Page 115 of Feathers of Ash and Hope

The Strix keeps circling, and back in the camp, I watch the bird and the smoke, and I soon realize why she isn’t leaving.

The nest blends in well, and I wouldn’t have found it if the Strix hadn’t landed. And in the nest is an egg.

She doesn’t have a choice, I realize. The egg’s shell is too smooth and slippery for her to carry away in her talons.

I sit literally on my hands on a boulder at the edge of our camp, unsure of what to do. I’m still pissed at Tate, but I would appreciate his presence right about now. I know nothing about dealing with a fire like this. Where I grew up, even thinking ofanything going up in flames is laughable with the amount of rain we get.

My mind switches between stewing about the problem at hand—one I don’t know how to solve—and the way Tate has gone all overprotective of me all of a sudden, reminding me of my brothers. Can’t any of them see how frustrating it is if they demand the right to protect me but don’t let me do the same?

My mind goes back to the kiss we shared. Tingles shoot through my body just thinking of it, but my stomach sinks when I think of the way he pulled away.

We shouldn’t…

What in the mists had he wanted to say? “We shouldn’t” isn’t “I don’t want to,” right? Or is it just a polite way to say the same?

Cawing makes me look up, and the smoke is getting heavier.

Why is no one coming back? What if something happened to them? What if I’m stuck here?

Is there a chance I can get a better glimpse of what’s going on from up there?

The Strix looks agitated. Her movements are jerky. She keeps unfolding and folding her wings and hops from one side of her nest to the other.

They are intelligent creatures. If I offer help, will she let me near her nest? Would she even carry me off while I hold her egg?

I decide to at least try talking to her. I can’t just sit here and wait. What if they don’t come back?

Tate will come back for me.

Will I really sit around and wait for him to rescue me when I just complained that I don’t need his protection?

The stone is more corroded the farther up I climb. Soon, it takes twice as long to cover the same distance since I have to check for loose parts before going on.

I reach over with my left hand, my feet wedged into a tiny crevice. I tug slightly, and it seems sturdy enough. I swing myleft leg over, and suddenly, the stone crumbles beneath my fingers. Because of the sudden shift of my weight, my right foot slips, too, and I scrape against the rough stone, the grip of my right hand the only thing that keeps me from falling. My legs scramble for purchase as I frantically look for something I can grasp with my hand.

There is a small crevice where the piece broke off. I grunt when I shove myself up with a push of my legs while pulling my weight up with my right arm. My left hand latches onto the place that nearly made me fall before, and I pray what lies beneath is sturdier. It holds, and after I find purchase for my legs as well, I take a second to simply breathe.

That was close.

I look up. I’m nearly halfway there. The cliff is only about as high as the fourth story of the academy buildings, and I could have climbed that at least three times by now. Going slow is not only annoying but also eating away at my strength.

The wind pouring down from above is getting warmer and picks up speed, ripping at my clothes. But that’s not the worst. It’s also heavy with smoke, stinging my eyes and nose, and itching my throat with every breath I take. My eyes water, and I cough repeatedly.

My progress slows to a crawl. My sight blurs with tears streaming down my face, and my arms start to tremble.

This was a fucking terrible idea.

My body is covered in sweat, the wind doing nothing to cool me anymore, and all I want is to rest, to sleep.

A violent cough shakes my body, and that’s when it happens. I slip.

Chapter

Thirty-Three

TATE

The smoke is alreadyheavy when we get back to our camp. We followed the poachers’ tracks and caught four in their camp. We confiscated two eggs, and squadron two flew the poachers and the eggs out and informed the academy of the wildfire that needed to be contained.

---