Crow Boy by Maureen Bush Page A

we will not allow you to harm the veil. Sssst! You must give back the nexus ring!”
    Aleena spun around and strode onto the glacier. Then she turned. “Just try and stop me,” she said.
    The white-tipped crow rushed at Aleena, squawking, wings flapping, jabbing his beak as he scolded her.
    Her lips moving silently, Aleena reached out, floated a chunk of ice off the face of the glacier and flung it at the crow.
    He squawked and leapt away, but the ice caught him across the side of the head and he fell to the ground.
    The crows dove at Aleena, pecking at her head and yanking her hair. The white-tipped crow cheered them on as he struggled to his feet.
    Aleena reached up to the grey clouds huddled around the peak of Storm Mountain and drew them to her. They moved slowly at first, and then faster and faster as if they couldn’t wait to reach her. They boiled overhead, dark as night.
    Then hail plummeted from the sky, hard balls of ice smashing into everything – Maddy and me, the otter-people, the crows. We cried out and raised our hands to protect our heads. Leaves were stripped off the trees, filling the air with the scent of crushed plants.
    Hail smacked my head and shoulders, hard and icy, leaving welts and bruises. Maddy cried out and touched a hand to the side of her head. When she pulled it away, it was red with blood.
    Aleena stood in the centre of the fury, perfectly dry, not touched by a single hail stone. She looked exultant, all her focus on her hands, bringing down destruction.
    As the otter-people and the crows closed in around her, I could see her planning her escape. If she left, I wouldn’t be able to follow her. I could water travel, but I wasn’t a tracker. We’d never find her.
    I stared at the otter-people, Maddy, and the crows, all furious, battered and determined. Several crows lay unmoving on the ground. Eneirda and Greyfur both had bruises on their foreheads and bloody patches across their shoulders. Maddy held a hand to her head, trying to stop the bleeding. Aleena looked prepared to fight forever.
    I stepped into the middle of the crowd, held out my arms and cried, “Stop!” Magic reverberated in my voice.
    Everyone turned to me, suddenly silent.
    “We have to stop,” I said. “You have to let Maddy and me take care of this. We will get the nexus ring back. We will protect the magic world.”
    They stared at me in stunned silence.
    Then the white-tipped crow spat out a single, scornful, “Cawww!”
    Eneirda muttered, “Humans,” and Greyfur frowned.
    “Keeper trusts us,” I said. “Maddy and I will find a way. If we keep fighting, more of us will be hurt.” I nodded to the crows. “Aleena will leave. We will never get the ring back.”
    I could see Maddy torn between my logic and her own determination to fight. She stared into my eyes, took a deep breath and nodded. She stepped to my side. “I agree,” she said.
    Greyfur and Eneirda hissed. Greyfur opened his mouth to speak, but I stared him down, feeling totally determined and sure. He stopped, gave one slow nod and stepped back. “You must succeed,” he said. “ Tss , you must get the ring back to Keeper.”
    “I will,” I said.
    I turned to Aleena. “Come with us, please,” I said. I watched her face as I spoke. Underneath the fury flashing in her eyes I could see a hint of hurt and fear. I reached out a hand to her. She sighed and nodded, and the anger drained from her face.
    As we turned to leave, Maddy said, “I’ll just be a moment.” I headed down the scree slope with Aleena as Maddy asked Eneirda, “What will you do now?”
    “We will continue looking for a safe home. We will go far away from where you have been, far from where you might be.”
    I felt sick, and more determined than ever to stop this.
    ~
    We walked back to where we’d spent the night, near the creek by the base of the cliff face. Clouds from the storm followed us, as if they wanted to be close to Aleena.
    Maddy’s head finally stopped