Twenty One: Follow the Birds

*A small amendment to the previous chapter, they got to stay and party for five days so I can have the timeline more accurate to the new moon*

On the night the moon is at it's darkest, follow the birds.

It had almost been a month since I met the Oracle in her hidden pocket of Sulls. It had been more than two since I last saw Thian.

I clutched the pendant around my neck, rubbing the stone with my thumb as I had developed a habit of doing when I missed him. I stared up at the stars, we had slept for our last daytime since we were leaving the hot sands. None of us were ready to get up, though I could hear the heartbeats around me and the breathing that told me we were all awake. Getting up meant a final goodbye with Kai, but it also mean the next leg of our journey and it had to start sometime.

A sigh next to me told me that Nassir was the first one to give up.

"We should probably get going if we want to put plenty of distance between us and the hot desert." Nassir sat up with a grunt.

I whined into my sleeping mat and Schula sighed.

"The new moon is the day after tomorrow," Schula said. "Couldn't we just camp out here for a day?"

I didn't move from my mat yet, but I did look up at the sky and repeat our instructions. "South, as the red star takes us. On the night the moon is at it's darkest, follow the birds."

"Caw!"

I glanced over at Puko, who was messing with one of our packs that had food in it.

"Too bad we can't follow that bird," Schula said. "We could have been there by now if Puko could show the way."

I rolled over and pulled the flap of the bag open. Puko stuck his head in and yanked out a little paper wrapper with dried cherries in it.

"At least let me open the paper before you eat it," I said.

Kai rolled onto his side from his mat, sighing and propping his head up with one arm. "If you have a day to spend, I can recommend a couple directions to go from here. If you head west along the desert's edge, you'll come to a village in about half a day. That's usually where I drop off travelers crossing the desert, because by that point they need to restock on supplies. You have the extra food from the shaman, so you don't have to go there if you don't want to."

Schula rubbed her snow white skin. "I'd just as soon avoid glamouring again so soon if we can."

I nodded. "If we don't need the supplies, I don't see needing to go there then. What was the other direction, Kai?"

"There isn't much along the desert's edge east of here," Kai said. "But if you follow this land due south, it will start to roll into hills. Be careful because the lands here have a lot of caves and it's easy to get lost in the labyrinth of them. But you'll find a lot more game to hunt and foods to forage if you want to avoid the village."

Nassir sat up on his mat and placed his hands on the earth next to him. "Hm, a lot of limestone. I'm not surprised you have caves here."

I yawned and stretched. Sitting up earned me a fat raven hopping onto my lap to finish devouring his cherries. I stroked his feathers absently as I spoke. "We're more likely to find these birds in the hills to the south, right?"

"A reasonable assumption," Nassir said.

Kai sighed and stood up with a grunt. "If this is going to be it, then I'm going to make one last good meal for us."

"Mmm, food." That finally got Schula moving. I reached over for the nearest bag and began pulling out things we would need. Our cooking pan and some dried prickly pears. Kai pulled out a knife and went to cut some plant parts up for a fire.

It was a melancholy meal. We used the best bits of food we had left, and we took our time cooking and eating. Puko was fed scraps until he fell asleep on Nassir's knee. We slowly packed, and when it was time for a final goodbye, I'll admit to being misty-eyed.

Kai had a smile but sorrow in his eyes as he hugged each of us.

"I had better see you three when you come back through the desert," he said.

"Of course." Schula smiled. "You just make sure you stay out of trouble. No more curses, okay?"

Kai laughed and slung his bag over his shoulder. "Well, I won't keep you any longer. Moonrise guide you safely."

"And you as well, Kai," Nassir replied.

With one last grin and a nod, Kai turned from us and began the slow trek back through the desert to the celebration. We watched him. Puko even flew overhead with him until Kai disappeared over a ridge. When Puko came back to us, he landed on my shoulder.

Schula sighed and picked up a bag. "Well, we had better make up for the time we spent dragging our feet."

"Agreed," Nassir said. "To the south then."

I slung a pack over my own back, disrupting Puko for a moment. He squawked at me and resettled over the leather strap.

I filled my lungs with the air of the new landscape. Scraggly plants had turned to budding shrubs. Trees were not too far ahead, and I looked forward to whatever game lived in them. I had been craving fish for a month now, and hopefully I'd have an opportunity to catch some.

"It's certainly a change of pace from the sands," Nassir said. "There is so much life out here."

"Caw!"

"It's different from the Wyldes though," Schula sighed. "I miss them. I've never been out of them for so long."

I reached out to hold Schula's hand in comfort. I knew exactly what she meant. There was a certain charge in the air of the Wyldes, and it just wasn't present outside of it. It didn't bother me much. Maybe because I wasn't fae, maybe because I hadn't lived in the Wyldes long. But I still understood it, it would be refreshing to feel it again.

"Find the witches, find the elves, get answers, fix the barriers. Simple enough, that's just four things." Nassir chuckled. "That's all, Schula. Four things and we can go back to the Wyldes."

Schula snorted a laugh. "Right four things. Simple."

We went on peacefully after that. The ground turned to hills. The hills sprouted trees. Animals were all over the place by the time the sun came up. We decided to keep going. It would be better if we could go a ways into the daytime and transition to a normal schedule again. The daylight was harsh to look at but not as bad as the few times when we had to look at it against the bright sand.

