Training continued and Tufani had us up in the air for more and more hours throughout the day practicing our flying skills from navigation to how to stay in the saddle during a steep dive or a barrel roll. None of the cohort could stay on consistently during the latter yet.
We technically didn’t need to learn how to do a barrel roll but it looked cool when the more experienced fliers did it and we wanted to prove we could be as good as them.
Dera and Juniper got…easier lessons. They went on lower, shorter flights and had yet to try anything more tricky than a basic dive. Juniper hadn’t even gone up in the sky on her own for most of her flights. Tufani had to go with her because otherwise she’d lay stiff as a branch in the saddle and not give her bird a single instruction. She was starting to become a bit more brave under Tufani’s direct instruction but I doubted she’d be ready in time for our final test flight.
True to her word, Tufani had a couple of the shorter fliers give me, and the rest of the cohort, lessons in how to fly when you had to choose between seeing over the bird’s shoulder and reaching their back with your foot. Which, honestly, meant that they would sit up like I had but they did it with better positioning so they wouldn’t have to shuffle around so much and they didn’t do it for the whole flight. As long as they could see out in front of their bird they were good until it was time to check for a place to land. They also gave tips about how they could check the surrounding landscape when the bird lowered their wings to flap. One of the shorter fliers sometimes used sticks tied to her saddle or feet to give the bird directions when she was lying down in the saddle so she could lay farther forward and still reach the bird’s back, but that sounded like it looked stupid and she mentioned that they weren’t ideal for a quick dismount since she wouldn’t be able to walk with the sticks tied to her feet. No one was thrilled to try that option.
I loved every minute that we got to spend up in the air. Now that the birds weren’t actively trying to throw us off like they had during the Heartsong Festival, I could feel the difference in how they flew. The strength and control. How smooth their movements were so they wouldn’t accidentally jolt us off their back, especially compared to the birds that were flying free without a rider. I could adjust my movements to theirs, direct what we would do next and where we would go.
When flying lessons were finished for the day I would spend most of my time practicing shadow walking. It still took me forever to form a path to a place I couldn’t see or didn’t know well, but I quickly realized that was easier than trying to travel to a person. With a person it worked best if they weren’t moving and I knew them. Sort of like the change in difficulty between dark and light shadows. I couldn’t travel to a random Rookery tribe member but out of everyone I could travel to Prevna the easiest.
She didn’t appreciate being startled the first couple of times I did it. But then she made a game out of trying to startle me in return and that amused her enough that she seemed to look forward to my next attempt just so she try out her next prank. During the couple of moments it took me to focus she’d strike a weird pose or say something to catch me off guard. And she was good at it. I did my best to make my shadow walking as stealthy as possible so I could shock her before she could get me.
That game became a favorite between us though it only escalated once Prevna decided to retaliate with her own shadow walking. She couldn’t travel to people or trees she couldn’t see yet but if she spied me walking somewhere she’d pick a nearby shadow and surprise me easily enough. Sometimes I think she just used her regular skill at sneaking since there weren’t any good shadows nearby when she’d appear but the result ended up the same. Rather than regret saying something I shouldn’t I’d do my best to maintain a blank face so she wouldn’t be able to tell if she startled me or not. I don’t think I gave myself away most of the time.
The group dynamics shifted slightly again during meal time. For some reason, Wren and Dera began to consistently sit near Prevna and me while we sat around the cook fire. I didn’t add much to the conversation but Prevna seemed to enjoy the extra company so I did my best to be civil and not think about the fact that Wren’s presence didn’t make my stomach flutter as much as it used to. I blamed it on the fact that she had seen me in too many embarrassing circumstances. And that I was getting used to her being around.
Chirp still tried to boss me into giving him every single treat within reach but after several days in a row of me not giving him a single sleet beetle and Wren telling him not to be rude, he begrudging settled for a beetle a meal and the right to perch on my head while he ate it.
The others held their grudges and kept their distance for the most part. Breck would occasionally join us when we practiced our combat skills and I would catch Nii watching me sometimes like she had during the journey to the Rookery. Like she was trying to decide what to think. Juniper seemed to regain some of her confidence as she spent more time with Tufani as training wore on, but she still wasn’t anywhere near what she had been like when I first met her. Nor did it seem like she had seen sense and realized that she couldn’t go back to her tribe like nothing had changed yet.
Peace was held between Ulo and me mostly because Ulo still seemed to be gloating about my increased punishment and that some of the others weren’t acting as friendly as they used to. She seemed to think she had convinced them of my wickedness. It pricked at my pride but I let her carry on because I didn’t feel like getting bruised all over again and I figured I wouldn’t have to deal with her anymore once I left with Mishtaw.
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Weeks passed until the Dark Night celebrations were only a day away. Tufani gathered the entire cohort in front of her hut while Barra stood off to the side. This time we would have some warning about our test instead of just being pushed off the ribs, apparently.
