Chapter Four: Brooding

Zircah circled the barges as she watched the fog that preceded them. She didn't like it - it made her hair stand on end, for all that it was meant for the enemy mortals. It looked unnatural, too - she couldn't understand why the human mages from Carthak hadn't bothered to make it look more realistic, or to make it move faster rather than with the slow pace of the war barges. She sighed as she hovered. This was taking too long.

Below her stretched the forces of Mahil Eddace - five galleys and seven smaller, swifter craft. All bristled with archers and other weaponry. Not that they'll be able to do anything until we've taken Pirate's Swoop, Zircah scoffed. Also among the fleet were four Carthaki war barges, loaded with ammunition for their catapults. She smiled grimly. This would be a battle to remember.

She knew that foot-soldiers had surrounded the Swoop during the night, and that she was supposed to hang back with an invisibility spell, but she was worried. She still hadn't worked out the meaning of the dragon and the kraken, but she was certain that what she had Seen pertained to this battle. As they drew closer to the Swoop, she felt the tingle that signified another member of the People and flapped away to the back of Stone Tree nation. She didn't want the People to alert Veralidaine Sarrasri. Zhaneh's incantation had burned the girl's face and name into the mind of every Stormwing alive. Zircah could no more forget it than she could forget which way was up.

Her brows were slanted in a concerned frown, her full lips frozen in a perturbed grimace of discontent. It was unusual for her to show so much emotion, but she couldn't help it. She kept her gaze down until they were warned to activate their invisibility charms, and then hovered while she muttered the spell under her breath. She rolled her eyes as she saw several Stormwings struggling with the spell, and flapped hard to gain some height so that she wouldn't run into anyone who thought moving fast while invisible was a good thing.

She Scoped ahead to see the fog dissipate and smiled as she spotted Veralidaine. The mortal girl was on one of the towers, gazing down in shock at the fleet that had been sent to destroy her. Zircah grinned despite herself. It was nice to know that Stormwings could still elicit the old response in their mortal prey.

One Stormwing flickered out of invisibility and pushed out ahead. She frowned as she recognised him - Nashua was one of the more important Stormwings from Zhaneh's nation. He was obviously going to be the messenger to Pirate's Swoop. The corner of her mouth twitched upwards briefly as she saw bows rise all along the castle's walls. So, that's her range, is it? That's not too bad, for a human.

Nashua landed on a galley to retrieve a scroll and a white flag. Zircah snorted at the symbol of peace and watched as a dozen archers, Veralidaine included, locked the Stormwing into their sights. Nashua tossed the scroll in front of a brown-haired man - the baron of Pirate's Swoop - and waited as he picked it up and read it aloud to those around him. The baron's face hardened and he spat at Nashua. The male Stormwing's glee was apparent even from this distance as he flapped back towards the invisible flocks.

Zircah felt rather than saw the osprey launch an attack on the unsuspecting Nashua. She let out a snigger as the male flailed in mid-air and shrieked rather girlishly. The mages on the ships below them spread their arms and a wide golden gate opened. More Stormwings poured from the opening in a torrent of silver wings and shrieks. For a moment, there was a scarlet something in the gateway, but then it was gone.

Zircah felt the tug of another's mind - like the People, but not - and her eyes widened as the osprey broke off his attack to go back to Veralidaine. She stared at the mortal in surprise. Does she... can she... I had no idea we were dealing with another who could speak the tongue of Beasts.

She released her invisibility along with the rest of the Stormwings in a great blaze of gold fire, putting on speed to attack the Swoop. Calling upon her Stormwing powers, she blazed forward and bore down on the mortals with a wave of Fear. They cowered from the sudden onslaught of ice-cold emotion and Zircah shrieked a war-cry as she swooped over the archers, using all her speed and agility to stay clear of arrows.

Nashua, not twenty feet from her, dropped as an arrow went straight through him. She tried not to poke her tongue out at him as he went down. Serves you right, girly bird. Zircah thought smugly as she released a wave of crimson fire at the Swoop.

She felt a gap in Veralidaine's magic like a sudden breeze on a still day, and hundreds of birds streamed from the woods behind the castle. They flew at the Stormwings with shrill cries that hurt her ears and began to swarm around as many as possible, blinding and deafening them. Zircah slammed into those that came near her with all the force of her wild magic and screamed with it at others. Leave them! Leave them be! They'll kill you!

