Crow Boy by Maureen Bush

Usually the veil stops fires in one world or the other. This fire leapt through a tear.”
    Maddy gasped. “Was anyone hurt?”
    “No. We had warning.” He nodded his head towards the crows. “But we cannot live there now. We plan to move here. Our babies cannot live near a tear. Chrrrr .”
    Maddy’s eyes grew large. “We came through the doorway last night.”
    “With the nexus ring?” he said, his voice harsh.
    “Josh opened the doorway without the ring, but Aleena walked through wearing it. Josh says that won’t tear the veil, but we don’t know for sure.”
    Eneirda’s mouth tightened and she stepped back from us.
    “We’re following Aleena,” I said, “well, travelling with her. So we can get the ring back.”
    “Sssst! Keeper let Aleena have the ring?” Greyfur asked.
    “No, of course not,” I said. “It was an accident.”
    “A crow, a baby crow, grabbed the ring when Josh dropped it,” Maddy added.
    “I was just wearing it for a little while. Not using it,” I said.
    “Aleena caught the crow and killed it.” Maddy’s voice cracked.
    “She took the ring and we’re trying to get it back. For Keeper.”
    Greyfur held up a hand to stop us. “Regardless. Aleena has the nexus ring?” His eyes were dark and stern.
    “Yes,” we both said.
    “She must be stopped.”
    “Yes, yes, we’re trying – that’s what we’re doing – trying to convince her –” we both stammered, interrupting each other.
    “Tss , you have failed! She must be stopped now!” he snapped.
    I swallowed.
    “Where is she?” he asked.
    I pointed up at the glacier. Aleena stood on the edge of it, dark against the white ice.
    Greyfur strode off, looking determined. Eneirda glanced at us, her face still, and then she turned and followed Greyfur. Maddy and I trailed along behind.
    I felt sick. I’d failed to get the ring back. Maybe Greyfur and Eneirda could, but if they failed, too, and made Aleena angry enough, she’d just leave. Then we’d never get it back. Never!

Chapter 8
    Through the Ring
    G reyfur strode up the loose rocks to the base of the glacier. “Aleena!” he growled. “You damage our world. Sssst! You must give back the nexus ring.”
    We raced after him, sliding on the scree.
    Aleena turned to him, her face cold and pale as the glacier, her eyes reflecting the blue in the shadows. “I do what I want,” she said.
    “Regardless of the consequences?”
    “I am not concerned with consequences! ” She spat it out like it was a swear word.
    “ Tss . Then you are no better than a human, ” Greyfur spat back, like he was using a swear word, too.
    Maddy slipped her hand into mine. I glanced down – her face was as pale as Aleena’s.
    The crows gathered, congregating on the rocks in a mass of black, silent for once. Corvus watched from above, perched on a branch.
    Greyfur stepped closer. “ Sssst! You must not use the ring!”
    Aleena peered down her nose at him, “And who exactly is going to stop me?”
    Greyfur stepped up to Aleena, shoulders square. “I will stop you.”
    Aleena laughed.
    Eneirda joined him. “And I will stop you. Tss .”
    Aleena shrugged.
    Then Maddy slipped her hand out of mine and stood on Eneirda’s other side. They made a strange picture, Aleena tall and thin, her dark cloak swirling in the wind; Greyfur, Maddy and Eneirda all so small, clustered in front of her, trying to look intimidating.
    I stepped forward. Even though I didn’t want to make Aleena mad, I couldn’t let Maddy stand there without me.
    The crows joined me, first Corvus and the white-tipped crow, and then the rest of the flock, all walking forward, facing Aleena in silence.
    She just laughed. “Even with all of you together, do you really think you can stop me?”
    The crows surged forward in a cawing mass, but Greyfur held out a hand to stop them. “We do not wish to harm you.”
    The crows cawed in disagreement.
    “We do not wish to harm you,” he repeated, frowning down at the crows. “But