Day faded to afternoon. We were quiet and contemplative for the journey, but it was a comfortable quiet. It was similar to the trip from the Wyldes to Sulls.

It was on the evening of the second day that it happened.

~

"I can't believe how long it's been since I've had rabbit stew," Schula moaned into her plate as she took hearty bites.

"I'll miss the delicious spices from Sulls though," Nassir commented.

"I think Daai sent us some good stuff in that bag, I can always add some next time we stop," I offered.

Schula shot me a nasty look and Nassir laughed. "I can tell you're not happy with that, the air around here cooled down quite a bit in just a heartbeat or two."

"You leave that stuff out of a perfectly good stew," Schula sniffed.

Nassir laughed again a full bellied laugh I was so glad to hear from him. I smiled into my plate and took a bite. It was interesting to meet Kai and the other people who lived in the desert, but it was really good to be us three again. Schula who was my triquetram and Nassir who was triquetram to our parents.

As we ate, a chill in the air blew a crisp feeling at me. We camped under a copse of trees that were unfamiliar to me, but seemed safe enough. The promise of our eventful night had us all on the edge of our seats. It was an unspoken feeling, but we all seemed to share it. The waiting was hard but we were managing with food and idle chatter. Our signal would come when the Stars saw fit.

"I wonder what the food is like where we will end up next," Nassir said.

"Not like fire I hope," Schula grumbled.

I grinned and lifted my spoon to my mouth. "I'm sure it's not much different than the food Mila made back home. You'll like it much better than in Sulls."

"Caw!"

"Puko seems to agree," Nassir said.

"I wonder if he misses Mila?" I murmured.

"CrrrAWK!"

Well that's not normal.

I looked up from our gentile embers to see Puko's eyes shining in the dark.

"Is he okay?" Schula asked.

I set my plate down slowly, watching the raven beside us. "I don't know, I've never heard that noise before."

Nassir tipped his plate back and scraped the last of his meal into his mouth. He leaned forward and took the rest of the stew off the fire. "On the night the moon is at it's darkest, follow the birds."

"I'll pack up the mats," Schula said. "If this is a warning for what's to come, we should be prepared."

"Ah!" I fell forward when a sharp, forceful stab hit my back.

"Caw!"

"Puko!" I snapped and turned around. "That hurt!"

"Pack quickly," Nassir said. "I have a feeling we are leaving sooner rather than later."

"Caw!"

I stood and whirled around, grabbing Puko in my arms as he flapped.

"What is wrong with you?" I grunted as he struggled. "You couldn't show us before! Or were we not close enough?"

The fire sizzled as Schula put it out with ice. "We're ready, let's go."

I opened my arms and Puko flapped off. It was difficult to watch a black bird in the sky considering the moon was black as the rest of the night above. The pinpricks of stars helped, but not with the trees in the way.

"Caw!"

"Over that hill!" I squeaked, and we took off. Schula took Nassir's hand and I ran ahead so we wouldn't lose Puko.

"Slow down!" I called. Not that he listened.

Puko wove through the branches, pausing only if I had lost sight of him for more than a moment. Nassir and Schula were keeping up fine, but we all had to watch our footing.

We crested a hill where little grass grew. It was mostly stone underfoot and the evening dew was keeping it slick.

"Caw!"

Puko took me by surprise, dropping and flapping right in front of me when I had my head turned to my footing.

"Woah!" I slipped and fell, and slid. And slid and slid down the smooth rock surface. I screamed as I went down, and Schula and Nassir shouted behind me.

Puko's caw echoed overhead and I knew I had dropped into a cave. I slid down with a thud into a muddy bank, and looked up. I could see tiny dots of stars overhead, and no way out.

"Oof!" Schula landed practically on top of me with a thud. Nassir was able do descend much slower. I guess he could grab right into the rock with his magic. Once he eased his weight onto the muddy floor next to us, I stood and brushed off my pants.

"Where are we?" Schula murmured.

"Caw!" Puko's flapping bounced all around the stone walls above us. I heard more than saw his descent, and he landed clumsily in Schula's arms.

"Caw..."

As the last of his bird noises echoed away, we were left with a gentle dripping sound, and nothing else.

"Well this is a new challenge." I sighed and leaned a hand against the wall to reach down and fix my boot.

"Nassir, do you think we could climb back up?" Schula asked.

"Wren, what is under your hand?" Nassir asked.

I finished adjusting my boot and stood up straight. Instinctively I pulled my hand off the damp wall and put it in front of my face. "My hand?"

Schula gasped. "The wall!"

I turned to see a glowing shape, right where my hand had been. It was the same gray as the cave walls, but it emitted light in the shape of...

"A bird," I whispered.

"How did you make it appear?" Nassir asked.

I hadn't a clue.

Experimentally, I reached out and touched the wall in a new spot. When I took my hand away, half of a bird appeared this time.

"Schula, try touching it," Nassir said.

She did, but when she removed her icy hand there was no new glowing bird.

"The touch of a witch I'll bet." Nassir murmured. "You have Lark's blood in you, Wren."

I nodded and pressed my hand over the second bird again, but slightly to the left. This time I uncovered the rest of it.

"They are flying that way," Schula commented. "Can you find another bird?"

I took both my hands and began pressing around the wall. After I had several birds revealed, the first one began to fade in light. But they all had one thing in common, they were flying the same direction.

"One the night the moon is at it's darkest, follow the birds," I whispered.

And follow the birds we did.