Tales from the Striga Realm: Playing with Fire

Chapter 10

Dianna went from one rock to the other in search of a feather or a pellet-any sign that Grayson or his company had been there. She and Selene had been searching since their mission was given to them that night, and it was now almost dawn. "And you'd think," Dianna thought to herself, "that they would allow us to have some proper rest."

Despite being one of Veri's top soldiers, Dianna secretly loathed the Northumbrian Army. From the time they were four, males and females alike were trained by Veri and her mate, an owl-shifter named Herod who was blind in one eye from a battle. For ten years, these owl-shifters would be trained in everything from weapon maintenance to combat, but in the end, only the strongest, most driven males and females were chosen to be in the Northumbrian Army. Dianna was chosen after Veri noticed her proficiency in the tracking field. And Dianna was none too thrilled.

"Dianna!" Selene screeched, interrupting her thoughts. "Milana! Veri! Come get a look at this!"

Dianna sighed, rolled her eyes, and moved towards the sound. There were a number of things Dianna hated about being in the Northumbrian Army, but the greatest of these was no doubt Selene. She was preachy, a suck-up, and above all, full of herself; nevertheless, she was promoted to second-in-command after Vicente was killed. The whole scheme of things was enough to make her want to hurl pellets.

Dianna at last saw Selene holding up the source of the commotion. It was a small golden feather, slightly worn but otherwise untouched. As soon as Dianna saw the feather, though, a memory which, until this time, had been pushed to the back of her subconscious began to poke through and show itself.

*****

Rain beat down on the Falassan sand and pelted at the trees like rocks. Thunder growled in the skies above, and lightning streaked through the sky like white veins. Adonia, for her part, was shivering in the far corner of her hollow. She hated thunderstorms.

"Nervous, sis?" Adonia soon heard the comforting voice of her sister Maris behind her. Adonia simply nodded and said, "Lightning's being mean and scaring everyone."

At this, Maris responded with a good-natured chuckle. She then walked over to Adonia, put her wing around her, and began to sing a tune their mother taught her:

"Out over the sea,

Beyond the shining sun,

There is a little place

For everyone.

Green grasses soft as down,

Stars shining in the night,

This small place comes alive

In the moonlight."

Adonia found the tune quite soothing, and within moments, she was asleep and the nasty lightning was forgotten. In fact, it was all but gone.

*****

"Maris." Dianna breathed out. The feather belonged to Maris; she was sure of it. Her sudden revelation gave way to a newfound suspicion, and she turned toward Veri, eyes gleaming. "My name isn't Dianna, is it?"

"That is none of your business." Milana promptly answered. Dianna then turned on her, seething. "I asked Veri, you blithering-" Dianna growled, but Veri stopped her. "It's alright, I didn't here the question. What were you saying, Dianna?"

"MY NAME IS ADONIA!" Dianna roared, her face turning red. "I HAVE A MUM NAMED SILVERNA, A DA NAMED GERGIOS, AND AN OLDER SISTER NAMED MARIS! I LIVED IN-" Here Adonia froze in fear. "What did you do to them?"

"Veri didn't do anything!" Selene squeaked out. "Colombiana took you away from your nest and brought you to Northumbry. They wanted you assimilated; that was all they wanted! I don't know what happened to your parents, but Maris is in Fogo as a shiftslip and-"

That was all she needed to hear, abd within moments, Adonia flew towards Fogo, now more desperate than she was before.

Only she was on a different hunt now.