Page 8 of Sea of Stars

"Here, boy." I lifted it up to show him he could have it.

He cocked his head to the side, and moved his eyes back and forth between me and the sandwich.

"Do you eat eggs?" I didn't know that much about owls. I wasn't sure what they ate besides small mammals.

Chinook didn't budge, so I began to lower the sandwich. Before I lowered it to my lap, he hopped over, grabbed it in his beak, and swallowed it whole.

I gulped. This bird was being nice to me, so there was no reason to be scared of him. It was still startling to see him eat like that though.

“What else do you have in there?” I asked, looking at the container. I wasn’t hungry anymore, but the basket was pretty big. There must have been something else inside. Chinook lifted his wing and placed it over the basket.

I shrugged before pulling my cloak tightly around my shoulders. The rainy night air was chilly and I was soaked. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Chinook tilt his head. It was like he was staring at the symbols that were burned onto my shirt. I turned to face him, but he looked away. I placed my right hand on my left side, wishing there was still heat radiating off of the symbols.

A flash of lightning lit up the sky, quickly followed by a rumble of thunder. The storm was getting closer. Through the leaves, I could see the mountains in the distance. Were they the lands of the south that Swishel had told me of? Soon all my questions would be answered. I was starting to get excited.

“Chinook, where are you taking me?” I looked over at the bird but his eyes were shut. “Chinook?” I knew he was ignoring me. He had been awake just a minute ago. I sighed and nestled into his feathers.

It was just as cold as any night had been in my hut back at the Iron Gates. I could picture the snow falling softly outside my window, leaving a blanket of quietness. Whenever I was in my hut I had felt fairly safe. Mortwar was too large to come inside the small door, and only once had I ever seen him smash one. Fortunately no one had been inside. In the winter months I'd usually snuggle up next to Jeremody. He'd always wrap his arms around me to make sure I was warm enough and he'd kiss my forehead and tell me to have good dreams. I missed him so much. Whenever I thought about him, it was almost like I felt homesick. But how could I be homesick for a place like the Iron Gates? It wasn't my home, it was a prison. I had truly never had a place to call home. I tried to force myself to stop thinking about what was happening to the poor divinares back at the camp. I'd find a way to free them as soon as I could. Everything was going to be okay. Jeremody was tough, he'd be able to survive at the Iron Gates long enough for me to return. I just knew it. He was probably in our hut right now, way more worried about me and where I was than about himself. That's the way he was, and the thought comforted me.

Lightning shot through the sky, with a rumble of thunder sounding almost simultaneously. I took a deep breath and gripped the branch of the tree. It couldn’t be. My whole body started to tremble. I waited patiently until lightning streaked again. In a few moments lightning once again cut through the sky, zigzagging all the way to the ground. This time I only saw the long grass swaying in the wind.

I let out a sigh. It was only my imagination. I had been thinking of life behind the Iron Gates and my mind had played a trick on me. Mortwar and a few of his minions weren’t out in that field. I tried to take a deep breath, but I couldn't shake the image. What if they were out there? What if they really had raided the road we had passed with the sole purpose of trying to find me? All those innocent people were dead. I stared into the darkness. I waited for lightning to brighten the sky enough for me to see the field again, but none came.

If it had been Mortwar and his men out there, they'd be long gone by now anyway. Brutarians' long legs allowed them to travel swiftly. I snuggled back down into Chinook’s feathers and closed my eyes tightly. I tried to imagine meeting the free divinares. Maybe they would return to the Iron Gates with me to help everyone escape the same way I had.

I shivered in the cold. Before Mortwar kidnapped me, had I really been free? My parents and I had roamed the forest, always on the run. They lived in constant fear of being discovered. Now I knew it was because my mama had the gift of the Moira like me. I may not have been behind the Iron Gates anymore, but I still wasn’t free. I would never be free. Nor could I ever go back and free those people because Mortwar would kill me before I even came close to succeeding.

I tried to clear my mind, but I couldn’t fall asleep. Thoughts of my terrifying morning, Mortwar, and the blue symbols swirled around in my mind. At some point Chinook woke up and nudged me with his beak. He seemed to sense, as I did, that we weren’t safe in the middle of the field, despite the fact that we were up high in a tree. I had no idea what creatures lurked in these grasslands, and the image of Mortwar tramping through the field was still fresh in my mind. I jumped on the bird's back and he flapped his wings, ascending into the sky. The storm had passed, and now the moon and stars cast strange shadows on the grasses below.

