which kept him from looking that way. He knew that three days’ ride beyond Crossington was the sea and the busy city of Portsmouth. Those places had to be behind him for good. He doubted he would ever see them again.
He rode as far as he could that day, but didn’t quite reach the town of Halter. He knew it was for the best that he didn’t make it that far. The temptation to sleep at an inn and eat a warm meal was stronger than he imagined it would be. The whole last part of the day, he had entertained thoughts of pushing on and doing just that. Good sense finally prevailed, however, and as the sun started to set, he led the horses a good way into the Reyhall Forest and hobbled them near a patch of lush green grass. He decided against a fire. He had plenty of dried, salted meat, and two whole wheels of cheese. He brushed and watered the horses, and then fed himself. Then he leaned back against a tree and stared up through the branches at the star-filled sky. It wasn’t long before exhaustion took hold of him, and he fell into a deep and dreamless sleep.
Dawn’s light had just breached the world and turned the sky a pink, peachy color, when the sound of an unfamiliar horse snorting, and the rough, urgent whisper of a man awakened Mikahl with a start. When another nearby voice coldly asked, “Are we gonna kill him?” Mikahl knew that he was in serious trouble.
Chapter 4
Normally, when the council of Skyler clan Elders met, there was a great feast accompanied by much festivity and ceremony, but not on this occasion. The women of the clan were four days away in the foothills of the Giant Mountains, at the clan’s home village. There was no one here to decorate and prepare the elaborate meals that were usually served before such an event. The men didn’t forego tradition completely though. A group of boys were sent out to gather enough deadfall to build a bonfire, and another trio of older boys were sent out to hunt up some fresh meat. Others came to clear out the Eldest’s hut, which would be used as the meeting hall. Hyden and Gerard were forced to move themselves, and the hawkling, to their father’s smaller hut.
After they had gotten settled, Hyden fed the bird again, and then he decided it needed a more permanent nest. He waited until the chick was sleeping, then he went out and gathered some sticks and straw. In the bottom of an empty bucket, he built a new nest for the hawkling. Later, when the hawkling woke up, he transferred it from his shirt to its new home. The tiny thing chirped and squawked and hissed its distaste for the bucket. Hyden mistook this display for hunger, and fed the chick until it couldn’t eat anymore. Still, the hawkling protested. Only after Hyden tore up the shirt he’d first carried the bird in, and put the pieces of it in with the little chick, did it finally quieten down. By then it was mid-afternoon and Hyden’s head was pounding. He cleaned his wounds again. Afterwards, he laid down next to the bucket nest and fell fast asleep.
While Hyden was building the new nest, Gerard safely packed away Hyden’s five eggs with his own and their father’s. When that was done, Gerard went off to answer all the questions that his cousins were dying to know the answers to. He was the center of attention, and he enjoyed it. They asked him about his daring leap, and the extreme height of his climb, but mostly they asked about the hawkling chick, and Hyden. Gerard tried not to let that bother him. He was sort of glad because he didn’t want to tell anyone the real reason for the leap, or the extended climb. He told no one about the ring. It was put away in his belt pouch. Something odd had happened earlier, and he was certain that the ring had caused it. He hated to admit it to himself, but he was a little frightened over the matter.
His uncle, Pylen, had asked him if he held any ill will towards Hyden, since the egg had hatched for him. “Of course not,” he had replied. Unfortunately, the questions kept coming along those lines, and they made Gerard uncomfortable. Finally, while Uncle Pylen was in mid-question, Gerard had screamed inside his head, “STOP IT UNCLE PYLEN! GO AWAY! LEAVE ME ALONE!”
The words weren’t said aloud, but Pylen hadn’t finished the question he was asking. He simply stopped speaking, his eyes glazed over with confusion, and then he just up and walked away. The ring had heated on Gerard’s finger, and he had been filled with a tingling rush of energy. The energy from the ring had seemed to swirl up and wrap itself around Uncle Pylen like so much invisible smoke. Gerard had felt it, more than seen it, but there was no doubt that it was there. The ring was magic, and that scared him as much as it thrilled him.
For a long while, Gerard had just stood there watching Uncle Pylen walk off as if they had never spoken. Finally, he removed the ring and put it away. He did his best to forget the event, but he couldn’t. He decided to tell Hyden what had happened, but Hyden had fallen asleep. He ended up carrying on with the younger boys long enough that the event had faded from his mind almost completely. Every now and then though, he could feel the heat of the ring tickle his finger, even though it was put away. It wasn’t until later, when he saw his father striding proudly across the lodge grounds, that he was able to let go of the memory completely. He raced to his father’s side with his chest swelled out, his head held high, and a beaming smile stretched across his face.
“I got eight eggs, pap,” he bragged, in a voice far higher in pitch than he intended. “And six, no, well, five for Hyden.”
“I know, son,” his father replied, with a smile as big as Gerard’s. “I asked the White Lady to show me a sign when I’d been forgiven for my wastefulness.” He stopped walking and spread his arms open wide to embrace his son. “And lo and behold, she gave me so much more than just a simple sign!”
He gave Gerard a squeeze, and then ruffled his hair as they started walking again. “I’m proud of you son. You did well.”
Gerard’s step took on a new cockiness, and if it was possible, his chest swelled out even further than before.
“Where’s Hyden?”
“Asleep in your hut,” Gerard answered. “He tripped over some rocks yesterday and split his melon.”
“Hmmm,” his father sounded, with a curious expression on his face. “I’d best go check on him.”
“Aye,” Gerard agreed, with mock seriousness in his voice. “You really should. After all, he’s a mother now!”
Gerard wasn’t sure, but he thought he heard a grunt of laughter come from deep inside his father as he strode away.
Hyden was awake and feeding the squawking chick when his father entered the hut. His father took the oil lamp from the hook by the open entryway and carried it closer. He had to hold it high over the bucket to be able to see the chick down in the bottom of it. He stood there a long while studying the baby bird. Hyden glanced up with a grin on his face. His father returned the smile, only it was the smile of an Elder, not the smile of his father that Hyden saw.
“Much responsibility has been bestowed upon you son. Do not take it lightly. The rearing of this Godsend, and all the choices you make from this very moment, will determine whether your future will be terrible or grand.”
Hyden wasn’t sure exactly what all that meant, but he nodded as if he understood. He felt his father’s demeanor change as he knelt beside him and peered into the bucket for a closer look. The seriousness of the Elder passed, and his father’s pride and wonder began to show through again.
“It eats a lot,” Hyden said excitedly. “I’ve already fed it more than I can remember.”
“Its mother would be feeding it strips of fresh meat, bugs, mice, squirrels, rabbits and the like,” his father informed him. “I don’t think the dried salted meat is robust enough to fill its little belly.”
It made sense. The jerky, Hyden mused, did little to fill him on the trail. It barely quelled his hunger pangs most of the time. He decided that when the chick was asleep again, he would go find some fresh meat. Someone in the camp surely had some.
“The bucket was a clever idea,” his father said. “The hawkling can’t fall out, and you can carry it easily enough without disturbing it.”
He shifted his gaze to Hyden, and then waited until his son met his eyes.
“Is Gerard jealous? It was he who took the egg from the cliff, yes?”
“Aye. He took the egg in my stead, but he found a treasure of his own on the cliff. I think it’s more to his liking than this little chick.”
“Oh, he didn’t mention it earlier when we spoke.”
“He offered it to me too since he found it on my climb.”
Hyden didn’t say what it was. He felt he had already said too much. He didn’t want to betray Gerard’s trust.
