by Lydia Deyes
While the three strangely familiar birds continued on their quest to a place I didn’t know, to save someone whose name I didn’t recognize, I heard a crackling voice no louder than a whisper. Somehow, even though I didn’t recognize the voice or see the speaker, I knew it was a crow.
“Not long now,” he was saying. “Not long, and Nivek’ll be satisfied.”
I refocused on the strange birds: two small and one large.
Where are they going, and why are their faces full of worry?
“Wake up, sleepyheads!” the largest was calling. Drowsily, the other two rose from their perches. To wake herself up, one of the small birds sang a verse of a strange song. It seemed to inspire her, to encourage her to move onward.
“There’s a garden along the way,” she sang. “In the middle is a great tree, bearing fruit that heals, night and day.”
What an odd nursery rhyme. What kind of tree bears magical fruit?
They flew on, sometimes singing various verses of what must have been the same song. By midday, they’d flown to the top of the mountain. After saying something about a moon, they went to sleep in the middle of the day. When they woke, an entire range of mountains and valleys rose from the mist. Venturing across the landscape after a hearty meal, the trio continued their desperate journey in the dark.
When they’d descended into a densely forested valley, many white birds swooped up from the trees.
“Owls!” whispered the youngest bird, hiding behind the largest. As soon as she said the word, I was able to connect it to the white bird… but I struggled to keep it in my mind.
Why is this word so hard?
One of the owls, whose eyes were faded, spoke. “Whooo comes into the realm of barn owls?” I tried without success to remember what barn meant. Was it a type of tree? Or perhaps somebody’s name? Or maybe it was the pale color that patched their faces. If not, then the color had now escaped me, too.
Why is my memory fading?
“It is I, Barrie, and my two friends,” said the larger bird. “We wish to pass through — or over — your forest in search of the healing tree,” he explained. This caused a change in tension. It seemed the occupants of the forest were afraid of this bird, but now that they heard his business, they were comforted. The two small birds looked confused, and I was relieved not to be the only one.
The large bird offered no explanation, but the owls allowed them to pass peacefully through. All three were followed closely by fearful eyes, but no one did anything, and the trio made it through without any more trouble. When they reached the edge of the forest, they were exhausted. The two small birds rested in a bush near the ground, while the larger one chose a high branch as his perch.
In the morning, they all woke up early, ate breakfast, and moved on. Ahead of them stretched more hills and valleys, but in the distance, the ground seemed to shimmer.
What could that be?
As they drew closer, the shining ground revealed itself as an immense body of water. I hated it. Why? I couldn’t remember. One of the small birds called it a sea. It was sparkling, full of silvery scaled creatures that splashed in the sun. The largest bird swooped down, but they kept slipping out of his grip. Giving up, they moved on.
They went across the shining sea, flying until the sky was a dark color — something between the night sky and the color of the shining sun. I tried for a while to remember the names, but nothing came to mind.
At this point, the birds began to search for land. They were tired from constant flight in unpredictable winds that bounced off the waves. They looked all around, but it was a long time before the youngest bird spoke up. “Barrie, is that… land ahead? I can’t quite make it out,” she asked.
The largest bird looked and exclaimed, “Yes! I think it is! Let’s head in that direction. I don’t see anything closer.” With renewed energy, the three birds flew toward the promising earth and found it to be true. They collapsed in a tree and promptly fell asleep.
When the older small bird woke, the other two were still sleeping. Now that morning light allowed her to see further, she gazed around at her surroundings. She focused on a tiny speck in the distance but couldn’t determine what it was. I had a strong feeling it was somehow important, that it had something to do with me, but I couldn’t remember why. Besides, they kept mentioning a friend who needed to be healed… I wasn’t sick. I was only dreaming. I didn’t feel like I was in pain or ill. In fact, I couldn’t feel anything at all.
Suddenly, I was concerned. Shaking my head, I tried to wake myself up, but it didn’t work. I shrugged. It didn’t matter. Besides, I wanted to see what these birds were trying to get to, and how their adventure would play out.
◆◆◆
Apparently, the smudge in the distance was important after all. When they got up, the trio made a beeline for it. They flew much faster now, sensing they needed to finish quickly — I had no idea why. I couldn’t remember why they were going there in the first place.
I was watching them fly toward the slowly growing speck on the horizon when the image became slightly transparent. I saw a second image at the same time, overlaid over the first. It was very strange… something I was sure had never happened to me before. In the invading image, I saw a small bird just like the ones flying to the smudge. He was lying stiffly on a bed of something that looked soft. He was very, very ill. He was dying.
The second image faded away, but the first remained muddled. I blinked, trying to make it clear again, but nothing happened. It was impossible to distinguish between the two small birds, and all the color had drained from the image. Still, I could tell that the three birds had drawn close to their destination: an enormous tree bearing multiple kinds of fruit. It was surrounded by other single-fruit trees, in turn surrounded by vines of many different varieties. Around the entire circumference was a boundary made of wood. I couldn’t remember what it was called.
