The Princess's Feathers

And so I explained to the Dragons the events of that fateful day I changed, simplifying the story as much as I could with elements I knew they would be familiar with. I told them who my mother is and why being a ‘princess’ of Ellyntide is important, but skimmed over many of the other events like the incident in the train station and our flight out to the weald. Knowing it would simply confuse them if I tried to explain how a lichen could be used to create ‘medicine’, I simply told them we went to the weald as a favor for my brother.

For my sake, when it came time to tell them about the battle in the weald, I kept Calypso out of the story. I didn’t want to get emotional in front of them, so I told them my ‘protection’ was slain and I was cornered with no chance of surviving the attack.

The story went well from there — it wasn’t necessary to simplify things like my attempts to hunt for prey or learning to fly for the first time. But when I got to the realization that I needed to find other Lithans to survive, Enyll had an objection.

He spoke up suddenly during one of my explanations. “Hold on a second. What’s ‘The Northern Continent’? You used that word earlier, continent. What does it mean?”

“Continent is our word for a really big island,” I explain, looking across the fire. The sun had set by then, casting darkness over the clearing. Light and shadow danced across Enyll’s coppery face as I continued the explanation. “We consider the whole island you live on to be a continent, and we call it the Northern Continent.”

Ykuvi blinks. “That’s your name for this place? Farlanders call our territory the ‘Northern Continent?’”

“Y-yeah,” I stutter, not expecting his flabbergasted response. “Is something wrong with that?”

For a moment the Kin exchange worried glances and speak in murmured voices. “What’s wrong?” I ask again, worry growing that I’d spoken something taboo.

“Fress,” Gima rasps, the fire from the ember root shimmering in her eyes. “This land is not called the Northern Continent. This is Felra.”

I wince at the elder Kin’s rebuke, spoken with a certainty that made it seem she were scolding a petulant child. “Felra? Is that your name for it?”

“It is the name from ancient times,” Enyll explains. “Like your ‘Kingdom’ is called Ellyntide, this land is Felra. How could you not know that?”

I stare into his face, struggling to find words for a response. “I-I don’t know! I’ve never heard that name before in my life! We’ve never called it anything but the Northern Continent!”

How could the Northern Continent be called Felra? It’s called ‘The Northern Continent’ because no nation claims sovereignty over it, so there’s nobody to give it an officially sanctioned name. Questions fly through my head, torn apart by the revelation that something so fundamental to our understanding of the moon could be wrong. What does it mean if a name exists and we just didn’t know about it? Why don’t we know about it?

“Hmph. Your foolish Goddess must have misled you,” Enyll says, offering a possible explanation for my quandary.

It unnerves me to even consider the possibility, but he has a point. If Felra is the true name of the Northern Continent, why hasn’t Etain spoken of it during communion to correct us? Still, more questions fester inside me as I contemplate the implications of this news. What other information might be withheld from us? Is Flera some kind of forbidden place for us to visit? Was mom’s fall in the chapel the other day a warning from Etain? If she was warning her about something then why didn’t she—

“Oh, dear. Enyll, you’ve hurt the poor girl’s head.”

Ykvui’s comment and the subsequent laughter from the Kin bring me back into focus. It seems I had drifted off and stopped responding to them. “Goodness,” I apologize, dipping my head with a speed as I’d just messed up in front of a crowd at a state dinner. “I’d, um, gotten a little lost in my thoughts, there. Sorry…”

For the first time in a while, Kuro smiles at me. “It’s okay, Asha. Please, continue where you left off in your story.”

My embarrassment dissolves hearing Kuro’s encouragement. I nod and straighten myself up so I can continue talking.

I continue with the story, detailing the accidental forest fire, my flight across Sarlain and over the strait into what I now know as Felra. For their part, the Kin sat and listened to me in silence, offering no input as I described places and scenarios they were no doubt already familiar with. Enyll’s face formed a frown as I described approaching the Elderus tree, but he remained silent until I wrapped things up.

“The next thing I knew, my lungs were filled with smoke and I was coughing up a fit. When I opened my eyes, Kuro and Enyll were standing near me with a smoking tree branch. And that is…” I trailed off, releasing a breath. “…the story of how I got here.”

I pause and let my words settle with the Kin. Enyll stares into the ground while Ykuvi and Gima exchange worried glances. Kuro keeps herself focused on me, though I can’t quite make out what she’s thinking through her stoic expression. Perhaps she’s figured out what I’m about to ask them.

“There’s a lot of Farlanders who are grieving for me right now,” I tell them. “I don’t know if I can return to normal, but I at least need to learn how to live in this body. To understand what it’s capable of so I can hunt for prey, and survive until I can figure out a way to let my family know I’m still alive. I… I need your hel—he—“

I try to speak the words to ask them for help, but emotion overcomes my voice. Tears begin flowing and I dip my head, trying but failing to appear strong in front of the older, more experienced Lithans. When I looked at them in the eyes and asked for help, all the trauma from the past few days came to a point inside my head, overwhelming me with too much negative emotion.

I shouldn’t even be here right now.

I just want to tell mom I’m safe.

…

I shake away the tears and force my head back up to face the Kin. “I—I need your help. I will do whatever you ask of me as long as I will be taught how to hunt and live as a Lithan. I don’t know what I can offer you in return, but I’m certain the knowledge I possess by being a Farlander will be useful to you in some way. Please… help me!!”

Silence drifted between the Kin. They rustled and looked between themselves, unsure of how to react until Kuro spoke up. “We must take her to White Mountain.”

