Prologue: The Perched Bird

[Airan]

When Mekai was only five seasons old she was visited by a very strange dream.

Torches. The drip of blood upon ash. Her father's face. And a snake striking out at her. Young as she was, she awoke in a start and cried for her father, thinking it was all some nightmare. She could have never assumed what it was truthfully.

A prophecy.

Mekai did not remember much about the event that followed, but there were three certainties she recalled with absolute clarity.

The first were the flames, crackling hot and hissing smoke like thousands of twisting serpents as they devoured her village and the forest around her. Holding her eyes shut against it all, it was the sounds she recalled second. Splintering wood. A crash and a growl. Her father crying out. The rush of two stumbling sets of footsteps. Shaking walls and a shatter of broken clay.

A snarl.

A groan.

A gurgle.

And then her father's strong arms wrapped tight around her, pulling her up from her hiding spot and close to his chest. He clenched his teeth, adjusting his daughter so that she could be carried with one arm, and rushed towards the door, pausing as he neared the threshold of their burning home. Mekai opened her eyes, following the older sable's gaze to the rat on the floor behind them- his throat crushed, and a bloodied knife held limply in his lifeless paw- and then the broken urn and the ashes spilled around it.

Everything would be ashes though soon enough, and her father gave it only a mournful look before making peace with that fact. But as he stepped towards the door, Mekai could only cry out as timbers splintered and a rush of hissing flame and embers surged angrily forth at them both. Her father didn't have time to shield her. The fire crackled and whipped its tendrils across the young sable's snout and cheek, igniting the fur and searing her flesh in what was only an instant.

Her father clasped her mouth shut with his free paw before she could scream, clenching his teeth against the heat and pain as his daughter tried in vain to bat away the flames. In that moment, she hated him, she recalled, but forgave him as she grew older and wiser. A scream would have brought more beasts, and it was better to live with a scorched face than to not live at all.

"Close your eyes," her father said when the flames were gone.

But Mekai did not.

And, so, the third certainty she recalled was the blood. The blood of the villagers who allowed them to stay. The blood of the children she once played with. The blood on the slain bandit's knife on the floor of their home. And the blood seeping from beneath her father's shirt.

The older sable gave a pained grunt as he raced through their burning village, ignoring the screams of their neighbors and carefully dodging the gazes of the murderous bandits who gleefully set upon them. Even when they were in the safety of the forest, Mekai's father didn't stop. With one arm around his daughter and the other clutching his wound, he ran long past the time when Mekai finally stopped crying and fell asleep, and was still running when her eyes opened the next morning.

Never did Mekai see so much of the Northlands as she did then. Through rugged mountain paths made from cracked stone, across soft rolling hills speckled pink and gold with flowers, beside thunderous riverbanks and forests which grew alive at night with the glow of fireflies, they traversed. But her father paid no attention to any of it. He stared straight forward and ran, knowing the flames were always behind them and always would be.

When his breathing grew labored and he could no longer run, he walked. And when he could no longer walk, he limped. It was by the northeastern coast at the fringes of a forest, veiled in shadow and coated with brambles and rough thickets, that he stopped limping, and finally collapsed. The sable pulled himself up against a tree, panting, as he looked to his wound and then his daughter. He gave her a wistful smile before pulling her close and whispering that he loved her, and then didn't move again.

Mekai didn't know how long it was that she lay in the older sable's limp arms, but remembered her tears were long dry when the sun had set. However, while night had fallen over the dark forest, the young sable found herself surrounded by light.

Mushrooms littered the forest around her, sprouting out from between tree roots and upon bark and limbs, and all of them glowing brightly in different shades and hues. Like fireflies.

Mekai blinked once. And then there was a new light, a blue one, ghostly and ethereal, that appeared suddenly in the distance. It hovered there, as if watching her, until slowly it floated closer from out of the shadows, and Mekai realized it wasn't another mushroom or a strange light, but a beast.

At first, Mekai couldn't tell what manner of creature they were. Clad in a dark tunic and a cloak woven from leaves and tree bark, the tall beast seemed to naturally fade within the shadows of the forest, and upon his snout he bore a wooden mask, painted white with the visage of some fanged beast. In its paw, it carried a short scepter, the end of which held an orbed, paper lantern, glowing blue from within. 

