Feathers of Bravery

Aihla + Gladier

It took me forever to fall asleep that night. There was nothing I could do to shut my mind off. Every time I closed my eyes I would imagine a large crowd of birds withering in pain. At first, there were just too many that their faces blurred together but then the scene began to clear and I could see that all of them had their wings missing. My nightmare ended when I felt a presence behind me and found a creature who looked like Chef. Besides his chilling laughter, what scared me awake was the image of him cutting off my eldest of brothers wings.

It jolted me up from the nest. I was panting and for a moment, I felt like I was sweating. There was no more sleeping after that. The next couple of hours, as I waited for the sun to rise I just started up at the ceiling. Thinking about whether or not I should go back to the library.

Sadly, I wasn't the only one who struggled with sleep. After I had woken up and gotten myself under control I realized that Jess and Meylo were awake as well. I've never felt so uncomfortable before. We all knew the other was awake and yet we just kept to ourselves.

I wanted to speak to them about it but I also wanted to take my mind off of it for a while so maybe I could ask them what was troubling them to keep them up. But I was quiet for so long and so were they that it just made breaking the silence that much more difficult.

When the sun was finally peaking through the curtains our unspoken agreement to not speak about our troubles continued. It was the first morning since our adventure together began that we spent separately. Each of us left the room without so much as a small good morning and went to our directions. Meylo went to the library again and Jess seemed to have gone to somewhere else because I couldn't find her.

A part of me did want to go to the library but I knew that if I went all I would end up doing was thinking about Meylo and what he was reading, if he wanted to talk and whatnot. As immature as it sounded, I wasn't ready to give up my quietness. I didn't even want to look for Gladier. Instead I thought it best to look around. There must be some kind of pass time here that didn't involve duties.

******************************************************

I watched as she flew away from the inn. Her companions had gone in their own path as well. I was nervous about handing her the book, afraid that she would be scared away. For the most part, she was. I could see the fear rising in her eyes the more she read.

It worried me but it had to be done. From the moment I saw the markings on there feathers I knew she was the one. I remember the stories that my mother used to tell me. The ones about the heavens always creating a balance in nature so that chaos wouldn't reign. I remember asking a million questions to the point where I'm sure my mother would tie my beak shut but she would answer them in her own way. 

Always with a question about nature. But the main thing was that it was about balance.

Our world was knocked out of balance ever since the eagles began their experimentation. Since then chaos has been running rampant, unchallenged. 

Many can argue that the world has always had its perils but never at this magnitude.  Birds of all species becoming feral, attacking and raiding without provocation. Kijod taking more and more territory in the woods.

It takes a while but nature bounces back and takes the necessary actions to set things right. Sometimes it's extreme but in the end it's those actions that are invaluable. Like a terrible drought that has scorched the lands suddenly finding itself under a long night of rains.

Thinking about those lessons, I tried to see her as nature. She just needs a while, but once she's settled on a plan, she'll take action.

In the meantime, I'll make more preparations for her. While she's off flying and trying to make sense of things, I'll head back to the books and give her a few more books that.... scratch that, I know some scrolls that will be more of use to ease her worries.

Flying back to the hall, greeting the two that are standing guard I go straight to the back room where our most dangerous knowledgeable scrolls about ancient magick.

As I was gathering the things for her, I thought of another surprise I could have waiting for them. Setting down the papers, I scurry down the halls and find the door I'm looking for. It opened to a larger room that spread out into three smaller ones.

The purpose of this design was to call forth a council and those on the council have their own chambers to conduct any business and investigations in safety. It was created and designed by Meylo's father. The wood is made of one of the most powerful conduits in magick practices. There are runes in place that e sure that any magick practiced in here will solely stay in here until it fizzles out.

I'm not sure if Meylo would take the step into wanting to wield magick but if he did, this room would be perfect for him to start.

I looked to the other end, turning on the fires for some light. This room is perfect for Jess. I saw how much she loved the room upstairs that held all sorts of potions and elixirs but this space will be more suited for any other experiments she would like to conduct. Plus I know she would most certainly be wielding magick in here. Especially testing out new marble combinations.

Now I have no idea who would occupy the third chamber but I don't doubt that their identity would be revealed soon. So instead of focusing on that, I decided to start cleaning. With all the dust and cobwebs in here, it should take all day.