Ravens Book 3: The Sky Warriors and the Fallen Child

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Banking towards land, Nayr held onto Prima as she screamed a little at the sudden jolt of direction. 'What's going on?' Prima asked. Her nerves were already wrecked from being high up in the air and not able to fly, and now Nayr had the difficult displeasure of telling her there was a storm coming, and if they didn't find shelter, they'd be caught up in it.

'We have to head for land,' she told her as Selenia flew on ahead. Nayr followed her, never wavering for a moment on the path of the air currents Selenia was following. 'There is a hurricane coming. It forms over the ocean, and by the feeling of the pressure, it is heading straight for us.'

'But we can fly in hurricanes, can't we?' Prima asked.

Nayr had only once been caught in a hurricane; it nearly killed her. She was told never to do it; birds simply cannot fly in a hurricane; they would always find shelter to wade it out. 'No, we cannot.'

Prima winced.

After a few minutes swooping over the coast but seeing nothing but open cliffs, Selenia stopped and hovered. 'Nayr, it's coming. We have to find shelter now.' The winds began to pick up and brought in a strangeness of smells, one of exotic spices and the other of what smelt like an icy tundra mixed in with the smell of gunpowder.

It was something she would have to think about. Instead, she told Prima to hold on. Nayr didn't have a lot of altitude left, so Selenia glanced around to see if there was some form of cave close by, but all they saw were open areas. Buffeted by winds every now and then, they were being forced more inland but not in the direction Nayr wanted to go. Needing to land somewhere, preferably not in the open, which they knew would be their downfall. If the hurricane brought such high speeds of wind, it could kill them with flying debris. Being exposed like this was troubling.

As they finally landed, the winds began to hit them hard, bringing swathes of cold rain and small debris, mostly leaves and small twigs.

Prima was just glad to be on the ground and didn't want to stand, but the girls pulled her up, and they slowly began to make their way inland. With Prima unable to fly, which was starting to grate on Nayr, they were downed birds.

'There's a little hill there,' Selenia said, pointing to her left. 'It's better than nothing.' The wind whipped her hair back. 'It's coming from the northwest.' The women looked at the sky, which had darkened considerably. Swirling in a large mass were a variety of bruised purple and pewter grey skies.

Heading to the small hill, they walked around it as the winds and rain barrelled over them, giving them respite but not for long. Screaming in their ears, the winds and rain threw themselves on their exposed bodies, stinging their flesh like nettles. Prima was sheltered by both of them, almost pressed into the wet grass as Selenia was over her and Nayr, with her wings out at both sides, covered both of them. Nayr had taken it upon herself to ensure the safety of the girls. It was what she had to do, not just as a Sovereign, but because she had to ensure the Ravens survived. Their race had to continue.

Digging her talons into the earth, Nayr stayed there, covering the girls, protecting them. Her arms ached, and her legs screamed from the constant tension, but there she remained until the winds began to die down and the rain slowed to soft trickles from the sky. Taking a shuddering breath, Nayr rolled over and collapsed on the ground.

'Sovereign!' Selenia moved over to her and saw that Nayr was near unconscious from pure exhaustion.

'Is she alright?' Prima asked fearfully.

'She needs rest,' Selenia told her. 'We need to move her-'

It was the last that Nayr heard before blissful darkness enveloped her.