Luky and the Birdmen
Chapter 13

Priority number one: replace Ezra. Luky had snuck past the cockatrice guards at the entrance of the cave. Now, he was headed down a dark tunnel that smelled of rotten fish.

Had he smelled that instead of Ezra?

No, Luky was sure that this scent, this one particular fragrance of a middle-aged man always on the run, had led him here.

The boy-lynx clutched the pyramid vial in his hand. Whatever it was, it was important to Ezra, and Luky would return it as soon as possible.

Luky reached an opening and entered a small cavern filled with wet stalagmites, the great rock formations growing from the very ground itself. The air was heavy down here.

He could hear the distant breathing of two or three creatures. Luky scanned his surroundings, seeing a pond up ahead that explained the dampness of the air.

Cockatrices were patrolling the area. It looked like they were looking for something, probably Ezra.

Luky’s paws allowed him to be absolutely silent. Plus, sindurs were gifted with a shifting scent ability, allowing them to mask their odor. Nothing, or at least no cockatrices, could hear or smell him.

But he could smell Ezra.

Luky hurried as silent as he could to the stalagmite he was sure Ezra was behind. He leaned against it, then peered behind the rock.

There he was, Miss Aurielle’s guide, resting against the stalagmite. His eyes were closed, and he was breathing rapidly.

He appeared to be wounded, and he hadn’t noticed Luky either.

“Psst!” Luky whistled.

Ezra was instantly startled. He turned his head, and his eyes met a smiling Luky’s.

“Boy!” Ezra exclaimed with a loud whisper. “What in the Heavens are you doing here?”

“I’ve come to save you,” Luky whispered back. “Quick, we have to leave before they see us!”

Ezra hesitated. “I don’t think I can move.” He looked at his leg.

It was bleeding.

Two options presented themselves. Either Ezra would move his ass and bite through the pain, or they’d stay here and be eaten alive by giant ugly birds. The choice seemed pretty evident to Luky.

“Check this,” Luky said as he opened his paw and showed the pyramid-shaped vial to Ezra.

Ezra’s eyes gleamed, and he halted his breath.

“I kept it,” the boy-lynx said. “But I’m clumsy, and I always get into trouble, so if you want this vial to stay intact, you’re going to have to keep it yourself.”

The man chuckled. “How do we do this?”

Luky grinned. “Follow me.”

The two crawled between stalagmites. Luky could remain silent, but Ezra had a much harder time with his wounded leg.

They had to hurry, or the cockatrices would definitely see them. They were about to exit the cavern when Ezra hit the rough edge of a rock. It probably hurt him very much because he gasped and yelped.

Now, they were definitely detected.

The giant birds roaming around instantly stopped moving and glared in Luky’s direction.

They had to make a run for it.

“Quick, get up!” Luky urged, helping Ezra up as best as he could.

Ezra struggled, but he got up. They reach the tunnel, and then…

Boom!

Something exploded outside.

What was going on?

Luky and Ezra were now running. They heard more noise coming from outside, feet pounding the ground, headed right for them. More cockatrices.

A blinding flash of light reached inside the tunnel. Whatever was happening outside was bright and loud. Could it be Miss Aurielle?

Everything had stopped moving. Luky and Ezra ran through the exit.

Outside was dust and sand. They couldn’t see anything.

They heard birds calling each other, confused, looking for them. Those cockatrices were definitely not the brightest.

Luky scanned the area. What did it look like before all of this? Large rocks, sand, a rising cliff. Got it. Luky took Ezra’s hand and ran straight.

Ahead, beyond the sand cloud, the boy-lynx saw a figure with long blond hair. The figure leaned against the wall of the cliff. When she saw them, Aurielle picked herself up and urged them to come her way.

“What did you do?” Ezra asked, dazzled.

“You needed a diversion,” Aurielle replied between shallow breaths. She smiled at them both.

Luky was glad they were reunited, but they couldn’t stay here celebrating. They had to get out of the sand cloud and far away from this place.

The boy-lynx hurried away, Aurielle and Ezra following him.

They didn’t walk for long. Hidden behind the largest dune was the outline of some sort of village. Walls of timber surrounded the settlement, and the houses were all made of wood.

Luky could see people walking back and forth, wearing clothes made of thin fur and braided leaves.

Aurielle rejoiced. There were even happy tears in her eyes. This village of people was like a lighthouse in the dark.

As they got closer, Luky’s heart pounded in his chest. He, too, was happy to be here. Ezra was the only one who seemed unaffected, or perhaps he was being cautious.

Now, they could see the people better. Humans, mostly, but not just any humans!

Luky recognized some of them—people who were aboard the ship with him.

The three rushed to the entrance of the village. If people had made a home here, maybe there were boats. And if there were boats, maybe they could go home.