From behind the beast's mask, the young sable could see two orbs widen in surprise, before he suddenly stuffed his glowing scepter under his cloak and called out into the forest. "Eula! Eula! Ye were right! She's here! She's here!"

A moment later, one beast appeared from the shadows and another dropped from the branches above, both clad in the same attire. The one who came from the trees pointed a red furred claw at his taller counterpart. "Are you a madbeast, Bard? Calling out like that! What if there were other beasts around?"

The taller beast, Bard, leaned forward, his paws akimbo. "I checked, Skoven. 'T'weren't a soul asides from the little 'un."

"Well, you could have come to look for me. You knew my sector."

"And leave the lass alone? T'would've taken hours t' track ye down with the way ye're always disappearin'," Bard retorted. He huffed and crossed his arms before adding, "sometimes I think ye don't want t' be found, no sir. Probably off hidin' and stuffin' yer face with sweets. In fact, I think I'm startin' t' see a bit of a pudge comin' from under that shroud of yers."

Before he could retort, the third beast, raised a massive paw. "Enough, the both of you. You two argue like an old married couple," she said, causing both Bard and Skoven to blush under their masks. The third creature sighed as she pulled her hood down and removed her mask, revealing herself as a badger to the shivering child.

Kneeling to her level, she held out a paw to Mekai, and in that moment, what felt like a surge of electricity coursed through the young sable's body and the fur on her hackles rose. The badger must have felt it too, because her patient smile curled into a startled look. Her smile returned a moment later.

"You're frightened. I'm sorry," the badger said as the young sable recoiled away from her. Tenderly, the massive creature reached forth and stroked the edge of Mekai's burnt face. She gazed at the dead sable under her and wiped away the girl's tears. "What's happened to you here is a tragedy, truly. But you don't need to be afraid of us. I'm Eula. This is Skoven and Bard."

The two other creatures each removed their hoods and masks, the squirrel giving the sable a look over before a semblance of a scowl began to appear on his snout. "Eula. You didn't say she would be the same as Meliandre. She's vermin, just like the witch."

"I didn't see her species, only her age. Besides," Eula answered the squirrel with a sly wink, "we took you in, didn't we?"

Skoven narrowed his gaze at Bard as the otter snickered.

Looking back to Mekai, Eula offered her paw once more to the girl. "Child. We come from a village at the center of this forest. We call it Nest, the Village of Outcasts. There are many other creatures that live there, just like you. Creatures who have all lost their homes, and their loved ones, but have managed to find this place and each other. I can't promise you perfection, and some of us might even be a little strange to you, but if you accept them, then I can promise that you will be welcomed just as much as any other beast. And in time...

"...I'm sure it will become your home too."

Mekai considered this as memories of fire and blood filled her head. But as she looked onward to Eula's patient smile and outstretched paw, those images slowly faded, replaced with visions of warm meals and caring smiles. Of safety.

Of home.

It had been twelve seasons since that day and Mekai never once regretted her choice.

Pale morning sunshine shone through the space between her window shutters, shimmering against dust motes as they hovered and bobbed about the room like the blue light from a Scout's lantern. Mekai, now seventeen, watched them slowly descend as she rose from her bed and retrieved her tunic and shroud from where they were gently folded on the nightstand beside her, next to a clay vase.

The sable fit her ears through the holes of her hood and looked at her reflection in the washbasin on the counter. Though the seasons passed since the fire, a stripe of fur along her cheek and snout never returned- but neither had the tears.

Mekai smiled as she pulled open a pouch of white powdered pigment, made from the crushed caps of glowshrooms from the forest, and dipped in a claw. Her reflection smiled back as she drew on her burnt paws what looked like the image of two pitchforks. While the white pattern certainly stuck out against her ebony fur, it would be at night when the symbols truly shone, glowing brighter than any flame.

After tying the bag of powder onto her belt, Mekai didn't waste another beat as she grabbed up her satchel and pulled open the large circular door of her home. The bag clinked against her side with the sound of rattling jars as she closed the door behind her and started down the walkway to the ground below.

Hidden within the depths of the Veil by its founders ages ago, the village of Nest was true to its name.

