Over a month had passed since the day of my Esakt, the day Jiju and Alex departed the village when I was doing my obligatory carving of Kelz and Inir’s latest pipe.

“Hah! And that’s ten,” I proclaimed victoriously and set the newly completed weapon next to its nine siblings on the rack. Looking up, the sun was only halfway through its daily journey. “And in half the time. I’m getting good, Kelz. I think I’ll use the afternoon to go bother Reyna.”

Kelz snickered, “I’ve got bad news for you, Princess.” She pulled another steel tube out of the wooden crate near the forge and handed it to me. “Inir and I are getting good too.”

“Ugh, not sure if I’m more impressed or annoyed. I’m so tried of making these things.”

“Tch. You think I’m not? All labor, no art to them.”

We shared a heavy sigh in harmony. With my favored tools in hand, I began engraving number eleven.

“So… how are things at home with Cee? I asked Kelz. “You two seem thick as [thieves] again… Wait, wait.” I snickered. “Does it feel like something is missing without Terese trying to keep you from sharing a nest?”

Kelz’s face went flush—a gesture I spent my whole life believing was impossible for her.

Inir started cackling. “I’m not enforcing Terese’s rules, but I do keep having to remind them that they share the place with me. A little bit of shame wouldn’t hurt them.”

I gave Kelz a wide eyed look. “Wait… you actually mean? Oh!”

Inter-Hesht companionship was common, though I always thought of my clutch as my blood. Still, two Hesht weren't laying any eggs together, and even if it was possible we all likely had different mothers and fathers. If I were to guess any two of us having come from the same pairing, I would guess Inir and Sen.

“Awww, I’m so glad you two patched things up!” I gushed. “Oh. Do you want any relationship advice? There’s this really nice spot on the north side of the village that I brought Vander to one time, and we—“

“Aaaaah,” Kelz cut me off. “We’re fine! And, what happens at home is private, Inir.”

Inir was still giggling while Kelz excused herself to find something hard to hit with something heavy. I couldn’t help getting caught up in her self-satisfaction and laughed along.

Cee’s ears must have been turning red because she landed nearby and joined us before the laughter fully died down. Though, the look on her face told me that whatever news she was bringing, it didn’t match the mood we had going.

“It looks like you’re about to tell me something that’ll ruin my day Cee. What does the chief want now?”

“Our last mining expedition… Tali, we were attacked.”

My stomach dropped. “The… earthwyrm? Is Ahbe safe?!”

“She’s fine, but one worker was injured. They fled immediately. Not a wyrm, though. Worse… maybe… It was humans. I wanted to ask you to meet with the chief. We could use your counsel.”

Humans, attacking Hesht at the mines? Why? Surely if Redwall was planning to reopen their mines, Alex would’ve sent Jiju with a message warning us. Alex wouldn’t have betrayed us… he couldn’t have. Any other explanations I could come up with would be worse. Did something happen to Alex and Jiju? If either Petras or The Association was calling the shots, then why would they even think the mines were safe again?

“Screw ‘counsel.’ Cee… I have to go to Redwall.”

Her brow creased. “How could you want to go back there? Their leader is looking for you. Our people were hurt. We don’t know what’s going on there.”

“And that’s why I need to go find out.”

“Talivi, I can’t let you go.”

“Why? Because I’m too important to the chief?” I accused, anxiety lending an edge to my tone.

“You’re too important to me,” she bit back. “Miracles don’t happen twice. If you go, you won’t come back this time.”

That gave me pause. Kelz and Inir were biting their lips as they watched on too. They felt similarly. Through them, I could see the same reaction from each of my sisters—all except Ghisé.

I shook my head. “I’m sorry Cee, but even if you could convince me, you won’t convince Ghisé.”

“Don’t hide behind her, Liv. She’s your guardian, she will stay if you order her to,” Kelz added, not willing to leave all the convincing up to Cee.

I steeled my convictions. “I won’t, though.”

“Give it a day at least, Tali,” Inir made things a three versus one. “Let’s plan and prepare.”

I let out a low growl. “I should’ve never let Alex go back, I should have made him heed Rose’s warning, or… forced him to stay!” I spoke without much thought. As I chewed on it, though, I felt betrayed by my own emotions. Alex wasn’t my property, the idea of treating him as a brood should have never even crossed my mind.

