Embers (The Wings of War Book 1) (26 page)

I was wobbly for a few seconds, surrounded by the flesh of my own weak body.  The shock of the bright colors was startling.  I blinked, getting used to the rainbow again. 

“So…how was it?”  Ila asked, curious and impatient at the same time.  She reminded me of my fifth grade swimming coach after the first time I did a flip off the diving board.   

“It was amazing.  I wasn’t expecting to feel her body that way.” 

Ila nodded and for the next hour I practiced entering Angus’s mind, a squirrel’s, and even the cat’s mind.  The Siamese had been the most difficult to work with, but I’d succeeded in the end. 

The difference between each animal’s body and the variations of their vision was wondrous.  To feel them all so intimately was similar to lying in a strange hotel room’s bed and reluctantly, right before sleep crept in, the bed suddenly felt like home. 

I was pumped and confident when Ila asked me to join her again on the bench.  She surveyed the area for a minute before pointing a short distance away at a gnarled old Mulberry tree.  The crow was now perched on one of its lower branches. 

“I think you’re ready to learn to fly,” Ila said nonchalantly.

Apprehension fluttered in my belly.  “Is it much different than entering an animal’s mind?” 

“Yes, very different.  You have something in common with the animals you entered—you’re all grounded to the earth.  The bird, on the other hand, will take you into the air where it is foreign for your mind to go.  I must tell you right now that this doesn’t work well with all birds, especially birds of prey.  They panic when they feel the touch of another mind and they’ll fly themselves into the ground.  You can never be in the mind of a bird or animal when it dies, Ember.  It could mean death for you also.” 

I listened closely as she explained about the different types of birds and the method to enter them.  I would be able to go over the top, the same as with the animals, but the walls were always moving.  I’d have to feel my way around.  She told me that long ago, Watchers had discovered that Crows and Ravens were their friends.  Those birds enjoyed being touched by a Watcher’s mind.  They would follow us on their own accord, lending their services freely. 

“Are you ready, my girl?” 

I nodded.

“As before, don’t stay in too long, until you are more practiced.  Remember that you’re pulling more of the earth’s energy to do this, which means, you’ll be affected afterwards.  Not too much, but you should be prepared nonetheless.”

I studied the crow that had swooped from the branch to the ground, a few feet away.  It appeared to be waiting for me.  I called to it with my mind.  It responded instantly, lifting from the ground with a flap and landing on the arm of the bench. 

It was almost too easy.  While the bird waited, I slipped out of my body and into the crow’s.  It let me in with no argument.  Its body was so light that I felt nonexistent, as if I was a wisp of fog.  There was just a speck of solidness to keep me from floating away.  The sight from the bird was completely different than the animals, too.  Everything was extra vibrant, bright and colorful.  With sudden excitement, I wasted no time asking Mister Crow to lift his wings.  Up, up, up into the air we went!

The first thing that rocked me was a sense of vertigo.  I closed my eyes for a second and that made it worse.  It was as if I was on the scariest amusement ride ever made—after I’d eaten five funnel cakes.  Mister Crow was not moving very fast, but Ila was right, my mind was fighting the sensation.  And my poor brain kept thinking that we were about to drop from the sky at any second.

That didn’t happen, though.  Instead we soared up even higher, out over the trees we traveled.  Every few seconds that passed, the nausea lessoned, until I felt as if all I really needed to do was burp.  I could deal with that feeling, so I began to look around in earnest.  Ila and I were just specks on the ground, the barn and cabin looked like toys.  Once my mind acclimated, my heart beat slowed.  The view was spectacular. 

Ila had said to stay with the bird for only a short time, but I really wanted to see something. I asked the bird to turn north and it did so without hesitation.  We flew away from Ila’s valley, staying parallel to the road.  I was just about to turn Mister Crow back, thinking I had misjudged the distance, when I saw it. 

