell myself as I arc back towards the Torailians, wings slicing cleanly through the sky, wild and unbound, like I have slipped free of gravity’s expectations entirely. The breeze does not buffet me or try to throw me off course. It greets me like an old friend, lifting me higher, carrying me forward as if it knows exactly where I want to go.
Below me, the world shrinks into something distant and manageable. Problems look smaller from up here. The sky opens wide, endless and inviting, and for a fleeting moment I allow myself to simply exist within it.
No powers. No heritage. No enemies. Just speed, height, and the intoxicating freedom of flight.
I bank slightly, scanning the horizon, senses sharp even as my heart soars. There is no sign of the Torailians, but I must go further, make sure they are not regrouping to pursue us. Even that thought cannot quite smother the thrill.
This is what freedom feels like, I think.
True freedom, felt for the first time ever, and there is a possibility that I could remain a simple bird forever. Free, content in the wind.
But lonely, I realise with a sigh, picking up speed to reach my new enemies faster.
Even with my increased focus and speed, it still takes over an hour to reach the Torailians, but I’m happy when I see they’re still in the same position we left them in.
Their dead are now wrapped in white cloth. An odd choice, when so many of them are now stained red, but perhaps the ruination of the cloth does not matter, I think as I notice a funeral pyre built long andwide for all the bodies. I didn’t realise they burned their dead, like the Eastern Islanders.
Of the four dozen who attacked us, less than half survived, and as I swoop low, I see them in small clumps of twos and threes, consoling each other.
Guilt strikes hard. They’ve lost friends. Family. Loved ones. I know that grief. The pain of a life ended too soon, too cruelly. If any one of us had not made it today, my heart would have torn into a thousand pieces. Well, maybe not if it was Stide or Thessa – unless my sadness was for Caz – but the others? The thought alone is unbearable. And the Torailians have lost so many at our hands.
I push the guilt down.Theyattackedus. We were just defending ourselves.
Intruder! The voice pierces my skull as I sweep around to find the leader looking directly at my avian self.Heretic! Is there no low you will not stoop to?she says in outrage.Birds, too? Kill her!Destroyher!
Another Torailian notches an arrow into their bow, draws back, and lets loose.
The black-fletched arrow cuts through the air, flying straight towards me.
My small heart thumps a pitter-patter rhythm, I launch myself upwards and?—
Fen ripsme back into my body.
Little Raven? I felt your panic! Are you well?
His nickname hits differently now that I have taken the body of a raven, which I may or may not have flown directly to his death. I hope the sharp movement I started was enough to save the poor bird from the path of the arrow.
I’m all right, I say softly.The Torailians do not pursue us. We’ve put several hours between us, and they will continue to tend to their dead.
I pause, aware of the arrow fletches that stick out of my satchel, drawing my thoughts to my family. It’s now been over half a moon since we left. Almost a full moon since the Goddess returned my powers.Surely some of Kay’s Morathkian magic has manifested by now, even with the tonic?
I only hope that Jonas is keeping her safe and away from prying eyes. Though if my previous vision of her waiting for a ball is anything to go by, then I doubt it.
As fear for my family seeps in, I know there is another question I need to ask my wolf, even though I’m not certain I want to know his response. But I cannot afford secrets between Fen and me, not when we’re bound this way, and so I push the thoughts of Kay and William aside. I return to the bond.The king says the war with the Torailians ended over a decade ago, but you’ve fought them before. You have fought the Torailian, and so has Kyor, which means the king lied, I say, not bothering to pose it as a question, not when we both already know the truth.
Many times,he agrees.I should have told you to disconnect your mind from mine. And I should have told you to sing your favourite song loudly in your head. That was always what Zelle did as he fought them.His tone is mournful.Zelle especially enjoyed singing rude songs.He sighs.The one with the cork was his favourite.
‘Let’s stop here,’ Kyor calls from up ahead. ‘It’s getting dark, and we’ve most certainly put a great deal of distance between us and them, even if they are pursuing us.’
A shiver runs through me. I know they’re not, but telling him that means admitting to using a magic when I have no idea where it comes from. Issen? It can’t be Torailian, not from the disgust they showed towards me, so it must be Issen, yet the feeling doesn’t settle quite right. Still, it doesn’t change the fact that I need to tell the others the truth. They’ve risked their lives too many times for them not to know this, and the knowledge causes no immediate harm to anyone.
‘I … I flew back as a raven,’ I admit. ‘They’re not pursuing us.’
Ruben’s mouth tightens. ‘Are you sure using your power is wise?’
‘No,’ I say honestly. ‘But I’m sick of not having a handle on any of this.’
