Chapter 28

The Doctor and Lilly were put onto some sort of vehicle and taken away.

"Those are birds," Lilly said quietly, as they bumped along to whatever the destination was.

"Yes."

"Bird people."

"Yes, we've established that. It's rude to stare."

Lilly would never understand how the Doctor worked. Or Pride, but to a very different extent. Here they were, captured by bird people, who thought they were enemies in some sort of war, and the Doctor was telling her to be polite.

It wasn't a very long trip to wherever they were going. The vehicle stopped shortly after they finished talking. The bird people had brought them to some sort of building. It looked wooden from the outside but something didn't seem right.

The kiwi person was practically cheering about having found them as they were brought inside. Lilly had been right. It certainly didn't look like it could be made out of wood on the inside.

"We're not spies," the Doctor said.

"That's exactly what a spy would say," the kiwi person said.

The pigeon person looked a few seconds away from face palming.

"If we were spies, why would we be so far away from your camp?" Lilly tried.

There was more talking as the kiwi person tried to say they were at least enemies, and the pigeon person and someone from inside the building started arguing about what to do with the two. The person from inside the building, resembling a hawk, suggested killing them so they'd be on the rebound. (What did that mean? Lilly did not want to be killed.) The pigeon person considered that cruel and unusual punishment when they were captured and unarmed.

"See? What kind of enemies are unarmed?" the Doctor asked, it seemed she didn't want to be killed either.

"Wait," a new voice said. A person came forward. Brown feathers, big yellow eyes. An owl, likely. There were a few mutters as he stopped in front of them. Something about the Sun Cult? He tilted his head in a very bird like fashion as he looked at them. "There's been a mistake." He grabbed Lilly and pulled her into an upright position, slicing the net with his talon like fingers so she wouldn't get caught up in it. "This is Dauline, the speaker of the Sun God."

"I'm sorry, what now?" the Doctor asked. Lilly was sure glad someone had asked.

Owl man narrowed his eyes at her, an obvious gesture when they were so round. "This is Dauline. She brings messages from the Sun God. She matches the description perfectly. It must be her. They speak through her when they need to speak to us, living on this planet." He turned to the group as large. "We must celebrate!"

He lifted Lilly's hand and a few people applauded, though many didn't seem to know how to react.

Lilly didn't know how to react either. The owl man walked away, dragging her off. A group of about half the bird people followed them as they entered a strange hall. They were walking, but it also seemed like the hall itself was launching them forward, at potentially extreme speeds. Lilly looked around, trying to get her bearings.

"The Doctor? Where's the Doctor?"

"The woman they captured with you? I assumed she was truly a Kinnome, but we can send for her if you like."

Lilly nodded. "Please do."

She wasn't entirely sure what was going on, but they were prisoners before, and now she was somebody important, and that might be a good way to get out of this. Then they could go back to . . . looking for Pride. Right. They still had to find him to get out of this mess. Better see if anyone here had seen him while she was still here as well. She hoped they brought the Doctor. She didn't want to do this alone.

They arrived at the end of the hall, entering a different room. This one seemed to be used for planning. There was a large rectangular wooden table taking up the center of the room, low enough to the ground for people to sit around it without chairs. The walls, and the table, had papers on them. Many of them were maps. However, in the back of the room was a mural. Depicted there was the sun, with a sort of vague glowing being that Lilly assumed was the Sun God. And then, at the end of the mural. Yes, that was her. The mural was made out of tiles, so it couldn't be exact, but it looked like her to a scary degree.

There was a man already inside looking at the mural. He turned around as they came in. Black feathers, black eyes. It would be difficult to guess with certainty, but Lilly assumed he was a raven.

"Dekk. What is the meaning of this?" the raven asked, clearly addressing the owl man.

Dekk didn't seem at all insulted at the tone. "Ther, don't you see? It's Dauline." He held up Lilly's hand again. (Lilly did her best to look like she knew what was going on, like she wanted to be here.) "The prophesy has come true, and the Sun God's spokesperson has returned to us at last."

"Now? During a time of war?" Ther asked. It was hard to see, as his eyes were purely black, but he seemed to be looking Lilly up and down. "This is an obvious hoax."

The crowd behind them muttered to each other.

"It is not a hoax," Lilly said, standing up straighter. Most of them looked at her in surprise then. She'd only spoken once so far, and only quietly to Dekk. Now she was speaking to all of them, and hopefully with some authority. She thought of what Pride and the Doctor did when they were trying to demand some authority, and used that as inspiration. "Anyone can arrive during times of peace. Times of war test faith. A test you seem to be failing, I might add."

"See, what more proof do you need?" Dekk asked.

Ther actually sputtered. "A lot. For one thing, if this is a test of faith, why would you tell me?"

Oh, she hadn't thought of that. She felt her heartbeat go faster.

"Since you're still doubting her, obviously it doesn't matter if you know it's a test or not," Dekk said.

Right, that made sense.

"Silence!" Ther snapped. That shut Dekk's mouth with a clack, as well as some of the muttering behind them. "Do not forget your place here."

Dekk bowed, forming an almost ninety-degree angle with his spine. "Sorry Lord."

The others bowed as well, though less dramatically. Lilly frowned.

Ther turned his attention back to her, putting an arm around her shoulder and pulling her forward. "Are you really Dauline?" He leaned to the side, speaking in her ear, for the next part. "I can help you if you're not. But I need to know."

Lilly stood very still, fighting the urge to tremble. He would feel it, with an arm still on her shoulder.

Maybe he was telling the truth. Or maybe he'd just stab her if she moved too much. She didn't trust Ther, but it occurred to her she'd been automatically trusting Dekk up to this point. What would happen if either of them realized she wasn't Dauline before she could get out? For that matter, what if Dekk could hear them now? He looked like an owl man, owls had very good senses of hearing.

So, with extreme misgivings all around, she gave a shaky nod. "I am Dauline."

Ther pulled away. Then he smiled. "Well then, we must celebrate at once."

Behind them, the bird people cheered.