She could hear Veralidaine screaming the same thing, but didn't pause to wonder how. The birds ignored them both, but stayed away from Zircah in response to her frantic cries. They knew she was People, now, and they wouldn't harm her unless she forced them to.

It took about three hours before the Stormwings became bored of the battle. Zircah glided serenely around to the woods on the opposite side of the Swoop and disembowelled a corpse with her talons. All around her, her kind enjoyed the carnage, using their magic to amuse themselves by making the corpses dance. Zircah herself ate her fill for the first time in months and then flew a mile away to the ocean to wash the blood from her skin. She didn't want the metallic odour of blood clinging to her along with the usual Stormwing scent of rotting flesh. When she returned to the skies, she was clean and fresh, her hair drying in the wind behind her.

She stopped abruptly as she heard soaring notes in her mind. A dragon? What's a dragon doing here? She watched a ripple of magic descend on Pirate's Swoop and stared as a dragon appeared. She was small for her kind, but still very impressive as her scales shone with her fury. Zircah could hear her from where she hovered:

- Kidnappers! Filthy kidnappers! Rend them, take the raven-haired one to a cage on the ships! Bring me here? You will send me home with your human tricks! -

Zircah's eyes widened. She thought that the mortals of the castle had brought her here? She looked at the red robed mages on the galleys. You've tricked her... you've lied to a dragon. You fools!

And as the great dragon landed on the deck, Zircah felt the tingle of wild magic at the edge of her mind and knew that the dragon was hurt. Not the dragon. Inside the dragon. And the young mortal, Veralidaine, was Healing her. Zircah let out a squeak of surprise as the dragon let out a melodious roar and took off into the air again, disappearing under her magical cloaking spell. As she came within a hundred feet of Zircah, the Stormwing was flooded with information as she attempted to speak with the dragon. Then Flamewing was gone and Zircah's eyes widened until they were like to saucers.

"Holy Mithros, she's pregnant!" She yelled in excitement, and took off after the departing dragon. Immortal births were always difficult - that was why all had been astonished when Zhaneh had thrown Zircah from her eyrie. Stormwings valued young for this reason, and Zircah wasn't going to leave the young Flamewing alone in a strange realm to have her kit.

She couldn't even dream of flying as fast as the dragon, though, so she was too late to do anything but land and introduce herself to the dragon and the kit.

- Greetings, wise one. - She said reverently. - Do you require assistance in any way? -

- Eater, why have you left the battle? Do you tire of your duty? - The dragon was puzzled as she nuzzled her kit.

- Our duty has been forgotten by the mortals, Flamewing. It cannot be done until they all remember what we live for. I came here to make sure that all went well with the birth of your kit. I did not sense her in you when first I saw you. -

- That is because she was hurt badly and near death. The red robes on the ships... - The dragon trailed off, listening intently to something that Zircah couldn't hear. She bowed her head to look down at her kit and then back to Zircah with slit-pupilled eyes. - Guard Skysong, Eater, if you wish to help. I go to take my revenge on the red robes and to repay the mortal that healed my kit. -

Zircah was stunned, but nodded. - I will guard her until you return, Flamewing. - The dragon chuckled softly at this, and trotted the short way to the cave's entrance. She looked about outside with calm amber eyes.

- If you do not trust this Eater, keep him away from Skysong. - She suggested, then took off in a swirl of violet scales. Zircah blinked and rushed to the entrance, where a shell-shocked Rikash was coming in for a landing. The male paused in his descent when she appeared and glided down more slowly.

"What do you want, Moonsword?" Zircah called. Her eyes were narrowed as she spread her wings to bar him entrance to the cave. Rikash halted his descent completely.

"I could ask you the same question. You shrieked, and I quote, 'Holy Mithros, she's pregnant!' at the top of your lungs and then went tearing off away from Pirate's Swoop. I wanted to know what in the name of the Black God you were talking about, so I followed you." He said. Zircah watched him carefully before retreating into the cave so that the male could land.

"The dragon had a kit. I'm guarding her until Flamewing returns." She said, gazing directly into Rikash's eyes. "If you're having thoughts of harming her, you can forget it. You would die before you moved half an inch."

Rikash looked mildly insulted. "Have you forgotten that I'm a Stormwing? I would no sooner kill a child than cut off my wings." He glared at her.

"My mother was a Stormwing, too. She threw me to my probable death. She held out her wings for children's throats to be slit, Moonsword. What does that make of Stormwing honour?" Her voice was cold but strangely calm. Rikash stared at her in a triangulation of disgust, horror and disbelief. "That's right, Moonsword. She's not at all the honourable queen you may have thought she was, and nor are her subjects."

Rikash shifted from foot to foot and glanced further into the cave at an inquiring whistle. It appeared the dragon kit had woken up. She wobbled forward and Zircah moved in front of her automatically, nudging her back into the cave depths with the blunt edges of her wings.

"Skysong, you mustn't go out there." She murmured soothingly. "You'll fall." Skysong chirped and skittered back towards Rikash. Zircah jerked her head at him. "Moonsword, come in here so she doesn't go near the edge."

Rikash moved forward with an ungainly skipping motion that made Zircah smile. Her longer legs made it much easier to walk on land. She had none of the trouble other Stormwings seemed to.

A white hot pain flooded through her mind and she let out a screech that near deafened Rikash. Into her mind floated an image of the cave they were in, a thanks and a summoning - the summoning and the image were not for her. The pain blinked out abruptly and Zircah knew that Flamewing was dead. Even as she heard Rikash asking if she was all right, she felt the approach of a much larger, much older immortal and understood her prophecy.

"Flamewing is dead - the kraken has come to the battle. Only there is no battle any more. It's almost over." She smiled bitterly. "And my mother... my mother is about to die."

"What?" Rikash stared at her. "Are you serious, Bladewing?"

"Of course, Moonsword. When am I not? The battle is over. Flamewing is sending another to be the guardian of her kit. It can only be Veralidaine." She sounded lost and dazed, even to her own ears. "She has wild magic too, you know. She can speak to the Beasts, just like I can. That's where my Healing comes from." She laughed slightly, and Rikash looked at her as though she had gone mad. She wasn't sure she could reassure him that was false - she wasn't certain that it was.

It took two days before Zircah felt the kraken's departure. She smiled when she felt his black tinge leaving her radar - it was an overbearing darkness on all her senses. She and Rikash waited for several more hours until Zircah could feel people coming.

"We should leave before Veralidaine arrives." She told Rikash. The male had been startlingly quiet and subservient while they waited - she had no notion as to why. He looked up from teasing Skysong with a feather and nodded.

"You're certain she will come?" Zircah smirked at his veiled concern for the dragon kit.

"She's coming now, Moonsword." She said wryly. "If you're going to be sentimental about it, we can wait ten miles out from the shore until she leaves and come back to check that Skysong isn't still here."

Rikash snorted. "You're actually going to leave the dragon kit with a mortal?"
"It's what Flamewing wanted." Zircah said simply. Rikash's green eyes hardened as he nodded and looked down at Skysong, who was twined about his legs like a cat. Zircah smiled gently as she called to the dragon with her magic. Skysong chirruped and waddled towards her, much more used to walking now.

"Perhaps we'll see you again, Skysong." She murmured as she put a light sleep-spell on the dragon. It would last until someone entered the cave. Skysong squeaked as she let out a yawn, and curled up between two rocks. Zircah smiled down at the dragon kit and moved reluctantly towards the mouth of the cave. "Hurry up, Moonsword."

She took off and struck out south without waiting for Rikash. She knew he'd follow her. He caught up a few minutes later. "Carthak?" He queried blandly.

"Carthak. I presume that's where Jokhun has led the rest of Stone Tree." Zircah replied. She and Rikash had come to an odd sort of peace in the last two days. Rikash knew that it was because he was terrified of the little copy of him she might destroy if he annoyed her, but Zircah had no idea of this. All she knew was that it was nice to have the infamous pest of Stone Tree nation more or less on her side.

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A/N: Well, that's another chapter done, and the end of the Wild Magic section of this story! ^^ Now we can get on to more interesting things... like Dunlath. Mwaa. *glee* Please review and let me know what you think!