Kelz started moving about the wagon with some haste, and I spotted Sen fly off ahead of the wagon. Ghisé snapped the magic tome shut, “Where Chief Getra’s careful, Cee’s become paranoid since you were taken… she wont like your friends. And it’s best you don’t tell anyone that he was one of the poachers,” she pointed at Alex. Ghisé stowed the tome in with the food stores.

Kelz gathered up some rope and brought it over to me. “Bind them,” she handed me the ropes, and looking at my face added, “It’s just for show, but I’ll be honest with you Tali, humans aren’t welcome.”

I sighed heavily, “…I know.” I started tying Alex’s wrists together, giving him an apologetic look while I spoke, “[I’m sorry Alex, but it’s just for show, I won’t let anything bad happen.]” I kept the binding snug enough to stay on without movement, but loose enough to avoid discomfort.

He waved his hand—well, hands—dismissively, “[I think I can manage after what I’ve put you through. This is justice in a way.]”

Justice maybe, but as the victim, I’d sue for probation for him if his full role in my capture was revealed. Vander deserved this even less. He was a liar, and secretive, but I couldn’t blame him for that considering his… our situation. I myself was still keeping a fair number of secrets from my sisters and people, and I wasn’t sure which, if any, I’d reveal them to. I’d like to think I could trust all my sisters, but could I trust Cee?

“[Rope play now?]“ Vander smirked, but it quickly turned into a small wince as I tightened the rope a bit more. Okay, Vander deserved this a little. I remember teenage boys… I guess memory and maturity aren’t necessarily linked.

Kelz stayed with the ‘prisoners’ while Ghisé and Jiju helped me up onto the beast. It was one of those wooly bull-like ones that Alex used as a poacher. I still wasn’t moving very well, and while Ghisé’s spellbraid was an option, it was better for the sake of healing not to push it. The ‘lambull’ was much more comfortable than the rigid wagon, but I had to hold onto the stoic Jiju to stay on and my muscles were weak and ached. Ghisé took up a flank and walked alongside us. The Redwoods became more sparse and small brush more common as we exited the forest. Four figures stood not far away, Sen and the far less friendly looking welcome party.

Cee approached the transport as Jiju pulled to a stop. When her icy blue eyes met my golden ones, her stern expression faltered. I let myself off the lambull, almost pulling Jiju down in the process, and moved as quick I was able towards my sister. Whatever Kelz and Ghisé thought, I let myself be happy to see her as I threw my wings over Cee’s shoulders. “I’m home,” I muttered into her shoulder. I felt her stiffen against me, but after a moment, she returned the hug.

“You’re really alive?” she asked me with the shakiest voice I’d ever heard from her.

I separated just enough to look at her face to face. Gods she’s gotten so tall, and beautiful. She has to be the tallest of the clutch. It was hard to face her ragged and scrawny as I was, so I threw on a mock pout and said, “Am I so feathers and bones that I don’t even look like the living?”

“N-no! I…” she pulled me back into a hug, “missed you.”

The two guards that attended her shuffled nervously. Things really had gotten tense when a girl can’t hug her own sister… One leaned in and whispered something in Cee’s ear. She stiffened a bit and broke off the hug, falling back into line with the two guardians that accompanied her.

Ghisé cleared her throat obnoxiously, drawing a glare from Cee. “We’re safe too,” Ghisé gestured to the rest of our little caravan.

Jiju gently pushed Ghisé’s shoulder with the butt of her spear. “Ghisé…” The guardian clearly had no patience for their squabbles. Honestly I didn’t either. The two of them used to go on for hours, stubborn as they both were. Still, it would be only another fifteen minute journey from here to my room, my bed, my family. I was so close.

“Cee… what’s going on? I just want to go home.” The tenor of my voice must have drawn Sen, because I felt her wing draped over my shoulders after a moment.

Cee bit her lip, conflicted, “I’m sure you do Tali, but the Chief wants to see you first. Wants to see everyone.”

“Hey!” Kelz called from the wagon behind, “Can’t we do that tomorrow? We’ve been gone a month!”

“Kelz—!” Cee’s face began to redden with anger. “Chief’s orders. You can complain, but you’ll comply,” Cee hissed back. She crossed her arms and stalked her way over to the wagon, “I know we’ve had this conversation before.”

