'Yes,' the bird said, thoughtfully. 'Ye-es.' He dropped his head for a moment, and it seemed to Darkwind that he was thinking. Then his head came up again, and he stared directly into Darkwind's eyes. 'I gowe go to that one,' he ordered, 'To warm place, to wounded one. We belong, him, me. Need, him, me.' And although Darkwind dutifully offered him his continued freedom after healing, the bird refused to consider it. 'We go,' he insisted, and Darkwind gave in gladly to him, but with no little wonder. He had never had a bondbird speak so clearly to him-nor had he ever seen one exhibit genuine abstract thought before. There was no doubt in his mind that the bird was quite certain Starblade needed him. And there was no doubt that the bird had responded to that need.
He had heard that the crested hawk-eagles were different, that waythat they had a greater capacity for bonds of affection than any other breed. They often hunted in family groups and shared kills in the wild, something most other raptors never did. But no one in k'sheyna had One of their kind, so he had only hearsay to go on.
Until now, that is. And he wondered; since no one in k'sheyna had ever flown the crested hawk-eagles, where had this one come from?
'I was following that, a little,' Elspeth said as she dumped the packs from the mules, leaving them for the hertasi to paw over. 'So he does want to come with us?'
'So it would seem,' Darkwind replied, a bit amazed by how readily the bird had fallen in with their idea. Could it be a trap of some kind?
'Stupid,' Vree said contemptuously, from his perch in the tree above.
'Hyllarr goes to Vale. Gets good food, warm place, safe place, hunts only when he wants. Gets good friend. Hyllarr wants good friend, mind-friend.
Hyllarr flies, he gets winter snow, summer storms, has to hunt, get hurt again, dies alone.' Darkwind laughed, and so did Elspeth. though she looked a little surprised that she could hear the gyre's 'voice.'
'Put that way, it makes all the sense in the world, doesn't it,' she said, with a bright sparkle in her eyes. 'Here-' she offered her leather-clad arm. 'I'll take him for a moment while you get up on one of those mules. Then I'll pass him back when you're mounted.' Hyllarr looked at her arm for a moment, then directly into her face-and with a delicate care that in no way hid the fact that his talons could pierce through her arm if he chose, he stepped onto her forearm and balanced there while Darkwind hoisted himself onto a mule's back. Elspeth blanched and inhaled abruptly when Hyllarr dug in while balancing himself No point in doing anything with the others. He would leave them to wander or follow as they chose; if they followed his mount to the Vale, someone there could always put them to good use. If they didn't, they would survive-or not-as their fate and wits decreed.
Elspeth held the hawk-eagle-Hyllarr, she reminded herself-steadily, despite the fact that it was a heavy weight, there on her wrist. But once he got himself settled, and before he could reach out his own wrist to take the bird back, Hyllarr half-spread his wings and hopped from Elspeth's arm to Darkwind's shoulder.
He tensed, expecting the talons to close through his leather coat and into the flesh beneath. But Hyllarr shifted a little, getting his balance, and then closed his feet slowly, carefully.
'Hurt?' he asked Darkwind, increasing the pressure a little more.
'No-no-there.' As the claws just pricked his skin, he warned the bird, and Hyllarr eased off just that trifle needed to pull the talons back through the leather.
'Good,' the bird replied with satisfaction. 'No hurt. Good. Go to warm place now.' That was an order, if Darkwind had ever heard one. He turned to Elspeth, to see her own eyes alight with laughter and a little wonder. 'I heard him that time!' she exclaimed. 'I think-maybe-I've got the knack of talking to the bondbirds now. They're kind of-pitched higher than human mind-voices.'
'Yes, exactly,' he replied, as pleased by her accomplishment as she was. 'That's excellent! Well, then, you heard. We've gotten our marching orders.' She eyed the long, sharp talons-the fierce beak-and grinned. 'You know, given where he's perched right now, I wouldn't argue with those orders if I were you.'
'I don't intend to,' he assured her, and kicked the mule into a reluctant walk toward the Vale, Elspeth and Gwena following.
When Darkwind turned the mule over to the hertasi, he got them to find a stout branch that he could brace across his shoulder and hold with one hand. That gave Hyllarr a much more secure perch, and one that eased Darkwind's aching shoulder quite a bit. He was going to be very glad when he delivered the bird to his father. After that, Starblade could figure a way to carry him; it would no longer be Darkwind's problem.
The hawk-eagle reveled in the heat of the Vale, rousing his feathers with a careful shake and raising his crest fully. Darkwind had decided on a tentative approach to his father on the slow ride to the Vale; now it only remained to convince the bird to cooperate.
He got Hyllarr's attention with a little mental touch, the kind he used with Vree.
' Hyllarr replied, definite feelings of relaxation and satisfaction coming along with the reply.
'Starblade is hurt,' he said, hoping he could convey the complex idea in a way the bird would understand.
'Hurt,' Hyllarr agreed. And waited.
That was encouraging. 'Starblade is Proud,' he continued, showing the bird an image of Hyllarr himself, hurt, but refusing all aid, trying to fly and unable to.
'proud,' the bird said, agreeing again. Then, 'Stupid. Like first year.
Try too much.'
'Exactly!' Darkwind said, astonished that the bird understood so much. He was to have an even bigger surprise.
For suddenly, Hyllarr drooped on his shoulder, dropping the injured wing even further. 'Hurts,' the bird moaned, making little chirps of distress. 'oh, huuuurts. Need Starblade! Need Starblade, make better!' Then the bird straightened again, a distinct gleam of humor in the eye nearest Darkwind. 'Good?' he asked. 'Good for proud Starblade?' Darkwind wanted to laugh, both at the bird's astonishing ability to act and at Elspeth's expression. 'I'm as surprised as you are,' he grinned, then returned his attention to the bird.
'Very good!' he replied. 'Exactly right!' The bird roused again with satisfaction. 'Hyllarr plays hurt-wing-eyas, Starblade feels good, Hyllarr gets many good eatings, tender eatings, tasty prey, make Hyllarr better. All
