By the time Airya got to the side of the mountains opposite of where the river held the temple and the lake, she was winded. Slowing her pace and refusing to think about her dad, who she missed and was surprised that she hadn't seen down in the village, she touched one of the tall jagged rock mountains and leaned against it. No one had stopped her, and no one had looked twice at her as she had run past many villagers into the field opposite of the one that she normally used to get to the place by the lake where the children gathered to dance.

Maybe it was because they hadn’t recognized her with her age change.

Suddenly, Airya found it hard to swallow. Would her father not recognize her either when she saw him? Would she even be invited to play and dance with the children anymore? What would Lilla think?

She looked over the river at the lake glistening in the distance, once again beckoning her back to that side. She shook her head, trying to rid her thoughts, and turned her attention to the other river that she knew the town Atta ran along further away from the mountains.

All the questions on how things will now be different she could ponder later.

Gathering her might, she headed away from the side where she was born, letting her hand drag along the mountain. The rocky surface scraped along her fingertips. There were trees that looked to be carrying berries like the ones she had eaten with her mother. In-between a few trees, there was an opening that dug deep into the mountain.

The quietest, sorrowful, drawn-out hoot whispered from above.

It had been a sound full of pain and pleading. Whipping her head around, she up to look into the trees for the source of the noise. She knew she needed to find it, or it was going to haunt her in her dreams.

She heard it again. A low gurgling hoot filled with complete abandonment and despair. It was coming from higher up on the mountain. Lifting her chin, she saw a lone tree up on an uneven slanted cliff a little way up the mountain's body. She pressed both of her palms against the beast, looking up at the tree, waiting. There was another soft cry. It was coming from that tree.

Airya looked at the ragged slope trying to figure out a way to reach the tree that was slanted off the edge. It stood firm, rooted into the stone. If she got to it, it should hold. There were parts of the mountain she could hold onto and set her feet to slowly make her way up it if she was careful. She contemplated for a moment going and finding her dad to have him help her, but she was more scared that her mom would convince her dad to not let Airya return. Then she would never know who that cry belonged to.

Finding courage in the pit of her stomach, she worked her way up to the first set of uneven stones that belonged to the mountain. Breathing heavy from the effort to hoist herself onto one of them, she no longer could hear the hoots over her deep breaths, but knew in her heart that they were still there. Stretching one leg as far as it could reach while holding onto rocks that wanted her fingers to give way, she found her footing and shifted to where she could balance and let go of her previous safe spot, finding another. She sighed and looked up at the tree. She still had a way to go.

She focused on her breathing and where she anchored herself to hide the fear creeping up inside her with every inch as she got higher. She finally reached the trunk and hoisted herself on its leaning body. She ignored the brown hard bark scratching at her legs as she scooted herself up the tree to the branches now close to her goal. The hoot sounded again, so much closer this time. Her heart grew heavy when she saw the littlest hole.

Holding herself steady with one hand and squeezing her legs tightly around the trunk so she wouldn't fall, she felt slowly around the outside of the hole with her fingers trying to decide what to do if a creature was trapped inside. Reaching inside with two fingers, she tensed, waiting for a chomp or a bite, but they brushed warm feathers instead. The feathered body stopped for a moment when it seemed to have become aware of Airya's presence before it began taking jagged breaths.

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She withdrew her hand and heard the creature inside let out another soft saddened coo. Tears rimmed Airya's eyes, and she quickly wiped them away with the back of her hand. As the princess of this land, it her duty to save it and help no matter what.

Once again, she put her fingers in the hole and stroked the saddened creature before withdrawing her hand only a little. Then she pushed them around the bark inside the hole, trying to mold an escape. When that didn’t work, she began tearing at the tree outside of the hole and pulled off a piece of the splintered bark. She dropped it to the ground and continued to do the same thing, begging for the hole to get bigger so she could get the creature out. It was such a long and slow process that Airya's hands began to ache and bleed. The wood unforgiving and cutting into her skin. She continued, determined to save the creature who she could hear cooing softly and who she knew was shaking.

Finally, the hole was big enough to fit in her small hand. Gently shoving her hand inside, she found the small body of feathers and worked her fingers around it, pressing hard against the inside of the trunk. The wood skinned the outside of her fingers as she tried to get ahold of the creature. Working her hand to help the creature free, she pushed her cheek against the tree to reach further inside, then she maneuvered the little body until she could confidently grasp it enough to pull it completely out and free of the hole.

In her hand was a little owl a little bigger than her palm. It squinted at her before blinking heavily from the daylight. It was so skinny compared to the other owls she had seen, and its feathers were covered in blood that Airya realized was her own. Under the blood, though, were brown and grey feathers. It was a cute scared little thing. It had big wide yellow eyes that took up most of its face and a small sharp brown beak that was hidden well in its feather tufts. It had almost no neck, a short tail that was greyer than brown, and two big brown ear tufts. She also noticed that its long grey claws on its feet had deep, indented purple-like scars. She wondered where those could have come from. Airya let go of the tree with her other hand to pet its stomach, trusting her squeezing legs to keep her on the leaning tree whose leaves around her brightened, but then she heard a loud shout that startled her, causing her legs to squeeze against the scratchy bark for a second and then release. The mountain moved before she realized that it was not the mountain but herself that was shifting. She was losing balance in her new body, just like before. Panic for the bird she had just saved had her tucking it to her chest and shifting herself until she was looking up to the sky as she began to fall toward the ground.

She wondered what the look on her mom’s face would be if she found her all broken in pieces.

The ground punched painfully into her back like the biggest fist in the world, knocking all the breath from her lungs. She laid on the ground in pain, unable to move. A few small rocks shifted and fell away from the mountain on top of her. Airya painfully held up one of her hands above the owl to make sure none landed on him. When she thought for certain that the world was mute and had stopped shifting, she let her hand fall to the ground at her side. A smooth cold rock rolled into her palm. Confused, she wrapped her fingers around it, willing it to give her some sort of comfort as she lay there shaking. She squinted and lifted the rock above her head, curious on why it was so cold. It was wide and round on the side she held against her palm but smooth and flat on the side she held up above her face. It shimmered a deep dark blue on the edges of it. Then fell into a calming light blue, protecting a translucent black circle that inside, she could swear was a small feather with four black stripes brushed across it.

A blue-like goo started floating in the air, surrounding her as she clutched the bird closer to her chest. The little creature was breathing deeply in the pulse of her hand.

The material grew wider until it surrounded her body and then started to close in on her. She tried to move to escape, but when she shifted her head, the movement sent a sharp spear through her skull, telling her to lay back down. She did and watched as the blue ooze grew to a thick bubble that started enclosing around her. It was surrounding her little body, encasing her. Pushing into and against her as it sat heavy on her chest. Worried about the owl, she tried to move her hand but couldn't in the denseness of it. She tried to work her chest to breathe in to calm herself, but not only was too much pressure pressing down on her, her nostrils and mouth were trying to breathe in a material that would not give. It was forcing her to suffocate.

Time stood still for one moment. No breaths, no movement, just life pressing in hard around her until a sharp slice of pain cut across her leg. She screamed, although her scream was muffled. Her body was starving for air. Another cut.

The owl squirmed and shook in her hand. She wondered if it was getting cut into also by some unseen object. Another cut went across her cheek as heat built in her chest. Blood began working its way along the blue material dripping down her body. Was this real? Had she fallen too hard? Was this what it felt like to die? She didn't know. But her lungs were about to burst. Her head grew light, and the world tilted up out of view.