The compound was directly below us.  The massive fence looked like it was a miniature Great Wall of China, meandering around a large area of land.  It might have been a thousand acres, completely wooded and secluded.  Here and there were neat looking cabins that were spaced out among the trees.  Situated near the center of the enclosure was an octagon shaped building.  Sawyer’s Hummer was parked near the building that was the Smoky Mountain equivalent to the White House. 

There weren’t any Demons wandering around that I could see. Maybe the others slept during the day, like vampires?   All was quiet.  There were no evil deeds going on that I could see.

Feeling ever braver on the wings of the swift bird, I asked him to fly lower.  Call me nuts, but I planned to land on the skeleton branches of the tree beside the Hummer.   

We were almost there when I heard a distant call.  Similar to an echo, it started out soft and grew in intensity.  It was Ila, and she wanted me back,
pronto.
  I didn’t know if she was calling the crow and I’d heard or if she was directly communicating with me. Either way, I certainly didn’t want to incite her wrath.  We turned and headed for the valley with the wind at our back, pushing us along.  I was disappointed to leave.  I wanted to see Sawyer and perhaps get an idea of what his world was like. 

Strange, come to think of it, in the bird’s mind I didn’t feel any fear or anxiety at being in the fort.  Maybe it was because it wasn’t in any danger.  After all, Demons eat human souls, not crow souls.  I contemplated this as we flew swiftly on the air currents into the valley.  When I saw myself clearly, sitting next to Ila, I slipped out of the bird and back into myself. 

For several minutes I held my head between my knees.  I was both dizzy and nauseous.  It was awful. I dropped to the ground and rolled into a fetal position.  Angus’ furry body curled around me and he rested his head on my shoulder.  I was vaguely aware of the sunflower seeds in the dirt near my face and the birds pecking at them.  Angus didn’t like the birds doing that one bit and he nearly snatched one from the air before I found the strength to tell him
no
with my mind.

“Serves you right, young lady—staying in the crow all that time to fly down and spy on your boyfriend,” Ila spat angrily.

She might have been right about staying in the Crow too long, but the part about the
boyfriend
made my body temperature spike. 

Honey warmth spread through me and I began to feel much better.   

A light switched on in my head.  As my body heated, the belly ache disappeared.  I was healing myself. 

Feeling in fighting form, I glared at Ila.  “He’s not my boyfriend.  I just wanted to see what the compound looked like.  That’s all.”

“You don’t need to know what the compound looks like.  What is it you hoped to see?  Something that might give you nightmares that my tea won’t chase away?  Some things are better left unknown.  Besides, you used way too much power for a novice.”  Ila was still upset, but better composed as she went on, “What do you think is going on with your body when you’re gone?”

When I shrugged, she barked, “Nothing!  That’s what’s going on—
nothing.
You’re lucky I was here to make sure no harm came to you.  Don’t be a fool thinking you can go off into the minds of birds and animals and be safe leaving your body alone and vulnerable.  Many a Watcher has died young making that mistake.”

Ila was more upset than I’d ever seen her.  Her emerald eyes flashed and her face was puffy red. 

“I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean to scare you.  I guess I got carried away at the freedom of it all.  And the crow was willing to take me anywhere I wanted to go.”

Ila was right.  I had been stupid and reckless.  I was turning out to be the worst Watcher ever.  I wanted to be Ila’s star pupil, not a dreaded troublemaker. 

I looked at her from under my eyelashes, forcing the fake tears to trickle down my cheeks.  I’d learned long ago how to avoid punishment from my parents by using the exact same sniffle show.  I wasn’t so sure if it would work with Ila though.  She had strong emotional defenses built in. 

Ila sighed and shook her head in disgust.  “You’re going to be the death of me if you don’t start practicing a little more caution.”

Trying to make a clean break from my wrong-doing, I changed the subject.  “If Crows and Ravens are the easiest birds to work with, why even try to use others?”

