Luky and the Birdmen

What sort of sorcery was this? Ezra couldn’t believe his eyes nor his ears.

The birdqueen was speaking to him, but no words came out of her beak. It was as if she was in his thoughts, directly addressing his soul.

“Wow! Did you hear that?” Luky asked.

So, she was speaking to the boy-cat too.

Aurielle had dried her tears. She rose back to her feet like she’d found the strength to walk again.

“You...can...” she stuttered. “You can speak?”

The birdqueen’s eyes still glowed. “Words are easy. Emotions are intangible.”

That same voice. And why was it saying that? Before Ezra could ask for clarification, the voice echoed in his mind again.

“I am Teokuitlatitotoztli. This is my domain.”

Ezra sighed. That was one hell of a mouthful.

“I am Aurielle,” Her Highness said. “This is Luky and Ezra.” She hesitated for a brief moment. “What...is this place?”

The birdqueen folded her tail and glanced up. Her gaze briefly lingered on the stars that already pierced through the dusk sky.

She opened her arms and wings and slowly moved them back down. “You have found yourselves in the brood of Quetza. Welcome, travelers, to our humble colony.”

Aurielle bowed. “Thank you. But we do not wish to remain here long. We must return to our land.”

“Why have you come here?”

“It was by accident. We were...at sea, but we got caught in a storm.”

“We were on a mission!” Luky added enthusiastically. “Miss Aurielle has a secret she needs to find to save her kingdom!”

Aurielle peered at him. “Luky...I don’t think she cares that much.”

“But maybe she can help!” the boy-cat insisted.

Ezra could guess the birdqueen wouldn’t really be able to help them at all.

By now, Ezra was sure this place was a new land, never explored by anyone. This place wasn’t on any maps or any records whatsoever.

What price would people pay to know about this secret island? The gold, the jewels around the birdqueen’s head that Ezra now noticed weren’t feathers, so much wealth.

Too bad Ezra couldn’t get this information out of here.

“Are there others like us here?” Luky asked.

Ezra frowned. Why was the boy-cat asking this?

“I think we’re the firsts, Luky,” Aurielle answered his question.

He turned to her, his eyes insistent. “Ezra said no one who’d crossed the Arc Stream ever returned. Well, what if they came here?”

Clever boy, this sindur cub! He had a valid theory.

The birdqueen didn’t respond.

“I mean, others like them!” Luky corrected himself and pointed at Aurielle and Ezra. “Not sindurs, but humans.”

“Humans,” the birdqueen repeated. “By the shore to the west, humans have made a brood.”

Hope. That’s what Ezra felt at this exact moment. What a clever boy... Humans had made it here after all!

Aurielle had gasped. Luky was jumping in place.

“Let’s head west, then!” the boy-cat cheered. “We’ll find the others and get out of here.”

Luky was on the optimistic side, but Ezra could use a little optimism. Still, would the birdqueen let them go?

“How far away is the human...brood?” Ezra asked.

“Three days west,” she replied. “But the night is falling, and the forest isn’t quiet when it’s dark.”

That, Ezra had noticed. All the chirps, whistles, shrieks, and howls he’d heard last night. It’d reminded him of this one time lost in the Valley of Spirits.

“We should make camp here,” Ezra suggested. If he had to be honest with himself, his leg was killing him.

Aurielle addressed the birdqueen once again. “May we please rest here for the night? We’ll leave before dawn, I assure you.”

“You may stay by the lake,” the birdqueen replied, then she opened her wings. “Make no trouble, adventurers, and your night will be as peaceful as the Quetzal wind.”

Her eyes stopped glowing. She beat her wings once and soared above the ground.

Aurielle was left speechless, probably because of the beauty of the creature before them. Ezra could take a closer look at the golden tips of her feathered wings.

Were these part of her, or was it another kind of jewelry? Her guards’ golden armor definitely showed how wealthy this place must be. Full of treasure and probably more riches than any other Terrans could fathom.

What people would give to discover this place, Ezra thought to himself once again.

“Goodbye, Birdqueen!” Luky called and waved at the flying birdwoman, who returned to her nest inside the waterfall.

Sitting by the fire, Ezra held the pyramid-shaped vial in his hands. He brushed the vertical inscriptions on the small bottle with his thumb.

Aurielle rested by the lake, silent, and Luky had just spent most of the evening with her. Now, the boy-cat was walking back towards him.

He’d heard them talk from where he sat.

She was telling Luky about Vanhaui and Rallis. How the Barrier had stood for centuries, but no one really knew how it had come to be in the first place.

How the sithrax were infernal desert war machines, but they’d never really presented a threat to Vanhaui until now.

By now, Luky had figured out that she was the heir to the Hauian throne. She’d even told him about her struggles as a princess whose father never acknowledged her. She wanted a better future for Vanhaui, but no one ever gave her a voice.

Ezra wasn’t really sure why telling Luky about it would change a thing. That boy-cat was probably more interested in the buzzing fireflies around him than what the princess had to say.

“What’s this in your hand?” Luky asked as he walked up to Ezra.

“This?” Ezra showed him the vial. Ezra glanced at it one last time before sighing and putting it back in his pocket. “It’s just a fancy trinket.”

Luky could probably see through Ezra’s blatant lie. It was more than a trinket; it was a failure.

But Ezra didn’t want to tell the truth because the truth would mean thinking about it again. Staring at it was already hard.

Ezra didn’t even know why he was doing it all the time.

“What’s written on it?”

Luky wouldn’t let this one go, now, would he?

“Not for children,” Ezra said in a dry tone. “But these,” he showed him the two other potions he had attached to his belt, “these are my Vial of Evasion and Elixir of Mist.”

“Woah!” Luky exclaimed. Distraction, succeeded. “How do you use them?”

“You throw them on the ground.”

“Can I try?” Luky sounded way too enthusiastic.

Ezra shook his head, making Luky disappointed. The boy-cat made a sindur pout.

He looked so adorable like this, it made Ezra chuckle.

Ezra leaned back and made contact with the grass. “Time to sleep, boy. We have three days of travel ahead of us.”

Luky didn’t want to comply, but his eyes were small, and he yawned shortly after. He seemed exhausted all of a sudden.

The forest was quiet here, but what would they discover once they ventured down to the west?

They’d have to find food and safe places to camp, take turns keeping watch. It wasn’t anything new for Ezra, but this place was, so it did worry him a tiny bit.

He couldn’t protect these two, and it didn’t look like they could protect themselves. Ezra didn’t want to have another loss on his conscience.