I took a breath, and quickly back-stepped. “I mean… Fine. One day. If you want my conclusion, it’s that either something happened to Alex and Jiju, or they didn’t know. Either way, the situation at Redwall is a problem. I’ll deliver the weapons we already have tomorrow, and talk to the Chief. But, whatever plans you come up with, they better include me and Ghisé going to Redwall.”

Cee nodded unenthusiastically.

———

I spent the rest of the day making preparations for departure. I scoured all my spellbraid research and armed myself with the best braids I could think of to tackle a variety of situations. Ghisé was preparing a few spears herself. Made using new higher quality wood and steel spearheads, they would help balance the scales against armored human opponents if necessary.

“Vander, please tell me you can come with Ghisé and I,” I said.

He spent a moment in thought, before giving tilting his head back and forth with uncertainty. “It’s… unclear. I think I can be present, but…” He clenched his fist and stared at it. “I don’t think you can rely on me. It’s too closely linked to your escape from Redwall, and I was already pushed things nearly too far last time.”

“He should stay here,” Ghisé suggested, sharpening a steel spear-point. “If we can’t rely on him then I’d rather he not be around. This is a Hesht matter, I don’t give a damn if he’s your boyfriend. Let Reyna and Ber keep him for now.”

I opened my mouth to protest her suggestion and tone, but Vander didn’t give me the chance. “Liv, she’s right. It’s better if I’m not a variable here.”

I knew he was right, but damn, I hated it. In that moment, I hated fate. I’d punch Fate right in the face if I could, but Vander told me that fate wasn’t like him and Luna. So Chaos was punch-able, but Fate wasn’t? That seemed unfair, since Chaos didn’t deserve a punch in the face. Not like Fate has.

Since Alex and Jiju left, Vander and I had been spending a lot of time making our home life to our liking. We still kept our separate rooms… though we’d find ourselves spending the night in one or the other. It was comfortable. I didn’t want it to end. Still, I wouldn’t be able to rest easily until I knew our mentors were safe.

So I had to go, and I had to part with Vander for the time. We’d talked about this, but it still stung.

No matter. If my fears were unfounded, then we could come right back. If not… Well, I wouldn’t be shy about sending any souls to see Luna. I'd bring my two wayward family members back into my orbit. I had done it seven times already.

———

The next day, I looked out the window once I was finished making my preparations. It was time to go and meet with the Chief. The sun was nearly at its zenith after I spent hours buzzing around my home and waving off Vander’s ministrations. Chief was slow to rise these days, I guessed. I’d keep my promise to Cee and attend this meeting, but nothing would deter me from my plan to check on Alex and Jiju.

“Vander, if the worst should happen…” I let myself trail off, fearful that if I said it out loud I’d be willing the outcome into existence—as if my existence alone didn’t seem to be inciting.

He pulled me into a tender hug and kissed the top of my head. I nuzzled into the crook of his neck with affection and parting. “Don’t fret, Liv. I’ll be right behind if that happens,” Vander assured me.

I pouted and smacked him on the cheek, too lightly to hurt, but clearly more than an affectionate tease. “No you dummy. Watch over my sisters! I told you, this lifetime is precious to me—whether I’m here or not. If I do go first, I’ll have Luna to keep me company.”

Vander nodded at first, then his nose turned up. “She’ll eat you alive! …Not literally of course.”

I shrugged and smirked, “I dunno. She’s been pretty transparent about wanting to ‘eat me up.’” Vander’s lips pushed to the side as he chewed the inside of his cheek. I gave him a sardonic grin. “Promise me that you won’t cut things short.”

He nodded, and we sealed things with a tender but doleful kiss.

When I stepped out to make the flight to the chief’s chambers, Ghisé was waiting just outside. She was packed for the trip too, light like me. Even if Cee and the Chief were offering a lambull and supplies, we already decided we’d fly straight to the mines—slowing to a walk only when our wings needed rest.

“You’re coming to the meeting with Getra? I thought you were allergic to meetings.”

“I don’t know what ‘allergic’ means, but yes. I am with you for every spurring wind.”

I handed her the bundle of guns, “Then let’s go, Guardian.”

