We flew in silence, rising higher and leaving the sentinel and Ilara below.
What will happen to Ilara?
Pakshiraj’s sigh filled my head. She will be punished.
But we need to know why she attacked. I mean…why would she want to hurt me?
Her rider is dead. She blames you.
Wait, what? Why? I didn’t…Does she know it was the primordial evil that took him over?
Pakshiraj was silent for several beats before speaking.She knows the truth, but emotions are complicated. This situation is…complicated.
He was hiding something. I could feel it.Explain it to me. Please.
What do you know about the origin of my kind?
I thought back on what I’d learned. What Araz had told me about them.That you were created by the deva. That you, in particular, are one of the first five made.
Yes. That is true. But something that is not common knowledge is that we were given the ability to shift form. To walk as men and women if we chose to do so. And with that came an evolution that allowed us to love as man and woman. The ability to shift was taken from us when the deva left. But the ability to love was not. The ancient ones, those of us who came before, we understand the boundaries, and we control our hearts, but the young ones, ones like Ilara…they can get confused.
Was he saying what I thought he was saying?Ilara was in love with Araz?
She has been inconsolable. But I did not think she would act in violence.
What will they do to her?
The penalty for attacking our own is banishment from the roost…from these skies. But she attacked not only me, but also the future queen of the Asura. She will be put to death.
Death? No. She was Araz’s thunderbird. I couldn’t allow that to happen. I had to do something.
The clouds parted, the tree coming into view, then the circular platform below us.
We landed, and Keyton waved from the bridge, Blue hopping up and down on his shoulder. But I stayed on Pakshiraj’s back, my stomach churning.
What are you thinking, child?
I want to save her. What she did was…It was wrong. But she loved him. She loved him, and she’s grieving, and…I won’t let her die. I can’t.
A soft sigh. I thought you might say that. The tree metes out the sentence. If you wish to save her, go quickly to the hollow. Garrit will take you.
A shadow fell over us, and a moment later, Garrit landed on the platform, his face a stormy mask.
Thank you.
I dismounted as Garrit approached, shaking his head. “Leela, I?—”
“Take me to the hollow.”
Garrit didn’t tryto dissuade me when I told him my plan to try and save Ilara’s life.
“The hollow is the sacred heart of the roost,” he said, ushering me, Keyton, and Blue into the elevator. “The great tree was planted by the deva and brought to the skies to house the thunderbird sentinels before they left. It has a history of its own, one which not many know because the hollow doesn’t speak of it.”
“Have you spoken to it?” Keyton asked him. “The hollow?”
“On occasion, when summoned. As stable keeper, it is my duty to ensure the sentinels are taken care of.”
He closed the wooden cage around us and activated the pulley system. The elevator began its descent.