“Just because something is easy, doesn’t always make it best.”  Ila extended her hand, which I took.  She pulled me to my feet.  We started up the path toward the barn, with Angus, Riley and the Siamese in tow.  Ila continued.  “As I said, predatory birds are more difficult to enter, but if you have a relationship built up with one, it will let you in.  They are very dependable and intelligent.  I once found a young injured owl in the forest.  It had gotten into a scrape with a larger hawk and lost.  I used the power to heal him.  After that, he visited the cabin regularly and I gave him scraps from the table.  Eventually, I felt comfortable entering his mind.” 

While Ila told the story I watched Cricket attempting to buck off a pesky fly.  Finally, she dropped into the soft grass to smash the annoyance.  At the moment the mare hit the ground, realization struck me the same as a tidal wave crashing into a sandy beach.   

“You were spying on me!  Yesterday at the falls, you were with that owl that was watching us.  I bet it was the same owl that was showing off above the truck, when I drove up the mountain for the first time,” I practically shouted, but I felt justified for the pitch level.

“Hmmm, impressive,” she nodded to herself. “That’s very good, my dear.  You are perceptive, especially considering you were distracted by the Demon.” 

She’d actually said it in a mocking tone. 

I was so angry I couldn’t even speak.  We just stood there staring at each other for a long moment, me fuming and Ila as cool as a cucumber. 

Ila was the one to break the silence.

“Do you remember when you asked me if it bothered me to have Demons living down the road, and I told you it didn’t?  I wasn’t entirely honest with you.  I should have said that it never
used
to bother me.  But now that you’re with me, it is a worry, especially with that young one pining after you.  Originally, I went out with the owl searching for you when you were late.  When I came upon your truck and Sawyer’s black vehicle parked in the woods, I followed the trail.  I guessed where you were going and got there ahead of you.  When I saw you were safe, I left.”  She said it convincingly enough that I believed her. 

I blushed.  She’d seen me on the rocks with Sawyer? 

“Why did you call Sawyer my boyfriend?”  I was dreading her answer.

“I’ve been around a long time and being an earth Watcher I have a strong intuition about matters of attraction between people.  There is no doubt that you both are seriously infatuated with one another.  You will have to make a decision soon about what type of life you wish to live.  There are issues that come along with a Demon that are not pleasant.  You may have strong feelings for him, but it would be a difficult road to follow. And in the process you would lose much of yourself.” 

She said it kindly, as if she really did understand.  My anger disappeared and was replaced with denial.  “I admit Sawyer is good looking and all, but his arrogance irritates me.  I don’t want to be with a Demon.  It’s ridiculous.”  When she lifted her eyebrows, I quickly said, “No really, there’s even a boy at school who I’ve taken a liking to.  Don’t worry about anything going on between me and Sawyer.” 

I thought I sounded indisputable, but Ila only shook her head.  She obviously didn’t believe me.  She walked away, leaving me standing on the path beside Angus.  She stopped only briefly to call over her shoulder that dinner would be ready in a short while.  Riley was with her when she disappeared around the corner of the barn.   

I patted Angus’ head.  Somewhere between the time when I was explaining myself to Ila and she’d walked away, an idea had sprouted.  It was probably insane—no, it definitely was insane, but the thought was growing and taking life with each second that passed. 

I would follow through and deal with the consequences later. 

Tomorrow, I’d go to the falls after school and see if I could use the power to summon Sawyer there.  I had an offer for him. 

One I didn’t think he could refuse.  

Luke 1:26

Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth.

Sawyer ~ Twenty-Four

D
arkness had fallen by the time we arrived at the compound.  Ivan went quickly to the house he shared with Lutz and Cray.  The kid was often there alone as the two shape shifters spent much of the time in their animal forms prowling the woods beyond the fence.  After seeing his exuberance at the social interplay with the strange humans that evening, I felt sorry for him.  He was a pack animal and he spent too much time alone.