Luky and the Birdmen
Chapter 9

Luky howled for the entire duration of his fall. He had already anticipated his head meeting the ground when claws wrapped around his tiny body.

The massive talons clutched him.

Above him flew a bird-like creature, but it was at least three times largerthan the birdmen he’d just met. It was white and dotted with carbon black spots.

Luky couldn’t see its face, but its head was definitely round like a snowball. It looked like a giant owl.

The creature had caught Luky in his fall and saved him from certain death. Luky craned his neck, and he saw Aurielle secured in another owl’s set of talons.

Nasty green birdmen and, now, owls the size of a wyvern. Luky couldn’t believe he’d ended up in this kind of world.

Maybe he was in the Heavens after all.

Up ahead flew another giant owl, and Luky could only see its tail opened like a wide fan. In its claws was a frantic Ezra, who wriggled around and shouted like his life depended on it.

Ezra was yelling swear words the boy-lynx was never allowed to say.

Between the giant pillars of rock and trees was a river, and beyond that river was a waterfall spraying against the cliff on the other side of the valley.

The white owls released Luky, Ezra, and Aurielle by the lake below the waterfall and flew away, soundlessly, across the sky.

Luky looked over his shoulder, watching them go. Whatever those creatures were, Luky hoped he’d never meet them in battle.

Distant chirps and caws reached Luky’s ears. When he turned around, Aurielle and Ezra were frozen in place, mouths open and eyes round.

The birdmen who’d brought them here had multiplied. There were at least a dozen of them scattered around the lake. Some of them flew up towards the cliff—that’s when Luky noticed the cliff was filled with hollow chambers.

It was like a bee’s nest, but with clay instead of wax and birds instead of bees!

“This is where they live,” Aurielle said, her voice trembling.

Was she scared or amazed?

Ezra adjusted his clothes and checked all his pockets like he was searching for something. He sighed when he found it and held it tight in his hand.

It was his pyramid-shaped vial the size of a pendant. Ezra seemed so obsessed with it.

“I couldn’t care less,” Ezra grumbled, securing the vial with the cord back to his belt. “I just want to get out of here.”

“Do you have any idea where we are?” Aurielle asked.

“Not a single one, Your Highness. One thing I know for sure is that we crossed the Arc Stream and found ourselves here.” He paused briefly and adopted a mysterious expression. “No one ever crossed the Arc Stream and lived to tell the tale.”

Ezra marched forward towards the lake. It seemed like the birdmen around them completely ignored them, and the man was getting impatient.

Ezra made a cup with his hands and brought them to his mouth.

“Hey!” he shouted so loud that it echoed across the valley.

All the bird creatures glared at him, but they returned to what they were previously doing almost immediately after.

“What the hell is wrong with them?” Ezra said as he turned around. “They bring us here and leave us?”

“Ezra...” Aurielle wanted to calm him down, as she always seemed to do.

“Hey!” Luky injected before she could say anything else. He shouted almost as loud as Ezra. “Hello!” He started waving his paws at the cliff.

Luky was more than impatient. He wanted answers.

A faint breeze softly whistled into their ears, and then, absolute calm.

Even the birdmen had fallen completely silent. They were all looking up at the top of the waterfall.

Through the crystal-clear curtain of pure water surged a winged figure. It glided above the lake like a shooting star, with a tail of rainbow-like colors. Its wings were green and gold.

Calling it a bird-like creature would be an insult to this being of majestic beauty.

Luky never had a sense for human or even elven beauty, but he couldn’t deny this creature’s mesmerizing look.

It landed softly on the grass beside them. Then two birdmen in golden armor flew to its sides, carrying spears.

That’s when Luky decided it was probably not an it.

She was exactly like the scriptures described muses to be.

Luky was so caught in his near-devout admiration for this creature, he hadn’t noticed how all the other birds around him were bowing.

He gasped and instantly kneeled, his forehead touching the ground. Aurielle followed him.

“Oh hell no!” Ezra barked.

“Better do as they’re doing,” Aurielle instructed.

Ezra was walking away. “That’s it. I’m out of here.”

Luky couldn’t see what was happening behind him, but Ezra returned to his place very quickly. He’d probably been stopped by the birdmen.

One muffled thump, and Ezra was on his knees. There was a birdman behind him.

The bird...woman squawked once Ezra was on the ground. A long and vibrant tune that sang through the valley and jungle. When she was done, her long feathered tail first swirled on the ground, and then…

She raised and opened it wide like a fan in one single flick.

The birdwoman blinked once, and her sky-blue eyes gleamed.

Luky watched her from his spot on the ground. She was like a mighty peacock ready for an audience. After the creature had put on this show, the boy-lynx raised his body and gaped.

“I think it’s their leader,” Aurielle whispered.

“You don’t say...” Ezra sarcastically muttered.

Luky kept on looking at the birdwoman. “She’s so beautiful!”

Ezra scoffed. “How do you know it’s a she, boy?”

“Eh…the colors?”

The creature had the body of a woman. It was as if she wore a long gown of green feathers, topped by a rainbow ruff. Her crown was her green and gold crest.

That creature wasn’t just any woman or bird. She wasn’t just a birdwoman.

She was definitely a birdqueen.

***

“H-hello?” Aurielle called. From a lady to a queen, maybe they could talk. “Can you...understand me?” She stood up and approached the birdwoman.

The birdmen in golden armor tightened their grip around their spears.

“Be careful, Your Highness,” Ezra said in a worried tone.

Aurielle halted when she came halfway to the birdqueen. “My name is Aurielle Valdum,” she introduced herself, then pointed at Luky and Ezra. “These are my friends. We...wish to apologize for any disturbances caused on your territory. Please understand, us coming here was an accident, and we just want to go home.”

She seemed a little distressed, but most of all, she sounded sincere.

“Please,” Aurielle pleaded. The birdqueen wasn’t responding, and nothing in her stance had changed. “We didn’t mean any harm. We didn’t mean to intrude on your grounds. Our ship was caught in a storm, and we were castaway north of here.”

If the birdqueen didn’t understand Aurielle, why was Aurielle talking so much? It wasn’t like any of the birdmen before that had communicated with them.

What was she trying to achieve?

Maybe she was just venting. Luky’s father vented a lot, usually to the trees, since he spent most of his time in the forest anyway.

“We’re just trying to replace a way out of here.” Now, Aurielle sounded desperate. “Please, if you can understand me, help us. And maybe we can replace a way to help you...any way we can!”

She was on the verge of tears, Luky noticed. Perhaps it was because of that secret she was supposed to replace. Here, she’d for sure never replace it. Luky felt sorry for her.

“Can you understand me?” Aurielle asked before she collapsed to her knees and started to cry.

For the first time since Luky had met him, Ezra looked like he had no idea what to do. He let Aurielle sob, and so did everyone else. All the birdmen around them did nothing that’d cheer her up.

What could they do anyway? She was entirely on her own.

Luky ran up to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

“It’s okay, Miss Aurielle,” he soothed. “We’ll replace a way out of here, and you’ll get to your secret.”

Aurielle wiped her tears, but they kept on coming. If only Luky had a tissue or something.

“Sorrow. Pain. Desperation.” Three words that resounded across the lake.

Those words came from a deep and resonant voice, like the sound of ocean waves through a hollow cave.

When Luky raised his head to check on the sound, the birdqueen’s eyes were like burning embers.