———

“And these pellets are loaded into the weapon through this small bore, here.” I was working my way through the demonstration for a small group. That included the chief, Cee, and a few warriors. “Then, it’s just a matter of aiming the far end at a target, and feeding a bit of the ambient lightning mana into this spot right here.” I pointed to a small impression on the side of the gun. It was a neat little glyph. A simplified zigzag of a lightning bolt buried into a hammer head with six geometric wings arranged in a circle around it—the maker’s mark of our clutch.

I took aim at a small wooden post and engaged the weapon. In an eye-blink, the post sported a new crack, the metal bearing buried a solid inch and a half into the wood. It might not pierce anything like chain mail, but it would likely pepper the flesh underneath with fragments and put an attacker on the ground, if not down for good.

While Ghisé and Cee sported looks of pride in the accomplishment of our clutch, Getra looked stoic as ever. “Our warriors do not use magic,” she pointed out unhelpfully.

But you know they could! Could even teach them yourself! I wanted to yell it, but I already knew the Chief was a power-hoarder. Well, her time would be at an end soon.

I waved Ahbe over and with a hiss of pain, plucked a sturdy feather from my tail plumage. I handed the confused warrior the gun, a bearing, and my feather.

“Aim, then touch the tip of this feather to the mark. Just hold onto the gun tightly since the recoil will be worse with one hand—the kickback. Maybe use your talons…”

She held it steady and did as instructed. Another crack, but a more muted one—just of the shot splitting the air and sailing past the target as Ahbe fumbled the gun when firing. It was a good thing we were facing away from the village.

“Well… it’s hard to hit on your first try,” I reassured Ahbe. “Warriors can use the feather to practice, but also spend some time with it. It might help them get a feel for mana to the point they don’t need it. That method worked well for a few of my sisters.” I could’ve gone with a feather-fueled design like the court mage had, but I wasn’t about to turn myself into a plucked chicken again now that I knew how flying felt.

I crossed my wings across my chest and huffed, “Now, can you tell me about that attack? And whatever plans you have for a response.”

With a sigh and a nod, the chief signaled Cee, who ushered a few of us into the chief’s chambers. There, the chief took her customary perch, and the rest of us filed around the chamber. Cee took up her position at the chief’s side, Ahbe and I on the other end, and Ghisé stood stoically by the door, a real Jiju move.

Ahbe launched into her report of the conflict at the mines. The chief and Cee had heard the short version before, but Cee was adamant about my counsel it seemed, so now it was the full recap.

Ahbe led a group of four workers on the trip to the mines. On their previous trip, they found an offshoot that they hoped would break out into the lower section of the mines where Cee and I had gotten trapped. The plan for this trip was to try and break in. The top level had already been mostly picked clean even during our first trip, while the lower level was much richer. The group didn’t make it that far though.

They met opposition at the entrance to the mines. They didn’t see anything at first and went inside. There, in the same area where my sisters and I made camp with Ahbe, a group of humans had made a camp of their own. And apparently, they were armed with more than just hammers and chisels. I didn’t know if an armored guard was common for human miners, but they were ready for a fight. Based on everything Alex initially felt about Hesht, I’d imagine a crew of miners would flee, but by Ahbe’s telling, they attacked with hardly an order being uttered by one of their number.

Ahbe had ordered an immediate retreat, our people were ambush predators after all, not line fighters. One of the workers took a crossbow bolt to the wing in their flight. Alongside another warrior Ahbe had held off the advancing humans and bought time for two of the others to carry the injured off, earning a couple wicked gouges in the process. I could see the red seeping through the bandages on her thigh. She kept her wings protected, though, and could still get away herself.

At the end of her report, all heads turned to me. All heads except the chief… she had been staring at me the whole time. The look she wore was not one of malice or curiosity, it was… despondence?

They seemed to be waiting for me to give my opinion, so I obliged. “The only reasonable explanation is that Alex and Jiju were not aware the humans were setting out for the mines. It’s possible that our prior excursions to the mine were noticed. The human criminals, who we know are looking for me, might have been hoping I would return.”

Is it possible that Jules really did get a message back to Redwall about me after all? How long would it take some inferior bird to carry a message from Avali City to Redwall? How far was it? And how did the humans communicate over long distances? I would’ve asked Alex these things if I knew they might be important, but I honestly didn’t care about the human civilization. My sisters and I were more focused on making contact with other Hesht.

“There’s another possibility,” Cee said. “They have hurt Jiju, gotten her to tell them things. She speaks the human language too.”

