"You can do magic?" Toran gaped at the small golden sphere between Naru's hands.
"yes, my entire family could." Naru let the light fade, his tail feathers folding behind him.
"I remember someone saying that the peacock humanus were special, but I thought they had died along with the furso." Xicro said quietly, still stunned by the sight of magic from a humanus.
"Most did. I was raised by an old sparrow. My parents were killed when I was very young." Naru nodded sadly.
"How much magic do you know?" Toran looked Naru over, from his black bird-like feet to his green and blue feather-like hair. He was so noticeable it was almost laughable- he would be a direct target in battle.
"Enough." Naru grinned, his image slowly fading to that of a human with tan skin and brown hair, but the same bright green eyes. "It's only an illusion, though. If anyone touches me, they'll feel feathers rather than skin." Naru glanced back at Althea, who was watching him in shock. "Can't she do magic too?"
"No, she can't. She's not from around here." Toran looked over to Althea, amused by her shock at seeing magic.
"I guess not, huh? I thought all humans knew magic. Where is she from?"
"A long way away. We'll discuss this later- I'd like to get the children out of here." Toran looked to Sox, who was still hiding among the feathers of Umou's massive brown wings.
"Agreed." Naru let the illusion fall, returning to his normal appearance as he walked out of the room. Toran walked in, putting a hand on Althea's shoulder to guide the shocked woman out the door.
"You'll have a lot more than that to deal with, Althea. You'll be okay." He said softly as they walked out to follow the others.

Althea glanced to Naru as they walked through a forest to the nearest avian village. Naru was discussing with Toran what he had heard from the humans while he was in the dungeon. She was still chocked from the sight of Naru's magic, and was amused by his abnormal appearance compared to the other bird humanus. The long peacock tail behind him was about 10 feet long, and dragged like a bridal train. His hair was made of longer green and blue feathers with a series of Mohawk-like antennae feathers along his head. There was no doubt that he was a peacock, even without his brown wings.
She noticed that while he was walking he was starting to slow down, falling behind everyone has his breath got heavy.
"Are you okay?" Althea asked, slowing to walk beside him.
"I'm not sure, I'm in a lot of pain again." Naru tried to look at the bandage over his shoulder blades, but couldn't quite see it.
"Let me check." Althea looked at his back, her heard skipping a beat when she saw the blood-soaked bandages, dripping down the blue feathers of his back.
"Hey Toran, could we stop at a river or creek or something?" Althea called out Toran, who was walking ahead with the rest of the group.
"Sure." He called back, then continued his conversation with Umou.
"That bad, huh?" Naru asked quietly.
"You're bleeding a lot. I just want to wash your wound and back, and clean out the bandages."
Naru looked back at her in silence for a bit, but smiled as he looked away. "Where are you from, anyway? Toran never answered."
"I'm from Michigan." Althea said quietly, patting the mirror tied to her belt, making sure it was safe.
"Mitchieagin? Weird name for a town." Naru whispered thoughtfully. "Where in the human kingdom is that?"
"It's not. I picked up a mirror in Michigan, and wound up in a huge field. Toran found me."
Woah- wait." Naru stopped in his tracks, looking at Althea in surprise. "You're from the mirror? Like the legend?"
Althea sighed and took the mirror off her belt, showing the shattered glass to naru. He took it from her and turned it around, studying it in interest.
"I want to find a way back home. Mu family is probably worried sick about me."
"So then you don't know magic, because in your world there isn't magic?"
"No, no real magic, only tricks. No humanus either, just normal animals who can't talk."
Naru stayed silent for a bit, then looked away from Althea nervously. "So you like humanus?"
Althea smiled softly. "They're different, that's for sure. But I like you guys just fine. I guess I'm still getting used to the idea of humanoid animals talking to me."
"I'm still getting used to the idea of a human who can't do magic." Naru chickled. "Maybe you just don't know how to use it?"
Althea shrugged as they started walking again, trying to catch up with the others.

"Alright, we're just about to the village. There's a river nearvy, Althea." Toran pointed to a body of water in the distance.
"I'll go and wash Naru's wounds. You guys bring the kids to the village and get them settled." Althea said with a smile, walking with Naru to the water. He hissed as his feet dipped into the cold water, but he walked into the waves quickly, shivering at the temperature as he held his tail feathers above the water.
"Just be careful alright? I don't want to lose any more feathers than I already have." Naru smirked back to Althea as she started unwrapping the bandage from around him, resting her head against his shoulder as she reached around his chest to unravel the cloth. Naru tensed slightly, but relaxed as Althea stood again. She hissed in pity at the bloody mess that were the remains of the wings that had once sprung from Naru's back. The exposed bone was cracked and jagged, showing that the bone hadn't been cut, but had been broken off. She took the cloth and soaked it in the water for a bit before starting to rinse out Naru's back by wringing the water onto his back. He arched his spine at the cold water, letting out a yelp of surprise.
"What are you doing back there?" He tried to turn his head to see her, but the pain stopped him from turning all the way around.
"If I don't rinse it out, it'll get infected and then you'll have big problems. Just calm down." Althea chuckled as Naru held his tail feathers protectively against his chest. She washed out his wounds, then scrubbed the blood out of the down-like feathers of his back, a few of the feathers coming off onto her arms.
"Do you molt at all?" Althea laughed as she looked down at the bright blue feathers all over her.
"Yeah, why? Is it time already?" Naru looked down at the blue feathers floating in the river down the current, and shook his head in dismay. "Figures. It must only be the feathers on my back, though."
"Well what do we have here?" A voice said, making Althea and Naru jump and turn around to see a man standing at the bank of the river, grinning at them wildly. "Is the girly washing her birdie? Oh look, the bird must have lost his wings somehow." The man pouted mockingly.
"Who are you?" Althea demanded, knowing that this human must be an enemy to mock Naru in such a way.
"My name is Sei, bitch. You have some nerve, don't you? Traveling with our enemy when you could be on the winning side of this war. Your stupidity will cost your life, girl." Sei smiled as he unsheathed his sword. Naru stepped back nervously at the sight, and glanced behind him only to see a girl watching him intently from a branch in a tree on the opposite bank. She waved to him happily, jumping down from the branch.
Naru looked from one human to the other before making a squeak of fear and raising his hands into the air, shooting a bright golden pillar of light above him, hoping to signal Toran and the others to come help them before it was too late.