“Confused?” Tennet looks back to where Ayne is soaring low over the churning lake, barely visible, but my eyes are on Miriam as she stares, dumbstruck, at her hands.
“What—what is happening?” she whispers, as if they are crumbling to dust before her eyes. And maybe they are.
I reach out to Gent, my mind racing furiously, and am rewarded with his short, delighted huff. The rest of us barely remain standing as he leaps to his feet, coming down with a mighty chomp. And then he disappears.
“What is that?” Tennet demands, rounding on me. “Where did you send him?”
Fortiss gapes at me too. “You didn’t just send him back to our plane, did you? It can’t be that easy.”
“I didn’t, and it’s not. Think about it, Fortiss. We’ve been moving so fast, we’re not remembering how Divhs interact with us. They interact withus. They’re connected tous. That’s the only way this works—the only reason why we can thrive here. But Miriam’s not connected.”
“But I was fine…” Miriam stutters, but the words are strangled.
“Time passes differently here,” I say—it’s my only guess, but I think I’m right. I hold up my left arm, glad it’s not my right. “Fortiss?”
He moves to me and unlaces my sleeve, stripping it away while Miriam goggles at us. My primary band is barely an inch wide, with two-dozen whisper-thin strands still stacked beneath it, each of them shimmering bright with their own, distinct movement.
“No,” she says, taking a step back. “I’m not a warrior, Lady Talia.”
“Not yet,” I agree, and flash her a grim smile. “But if you’re going to survive this place, you have to be.”
Gent’s howl fills my mind, and I step back abruptly.
“Give them room,” I order, squinting up into the stormy sky.
“Them?” Tennet demands. “Who’sthem?”
The air snaps tight around us.
Chapter 23
The Divh that Gent has brought back with him is like nothing I’ve ever seen. A brilliantly feathered, multi-colored, long-necked bird of prey spreads her wings and screams at us, her accusation filling my mind with fury. This Divh was supposed to be at the Tournament of Gold, I realize. She pledged herself to me as a rightful warrior, but she couldn’t just leave because the warriors on the Fated Plane had decided to ruin themselves. She had responsibilities! She was a collective!
Her outrage takes on new meaning as she spreads her wings in a sharp, cutting flap, and a half dozen miniature versions of her spin into the sky, darting and whirling, snapping and churning, furious with activity. This is thethemthat Gent meant, I think. These miniature Divhs are feathered with every color of the rainbow, their wings spreading wide to reveal two sets of claws on squat little legs with long, grasping talons. Each of them are the size of a pig, and their inquisitive, slender faces cock and roll to take in every detail of us as their wings whir in furious, nonstop motion.
“You’re a hummerbill.” Miriam’s shocked voice rolls over us, and I turned to see her staring with unabashed adoration at theprimary bird-like Divh. It’s not a large one, maybe only two-thirds the size of Marsh, the height of two sturdy barns stacked on top of each other. But with its six auxiliary miniature Divhs, it’s an impressive, swirling menace. It cocks a glance at her and then at me.
I was going to be there at the battlefield. I can serve, but I’m not meant for stupid warriors who cannot stop killing long enough to think. I cannot?—
“I present you a warrior of the mind,” I say quickly, if only to get the creature to stop howling in my mind. Miriam’s hands go up, but Tennet and Fortiss are at her sides, each of them moving forward. The hummerbill looks at the councilor, leans forward, and spreads its wings again, sending its whirling dervish miniatures into renewed frenzy. It stretches up its head and cries out with a call that sounds like it emerges from the dawn of the Light itself.
With that otherworldly shriek, it launches itself at Miriam, and I realize that it too has two sets of powerful claws on long, tucked-in legs at the base of its belly. It plucks Miriam up as if she weighs nothing and soars into the sky. I hear Miriam scream, and I wince as flame erupts around my left bicep. The band!
Sure enough, the lowest thread of band has loosened itself from my collection and scrapes a bloody trail down my hand. It spins off just as the hummerbill returns with Miriam and practically dumps the woman on me. Not bothering to wait a moment longer, the band connects with Miriam’s outstretched hand and races up her arm, burning a line through her pale skin.
But she doesn’t shriek, she doesn’t shake, instead, Miriam staggers back from me, wide-eyed and open mouthed. When her gaze meets mine, her eyes open wide with wonder.
“What have you done?” she gasps.
Andthenshe collapses.
Her hummerbill Divh squawks and instantly disappears, poofing back into sight on a distant ridge, all six small hummerlets spinning around her in agitation.
Fortiss drops to his knees, shouting to Miriam to breathe, to work through it as her body processes the change. I crouch down on her other side, keeping her head from banging against the rock-strewn ground. Tennet stands and stares at the hummerbill, who eventually, little by little, starts to stalk closer.
“Are those her offspring?” he asks, then checks himself. “I mean, is it a she?”
“Kreya,” croaks Miriam, as she struggles to a seating position, then uses Fortiss as a brace in order to stand. Her color already looks better, as far as I’m concerned. She may be still reeling from banding—and I’m pretty sure there will be several bouts of nausea to come—but she’s no longer actively dying in front of me. Progress.