“Jiju would never tell them a word!” Ghisé growled. “She’d die before saying anything but a curse.” That wasn’t a possibility I wanted to consider for multiple reasons.

The chief grumbled. “Your former brood told the humans. That’s obvious. All Lightblessed are fools after all.”

“You want my opinion? You’re the fool. Alex wouldn’t betray me. Not for them. Not for anyone!” Now I was shouting much like Ghisé had. “And, I just came up with the perfect plan to investigate what happened—my original plan. Ghisé and I go to the mines ourselves, and onto Redwall. We’ll find our answers at the tip of our spears. We don’t need your help.”

“Wait, Tali! I want to send you with—“ Cee started but the chief cut her off.

“No, that sounds like the most reasonable thing you’ve ever said, Lightblessed. Take your guardian and go. And when you find that you’ve again put us all in danger, and because you couldn’t properly discard your brood no less, then you’ll know the lesson you need to learn before you are welcome back here.” The chief’s eyes held the fire of her anger, and I could feel her braids activating.

I looked to Cee, but she wouldn’t bring her gaze to meet mine. I could have sworn she was bigger when not standing next to the chief.

With a turn and a huff I kicked the table hard enough to leave a long talon-shaped gouge in the soft wood—soft to me, at least. I brushed past Ghisé and out the door, hearing my guardian fall into step behind me.

Once clear from the chambers I spun on Ghisé and complained. “A day of delay for what? For her to say that this is my fault! We could’ve already been there if we went yesterday, maybe even already on the way back.”

Ghisé shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. Jiju is strong enough for it to not make a difference.”

I took a deep breath to compose myself, “You’re right, and they might not be involved, or even aware. The mines… it could be a rogue faction like I said.”

Ghisé adjusted the straps of her pack, pulling it tight against her back and with plenty of range of movement for her wings. Her visage was set in a serious fashion, but there was a glint in her eye too.

“Are you… excited?” I asked.

Cee burst from the chief’s chambers then. “Tali, Ghisé, wait.”

“Looks like you found your voice again, Cee” I spat.

“Just listen. We don’t need the mines, Tali. What we have is enough. I’ll be surprised if there are ten warriors who will be capable of using those weapons without your feather.”

“Kelz won’t be happy to hear that there won’t be more metal.”

“We can find new resources.”

“I told you Cee, I have to do this.”

“I know you think that, but you don’t. You don’t owe Alex, after what the humans did to you, and you don’t owe Jiju, who failed to prevent your capture in the first place.”

“I don’t blame them for that.”

“I do!" she practically screamed it. "And I can’t protect you if you’re not here.”

“It’s not your job to protect me.”
“It’s not your job to protect her,” Ghisé and I said in tandem. “It’s mine,” Ghisé added.

“There were three others before you, Tali,” said Cee.

“Three other… what?”

“Three other Lightblessed, before you, born to this village during chief Getra’s life. None of them made it to their Esakt. They all went missing, like you did, or died after spouting some unreasonable confidence, like you are.”

There were three before me? I thought Blessed were rarer than that. People talked of them so distantly, but again, I hardly interacted with any of the adults before my Esakt. Fledglings kept to their clutch. Yet so many times I wished there was an older Blessed to talk to… preferably a Lightblessed, based on Jiju’s warning.

Why weren’t any Earthblessed born in that time? Four Blessed in a row and all were Light? Were they even more rare? Yet Jiju spoke with warnings like I might cross paths with one someday. I’d have to ask her when I found her.

It didn’t matter right now, though. I wasn’t like other Lightblessed. Didn’t I prove that during my Esakt? I would be here for the next Lightblessed born to this village. I wasn’t like the three before me. I’d be back.

“Well, if three isn’t the lucky number, maybe four is. Like a clover. Besides, I did make it. So if there is a curse, maybe I broke it. Ghisé and I will come back. And when we do, you’ll know we’re safe from Redwall,” I said.

“Unreasonable confidence,” she mumbled.

I sighed and wrapped my arms around her back. I still hadn’t closed the height gap. There was an urge to groom her ruffled feathers, to let her know we’d be okay, but I stifled it. “Knowing you’re here keeping an eye on things helps. I won’t have to worry about everyone while we’re gone.”

With that, Ghisé and I set off.