I froze. It’s one thing to hear that the band broke up, but to experience KelzCee infighting was another thing. What had happened to my family, my flock, in my absence? Hesht teeth aren’t even particularly sharp, yet my sisters were filled with venom. The day I’ve thought about for years was playing out nothing like how I imagined.

She turned to face Jiju, “Guardian, Chief’s orders are the village’s orders. Especially where those filthy monsters are concerned,” she gestured towards the two humanoid figures bound in the wagon. “No broods in the village. Take your caravan to the Chief!”

“The Guardians answer to the Blessed, not the villages,” my stern guardian replied.

Cee was gritting her teeth. “Since when?”

“Since there were Blessed to serve, even if this village has forgotten that.” Jiju dismounted the lambull and took up her spear. The two guards took up their own in response.

I found myself shrinking into the blanket I’d wrapped myself in. Stop fighting! But I couldn’t get the words out. Instincts were taking over, to hide in the corner of the cage. I could feel the soft wooly fur of the beast I’d unconsciously backed in to.

After a tense moment, Cee’s face melted back into one of stoicism and authority. She smirked, “That would be true if she was of age. Talivi is a fledgling, a child of the village. Her choices are not yet her own.”

“What?!” Ghisé was fuming, “She’s the same age as us!”

“And hasn’t had her coming of age ceremony. That makes her a fledgling. Guardian Jiju, do you take orders from children over the chief?” Cee’s smug look reeked of triumph.

Jiju stowed her spear, apparently Cee’s logic was sound. The guardian nodded to Sen, who guided me back to the wagon, and set me down. Whatever look she, Kelz, Alex, and Vander were giving me, I couldn’t see it. Whatever conversation was taking place after that point, I couldn’t hear it. I just felt the bumping of the road as the wagon started moving again. I wasn’t going home yet. Not before another battle.

———

I was shaken from my stupor when the wagon finally came to a stop. We must be here. I found that I was leaning up against Vander of all people, and Sen had her wing covering me protectively.

“[Do you want to leave?]” a whisper in my ear. It was Vander. I turned my head to him and stared blankly. “[I don’t answer to your chief or your people,]” he continued. “[Do you want to leave?]”

Part of me wanted to say yes, to run. This was a big world filled with magic, adventure. If there truly was no home to come back to, I could take my freedom and go. The other part of me said the world was filled with danger and uncertainty. That I should be here with my flock. I couldn’t tell if one of those two parts was Liv, and if so, which one was Her, and which was me. One thing I did know for sure was that I loved my sisters, and they were clearly fighting over me. I couldn’t leave now. I shook my head, to which Vander smiled and nodded.

I hopped out of the wagon to join my sisters, leaving Alex and Vander bound in the wagon to be watched over by Cee and the guards. My mentor looked nervous, but Vander was completely at ease. Well, he did say he could take me from this place. If he had to escape himself it should be easy then… though I hope he doesn’t.

We stood before the building the chief used for any and all village meetings. It was set on a ledge just below the tops of the canyon walls, one of the handful of village structures that a flightless being could access on their own power.

From the edge of the Redwood—the perspective of an invader or perhaps an unfortunately curious traveler—it looked like there was no village at all, just a flat expanse with a large crack down the middle. As one approached the crack though, over a hundred Hesht residences would be in view—or over a hundred platforms to rain arrows and spears down on the canyon floors.

The interior of the meeting hall was dim, smoky, and simply furnished with nests and roosts. It looked like a couple dozen Hesht could fit in the room easily, but today it contained nine. In addition to me, my sisters, and Guardian Jiju there was Chief Getra and three other old hesht women I don’t remember ever meeting. The four scanned the group, and all their eyes landed on me. I squeezed Sen’s hand, their gazes only made the desire to hide worse.

The tension thickened that air, and Chief Getra broke the stalemate with her words. She plastered a smile whose genuineness was suspect and spoke, “Welcome back Lightblessed Talivi. We’re glad to see you have been returned safely.”

Kelz clicked her tongue in response, which drew a shin kick from Jiju. She sucked in a breath with the pain. The chief gave my sister a look of satisfaction in response, not so different from the one Cee has shown earlier.

My anxieties were being replaced with anger, making it easier to avoid hiding, but keeping my calm was much more difficult. I hate shit-stirrers, and apparently Chief Getra is one of them. “Thank you Chief, I’m glad to be home,” I forced out with some effort, my confidence growing with each word uttered.