Tufani thumped her cane against the ground as we all watched her expectantly. “Your final trial is simple.” She pointed towards the lake before lifting her arm to point upwards. “You will start on the ribs, gain control of your bird in the air, and then fly up into the dark to gain your second boon before returning to land safely in the Rookery. Questions?”
Wren asked what we were all thinking, “How do we get the second boon?”
Tufani directed our attention to Barra, though it was clear she didn’t want to give Barra the authority. For her part, Barra didn’t change her mild expression. “We can only get the second boon during the Dark Night because you have to fly up to veil She grows over the sky. Then you offer blood and the dark will cling to it so that you can wipe it over your eyes. After that you’ll gain dark sight.”
I recalled the icy pain that had come with drinking shadow. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one since I saw some of the others pale. Flying one handed while we reached up into the…veil would be difficult enough for some and if we had to add that pain into the mix as well, no one would be aware for awhile while we were up in the air.
“And we have to jump off the ribs again?” Dera was more than a little wide eyed. Her easier lessons might not have prepared as well they could have. A handful of us had practiced jumping of the ribs and quickly getting situated in the saddle earlier in the week after we brought the idea up to Tufani. Given how our first flying test had went it made sense that we would be made to do that again.
Tufani nodded. “You do.” There was a pause and then she added, “The birds have practice with this. They will stay as steady as they can when you are gaining the boon.”
But possibly not when we first leapt on their back. They might not want the test to be impossible but they did want it to be difficult. Needed it to be if we were going to show that we had gain anything from our training.
My gaze cut to Juniper and Dera. The question was with all their difficulty with flying if they’d even stay on long enough to reach the veil or, if they did reach it, if they be able to get themselves to let go to offer blood and gain the boon.
Not that I could waste time worrying about their chances. I needed to focus on my own trial.
Breck asked, “When is the trial?”
“On the third day,” Tufani said. “You’ll have two days for contemplation and to mentally prepare yourself. Then you’ll have a day after to reflect.”
There were a few other minor questions about how the Dark Night celebrations worked in the Rookery but I only listened with one ear to those. Two days to prepare—or overwhelm ourselves with what we needed to do while the whole tribe watched us. This was part of the trial then.
I glowered at Tufani. I wouldn’t break because of such an obvious tactic. Prevna wouldn’t either.
- -
The dark dawn stole across the sky the following morning before a trace of sunlight even had a chance to break over the horizon. In the Rookery everyone gathered around the feathered tree, bundled for warmth and spread out just enough that conversation couldn’t be whispered back and forth in the dark. Everything was quiet and still except for the rustle of feathers and pine needles. Even the birds seemed to know the importance of not disturbing the hours of contemplation as they all nestled into their nests.
I would have preferred the trees surrounding Grislander’s Maw as they helped to further the feeling of solitude, but in the Rookery no one was expected to be on the fringes despite the fact that they were surrounded by a woodland. Contemplate the goddess grown tree and Her power and the gift of flight. That was the morning’s focus and I did my best to honor it. There wasn’t much I could do otherwise to prepare for the upcoming flight since we weren’t allowed to practice our flying lessons during the Dark Night celebrations.
Once the morning’s contemplation was over the tribe split up to spend the rest of the day until the evening meal with their families. Passing the time with stories or activities thought to increase one’s connection to death. Those considered feather hearts and some of the other experienced fliers took to the air with their birds though they kept their flights trick free and kept from going too close to the darkness covering the sky.
The cohort was left to our own devices after Tufani gave us an admonishment to “make smart choices”. Breck immediately went off to perch on one of the ribs while Ulo and Ento settled for taking care of their weapons and other equipment since weapons practice was frowned up as well. This was a time for reflecting on what we had and not distracting from the goddess’s power, rather than trying to improve our own. Everyone else decided that swapping stories in the hut would be the best for now even though it’d be nearly pitch black in there without a fire. Between the door flap getting tied closed and blankets it’d be warmer than hanging out in the snow.
We couldn’t take the shadow paths down to the lower level since there weren’t any shadows strong enough to travel through, except for the feathered tree’s shadow, with the darkness overhead so we all trekked down the switchback. Oddly, about a third of the way down I found Juniper as far from the edge of the pathway as possible and staring out at the little village of huts near the lower lake without Ento or Idra anywhere nearby.
“What do you think I’m good at?”
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and snap out that asking everyone else for the answers was exactly what her problem was. She might have been getting braver under Tufani’s teaching but right then Juniper still looked like she might be one wrong word away from giving up entirely.
So I dredged through my memory and tried to give her an honest answer. Something to cling to. “Leading others, making them want to follow you. Strategy when you put your mind to it. Killing fish.”
A smile flickered onto her face at the last one. “What do you when you get scared?”
I huffed out a breath and walked past her. “Get angry.”