“They must have bundled him up when we attacked, to keep him from escaping,” Roane says, his voice like a distant roar in my ears. “Then you turned the centaurs into horses and men, and we killed the one holding the bundle. Talton must have fallen.” He gently pokes at the bird. “His body is broken.”
Fresh tears are streaming down my cheeks and yet inside I feel cold and numb. “But you can bring him back, can’t you? Can’t you, Roane?”
Roane is very still, and I think, he’ll say no. He’ll say he doesn’t have enough juice to do it a second time. That the laws of this world don’t allow it.
It takes me a moment to realize he’s nodding, long hair sliding forward to hide his face. He says something that sounds like,“It wouldn’t be the first time.”
“Excuse me?” Is he referring to Ardruna, or were there other times when he’s had to bring his friends back? My mind is awhirl, but this time I’m calmer and able to observe what he’s doing more carefully.
He doesn’t seem to be using the ring, although that’s only my perspective. He lays his hands on Talton, as he’d done with Ardruna, and says, “Come back to us.”
As I watch, leaning over the horse’s neck where I’m still sitting astride, the raven’s body twitches. Then his black wings spread and his beak opens.
This is… madness.
Instinctively, I flinch back, as if I can get away from this incredible event unfolding in front of me. I know stories of people who defied death and remained alive—changed, though,turning into an animal or a monster. If you accept that those stories are real and that such things can happen without any direct intervention from the Gods…
Too many ifs.
I shudder when Roane places Talton on his feet and the raven croaks, fluttering his wings and looking around.
He tilts his head and his gaze fixes on me. “Aline.”
“Talton.” I clear my throat. “Nice to have you back with us.”
“I never left.” Now he looks at Roane. “Did I?”
“Don’t you remember what happened?” I ask, my voice hoarse. It doesn’t want to clear. Then again, the tears are still sliding down my face and my airways are full of snot. “Don’t you recall the centaurs?”
“Oh yeah! Those bastards took me!” He hops around, agitated. “They were grabbing the nymphs from the river like they were plucking fruit from a tree!”
“And you tried to stop them.” Gods, my throat is clogged up. “You’re a hero.”
“Well, not to boast too much…” He struts about in circles. “I happened to be there. I’ll always protect pretty girls.”
Roane chokes. “Yes, you always do, you big idiot.” I think he’s laughing, but I catch the shimmer in his eyes. Wait. Is he… is he crying, too?
Talton finishes preening and spreads his wings again, flying up to me. The horse prances about, uneasy, but allows Talton to land in front of me, claws digging in the thick mane.
I stroke his feathers. “Hey, Talton.”
“Hey, pretty girl. I take it we won this battle?”
“We did.”
“Are the nymphs safe?”
I glance at Roane for guidance, because frankly, I don’t know.
“Two of them are free.” Roane rises to his feet, every movement slow and heavy. “The rest, they took with them.”
Talton squawks. “You let the centaurs carry them away?”
“Fuck you, Tal, we did our best,” Roane snarls. “Without Aline and her book, we’d have lost this battle.”
“It’s unlike you to admit you could have ever failed, Ro,” Talton says.
“Yeah, well. It’s time I started admitting the truth.”