Dealing with the chief was lighting up more memories. It was politics… I’m pretty sure I hate politics, but I knew how to play. Anger would only help to the extent that it banished my nervousness. I swallowed the flames of my anger, holding on to only the embers. One of the three other Hesht said, “I hope you’ll forgive us for summoning you so immediately upon your return.”

“It’s no issue at all,” I lied. “I thought it best that I report the capabilities of the humans while the memory is fresh. I admit I’m tired from the ordeal, and tired minds remember poorly.”

My three sisters all hung their jaws loosely. The Chief cocked an eyebrow, “I see… There is also the matter of those broods you brought back with you.”

“They will be included in my… report,” I said quickly. If these crones were to be reasoned with, I had to set the stage. I forced my hand open, releasing Sen’s, and moved up to the roost front and center. I heard my sisters and Jiju shuffle in and follow my lead, taking the roosts around me. “May I?” I asked the chief.

She fidgeted slightly, adjusting her position in her nest to be more upright. “Well… perhaps you do show some promise for a Lightblessed.”

‘For a Lightblessed?’ What the hell does that mean? ‘Perhaps’ I show promise? Should I be offended?

I took a moment to reel in my thoughts. She wasn’t as important as moving this meeting along. She was also only one of four scrutinizing me. Maybe eight were.

“Thank you,” I started. “I wont waste your valuable time by telling you what you already know about to means and methods of my capture. During my confinement though, the humans were focused on researching my feathers, primarily for the purposes of creating… weapons.”

“Weapons? What kinds of weapons?”

“Are they planning to use them to attack us?”

Good. I wanted them more focused on Redwall as it stood than Alex, Vander, and I. “The simplest and most plentiful are lightning aspected arrows. They are easy to make and transport, and a single feather can make over a dozen arrows. Next are lightning bombs. They are small canisters which when activated release a paralyzing, or possibly lethal web of lightning around them. They are more destructive than the arrows, but less lethal. A single one could easily disable multiple foes even if it doesn’t kill. One thrown into Hatchome would cripple our flock for years.”

I paused for a moment, all eyes remained on me, but with attention, not scorn. My heart skipped a little, It’s working! Truth be told, I doubt such a thing would ever be attempted, I’d be surprised if the humans would even follow us. Without Alex or Galden, what could Petras hope to accomplish even if he could secure more feathers?

“What next? Something that will turn the canyon walls to lava?”

“Don’t be ridiculous Fray, even magic can’t accomplish something at such scale.”

So that one is called Fray. I don’t know about magic, but science could turn the village to glass. I hope this world has no such weapons. I didn’t like embellishing the danger to the Hesht. Humans liked weapons to kill other humans too. Still, Jiju said the chief was cautious, and I could use that.

“Nothing so destructive as that, though a third weapon could kill an individual with absolute certainty, just point and boom. No armor could stop a piece of metal cutting through the air so fast that eyes couldn’t follow.” Everyone in the room looked worried, even Jiju’s calm demeanor was showing cracks. “As for the human’s plans regarding us, That I don’t know, but the humans I brought along might. It’s thanks to them that I could bring home this knowledge.”

“Thank humans?” the Chief scoffed. “They are to be used.”

I bit the inside of my cheeks and clenched my fists, but spoke in as even a tone as I was able. “They have more value than as broods, just as I have more value than just my feathers. I can find out what—if anything—the humans are planning. They are allies, and as I said, it’s due to them I’m able to tell you what I can now. Surely that deserves some lenience. I’ll take full responsibility for them both.”

Getra steamed and stood. “Full responsibility? You’re still a child, and if the humans know of our village it’s because of your poor decision making. Your weakness in allowing capture. We do not allow humans in this village. There are no broods and for good reason. We hunt.” Fray put a hand on the chief’s shoulder, the latter turning and snapping, “What?!”

“And what happens if we become the hunted?” Fray asked Getra. “What if the humans want more of these weapons?” She approached my roost, “You’re clearly intelligent in spite of your immaturity. Can you recreate these weapons?”

I looked up at her, being towered over for the second time today, and Fray was even taller than Cee. This is the sort of question I needed them to ask though. Alex risked his life and lived, I could secure his future too. “With their help.”

Fray shot the chief a look. Getra sighed, “Go wait outside with your clutchmates, we need to discuss this. Jiju… you stay.”

The guardian’s face remained unreadable as my sisters and I quietly departed the chambers.