Fugitive of the Sky

Chapter Thirty-Five: Not Alone Anymore

Aqie curled up as tight as she dared, even though she knew she'd be super sore for flying in the morning. She'd tucked her feet, arms, and hands into the tunic and buried her face in the middle, but despite the warmth her kaprae gave her, she was still freezing. Even though no one should find her as a moon-shadowed rock in the middle of a bunch of other rocks, every little crunching sound made her start awake.

One of the strange fur-clad hunters had woken her up that morning by tossing her in a net. He'd said something with an accent even stranger than her hunter's and tangled the net up with stones. She'd thought she was going to die for sure until a hole in the net came loose and she'd scrambled away from him. Aqie was certain he'd kill her first this time.

Despite her fear and how tired she was, Aqie couldn't fall properly asleep. She kept waking up thinking a hunter was coming or dreaming about Cloven yelling at her, over and over again. Adonai was trying to talk to her but she didn't want to listen. Aqie wished not listening was as easy as covering her ears, but Adonai was smarter than that. Words from the inside didn't get blocked that way.

If only Mom and Dad and someone else were with her to talk to. Then she wouldn't have to fall asleep alone with her own thoughts. The chasm ached and Aqie closed her eyes tighter. But nobody wanted her unless she gave up her kaprae.

Something fell on her back. Aqie stiffened and peeked up. Another flake fell and landed on her face. It melted and left cold water on her cheek. Aqie sniffed and buried her face again. Just snow. But snow meant winter was already starting, or she was in the Hunter's Strait. The trees had stopped today, though, which meant the Hunter's Strait had definitely begun.

A shiver made her whole body shake as more snowflakes settled on top of her. If only she was back in the valley and she could hide in their cave. With the bearskin rug it'd be so much warmer. All curled up, her breath warmed up the little space between her face and her knees, but after a bit it made her dizzy and she had to shift and let some of the cold air in. Already, there was a thin layer of snow on her side.

Aqie shivered again and decided she'd rather hug her kaprae in front and let her back get cold. It took some maneuvering and double checking to make sure its glow wasn't showing anywhere, and if it was in front it'd make it harder for her to jump up and run if a hunter found her, but she didn't care. She was cold and lonely and miserable and her kaprae was the only thing she had left.

Why wouldn't anybody listen to her? She'd even tried to talk to Adonai but He'd made her hunter disappear so it didn't really count anyway. She was so lonely and not even the Mongor girl had been able to hug her for more than a few seconds. She'd been looking for ages and she still hadn't found Larkhold or even signs of other Larkwings that might point the way there.

Mom and Dad had told her by Larkhold, since it was so far in the mountains, lots of Larkwings lived together in family groups instead of scattered in little hamlets days' flight apart from each other. She was getting closer as she was getting farther north, wasn't she? Then where were all the other Larkwings. Or had Pigeon been right all along and all the Larkwings had died after Mom and Dad had gotten separated from them?

Aqie shivered again. This wasn't working. If it kept snowing like this she'd never be able to fall asleep. But where else warmer could she go? South, back to the hunters? Farther into the Hunter's Strait? Maybe it was better to cross it at night. That was what Mom and Dad had done because it was too cold to be safe and the hunters had been chasing them hard. Dad'd said they'd barely escaped with their lives.

And that was Dad, who was kind and strong and good at hiding and finding his way around the hunters. Mom had told her Dad had even tracked down and fought a hunter group once. He'd managed to protect her and Mom in their valley from the hunters all her life until the end. If Mom and Dad had barely survived the Hunter's Strait, how would she ever manage to do it? How many days would she have to survive crossing the barren, stony mountains without freezing or getting caught by the hunters?