Drift: River of Falcons Book 1

Interweavings

Jasper had arrived at the bottom of the river with the rest of the apprentices, where they landed on a broad, marshy field beside the estuary. Letting the wind whip the saltmarsh grass against their ankles, the apprentices stood in a ragged line, watching Atratus pace back and forth in front of them. None could report having found a single sign of Drift or Ubi.

Atratus, shaking his head and muttering in disapproval, dismissed them with instructions to fly north, search the river valley all over again, and meet at the Palace.

As apprentices were shifting and heading off, the Raven Twins approached Jasper. "We have a message for you," Corin said. His chest swelled with self-importance as he added, "It's from Atratus."

"How wonderful," Jasper drawled. "A message sent by pigeon-twin."

Corridon whipped his staff around and pressed its tip into Jasper's chest. "Listen, worm, and don't speak, or you'll be a pile of ash."

"So," Corin went on as if nothing was out of the ordinary, "you are, due to your total failure to satisfy even the least of the requirements of Palace duty, taken off of said duty effective immediately, and we shall accompany you back to your dormitory to tuck you safely into your bed so that you don't go wandering off and get lost, like the stupid little first-year-repeat you so obviously are."

"Impressive!" Jasper told Corin as he gently pushed Corridon's staff to the side. "I didn't know you could string more than three words together without getting confused and falling down. Of course, you aren't walking. Have you tried talking and walking?"

"Shut it. We don't want to hear a word from you on the trip north. Just stay out of—"

"No problem." Jasper grinned. "Not for me, anyway. But I wonder what Atratus will say when you fail to deliver me to the dormitory?" There was a flash of light and a smell of sulfur, and Jasper disappeared.

"What the..." Corridon swung his staff around, trying to locate Jasper by feel.

"He must've used a percussive concealment, but where's the annoying little worm gotten to?" Corin complained.

"Do we really care? If he's late and we get in trouble, we'll just take it out double on him! Hear that?" he added, raising his voice. "We'll be waiting for you!"

*

Jasper was pleased. Being at the Palace and under Magus's thumb had turned out to be far worse than being one of dozens of apprentices under Atratus's looser supervision. And a happy thought occurred to him as the Raven Twins left. He doubted he actually would be missed if he skipped dinner and came back to the dormitory late. Atratus would be far more concerned about the hunt. Jasper could fly slowly up-river, taking his time to do a private search of his own.

When the last of the flock had left, Jasper stepped out from behind a dune, spread his arms, and became a raven.

He soon noticed the familiar black falcon that was also searching the area along the river. Jasper didn't want Magus to notice him, which meant he had to act like a real raven. He stopped to chase a pair of wild crows from a dead fish that had washed up on the shore. It was several days old and tasted terrible, even to his raven palate. Disgusted, he took to the wing again and circled above the river.

That was when he noticed the otters. They were only a few bends away, and in a little while he was almost over them. It struck him as curious that they were not fishing. He decided to watch them.

The otters rounded a bend and swam into a shallow cove where a half-circle of sandy beach provided shelter from the main flow of the river. They scampered up the beach, sniffed the air to make sure it was safe, then shook the water from their fur, just as wild otters do. Jasper decided they weren't suspicious, after all. He was about to fly off when the otters did something ordinary otters never do. They shifted into humans.