They were just about to reach the wooden gates when Ezra collapsed to the ground. His leg had given in.

“Ezra!” Aurielle shouted. She tried to help him up, but Ezra had lost consciousness.

“Hey!” Aurielle called towards the village. “Help!”

Luky tried to shake Ezra awake. “Come on, old man! Wake up!”

Ezra was not responding.

“Help!” Luky joined Aurielle.

The wooden gates opened, and two men marched towards them.

Their clothes looked like a patchwork of grass and fur. They carried bows hooked to their shoulders and spears firmly in their hands. They had this intrigued look on their faces at first, especially when they glanced at the boy-lynx.

But when they noticed Ezra on the ground, they immediately hurried to him.

“Where did you come from?” One of them asked.

The other checked on Ezra. They looked dangerous, but their eyes were kind.

“The rainforest,” Aurielle replied, then she shook her head. “I mean, the shore, northeast of here. Our boat got caught in a storm, and we ended up here.”

“His wound is infected,” the other man declared. “We need to get him to the healer now.”

His partner nodded. They lifted Ezra up and dragged him with his arms over their shoulders.

“Come,” the first man bid. “We’ll take you to meet the Elder.”

Aurielle followed them. Luky stayed behind for a bit, watching the two men and Ezra go.

Right now, he didn’t really want to meet anyone. He felt sad at the idea of losing Ezra. He’d just saved him from giant, monstrous birds; he couldn’t lose him to an infected wound.

“My name is Helga Kystfrey,” the Elder said. “Your friend is in good hands here. Our healer will take care of him.”

The Elder, the village leader, was ljosalfar. She was a high elf who had arrived here almost two centuries ago. Her skin was fair, almost white, and contrasted with her black hair like night and day.

She wore a long yet simple linen gown that touched the ground. Her eyes were blue like the depth of the ocean.

Helga Kystfrey welcomed them to this settlement called Nova Coast in her humble wooden home. There were more nearby villages scattered by the shore, but Nova Coast was the largest one.

Everyone here had come from a different land and never meant to be here in the first place. They’d all been forced to build a home here and make the best of it.

As far as she knew, Helga had been the first to set foot on this new land.

Luky had learned that Helga had been a cartographer, making maps for the Fallvale army, in the land of the elves. She’d been sent at sea to discover the unexplored southern oceans. Caught in a storm, she was saved by a mystical sea creature, or so she said. Helga believed everyone who’d arrived here so far had been delivered by this sea creature.

Luky wasn’t sure whether he should believe this, but he had one single idea on his mind: go home. Though Helga had told him something else.

“I’ve tried to leave,” she confessed. “But beyond the horizon is the same storm that brought us all here.”

Now, Luky was rambling on in his head while Aurielle spoke with the Elder.

Should they tell her about the birdmen? Aurielle certainly wasn’t mentioning them. Maybe the birdmen were the key to getting out of here.

They couldn’t be just stuck here. There had to be a way to leave!

“Others tried too,” Helga said. “But I can feel that they never made it through. Instead of leaving the sea, they returned to it, forever.”

She was elven, and elves felt things. But she must be wrong. This couldn’t just be it.

“How can you be sure?” Aurielle asked. “Maybe a few made it through, and you just don’t know.”

Luky wanted to say the same. And they should mention the birdmen.

Helga closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. “In two hundred years, we’ve had thirty-six arrivals, thirty-seven with yours. People from all over Terra came here, and many tried to face the storm to return home. Don’t you think that if one had succeeded, the world would have found out about this place?”

Aurielle fell silent. Luky had nothing to say. The Elder had made a sad and solid point. Maybe the birdmen weren’t the key after all.

“You may settle by the Common Plot until we replace you a home,” Helga said. “We will get you some clean clothes in the meantime.”

“Thank you,” Aurielle said with a smile, but she sounded sad.

A home? Did Luky seriously have to believe that this was it? No, he wouldn’t.

As soon as Ezra woke up, Luky would go tell him everything the Elder had said. Ezra would definitely get angry, and they could figure a way out together.

The Elder saw them out, and the two men from earlier led them to the Common Plot. It was a mound of dried mud behind the Elder’s house closer to the dunes.

A fire had been lit, and fluffy pillows made of old linen sheets were placed by the flames. The night was falling, and just seeing those pillows made Luky realize how tired he was.

The two men left them alone, but not before handing them two bowls of rice with diced fish in spiced gravy.

Luky’s stomach took over. He snatched a bowl and dug into it, muzzle first. This was delicious, scrumptious, divine!

After days surviving on nuts and fruit, this food was a miracle.

Aurielle accepted her bowl, thanked their escort, and went to sit on one of the pillows. However, she did not eat. Instead, she wrapped her arms around her knees and hid her face.

Luky could swear she was crying.