Gima’s expression turns resolute, and she nods solemnly to Kuro. “The elders will know what’s best for her.”

“White Mountain? Elders?” I stare at them blankly.

Kuro nods. “Those who hunt well and live fruitful lives retire to White Mountain to live out their twilight as elders. They will decide if you’ll be granted an audience with Keuvra.”

Wait, what!? “Keuvra, your deity?!”

“Keuvra is the leader of our flock. Only those who are his Kin are allowed to be trained by other Kin. The decision on whether you can be trained to hunt rests on his wings.”

My body winces at the bombshell of a revelation Kuro just dropped. Keuvra is their leader? I thought he was their deity!

All the ascendant animal species of the moon follow a deity who acts as a representative for their kind in front of Azurrel, the god of creation. Our holy book suggests that Lithans have a deity named Keuvra, but it seems he’s actually their leader. Or… he couldn’t be both, could he?

Whatever the case, my mind is made up. I jump to my talons and flare my wings wide. “Then I’ll do whatever is necessary to become Keuvra’s Kin and join your flock! I am a devout follower of the Goddess, surely I would be worthy in Keuvra’s eyes!”

I don’t even know what joining their flock entails, or what sort of stipulations they may impose on me. But it doesn’t matter. If this is my best shot of learning how to live as a Lithan and being able to see my family again then I’ll do it unconditionally.

What really entices me though is getting an audience with Keuvra. If he truly is their deity as well as their leader, then this might be my best chance of learning an explanation for why I turned into a Lithan. Maybe he could even tell me how to turn back to normal?

“Asha,” Kuro speaks in a flat voice. “Certain things will be expected of you if Keuvra accepts you as his Kin. I know you’re anxious to return to your family, but…”

My body stiffens up. “But…?" I ask, inching my head forward for a response. Why is she bringing up returning to my family? They’re not going to ask me to stay here and do favors for them, will they?

She stares at me a moment before her face draws into a smile. “Let’s talk about it more once we reach White Mountain, okay?”

I hesitate for a moment before returning the smile. “…Okay. We’ll talk about it then.”

I don’t like where Kuro is going with this line of conversation, but I guess there’s nothing I can do until we talk about it tomorrow. If I need to perform certain favors to appease Keuvra, then so be it.

But Felra isn’t my home. If necessary, I’ll join their flock and play by their rules, but this will only be a temporary engagement. Once I have the skills needed to survive on my own, I’m bidding my farewells and returning to Ellyntide. If Keuvra is a deity, then surely he knows about my duty to the throne in Ellyntide. Surely he understands the necessity of me being there.

“Alright, then. Asha, we should stop by Flat Rock and then fly onto White Mountain,” Kuro says, turning to Enyll. “Would you agree we can reach there by the quarter sun?”

Enyll stares into the cinders of the ember root with a tepid expression. After an awkward moment, Kuro tilts her head and grunts, but the boy stays quiet.

Ykuvi seems to take a particular interest in his silence. “What troubles you, Son-Of-Kadi?”

“Farlanders vying to become Kin…” he trails off, shaking his head in disbelief. He lingers a moment before whipping his head to face Ykuvi. “This is blasphemous! How could an inferior species possibly become Kin?”

Inferior species? Does he think Lemurs are a lesser animal?!

“She looks nothing like an inferior species to me,” says Ykuvi. “In fact, she looks and smells quite like us. Tell me, Enyll. Am I any less a member of the flock because I was once a Loner?”

Enyll’s brow furrows. “That has nothing to do wi—“

“—Doesn’t it?” Ykuvi asks, tensing his haunches. “Asha has flown the crossing from the Farlands in harvestwing. With no mentor to guide her, she has already passed one of the trials to come of age. Does Keuvra not teach us we should welcome those willing with capable jaws and wings?”

Enyll ducks into a defensive posture and loosens a hiss. He holds his stance for a heartbeat, flicks his eyes towards his left side, then slowly relaxes. “It is the elder’s decision to make,” he growls. “But I will not vie for her unless Keuvra does.”

Ykuvi rumbles, “Suit yourself, Son-of-Kadi. I for one will be.”

Enyll scowls a moment longer before slinking away from the group. He shoots a bitter glance toward me as he rounds around Kuro’s back and into the inky dark clearing. Just when it seemed like Enyll was starting to warm up to me he goes ice cold again. He doesn’t sincerely think I’m still inferior to him just because I used to be a Lemur, does he?

Gima watches him and sighs, then turns to rest a wing against her mate’s flank. “We should leave for Flat Rock, hun.“

Ykuvi returns a warm smile. “You’re right, we should.”

“And I’m going to sleep,” Enyll announces from the clearing. He opens his wings and gazes up into the night sky. “I’ll be at the den, Kuro.”

“Very well,” Kuro responds as if she were pleased to hear it. “Blue Skies, Enyll.” She looks to him for a response but receives none.

“Goodnig—“ The thrusting of wings cuts me off as Enyll rises in altitude over the trees. I watch him briefly, perhaps a part of me hoping he’ll look back and acknowledge me, but he continues flying until his shape becomes invisible against the sky.

I hear Ykuvi sigh and turn to see him standing into a long stretch with his forelegs out in front of him. “Don’t be discouraged, Asha. Enyll has always been a prickly one, he’s just concerned about what’s best for the flock.”

“I understand. Thank you, Ykuvi.”

After that, we said our good-nights to Enyll and Ykuvi who took off for Flat Rock with the piece of prey I saved for Enyll’s sister. With everyone else gone it was just me and Kuro who remained.