All along the forest floor, great trees sprung from the earth like ancient monoliths, towering high into a verdant canopy which broke with speckled morning sunlight. From the roots rose wood walkways built spiraling up each trunk, interspersed by platforms and a complex series of ladders, bridges, ropes, and nets that crisscrossed between their gaps like the silk patterns of a spider's web. Mekai doled out sleeping tonics to tired night Scouts returning to their hovels and called salutations to diligent Builders hanging braziers of glowshrooms along the branches and paths, as the sable traipsed down them with practiced ease.

Sliding spryly down an unoccupied ladder for a shortcut, Mekai arrived at the platform closest to the roots and looked around for Eula. Having brought her to her village, it was Eula who fostered Mekai as if she were her own, and, after discovering that they held the same gifts, it was Eula who chose to mentor her.

Mekai spotted the old badger at the other end of the pavilion, doling out sectors to the day Scouts gathered around her. "...Uther, you are responsible for the Fields. Forsyth and Skoven, the Brambles. Python and Corri, you will both watch the Swamp. Stay close and be mindful of where you step. Remember, all of you, a good Scout can be invisible, even during the day. Stay safe."

The Scouts nodded their affirmation and broke away from the badger, Skoven giving a tip of his mask in Mekai's direction as he headed towards the Brambles.

"Good morning, Eula!" the sable called to her mentor, sprinting eagerly to the badger's side. "Did you sleep well?'

"Good morning, Mekai," Eula replied with a smile, the length of her two black stipes marked nearly in their entirety with different symbols and runes. "Yes, I did. In fact, I believe I had a vision."

"Oh?"

"Yes, a wonderful one. I saw the kitchens laid with blackberry tarts, hot biscuits with meadowcream, fresh fruit from the orchard, and beakers of cordial," the badger answered, holding out one of her great paws for Mekai to take. "Would you care to join me and see if it came true?"

The sable returned her mentor's smile and took her paw in her own.

When they finished eating, Mekai followed Eula patiently along the cobblestones at the forest floor as they conversed casually.

"Are those runes on your paws, child? I could hardly see them all the way down there. I was wondering when you might finally find one appropriate for yourself," Eula said, turning away from where she had been watching two children playing by the roots.

Mekai tore her gaze away from the glowshrooms cultivating in the greenhouse windows and held up her paws for the old badger to see. "Aye. The Withered Tree. I thought it would be a good one."

"Healing. Patience. Resolve. A good one indeed for any Diviner," Eula said, pointing with a claw to where she herself bore it on one of her stripes. "There is another, however, that could prove to be useful as well."

Kneeling to Mekai's level, Eula untied the cord from around her pupil's powder sack and scooped some up with a claw. The badger then cupped the sable's chin in one of her paws and drew upon her forehead the image that resembled a bird upon a branch. "The Perched Bird. For clarity, preparedness, and peace of mind." The badger wiped the remaining dust on her claw upon the cobblestones, before rising and speaking again. "We Diviners carry a duty within this village to protect and heal all those who live here. When dreams come, it is our job to interpret and decide what they mean, and whether they are a simple dream or a prophecy. This rune will help you to come to those conclusions."

Mekai touched the symbol on her forehead with a claw, thoughts of her burning village and the vision she had as a child coming to her head. "Eula, is there a rune that could help us dream more often? Like what the witch does? Bard told me once that she can force herself to have visions."

Eula paused, turning to face her charge. "You speak of Meliandre?"

Meliandre. The Witch of the Woods, Outcast of Outcasts. Mekai had never met the beast before but had heard her name whispered a thousand times growing up in the trees of Nest, tales coming to her mind of the creature who lived in the Swamplands of the Veil, barred from ever returning to their village.

"Meliandre is not like us. She is no Diviner, but a Seer. While we are patient for Fate to present us with our dreams," Eula explained, "Seers force their visions upon themselves through dark means, and, if the futures they see are unwanted, they arrogantly try to grasp at Fate and warp it to fit their own wishes. They use curses, scry the locations of others, and seek only to benefit their own desires. That is not our job as Diviners. We interpret and we accept.  But we also trust that Fate will carry us safely through this life and into the next."

"But if we were able to have more visions, could we not save more beasts? We lost one of our Scouts in the Swamps a few seasons ago. If we saw that fate happen to another beast," Mekai started to argue, "could we not try to change that?"

"What would we do? Forbid them from going to the Swamps for the rest of their days?" Mekai winced at the stinging question. "No. We would do nothing. It is not our duty to try and prevent prophecies or see them through. And why is that?"

"Because when we try to control Fate, it's Fate that controls us," Mekai answered, remembering the mantra her instructor hammered into her head so many times in the past.

"And when that happens, it is often that we find ourselves staring at the very future we so desperately sought to avoid."

At the badger's silence, Mekai tentatively asked, "Has that ever happened to you, Eula?"

"Yes, a long time ago, and it is for that reason that I'm here. Nest has become a home for me... and the creatures my family, but it is not the home that I see in my dreams, nor are the villagers any of my children," Eula answered. "I wish I could go back and see them again. But, these dreams, Mekai... they are not prophecy."

At the old badger's tone, Mekai chose not to argue further and changed the subject.

"You never told me you had children."

Eula's mouth curled into a wistful smile. "Yes. So many that I couldn't wrap my arms around all of them even when I tried," she answered. "But it's been many seasons since I left and came here. I assume they are long grown by now. Thankfully, Fate took pity on me, and there was one I did get to see grow up, and into what I assume will be a fine Diviner one day."

Eula placed a paw on Mekai's shoulder tenderly, softly smiling as she looked down at her. "Come now. It's past time we got to our own duties. Old Mister Todge is in bed with a flu and could use one of your tonics, I'm sure."

"Of course,' Mekai said, adjusting her medicine bag and following her teacher. The two continued to walk along the path until the quiet bubbling of the stream and the creak of an ancient waterwheel reached their ears, and they arrived at the mill house belonging to Todge, the old Build Master of Nest.

Eula tugged open the picket gate just as the great round door of the cottage creaked open and a plump, elderly beaver hobbled past the threshold.

"You should be in bed, Todge, getting some rest," Eula scolded, seeing the beast.

The beaver scowled and waved her complaint off with a paw, gazing up to survey the other Builders hammering away in the scaffolds above. "Bah, rest is for beasts whose work is done. 'Sides, not like I've been gettin' any sleep lately anyways," Todge said, shambling to the side and coughing loudly into his elbow. He beckoned them forward. "Now come on then. I'm not gonna be havin' you two ladies standin' out in the cold."

The inside of Old Todge's home smelled distinctly like resin and sawdust, blended with the potent scent of lavender and honey rising from the teapot bubbling over the hearth. While Mekai busied her paws grinding herbs for the beaver's tonic, the sable could hardly stop her eyes from wandering over his collection of trinkets and tools like a curious child. All around her, the shelves were stained and sanded, and topped with ornamental carvings of creatures- some that Mekai knew and others she didn't recognize. Ropes weaved in and out of the rafters like serpents hanging from treetop canopies, an array of latches and axels attached to their ends. Diagrams of pulley systems, water chutes, and scaffolds which ascended into the branches were strewn about the corner tables among countless crumpled parchments, all marked with the passionate etchings and scrawl of a beast whose every thought was an idea and every ponder a way to make it possible.

Todge hobbled into the den with Eula, his flat, leathery rudder parting a sea of scattered woodchips amongst the floor. "Sorry, Eula. If I knew ye were comin' so early, I would'a made sure this old place was tidied up prim and properlike," he said, grabbing up a broom. At a stern look from the badger, Todge rolled his eyes and begrudgingly surrendered it to her before sinking into one of the twin armchairs nestled by the hearth. As Eula began to sweep away the dust, the old beaver nestled himself more comfortably in his chair and stole a look in Mekai's direction through half-closed eyelids. "If ye don't mind, girl," he said, "would ye pull up the tea fer me? It's a new recipe I made fer us. Ye're welcome t' try."

"Of course," Mekai answered, setting aside her pestle and mortar and pouring three steaming cups for them all. She sipped lightly, her face washing over instantly in delight. "Oh, wow, its very good, Mister Todge."

"Hrm. 'Very good' ain't exactly what I'm aimin' fer. I'm lookin' fer somethin' which warms a beast on the coldest day, but can weather even the roughest o' souls," Todge said thoughtfully, glancing at the other armchair empty beside him. He took a critical sip and set the cup down. "Aye. It ain't what Miria used t' make. Too sweet. Too much honey. Perhaps a little rosemary is what she used instead? Hones'ly, kills my soul how that woman never chose t' write anythin' down."

Eula placed a paw on the old beast's shoulder "You'll get it soon, Todge. Just keep hammering away like you always do."

"Is that one o' yer visions, Eula?"

"It's the encouragement of a friend," Eula answered him.

Todge smirked slyly. "Good, it's more fun that way."

Eula finished sweeping just as Mekai passed Todge the tonic for his flu and started to gather her things. After washing the dreadful physic down with a swallow of his tea, the Build Master watched as his old friend gathered the pile of shavings into a pan and started towards the fireplace.

"Eula," he said. "Listen. While ye're here. There's somethin' that's been wearin' on my mind lately. It's keepin' me up at night, an' even when I've finally drifted off, it's there again in my dreams."

Mekai's ears perked at the request as Eula turned her attention to the old builder. "It's not like you to want a divination, friend. What have you seen?"

As Eula scraped the pan of shavings into the fireplace, Todge watched the embers smolder back to life in front of him.

"Eula. I saw the Veil on fire."

Mekai froze, silence falling over the room save for the sound of the crackling fireplace. "How? When?" the sable demanded.

Eula raised a paw to her apprentice to calm her and turned to Todge. "Start from the beginning, Todge. Tell us everything you saw in your dream as it happened."

Todge nodded. "Most of it's a bunch'a nonsense, like most dreams are, but I can rem'ber it all. I saw dragons, six of 'em, with brown scales, flyin' from across the sea. The clouds seemed t' follow 'em, everywhere they went, til they landed on the eastern shores. After that, it was just flashes o' different things. Torn briars and scarred wood. Brambles crushed underpaw by creatures, hundreds of 'em, with horns sproutin' from their heads. Axes fallin'. Screams- Hellgates, Eula, I recognized their voices," the beaver said. "Then there was the fire, spreadin' through the Veil. And... a beast."

"A beast?"

"Aye. One beast, standin' at the front of it all. A terrifyin' beast whose steps made the earth tremble, with dark, ragged fur and with claws long like daggers." Mekai tried to imagine such a beast but found herself not wanting to. "And I rem'ber, it grew, larger and larger til it stood as tall as the sky. It reached out, curled its claws around the sun, unhinged its jaws like an adder... and with one bite, everythin' was dark.

But then, the light came back suddenly. Small at first, like a ray shinin' from the branches, and I realized that the beast... he had a hole in 'im. An' then another, an' another, an' another. Arrows, ten of 'em, soared from past the northern mountains like they were sent from the heavens, strikin' him one by one, til he fell, and the sun returned," Todge said, taking one last sip of his tea.

For a while there was silence except for the grind of a waterwheel and the ever crackling of the embers in the fireplace. "Was that all, Mister Todge?" Mekai asked quietly.

"Aye. That was everythin'." He turned to Eula. "I've had that dream now every night fer the last week and I've thought about it a lot, and well..." The beaver grabbed up one of his carvings on the table, the features of a beast with runes painted upon it. "...I'm no Diviner, but six brown-scaled dragons, flyin' under clouds? Those sound like ships t' me. Is there somethin' comin', Eula?"

Mekai looked to her mentor as the badger gazed off distantly in thought. A minute later, Eula looked back to him and asked, "You saw the forest on fire. What about Nest?"

Todge shook his head. "I didn't see Nest. Only the Veil."

"Horned beasts arriving on the shores and invading the forest with axes and fire. Led by a creature which devours the sun," Eula repeated. "But I don't understand. He'll be felled by ten arrows. There's not a creature within Nest who carries a weapon, so what are those meant to be?"

"Warriors." Eula and Todge turned to Mekai, who shrunk under their unexpected gazes. "N- not from Nest, but from beyond the mountains. They'll slay him and save us."

Eula nodded at her apprentice in agreement. "A wise interpretation," she said and Mekai stood a bit taller.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Mekai chimed. "If there are beasts coming, then we should send a Scout past the mountains to bring these war-

Eula held up one of her massive paws, silencing the sable.

"We'll do no such thing."

"W-what?" Why not?" Mekai demanded, a growl rising in her throat. "If we don't act now then these beasts will be at our doorstep."

"Mekai. Do not growl at me." Eula turned a narrowed gaze at the young diviner. "Do you remember our conversation this morning? You need to have patience and think this through. I won't have anybeast bringing some honorless band of sellswords to this village, do you know why? Because what if these mercenaries are what brings this calamity? These horned beasts could be revenge driven bandits who followed them here after some humiliating defeat, or betrayers who lie to us and say they'll protect us, but slay us when our backs are turned. Who is to say that we need to act at all? Todge said that this creature, He Who Devours the Sun, shall be felled by these warriors, yes, but he never said anything suggesting we needed to bring them here ourselves. Fate could call them with their own dreams, or perhaps they'll simply be in the right place at the right time.

"My point is, Mekai, Fate has protected this place forever, and it always will. It is better that we wait and see what the future holds before we make any rash decisions, lest we are the ones who bring this calamity upon ourselves."

Mekai shook her head angrily. "No. No there's something we're not seeing."

"What do you mean, child?" Eula muttered.

"I don't know. There's something... I just, I just know you're wrong, and I can't just pretend like everything will be okay," Mekai stammered, taking a step back. She shook her head and looked back at the other Diviner. "I had a vision as a child, Eula, one that warned me my home was going to burn, that I would be burned by the flames, and that my father was going to die. You told me that's what it was. A vision. I was too young to know it back then, too young to act on it. But I'm not anymore, and I can't just sit back and wait."

'You can, Mekai. And you will, lest you start a panic," Eula snapped, pointing a claw at Todge's door. "Now go. I'm done discussing this. We're done for the day. You're to remain in your quarters for the rest of the afternoon or until you've come to your senses."

Mekai muttered something under her breath.

"What did you say, child?"

"I said you're a coward," the sable answered, grabbing up her bottles and stuffing them back into her satchel. "And that those dreams you have, those dreams of your home you want so badly to return to? The only reason they're not prophecy is because you choose for them not to be."

Mekai slammed the door before her teacher could reply.

"Kids these days, no respect at all for their elders," Todge remarked. The beaver looked towards Eula, her eyes frozen on the closed door between them. "She has a point though. Eula. I understand you're afraid. You don't want to make the same mistakes again, I get it. But, are ye sure ye're right?"

Eula shook her head, moving to the window. The afternoon sunlight shone through the trees as children played along the cobblestones and villagers mingled in unawares of the danger that could be headed towards them.

"I don't know. I really don't. I am afraid, old friend, of the creatures you dreamed of, of the beast who leads them, of what they might bring to us," the badger said, watching Mekai stomp away in frustration back to the ramps.

"But there are some futures that terrify me more."

...._'\)_....

While Eula often saw glimpses of the future in her dreams, the present was not something she could divine, and, so, unbeknownst to the badger, Mekai did not return to her quarters like she was told.

Pulling her shroud tight around her, the young diviner blended almost naturally into the trees as she stole through the dark recesses of the Veil's northern swamplands. In truth, Mekai hardly knew where she was going as she stepped carefully through the bog, having never been allowed to traverse the area without a Scout on watch close by, but what she did know was that Eula had to be wrong. There was something else within Todge's dream they were both missing. There had to be.

And, so, Mekai sought a second opinion.

It was hours later, after the midafternoon sun started descending past its zenith, when Mekai finally found the place she was searching for. It was nestled upon a small chunk of fertile land within the swamp, hidden in shadows broken only by the few pale strokes of light that escaped through the canopy. The shack that belonged to Meliandre, Witch of the Woods.

A cluster of magpies scattered their feathers as Mekai approached the walkway leading to the closest hut. She stepped onto the deck tentatively, nearly leaping back in fright as the old, rotten wood creaked loudly under her paw. Still, the sable pressed on across the bog, knocking lightly on the door.

"H-hello? Meliandre?" Mekai called out. When there was no answer, the sable pushed the door open cautiously, wincing once more as it creaked for all to hear, and closed it behind her.

Unlike what Mekai expected, the shelves of Meliandre's hut weren't filled with jars containing eyeballs or bones, nor were the ceiling corners laced with cobwebs. Rather, it was much like Eula's quarters within Nest- clean and well kept with the faint traces of incense lingering in the air. The soft afternoon light seeped through cracks in the dark, splintered wood of the seer's den, illuminating the old fleece quilt on her bed and the shelves above which were covered in a strange array of objects.

A lantern, a moss-covered stone, a child's doll, an amulet, a sailor's spyglass, a collection of cards and coins, maps and an array of tomes, a potted plant, a pincushion, a set of broken manacles, a pipe... The list grew longer and longer as Mekai eyed all of it curiously, wondering why the seer kept such an odd collection of items.

"Well now, what do we have here?"

Mekai spun around with a gasp, taken aback by the sudden voice, and laid eyes on the seer known as Meliandre.

The Witch of the Woods was a vixen of short stature, whose aging reflected that of an egg rather than a fine wine. What the sable guessed was once a brilliant pelt of pale scarlet, was streaked silver and splotched a sandy brown, and wrinkles deep as trenches rolled down her cheeks like the hills of the northern Highlands. Cuts covered her arms and the flats of her palms, and, though a set of spectacles was balanced precariously on her thin, pointed snout, Mekai wondered if Meliandre could even actually see with the way her eyes were sunken in and almost perpetually squinted.

Still, Meliandre seemed to have no problems glaring at the sable from where she stood, arms crossed accusingly, by the back door.  "You know it's rude to enter somebeasts home without their permission. Are you lost, girl?" she growled.

"N-no, I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

What felt like a surge of static coursed through Mekai's body before she could finish speaking, her hackles and fur standing on end as she locked eyes with the beast. Though it had been seasons since she last felt it, the sable remembered it to be the same feeling she felt first meeting Eula as a child. Meliandre must have felt it too, as her squinted eyes unclenched into large round orbs and her mouth curled into a sly smile.

"Oh. No, no, no! Not lost at all! Just a little bird... coming to spread their wings," Meliandre said in a chipper tone. The grey vixen glided forward excitedly as she snatched one of Mekai's paws in her own and inspected the rune drawn upon it, her smile turning into a frown for the briefest of moments. "Or maybe not. Hrm."

Mekai pulled away from the witch's grip. "You're Meliandre, right? What was that just now? That feeling?"

"A Spark. Fate has a special way of connecting those with gifts, to tell us that we're not alone," Meliandre said with a shrug. A moment later, her smile returned as she looked up at the sable and once more took her paw, gently this time. "That means you must be Mekai, Eula's apprentice. Oh, how I've longed to meet you, little bird. Well, come on then! Make yourself at home. I've soup in the other room. Just enough for two!"

The smell of onion and leeks drifted through Mekai's nostrils as she was whisked into the witch's sitting room and passed a bowl of steaming soup from the pot set above the fireplace. The sable eyed it suspiciously while Meliandre filled her own bowl, and a third halfway with what remained in the pot. The vixen set the third bowl upon the windowsill and opened the shutter, hardly flinching as a horde of magpies descended upon it.

One broke away from the pack, fluttering inside the room and landing on the head of the armchair by the fire. Meliandre scratched its head with a claw tenderly as she took a seat.

"You know it isn't often I get guests," Meliandre muttered between sips. "Seems these days, the only beast who bothers to visit is that scout of yours, whathisname? Roven, I think? Big worrywart, squirrel, terrible manners."

"You mean Skoven?" Mekai asked, raising a brow as she stirred her soup. "Why would Skoven visit you? He hates most vermin."

Meliandre watched as the magpie hopped to the arm of her chair and nibbled at its breastfeathers. Carefully, the vixen plucked a loose, straight plume from its tailfeathers and held it up for the sable to see. "No idea what he does with the things, but I've no use for them. I suppose I could ask, but, truth be told, I just don't really care.

"What I do care about though is that horrible thing on your face, girl," Meliandre said, suddenly standing up from her chair and moving towards the sable.

Mekai jumped as the logs in the fireplace shifted suddenly with a shower of sparks. Instinctively, she raised a paw to her burnt flesh. "When I was young, my village was attacked by bandits. I was burned in the flames," she answered.

Meliandre rolled her eyes. "No, child. Not that." The vixen jabbed a claw at Mekai's forehead, where the Perched Bird remained. "That. Hellgates, it looks like Eula's doing. What a horrid rune to put on a child. Here, let me get that off you."

Mekai pulled away from the witch as she pulled a kerchief from the folds of her gown. "Horrid? The Perched Bird stands for clarity. