8

Despite having a good night's rest and who knew how many of those sickly chocolate calorie bars, Kai not only found himself ravenous on entering Tala's cabin, but exhausted as well, despite being rather untouched by the cold. Before he could think otherwise, he sat down on the mess of furs before the fire and woke up freezing to the point of pain.

Hissing profanities, he sat up and glared at the depressing flames in the fireplace.

"Don't you have any decent firewood?" asked Kai as he threw in a log from the pile besides it. "Or better yet, some coal?"

"Since when have you complained about the cold?" said Tala, who came around with a poker to stab at the roast hanging over the fire. "Besides, low flames are best for cooking."

Kai rolled his eyes and started tearing off his boots.

"That'll just make you colder—" Tala cut off with a spluttering choke as Kai thrust his feet into the coals.

Kai let out an explosive sigh as the heat spidered up his chins.

Tala just stared.

"I know," said Ray, coming around to Kai's other side. "I had to dump him into a steel drum of fire. Freaking weird, isn't it?"

"And he's not going to come back with his flesh peeling off, right?"

"Don't talk about me like I'm not here," said Kai flatly, even as he found the reason he had fallen so cold. The fire he had stoked so carefully from his gut to the rest of him had died down as he slept. As his eyes drooped, he could only guess that it was because of exhaustion. He could keep the cold at bay, but it took it out of him. Being a being of fire just gained another negative.

As though reading his thoughts, Ray said, "You're not looking so good."

"Keep your opinions to yourself." Kai pulled off his gloves and thrust his hands into the fire as well. As he watched the little yellow flames and red coals spark colors across his honey skin, he drowsily thought of how he could squeeze himself into the fireplace after dinner…and if it would be worth it.

"So, how'd you guys get here?" Tala asked. "Ray got me up to when he was catnapped in LA and taken to that, gasp, secret army base. Then you woke up and everything's got to be about the guy whose wings are taking up most of my house."

In Kai's defense, Tala's one-room (literally one little box of wood), was quite tiny. Tiny was best for heating purposes up so far near the arctic circle.

Kai made a grunting noise to express that he was too tired for storytelling. The only reason he was still conscience was to keep his extremities in the fire and to eat the meat as soon as it was done.

So Ray, polite as ever, continued with what had happened in the lab and where they had split off.

"…and then, somehow, Kai had gotten into the volcano and came shooting out the top so hot, he was like a small sun or flying meteorite. It was brilliant—uh, I mean. Literally. He just burned through everything."

Tala didn't make any noises to Ray's narrative. But when Ray came around to how they had stolen a U.S. Navy ship, albeit the smallest one there, he let out a low whistle.

"That's hard core," he said to Kai. "But please tell me you didn't sail that thing here."

Kai glanced at him, frowning. Tala met his eye, blinked, groaned, and slapped Kai over the head.

"You idiot," he growled. "Every U.S. Navy ship has a GPS tracking device."

Every muscle in Kai's body went rigid. Tala went on about how it would be stupid for any nation's navy to not have tracking on their boats, but Kai hardly heard him. Beside him, Ray had also stiffened and rose.

"We have to get back," Ray's voice had gotten high.

Tala frowned. "Sunset's almost past. I don't know if you've ever lived in the artic zone, but you don't travel at night. Especially if you're a soft noob—"

"I made it here, didn't I? Besides, we'll be on your snowmobile. But we have to go, now."

Kai brought his feet out of the fire and proceeded to stuff the hot, ashy bits into his boots.

"Hold on, I haven't even told you everything yet," said Tala.

"That can wait," said Kai. "Where's the keys?"

Tala hit Kai upside the head, earning him a vicious snarl, which Tala met head on with icy blue eyes. Ray merely flinched.

"You're not going to be helping anyone if you don't think first. Have some faith in your teammates. Also, I need to tell you about what I found up here."

"Then don't let me stop you," Kai snapped, tying the last lace with a vicious knot.

"There's another one up here."

Ray, who had been mid-zip of the upper part of his coat, blinked at him. "What?"

"Another one like you out here," he said, nodding to Kai. "Guy with wings, except the feathers were made of some crystalline stuff. Was like looking at freaking rainbow apocalypse."

That did make Kai stop. Even Ray stilled, having heard the stories of Ayah's mother.

"Why didn't you mention this before?" Kai asked. "Why now? It won't change that we need to get back to hide the others."

"Because I think he might already be dead," said Tala grimly. "He hardly wore anything, well, anything for out here, and he was skinny as a rake. And I thought I'd been dreaming. What kind of weirdo comes out here wearing rainbow wings? But, if there's a chance he's not dead-"

"He'll be dead soon," finished Kai with a nod. "Did he see you?"

Tala snorted. "Like hell. But I wouldn't put it past him to be aware of the crap that's following you lot around, so he's probably as good at hiding as I am. Might not be a bad idea to make it obvious who you are."

Kai nodded again and stood, just for a dizzy spell to take him. He caught himself on the mantle just as Ray reached out to catch him.

"I'm fine," he waved Ray's hands away impatiently. "Where did you see him?"

"About a degree north and point five west—oy, where do you think you're going?"

"Since when were you in the business for stupid questions?" he threw on his trench coat backwards and twisted his back to Ray, who reached for the straps without needing to be asked.

"Maybe you should eat—" Ray started.

"No, I need the last of the daylight. He has to see me." Kai slipped off his belt and used it to hold down the coat just beneath his wings. "And if he's what Tala says, he's most likely related to Ayah."

"Then I'll come with you."

"No. You stay here and get ready to leave. I shouldn't be gone too long, and I'd like to think a big red bird in the sky is going to stand out."

Tala, who had been poking his roast again, sighed, but Kai ignored him. Warmth had returned to his blood as his heart had picked up speed. Loathing, sharp and sour, stuck to the back of his throat. How could he have forgotten the tracking of all things? They should have abandoned the boat, taken the rest of the journey by train hitchhiking, or on foot.

As a last minute thought, he loosened his pants and tugged out his tail.

"Not that it matters or anything," said Tala. "But if the army isn't crawling all over your boat when we get back, I can disable the tracking device."

"We'll worry about it then. How's it looking Ray?"

"Everything's looking good back here. Hurry, alright?"

Kai nodded, then stepped out of the door and into the blue amber of a dying day. Cold reached through his feathers and bit at the flesh exposed by his tail. Gritting his teeth against the bite, he pounded himself up, spraying dry snow in a spinning flurry about him, and climbed into the air.

He didn't go too far, leveling out only a few meters above the sparse treetops. He tugged out the GPS from his coat pocket and picked his course. Eyeing the expanse before him, he mentally marked how far he would go before looping around and slipping the GPS back into his coat.

If he were right and this was a member of Ayah's family that had somehow escaped…

I think he might be already dead…

His chest constricted. What would Ayah do when she heard Tala had seen someone who looked like her family member up here? Tala had said 'guy' but it was often difficult to see with any kind of weather gear, and even though he said he wore little for 'out here,' what was little for out here was still a good amount for elsewhere.

Then another thought occurred to him that made his insides squeeze all the harder: if they had him, how would they get back in time with only one snowmobile? Someone would have to come up from behind on foot.

Energy sucked out from his wings like a leech, and the bitter cold was beginning to reach down into his lungs. He coughed, tottered in the sky, and carried on with a hand over his mouth. Every part of him had begun to shiver violently, and no amount of stoking of the fire within him would keep the warmth in his cramping wings.

I think he might be already dead…

What was he doing? He should be heading to Ayah and the others right now. He should be flying as fast as he could back to the ocean. Why was he out here looking for someone who might already be dead?

Just as he turned to head back, the golden rim of the sun peeking over like a small flim on the distant hills, a flash of light distracted him. He looked towards the source, but saw nothing. Fluttering to a stop, he waited, churning the air, growing colder by the second.

And then he saw him, staring up at him from a clearing Kai had already looked over, surrounded with glittering, mirrorlike surfaces like a mirage.

Breathless, he dropped fast, sinking knee deep into the snow. But his eyes were to the man looking back at him with clear, glass-like eyes.

Tala hadn't been kidding when he had said the guy was skinny. His face was gaunt, shadowed, and the light white cloth he'd wrapped about himself like a kid trying to play mummy with a bedsheet did nothing to hide his skinny limbs, or the fact that he looked like he hadn't eaten a good meal in weeks, maybe even months. His lips were cracked, but pink, not blue, despite his lack of winter gear. He was pale, pale as the snow, but his hair was more of a yellow white.

And his wings. He had folded them in, but they dragged iridescent mirrors behind them, and small rainbows danced on the trees and snow. Crystalline feathers, reflecting what was left of the thin, gold sunlight.

"Hey," said Kai, clearing his throat. "I think I know your sister."

The man didn't say anything. He just blinked slowly. Kai couldn't understand how he could look so intense and vapid at the same time. He wondered if the man even cared that Kai was there.

"Your sister," said Kai clearly, trying it in both Russian and English. "She has white wings." He pointed at his wings. "Her name is Ayah."

Something flickered across the other man's face, and a bit of the glassy look to his eyes cleared. "Ayah?" His voice rasped from what could have been disuse.

Kai nodded. "Ayah. She sings. Has good hearing," he mimicked hearing something.

All vapidness left him and his eyes widened. He spoke something else, something urgent, but Kai couldn't even begin to guess what language he was speaking. He inwardly groaned.

"Guess the talent for language doesn't go to everyone in the family." Eager to get back before either of them froze to death, he gestured to the man to follow and kicked back up into the air.

Iridescent wings, with feathers like dragonfly wings, spread out, dwarfing the wasted body they were attached to. For a moment, Kai feared the guy wouldn't be able to even get into the air, but with a smooth ease that spoke of years of experienced, he lifted into the air and leveled with Kai, wings flashing many colors.

Kai led his…remarkably easily found companion back to Tala's hut, a new kind of tension rising in his gut. If this guy really did know Ayah, what would he do if Kai lead him back to the ocean just to find his sister gone with the army? He looked as though a good breeze would do him over.

Besides that, how was he still alive? He half wondered if he was leading a ghost back home.

As he landed in front of the cabin, he could sense the hesitance of his companion. Trails of white cloth fluttered down with his glassy tail feathers. Kai gestured him in, having to be more insistent when the man caught sight of the others inside. In fact, his legs went stiff as a board, and Kai had to nearly force him through the door.

Tala and Ray did quite a bit of staring.

"That was…quick," said Tala, almost uncertainly.

"Must be fate?" said Ray.

"How close is that meat to done?" Kai asked, patience thin and fighting the temptation to just throw himself headfirst into the fire.

"Uh, probably now, if you're okay with medium rare." Tala tugged out the spit. "Does, uh…he want some?"

"What do you think?" Kai asked dryly.

Even so, he was impressed with how well Tala was taking all this. Two winged freaks in his cabin and a tiger boy and he had yet to question his sanity. He just speared his meat, sliced it into four hunks, and tossed it out to each of them. Kai was the only one who didn't instantly hiss in pain from the contact of fresh off the fire flesh. Kai was also the only one who dug into it right away, revealing in the meat.

The new man gave him a guarded, wary look and shifted.

"Ayah," he said again, along with those other strange words.

"What was that?" asked Ray.

"Tala, interpret," said Kai through a mouthful of food.

"How the hell am I supposed to know?"

"You know more languages than me."

"Yeah, Greek and French, that hardly counts as the whole book. Whatever he's speaking, I don't have a clue."

Great. So they'd have to wait till they got to Ayah. The thought of her made him chew faster.

"I'll fly ahead," he said in between bites. "Tala and Ray, you follow behind. We're leaving once we're done."

"What about the, uh, fallen angel?" Tala asked. "Guy looks dead on his feet."

At least said guy was biting into his own serving with a healthy appetite.

"Well, since none of us can speak his language," Kai swallowed. "He'll get to do whatever he darn pleases. I'm still flying ahead. If he drops out of the sky or something, do me a favor and sling him over the back or something."

Tala eyed the white visitor, who sensed his gaze and looked back with that same, guarded, wary expression. "At least he won't weigh too much. It's a snowmobile, though, not a personnel carrier."

"Was he really that close?" asked Ray. "This is so…weird."

"Too lucky," said Tala with a heavy, suspicious frown. "These people are suppose to be borderline extinct, and one just happens to bunk up around where I choose to hide out? This isn't exactly bird-person paradise."

"Less talking. More eating."