Chapter 18

Chapter 18

“We should go, it’s getting late.” Wolfe said. It was the following morning and Solaris had stayed the night in the cave. Wolfe and I were just finishing up getting ready and it was already almost noon. The cave that Coal had picked out for Solaris was about three miles away from the family’s cabin. He had explained that this was far enough that Solaris wouldn’t scare off all of the smaller animals for when they wanted to go hunting, yet close enough for if they needed her for anything. It had taken about ten minutes to fly there and another to fly back, so almost everything that we had thought that we had needed was packed by Miss Betty by the time that we got back. Dinner had been quiet as we were preparing to leave, although now, when we were actually going, we couldn’t seem to get out the door.

      “Here you go, some food for the trip.” Miss Betty said in tears. She had repacked our bags and had given us another each that was easy to carry and had a lot of space. She had modified old saddle bags and packed those. They were designed to sit on the back of our thighs on long trips and strapped to each leg and around our waist. “I’m so sorry for the tears, I just hope that you find what you are looking for. It was very nice to meet you Elsa, and to see you again Wolfe. Our door will always be open for you girls. You know that.” She said and gave each of us a hug

      “Nice to meet you too Miss Betty,” I said after she released me.

      “I do dearly hope that our paths cross again.” Wolfe said. We said similar goodbyes to Grey and Coal, then I gave a leg up to Wolfe, and Coal, wanting to help, gave me a leg up. As we flew away, I took little notice that some feathers had shaken loose from our wings.

      After several hours of uneventful flying, the sun started to set to our left and behind us. Wolfe called to me and we changed direction so that it was directly to our left. Then a noise started, at first almost inaudible. But it grew louder quickly, and I realized what it was, the whistle of something falling. The louder it got, the more that it sounded like a scream. I looked up, I saw a black figure, coming straight down. I huffed as I saw that it was a person. I shook my head. Why did he have to follow us? I thought as I changed position to catch him. I reached out my hands, still hovering in place. Somehow, I had missed, his grasping hands fell just out of my reach. I swore under my breath and tucked my wings tight against my body as I dove after him. He was flailing, a very non-aerodynamic position, and my more streamlined one caught up to him. I made a grab for him, and missed. I tried to yell to him, but my words were snatched away so fast that I couldn’t even hear them. I made a second attempt to grab him, and caught his foot. I flung out my wings, stopping our descent. He smiled up at me.

      “Thanks for the save.” He said. Wolfe dropped from above, looking flushed.

      “What are you doing here?!?!” she screamed.

      “Could we talk about this when I’m not upside down?” he asked. I rolled my eyes.

      “Wolfe, could you just let him have a feather and we can talk about this ground side?” I asked. She sighed and dropped a little farther so that she was just beneath Coal, and plucked a feather, wincing as she did so. She handed it to Coal, then started to descend. Coal looked back up at me and winked. I released my grip without any warning.

      “WAAAAAHOOOOO!!!!!!” Coal yelled as he dropped, now secure in the knowledge that he was safe. I dropped after him. He snapped open his new wings just moments before hitting the ground, then dropped again, all the way. When I landed, I didn’t even look at him as I waited for Wolfe to land. She had to take a more delicate approach, as her leg was still not all the way healed and ready for taking on her weight from a dropping landing.

      “What took you?” Coal asked as Wolfe landed.

      “It’s called a broken leg.” She retorted.

      “What are you doing here?” I asked.

      “Oh, that.” He said simply.

      “You know that you have to go home right?” Wolfe said.

      “There was something important that I wanted to give to you.” He said. He produced a pin from a pocket. I gasped. I knew that I had seen this a hundred times. The thing was, I couldn’t remember where. It was a gold diamond shape with a songbird on it. Beneath the bird was the words ‘Aviary Fighter’. “The words are in the same kind of writing as that on your bow and the art work looks similar too.” He said. “I am sure that it is related to something that you used to be a part of.”

      “Where did you get this?” I asked.

      “In a meadow, somewhere. I don’t exactly know.” He said

      “Where…did…you…find…it?” I asked. I had to know more.

      “I…I think that I found it in a cave near here. I think that it was dropped. It was near an old fire ring in the dirt. There was some other weird stuff, but this was all that I could carry.” He explained.

      “Can you take us there?” I asked.

      “Um…sure I guess.” Coal said, taken by surprise by the question. “It is to the east of here.”

      “Fine, let’s go.” I said anxiously.

      “Wait, Elsa, this is just an old pin.” Wolfe said. “We have to get to the monastery before any more time is wasted. We don’t,”

      “No, we have to go to this cave. I think that I’ve seen this before, I just don’t know where.” I said, cutting her off. “I have to find it, it might have more answers.”

      “Okay.” Wolfe said, seeing how determined I was to find it. “Let’s go then. Coal since you know where it is, take the lead.” Coal smiled, then took off. I followed as closely as I could, anxiously looking forward to what Coal was about to show us.