Green fought to regain his breath and composure while looking up at the tyrannosaurus-size crow.
“My acorn. Where is it? I need it back!”
The Crow King pointed his beak to the sky. He cawed three earth-shaking caws. The shock waves sent Green stumbling away, pressing palms to his ears and squeezing shut his eyes.
When he looked up the king towered as tall as the oak. Somehow, the Crow King was both a giant bird and something else. Green had flashes of seven silver beaks radiating outward from a central dark-feathered hub and wings that stretched along directional planes that weren’t.
The seven-pointed star above the creature’s head was now a massive window looking out on a darkling sky where tattered clouds scudded across the face of a great yellow moon. The king was both a dark pinnacle and a limitless crossroads.
The image made Green’s stomach turn and the edges of his vision began to darken.
The feeling made a wolf stir in his sleep. A borrowed growl rattled through his senses and the vision of the Crow King resolved back into simply an impossibly giant bird.
The king’s three caws had changed the landscape, calling in other seasons of the year.
Now, along with the falling autumn leaves, the trees were dotted with green buds, verdant growth, and insects paused mid-flutter. Islands of snow lay alongside blooming trillium and trout lilies. Acorns were scattered in profusion among the dandelions and the mirror gleam of iced-over puddles.
“Your acorn is here,” boomed the voice of the Crow King. “Retrieve it.”
Green had a sinking feeling even before he surveyed the piles of acorns.
There’s no way.
He looked down at a dozen acorns scattered near the toe of his right boot.
Kneeling, he prodded the innocuous little things with his fingertips. A few were of uncommon size. Several seemed to have insect damage. One was missing its cap. Fully half of them looked like they could have beenhisacorn.
“This is impossible. Tell me you know which one it is.”
The Crow King’s voice was like an avalanche.
“You called the acorn magic, did you not? If it is so singular and special, so heavy with significance, then select it.”
“I can’t!”
He grabbed one of the acorns and stood, holding it up to the colossal monarch.
“This looks just like the one I had. Just like most of the ones I can see from here. Is this it?”
“That is not for us to say.”
“Of course it is! How am I supposed to know?”
The Crow King gave another harsh, rolling laugh that sounded like a passing freight train.
“Don’t laugh! This is life-and-death!”
The dark feathered mountain settled.
“We apologize. We are not used to seeing you struggle so. We remember you as one who cheerfully baffles others.”
Green grimaced and felt tears coming into his eyes.
“Perhaps a test,” the Crow King suggested. “Place it in your pocket and see if it feels like your acorn.”
It seemed utterly pointless, but he also couldn’t think of a better option. So, he placed the acorn in its customary place.
He rested his palm over the lump, feeling the shape of the acorn through the denim. It felt correct. The tightness in his throat began to ease.