Each bird took a different kind of fruit from the big tree and quickly turned around, beating their wings even harder for the return journey. I’d have hoped to see the end, but suddenly my vision went black. I felt like I was falling through darkness, increasing in speed the further I fell. Everything was dark, and very cold. Suddenly, I felt completely alone. I wished those birds had gone on the journey to save me, to keep me from falling in this terrible place.
No, I thought, don’t be selfish.
I couldn’t remember if I’d been dreaming or awake before. Was I dreaming of falling now? I entered an even deeper state of confusion as I continued to plummet through the dark and cold. Soon, I lost all sense of what it meant to be conscious. I couldn’t even remember who I was, or what existence was.
What does life feel like?
I couldn’t remember, but it felt vitally important to the scrap of memory that clung to the recesses of my mind.
What is memory? What is time?
The words meant something to me, but I couldn’t remember what. I was hopelessly lost in confusion… hopelessly… something…
But then something warm and gritty that tasted like clay slid down my throat and I began to feel warm again. I stopped falling through darkness and felt as if I was being lifted up instead.
I blinked and opened my eyes. Before me were my mother, sister, and friends.
Barrie jumped up and rushed over to me. “Sheer, you’re alive!”
I weakly smiled at him. “Yeah, I guess I am.”
“You should rest, Sheer,” Anna told me.
I tried to nod, but my head felt like stone. I was about to close my eyes when I saw a flash of white out of the corner of my eye. When I moved to stand up straight, Anna gently pushed me back down with her paw. Still, I was able to glance towards the door. Gander had wandered into the room, and a few other animals were peeking through the doorway behind him. Gathering what little strength I had, I spoke, hoping my voice was loud enough for him to hear. “You don’t have to report back to Spike, Gander. We can help you. We can protect you and your wife a
nd goslings.”
The blood drained from the skin around the goose’s eyes, and he stared at me in shock. I couldn’t think straight enough to explain. “We’ll discuss it later,” I told him. “Just… just know that we’re here for you.” Exhausted, I let my eyelids droop closed. I felt a cool breeze follow my friends and family as they left, and I knew Gander and the other onlookers must have gone as well. Never in my short life would I have imagined feeling so grateful to drift into dreamless sleep.
XVI
Over the course of the next several days, stragglers wandered in and out of the medical room and my friends paid me several visits, but I spent most of the time alone. Finally, it was my last day in the infirmary, and I was looking forward to spending time with them again.
“How are you doing?” Samuel asked for the dozenth time when he limped into the room. He still couldn’t use his right front leg. An infection had taken hold despite the precautions I’d taken before we journeyed back to the thirteenth floor. Anna’s care was helping, but it was a losing battle. His leg was swollen and red; the wound itself was bursting with yellow pus that smelled horrible. He sat down, and I could feel his groan vibrating the air while his granddaughter tended to his injury.
“More worried about you than myself,” I replied. “Your leg is getting worse.”
“This may be true. I’ve survived many things in my lifetime, though,” he said. “Sometimes you just have to take things as they come. It does no good to worry over things we cannot control.” The rumble of his voice calmed me.
“How old are you, Samuel?”
My mentor laughed. I saw his chest heaving, felt the puffs of air, but heard nothing. “Old,” he replied. “Plenty old. You could say that my blood is infused with magic. I was young once, of course. I was barely an adult when this building was built. Do you remember the stories I told you while we were on our way to the snake?”
“I do!”
“The humans I lived with wanted a safe haven for the woodland creatures this city displaced. They built this building, and they taught me how to be a guardian, a keeper of the peace. When their time came, I took my place at the head of the table.”
The old lynx went silent, looking down at his paws. He didn’t move for several minutes, but I sensed he had more to say.
I cleared my throat. “Samuel, did you have something else you wanted to talk about?”
“Well… yes. One of my scouts has returned with news from the northeast,” he said, nodding to the door. “They found a cave filled with mist and smoke, buried deep inside a mountain.” Samuel glanced at the door, then switched to projecting his voice in my mind. “Birds of all kinds have been disappearing around it for the past year. The number has grown enough that the animals in the vicinity have started to notice. Some of them claimed to have seen crows coming and going freely.”
“The crow from my dreams is the one who planned to poison me,” I said quietly, suddenly remembering the visions I’d seen while I was sick. I didn’t know how much of the dreams were true, but I knew that part was. Gander’s reaction had confirmed it. “Do you think the same crow is involved in this, too?”
“Undoubtedly. Even though the snake is no longer a threat…”
“Or a snake.”
“Right, I keep forgetting that she’s a rat now… you’d think since I see her daily, I’d stop referring to her as we did when she was just in your visions.” He chuckled, then shook his head. “No matter. Even though Nyoka is no longer a threat, we cannot forget the other two creatures in your visions. Nor can you forget that someone was targeting you. it’s even more obvious now. As you said, Gander poisoned you, under Spike’s command. Perhaps the crow was the one behind the fires as well.”
