Chapter 6 #2
They run out of breath, so I finish the song for us, knowing that our emotions are tied together now and the song will always be ours to share.
“I thank you for shared song. You seek allies but I am broken. I will sing death soon.”
I admit it to myself as much as Ree and Thivoll.
There are not many ways I can survive being grounded. I cannot hunt, I cannot provide for myself and I cannot have a mate because no female will want a broken mate who cannot do the very thing we were born to do.
“You not fight? You let them win?” Ree’s song is firm like a warrior feeding hope, but I have none left.
I cannot help the sound of disbelief that leaves my mouth.
“I not give them pleasure of kill. But no joy left. No shelter for fledglings. None will be mine. All die if grounded. May be best you kill.”
At least it will be a merciful death if the beast tears me apart quickly before my own pain can. I will only ask that they bury me somewhere by the mountains if they can find one so I can be close to the ones like me.
Ree goes silent for only a moment before singing again, her song a little lower.
“Will help my sisters?”
Thivoll, who had begun to relax, tenses up once more.
“They taken?” I ask, a new anger beating inside my damaged body.
What are these beasts? Where do they come from? What gives them the mandate to go ripping apart families regardless of species? Have they never felt the joy of brotherhood or do they only celebrate killing and conquering?
“Yes. Changed and caged.”
I was caged too.
My fingers tighten as my anger rises, not for myself but for the sisters of this small and helpless being. I suppose it was where Thivoll saved her from.
She continues to sing, slow, disheartened and long.
“Broken if found. Forced and touched. Need help.”
My sympathy for Ree and her sisters is growing as she reveals more about their situation. I have heard of trespassers who sell stolen creatures like they are some kind of prize and I can see that it is what Ree and her sisters have experienced.
“Look like you?” I ask, eager to keep the small creatures safe.
As far as I can see, there is no way for them to protect themselves, with only one pair of arms and legs on them and no other appendages. They are like hatchlings, needing to be taken care of or else they fall from the edge of the aerie.
Except these ones have been forcefully removed.
“Yes, but different colors,” she says and immediately the black skin on her head pulls away to reveal purple threads cascading from her where feathers should be; her skin is smooth and featureless where mine and Thivoll’s are roughly textured, with fur and feathers providing armor.
Her hands and the rest of her body are still covered in the black skin but her fingers pull forward the threads so that I can see all of it, as well as her face with its delicate features and uniquely striking eyes.
Her threads contrast with the orange and green of Thivoll’s mane and lighter purple on him and I cannot help but think of how their colors complement each other.
“Bright, long threads,” she continues. “In silver cages. Fell from sky.”
I remember the one I had seen land in the tree and I move my body straighter.
“I saw cage. Land in tree,” I inform her, grateful that it is one less hunter to look out for but unhappy that her sister is helpless and alone because I did not investigate.
Ree makes a sound that expresses her glee and her mouth spreads in a movement that should be threatening but makes her look brighter.
“Which color threads?”
“Not see. I go get and bring. Keep sister safe. Monsters will not break. Not force or touch,” I promise her, feeling renewed hope and purpose for my journey.
My song is not low and tainted with the thoughts of giving up and Ree is matching it.
“Must keep in cage,” Ree says and I hack at her in disbelief.
Why would she want her sister to remain in the cage that the beasts forced her into?
“Thought it was monster’s weapon. Hopped away. Ashamed I left sister. Will not keep in cage. No,” I sing threateningly; my song is long and angry.
Ree’s face falls back to confusion and I can see that there are some issues with our communication. She cannot find the songs for the words she wants to speak, and I can understand that but I cannot agree with leaving her sister in a cage.
I will not allow it.
She begins to speak to Thivoll in his language and I note the vast difference between it and mine.
It is like singing with a lost voice and none of the melody. All rasps and guttural sounds.
I wait patiently and recall the place I woke up, wondering if I can even retrace my own steps, having been more concerned with surviving than tracking my positioning.
“We save other sisters. We thank your help,” Ree sings, her voice full of regret.
“Walk is long. I go. I bring. I die to keep not broken.”
I rise to my bloodied feet to let her know that I am serious. If there are more of her sisters out there, she will need to be strong to rescue them.
Ree hesitates and draws in a long breath before she responds to me, her song long and complex but letting me know that it is more complicated than she can truly explain.
I understand that.
“She will imprint. Like hatchlings, but woman. Not fledgling, but changed by monsters. She need you if you open cage. Forever. Yours to protect. Be sure you know and choose.”
Her silent protector is no longer a mystery to me; he must have been her rescuer. The one she imprinted on.
I want to allow myself time to think about whether I am ready to care for something so helpless and fragile and probably even confused, but then I remember that just before my life was cut short, I was working toward starting my pairing.
Someone to protect for the rest of my life, even after our nest empties out.
Even though this will not be the same, I know I can protect her, even if I have to give my life. It will be a better way to fall to grounding.
“I choose. I go. I bring back here.”
My song is final and I turn around to begin my journey. My legs still hurt but if it means that I save another creature from being caged, I will do it.
I will fight to make sure Ree’s sister is retrieved successfully.
Night starts to fall not too long after I leave Ree and Thivoll and I know that I must hurry if I want to rescue her sister before it is too late.
Ree mentioned that she is injured, and if she is covered in the same thin black skin as her, then she will also be cold. Ree might have Thivoll but she will not have anyone around to warm her up if I am not there and the thought saddens me but it makes me quicken my steps.
The pain of walking is nothing close to the pain of not fulfilling a promise.