Black Wings Beating by Alex London

Author:Alex London
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)

BRYSEN

DIFFERENT VEINS

18

They hiked for a full day up toward the blood birch forest, single file along knife-thin spurs of rock and on hands and knees up loose stone slopes. Brysen had to unleash Shara so she could follow on her own, flitting from boulder to boulder overhead. She flew back to him every few minutes, pecked nervously at his glove, and kept a wary eye on the owls, who each slept serenely on their Owl Mother’s fist as the sun burned down the day.

When they reached the snow line, they stopped to stuff fur and feathers into their boots, then hiked on, crossing a series of ice bridges over deep gorges, until they finally reached the dim forest. They stopped in a clearing of skinny white trees. There were taps scattered among a few of their trunks, collecting the red sap, drop by drop, into jars. A few small boxes were nailed high up for fledgling owls. Nothing made a hoot, however. The forest was silent as the sun set behind the western slope, drenching them almost instantly in white darkness.

Brysen knew his life, and therefore Dymian’s, depended now on the Owl Mothers who’d captured them. Not rescued—despite the unmistakable relief he felt at having not lost his head to those long-haulers—but captured. He was a prisoner, but the best path to the ghost eagle was through his captors. They knew where the ghost eagle hunted; they knew the best routes to its eyrie in the Nameless Gap. They were the key to his success, and they had come to him. He felt a rush of pride.

His plan was still working, although it’d had a few surprises and a lot more violence than he’d hoped. Still, he could picture Dymian’s face awash with relief when Brysen strolled down the mountain with the giant black eagle secure in a net across his back. He could already hear the cheers from the battle boys and feel Dymian’s hot breath on his neck when they embraced. He was perched on the edge of glory. He’d be a hero! A legend! He’d probably be able to run the business without Kylee, if she still wanted to leave it. He could set her free, just like she wanted, and he’d be her hero, too. He could be everyone’s hero.

“The covey will look after these two,” Üku said to Kylee, not deigning to pay Brysen any attention. It was going to be hard to bring her around to his cause if she wouldn’t even speak to him.

“If I could just ask you a few—” he began, but the woman pursed her lips and held up a hand to silence him. She turned back to Kylee. “He’ll be safe with the covey. You’ll come with us for a while.”

“Where’s the covey?” Brysen asked, trying hard to assert his right to speak. He looked for some kind of mews or cages where the Owl Mothers might keep a flock of birds, but he saw none. Just more bone-thin birches, their smooth trunks rising up the slope as far as he could see.

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