“What do you know, Benny?” Cahir repeated in a dangerous tone.He did not have time for introductions. He would cut this information out of this man if he had to.
Roya stepped forward, her lengthy hair swaying in the wind, and circled Benny.
Benny looked over to her and hesitated. “Friend or foe?” He looked to Cahir for reassurance.
“Friend, nowanswer.”
Benny paused and sighed as his eyes shifted nervously to the Corvids. “I always knew there was more to you than you let on.” He looked down at the healing tattoo on his wrist, its dragon shape a direct replica of the dragon drawn onto the paper.
He inhaled deeply and began, “My father is the founder of The Rising. We have been organized for years. A long time ago, he spoke with what he called anoracle. She told him that The Darkened, what he thinks is a flying dragon, would save us from our own. That there would come a time when our food would appear to run low, and chaos would ensue. We needed to stay vigilant and help The Darkened return to save us; otherwise, all could be lost. The Rising has been looking for clues for years.”
Jason was always an exemplary figure in Joro. This news was… Interesting.Cahir tried to think back to any clues he missed in his time knowing Jason, that he could have been behind any of this, but nothing came to mind. Jason was a model citizen, teaching hischildren to study hard and obey the laws to avoid any issues within their family.
“What does that mean,human?” Roya asked, annoyed at the mystery.For someone who always scrambled pieces of an already confusing puzzle, she was the worst when the information wasn’t readily available to her.
“We don’t know exactly. Dad… I mean, Jason… He… He snuck into the library to find more information, but couldn’t understand what it meant. Said the library was full of useless data. When he went back looking for the oracle, he could not find her.”
“How long have you been a part of this?” Cahir asked.
“I only found out about this within the last year. When Jason was taken to the Camp, The Rising placed me in charge of continuing the search. We meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays after curfew.”
“How do you get around at night?” Roya asked as she got closer to Benny. She hovered over him and hissed in his face, “And where do you meet?”
“Whoa. Whoa.Feisty. We sneak out. We know the Rozzer’s routes through Orience. And we meet in the woods past the Gardvord.” Benny pressed his body firmly against the backrest of the chair, away from Roya as much as possible, but Cahir noticed how his eyes glittered in delight at her.
“So you meet tonight…” Cahir said, then looked at the three Corvids. “We will also go. Have any of The Rising ever been to the Camp?”
“Not inside, but a couple have escaped the dome and traveled down to investigate when Dad was taken. I remained here for Seda and Mom.”
“Where is Sara?” Cahir asked, looking around the room. “Did shemake it out okay?”
“She’s in bed. She hasn’t left the house since we got home. First Dad, now Seda.” He looked toward the wall and away from everyone in the room. “She has been struggling mentally since he left. Now I fear she might not fully recover.”
“These people of yours who went down to the Camp, have you heard from them yet? Do they know a way in?”
“A way in? No… and I expect that after yesterday’s events, a way out of Joro is even harder now.”
“We need to find and protect Seda before something bad happens to her,” Feich spoke for the first time.
“We will meet you at your location tonight,” Ferona chimed in. Roya and Feich nodded their heads in unison.
“I’m staying here until it is time to go,” Cahir told the three. “Roya, can I ask you guys to please scout out the area? But be careful. They’re on high alert after the Corvids attacked in force yesterday.”
The three nodded as they shifted forms and flew out of the open window.
“What the hell are those? Do all of the black birds do that?” Benny asked.
When the curfew’salarm across the city ended, Benny and Cahir dressed in dark clothing and quietly made their way out of the window, descending toward the road below. They snuck alongside walls and crept low through the fields. Cahir followed Benny. They did not run into any Rozzers as they made their way into the thickness of trees past the Gardvord.
Three men surrounded a small fire as they approached. As soon as they spotted Benny, they stood up and placed their hands over their hearts, revealing dragon tattoos on their wrists that matched Benny’s.
“Rising, please meet Cahir. He is Seda’s friend. As you know, my sister was taken yesterday, and we want everyone’s help to tryand get both her and Jason back,” Benny said as he entered the circle.
The Corvids flew down from a nearby branch into the circle of men, looking at Benny for approval before shifting.
“And don’t be alarmed, but Cahir brought friends.” He pointed down to the birds, and the men looked over at them.
“These things went crazy yesterday,” said a man in his twenties with blond hair, wearing a Rozzer uniform. “They were cutting Rozzers up left and right, and right now I’m dressed as one. Do they understand us?”