I was so tired and cold. I closed my eyes and wrapped my arms securely around Chinook’s neck. Before I knew it, we were almost upon the mountains. The jagged rocks jutted out from the earth as if they had just broken free from the hells below. Chinook must have been as tired as me because he tilted his wings, and buffeted the air, slowing down his swift gliding. He neared one of the large rocks and landed gently. I hopped off and fell to my knees.

I was happy to be free of the chilly air blowing on me, but as soon as I touched the uneven surface I knew we weren’t safe. I could feel the coldness held inside the rock, even cooler than the air around us. All the stories that my father had told me of the mountains came back to me in a rush. They were wild tales of the strange creatures that lurked behind the boulders. “Mountain dwellers” he had called them. Whenever m

y father had talked about them around the fire it had been hard for me to sleep. The mountain dwellers thirsted for warm blood and I didn’t want them to get mine.

“Chinook, we must keep going. We’re in danger.”

Chinook had an amused look on his face.

“You don’t understand. We need to keep moving. Now!” I said more sternly.

But Chinook just continued to stare at me, unbelievingly. It almost looked like he was trying to make an expression I was familiar with. Although he had no eyebrows, his forehead wrinkled on one side like he was raising one, with an expression full of humor and disbelief.

“Well fine. I hope you decide to follow me.”

I didn’t dare stay. Anything that could thrive in this place wasn’t the kind of creature I wanted to encounter. Without hesitation, I started to climb the uneven rocks. It wasn’t like climbing a tree. Trees had always been easy for me to climb, but here on the mountain, my small hands had difficulty finding any grooves to fit into. Each gust of wind threatened to make me plummet to the sharp rocks below. And I began to wonder if my father’s stories had simply been tales. Nothing could possibly survive here, no matter how horrid the creature.

After what seemed like hours, I finally made it to the top. I looked around and knew I was trapped in this strange land. Miles of rock surrounded me on both sides, and before me was the biggest river I had ever seen. It stretched so far into the distance that I couldn’t even see the other side of it.

Wind rushed all around me and strange air filled my lungs. The air was so thick I began choking. Chinook flew down to where I sat gasping for air. He bowed low, letting the basket slide off his neck before pushing it toward me. I opened it and grabbed one of the jars, quickly taking a swig of water. I eyed the basket, full of bread and fruit. I had been correct that there was more inside than Chinook had shown me in the grasslands. I dove in, no longer caring about the monsters that supposedly lurked in the shadows.

With a full belly, I dropped the empty water jug into the basket. The sun was now directly above us. It was only midday but I was exhausted from my restless night. I sighed and pulled my legs to my chest, hugging them close. My left leg felt heat radiating off of the side of my body. I adjusted my cloak and pulled up my shirt. Several new symbols had started to burn bright on my flesh, but I didn’t dare touch my bare fingers to them this time. I wondered if they really were predictions etched on my skin and grew anxious wondering what horrors would unfold in the upcoming days. Hopefully I'd find the divinares from the south somewhere along this mountain range. As soon as I found them, they would be able to help me figure out what the symbols said and maybe I would be able to prevent whatever was about to happen.

I could feel Chinook staring at me. His eyes seemed to glide over the symbols as if he was reading them. His expression grew grim and he turned to look out toward the river.

I tried to ignore my new pet. I was being completely ridiculous. Birds could not read. What was in that food? I thought to myself, assuming I was drugged. I noticed some cloth sticking out of the basket. I leaned toward it and saw there was a blanket inside. It may have been afternoon, but I desperately needed rest. I draped the huge blanket around me and heard metal clatter against the rock. When I looked down I saw a package with paper wrapping, tied together with a string. I pulled the end of the bow and watched the paper unfold, revealing a small sword. It was almost the length of my arm, but it was surprisingly light. The blade was oddly only slightly longer than the hilt. It must have actually been a dagger, but either for a human or a brutarian since it was so large. I grabbed the handle and held the sword up to the sunlight to inspect it. I felt a surge of strength pulse through me. In an instant, strange symbols crept across the blade, very similar to the ones igniting on my skin.

I dropped the sword onto the paper and glanced at Chinook. He was no longer staring at the river. His eyes were closed. His body looked tense and rigid. I wrapped the sword back up in the paper and placed it into my knapsack with its hilt poking precariously out of the top. I hoped my journey would end soon. As far as I could tell, we were already in the lands in the south. All that existed beyond was the endless river. I needed to find the rest of the divinares and be told what was going on. I pulled the blanket up to my chin and lay down. Maybe they would find me here. Even with the thick blanket, the cold air still made me shiver.

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