“Read off the names.” He listened intently.Suddenly the words “013-Unidentified” made him jump. Yin Soul, my mentor, spoke of this bird! he thought. “Yes, 013-Unidentified, I want him!” Maldeor barked. “Double the reward of acorns and pine seeds. Make sure you put a sketch of his face on the posters. What crime did he commit?”
“He yelled openly at Hungrias and escaped against Hungrias’s wishes.”
Maldeor nodded and stored this information in his head. One thing at a time, he thought. Next, Kauria. He spun around, turning to the chief of the scholars. “All right then, what do you know about Kauria?”
The old archaeopteryx blinked in surprise. “Kauria? It is a legend, my lord, a mythical island where snow never falls and the flowers never fade, ruled by a phoenix, Pepheroh. But it is a just a story. Nobird with any learning thinks it truly exists.” He faltered a little under Maldeor’s stern glare.
“It exists,” Maldeor said fiercely. “And I will find the way there. Search your books and scrolls. Tell me anything you find. All of you!” His gaze traveled across the group of birds.
“Your Majesty, here is a yellow Leasorn gem, which Kawaka had brought.” The head scholar raised the gemstone that had been stolen from the kingfishers.
The words are in Avish…I must learn the language in time and decode them, Maldeor thought. Feeling better, he thundered on. “Now then, anybird you meet, soldier or slave, who knows anything of Kauria—I want to speak to that bird. Let that order go out to every archaeopteryx in the land. Is that understood?”
“Aye, Ancient Wing.” They all bowed.
The world is in my claws, Maldeor thought as he rolled the beak ring slowly in his talons, back and forth, back and forth.
Chaos can cast a shadow on one’s conscience.
—FROM THE O LD S CRIPTURE
6
B EWILDERED
W ind-voice, Stormac, and Ewingerale flew along the edge of a small woodland. Suddenly Wind-voice, in the lead, ducked into the shadows of a thicket. The other two followed. Silently Wind-voice gestured with his beak toward an archaeopteryx ahead in a clearing, nailing a poster to a tree with a thorn.
After the toothed bird had gone, Ewingerale went upand read the words on the paper out loud.
“‘It is proclaimed that the head of 013-Unidentified, a bird white of feather with red bill and feet, is wanted by the Marshes Battalion as well as the new Ancient Wing…’ See?” whispered Ewingerale. “Your head is worth twenty bushels of acorns and pine seeds, plus a bag of treasure!” He looked up in shock.
“A lot, when you think about it, in early spring,” Stormac muttered.
“That’s not all.” Ewingerale read on. “‘Along with the aforesaid Unidentified bird, one woodpecker, number 216, and one myna, number 987, are wanted and are highly suspected to be accomplices…’”
“We’ll have to be more careful than ever,” Wind-voice said. “Everybird will be looking for us now.”
Wind-voice was right. The swordcraft he had learned from Fisher was put to the test quite soon. As they were flying near the shores of a lake, five dark shapes suddenly melted from the trees. The commander, who was wielding a halberd, was in the lead. Two birds, armed with matching falchions, flanked him to the rear so the three formed a V. Between those two flew an archaeopteryx with a spear, and another, spinning a slingshot, brought up the rear.
In combat, the stocky leader would hack with his halberd at whatever was in front of him. At his signal, the two birds with falchions would rush forward and block victims from escaping to the left or right. The spear bird would dive down underneath to the other side to fight from the back while the archaeopteryx with the slingshot would fly overhead to shoot down hard round stones. Itwas grimly effective, and it was exactly what they did as they discovered the wanted birds: 013-Unidentifed, 216-Woodpecker, and 987-Myna.
The falchion-wielding bird
“He yelled openly at Hungrias and escaped against Hungrias’s wishes.”
Maldeor nodded and stored this information in his head. One thing at a time, he thought. Next, Kauria. He spun around, turning to the chief of the scholars. “All right then, what do you know about Kauria?”
The old archaeopteryx blinked in surprise. “Kauria? It is a legend, my lord, a mythical island where snow never falls and the flowers never fade, ruled by a phoenix, Pepheroh. But it is a just a story. Nobird with any learning thinks it truly exists.” He faltered a little under Maldeor’s stern glare.
“It exists,” Maldeor said fiercely. “And I will find the way there. Search your books and scrolls. Tell me anything you find. All of you!” His gaze traveled across the group of birds.
“Your Majesty, here is a yellow Leasorn gem, which Kawaka had brought.” The head scholar raised the gemstone that had been stolen from the kingfishers.
The words are in Avish…I must learn the language in time and decode them, Maldeor thought. Feeling better, he thundered on. “Now then, anybird you meet, soldier or slave, who knows anything of Kauria—I want to speak to that bird. Let that order go out to every archaeopteryx in the land. Is that understood?”
“Aye, Ancient Wing.” They all bowed.
The world is in my claws, Maldeor thought as he rolled the beak ring slowly in his talons, back and forth, back and forth.
Chaos can cast a shadow on one’s conscience.
—FROM THE O LD S CRIPTURE
6
B EWILDERED
W ind-voice, Stormac, and Ewingerale flew along the edge of a small woodland. Suddenly Wind-voice, in the lead, ducked into the shadows of a thicket. The other two followed. Silently Wind-voice gestured with his beak toward an archaeopteryx ahead in a clearing, nailing a poster to a tree with a thorn.
After the toothed bird had gone, Ewingerale went upand read the words on the paper out loud.
“‘It is proclaimed that the head of 013-Unidentified, a bird white of feather with red bill and feet, is wanted by the Marshes Battalion as well as the new Ancient Wing…’ See?” whispered Ewingerale. “Your head is worth twenty bushels of acorns and pine seeds, plus a bag of treasure!” He looked up in shock.
“A lot, when you think about it, in early spring,” Stormac muttered.
“That’s not all.” Ewingerale read on. “‘Along with the aforesaid Unidentified bird, one woodpecker, number 216, and one myna, number 987, are wanted and are highly suspected to be accomplices…’”
“We’ll have to be more careful than ever,” Wind-voice said. “Everybird will be looking for us now.”
Wind-voice was right. The swordcraft he had learned from Fisher was put to the test quite soon. As they were flying near the shores of a lake, five dark shapes suddenly melted from the trees. The commander, who was wielding a halberd, was in the lead. Two birds, armed with matching falchions, flanked him to the rear so the three formed a V. Between those two flew an archaeopteryx with a spear, and another, spinning a slingshot, brought up the rear.
In combat, the stocky leader would hack with his halberd at whatever was in front of him. At his signal, the two birds with falchions would rush forward and block victims from escaping to the left or right. The spear bird would dive down underneath to the other side to fight from the back while the archaeopteryx with the slingshot would fly overhead to shoot down hard round stones. Itwas grimly effective, and it was exactly what they did as they discovered the wanted birds: 013-Unidentifed, 216-Woodpecker, and 987-Myna.
The falchion-wielding bird
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