Page 61 of The Shadow of Polaris

The bird cocked its cerulean head and stretched its wings, about to take flight. Its wingspan, like drips of the blue ocean beneath us, stretched as I continued to climb for its nest. Long, slender talons gripped the cliff’s edge.

“Easy…. It’s alright, I’m not here to hurt you. I just need your help,” I said, my voice strained from the climb.

The falcon snapped its black beak, staring at me with luminous yellow eyes.

“Elpis, are you crazy?” Aryx called from the flat below.

Wind whipped across my forehead, throwing strands of hair into my face. My fingers begged for relief as I reached the bird’s nest.

“It’s okay…” I said, sliding my hand slowly toward its talon.

It flapped its wings again, snapping at my nose nearly inches from its large, ruffled feathers.

“Elpis. Come down, we’ll find another way!” Aryx cried, pacing below me with panicked eyes.

“Hush, that’s it, it’s okay,” I said, wrapping my fingers around its foot.

The bird screeched as I reached for the other leg. He snapped, pecking against my arm, pricking the skin until it bled. I smoothed the feathers across its back, tucking its wings back in. The falcon cried once more, pleading for me to let go.

“Please, we need your help. I know you’re probably terrified, I am too. It’s okay,” I whispered, pulling the falcon into my chest.

Mortal girl. No, not quite mortal. Your scent is powerful. Intriguing.

It looked at me, its wings straining against my hold.

“Please falcon, we need you,” I whispered, frozen at the sight of the ground below.

I am Rah. What is it you seek by taking me from my home?

“Rah? That’s your name?” I asked, slowly descending the smooth rock.

Why have you come?

“We need safe passage across the Raging Seas,” I said, my foot slipping from the loose hold below.

My boot slid down the cliff side, and my stomach leapt into my throat. Feeling for anything to latch on to, I stretched one arm above me. The other still wrapped around the falcon’s body. Hooking my fingers into a crack in the rock, I gripped for dear life, my legs dangling frantically above the dark, solid ground.

If you don’t release me, you’ll fall to your death.

The bird squawked, pushing his wings against my sternum.

“I can’t do that. We need you.” The skin on my fingertips ripped away as Aryx’s cries from below trailed the salty wind around me.

You would dare risk meeting your end for my guidance? What lies beyond the seas that’s worth your life?

“My freedom,” I sobbed. Blood from my flayed fingertips streaked down my arm. Muscles in each joint of my hand quivered on the brink of failure.

The bird peered into my eyes. Its blue feathers rippled in the night air.

Hmm, so you will steal my freedom to gain your own?

He cocked his head.

“Please. Consider it a temporary theft,” I begged, my lungs frantic for air.

Aryx howled below, pleading for me to let go of the bird.

Release me.

---