Page 83 of Hummingbird and Kraken

Shielding the light with his body, he aimed it toward the log. Something with far too many legs skittered away. “Ewwww….” He shifted his weight from foot to foot, trying to psych himself up.

The bear huffed at him. At least someone was amused.

He looked the creature in the eye. “I hope you appreciate that I’m sticking my hand into bugs for you.”

It huffed again. Hopefully that meant they were friends now.

Drawing up his courage, he reached into the narrow opening. The wood was squishy and soft, and he could feel it sinking under his fingernails. Things skittered across his fingers. Prickly things and soft things. Gross, gross, gross. He deserved a fucking medal for this.

He found the crossbar of the chain and pulled, yanking it out in one tug. The second he dropped it, the cub raced toward the car.

Then everything happened at once.

Thick arms wrapped around his chest, pinning his arms to his side. Another flash of black and someone was lunging toward where the small bear had stood. But the bear wasn’t there.

“Lock the door!” he yelled. A heavy hand descended over his mouth.

Chapter 30

Geir

Geir looked down at the child. With his altered senses he could make out the exact shape and movements of her body but couldn’t see much of her face.

She wanted him to save her brother. Geir made a rough gesture in the direction that the muffled yells, howls, and gunshots were coming from. Other people, he thought, were surely already there.

“Two of the other scientists took all of the smallest animals in another cage. It took this one longer to get me out because I bit his finger.” She grinned savagely. “That’s why he only had one cage.”

He nodded, feeling faintly proud of her. She was a little warrior, protecting herself and the others.

“I can tell you where they are,” she confidently. Then she looked a little nervous. “I mean, I think I can.”

Ah, she was one of those that the People called a power sharer or something along those lines. He held out his hand.

She looked at him skeptically and he gave an encouraging nod. With his beak, he could only communicate in clicks and gestures. The time and pain it would take to change back would only distract them from their goal. Not to mention that he might need to use his beak again.

Tentatively, she reached toward his hand. He sensed that she wasn’t untrusting, just unsure of what he wanted.

As soon as their fingers touched, he gripped her hand, dropped his tentacles to the forest floor, and expanded his vision.

This other form of sight was coming easier to him now, the world around him expanding and blossoming with the life that had always been there, but now felt closer. Connected.

The child’s frantic need for her brother brought him right into focus. He knew exactly where to go.

He realized however, that he could feel everyone. The two other souls whose hearts beat next to the opossum’s brother. The lost children still imprisoned and those who had snuck or scratched or struggled their way into the wilderness. All of the People fighting for them.

Declan, who was worried, but still safe in the van.

He could even, faintly, feel the flickering glow that must be Rohahen. He hoped that he was safe, then gave a snort of surprise at his own feelings. Rohahen was Declan’s friend, of course, but he was also a good person. Someone meaningful and connected to the people around him.

They were all his and he would protect them.

He had forgotten this power, this way of being in the world. He was more complete now, with this little warrior at his side. Everything was clear.

Because he could sense where the enemies were, too.

He dropped the child’s hand, snapping them back into the present moment, though his enhanced sense of everyone around him endured. He pointed back toward the vehicles, hoping the child would understand and obey his wordless instruction.

Instead, she shifted again and scampered up his back. He pointed again, but she dug her claws in deeper, sixteen individual points of pain and commitment. What a brave little warrior.