I nodded solemnly, ashamed that I’d completely forgotten about them until now. None of the usual nightmares had haunted me since escaping the underground world, and I hadn’t thought to force one ever since the ill effects of conjuring one in the presence of the transforming snake.
“Whoever is behind it,” Samuel continued, “they have started to burn a chemical made from the sap of the poppy flower. It makes animals more susceptible to the cave’s pull. I’m not sure what else they’re mixing into it, but it seems to be especially potent for birds. I’ve instructed our head meal coordinator to mix ground coffee and other herbs into each meal here just in case, which seems to combat the effects enough, as long as everyone keeps their distance from the cave. Unfortunately, I do think we’ve lost some of our members to its pull already… so far, no one has returned. I’m not sure how well the mixture will work when an animal gets too close, since the potency of the drug increases as you draw nearer. But even if it weren’t for the drug, there are now reports of strange sounds emitted from the cave entrance. More and more birds are being drawn in every day from a mixture of the two effects.”
After pondering what he’d said, I looked into Samuel’s eyes. “What should we do?”
“I don’t think I am going to be of very much help, Sheer.”
Nodding, I rephrased my question. “What should I do, then?”
“Well, I’d start with investigating,” he said. Again, he switched to projecting his voice in my mind, and his mouth didn’t move along with his words. “Keep it quiet so no one’s alarmed without reason. Find out what’s going on, and make it stop. If you can, bring back those who have already fallen under its spell. If this goes much further, we’ll have to prepare the thirteenth floor for more serious evasive maneuvers. I don’t want to lose any more of our avian members.”
I sensed the importance of secrecy and the weight of the task, and blinked my affirmation.
Samuel bowed his head slightly in thanks. “You’ll need help — don’t go alone.”
◆◆◆
The next morning, I flew into the grand central hall for breakfast instead of eating mush with obscene amounts of water in the infirmary. As soon as I entered, all eyes turned on me. I could tell they were whispering about me… no one had ever been poisoned on the thirteenth floor before. Now they had one more reason to be wary of me, besides the fact that I just didn’t look like everyone else. It was just like when I was at the squirrels… at least this time there had been no collateral damage. Besides Spike’s threats towards Gander, anyway. I could feel their fears and prejudices radiating from their expressions, but I did my best to ignore them. I flew freely to the end of the table. Barrie, Reika, Violet, and Amery were there — they didn’t shy away like everyone else, but their postures still gave away their wariness. Their thoughts were an indistinguishable mixture of caution, pity, and delight to see me again.
“Sheer!” Barrie exclaimed, the expression in his eyes a diluted version of the feeling displayed by his outstretched wings. “It’s so good to see you out and about!”
“Yeah,” I replied, landing next to a small plate of seeds and berries set out for me. I pushed aside the berries, offering them to my sister instead. “Violet, you take these. I don’t think I can eat berries ever again.”
“Oh! Of course, Sheer,” she replied. “I’d offer you some of my seeds, but I’ve already eaten them all…”
“You can have some of mine!” my mother interjected, practically shoving them towards me.
“No… I’m okay,” I said. “Really. This is more than I’ve been eating the last few days.”
While we ate, I told them about what Samuel had said. About the cave, and the drugged gas, and the mission to stop whatever was going on.
When I’d finished, Reika spoke up. “Did you say this started about a year ago?”
“Yeah, why?”
“It’s just… that’s when Comfrey disappeared,” she said, nodding for Violet to write the name on one of the pieces of parchment kept handy on the table. I blinked, not sure what she meant. But when I met Violet’s eyes, they gave it away.
Dad.
“Do you really think he could be there?” Violet asked.
“I don’t know,” Reika replied. “It’
s been so long since I’ve seen him. But if there’s even a small chance he’s there, a chance we could rescue him, I want to go.”
“Me, too!” Violet exclaimed. “Even if he’s not there, to think of all the other animals that could be captured…”
“Maybe my parents are there, too,” Barrie added. “They’re also missing. I don’t know where else they would be.”
“I don’t know what happened to my parents,” Amery added. “Nyoka kidnapped me before I hatched, so I never knew them. But I’ll come and help — you’ll need everyone you can get.”
I nodded, thankful I didn’t need to convince my friends to help me. Looking around at the other animals of the thirteenth floor, who were still keeping as far away from me as possible, I knew this was as big as the crew was going to get. Samuel couldn’t join us with his injury, and he needed Anna here to take care of him. Hopefully, the five of us would be enough to get to the bottom of this.
XVII
Following Samuel’s instructions, we picked up the antidote from the kitchen, and Anna gave Barrie one of the few lanterns the community owned, to bring on our journey. We left the thirteenth floor that evening and flew through the cool summer night breeze, the bag of coffee strapped to Barrie’s leg. When the sun rose, we could see a mountain rising from the mist ahead of us. I gasped — it was the same mountain Amery, Violet, and Barrie had flown over in my dream. I turned to look at them, but none of their expressions indicated they recognized the place. I was slightly disappointed. That part must have been nothing more than a dream. It had certainly been an interesting story, though. Maybe it helped keep my mind active long enough for Anna to obtain the antidote.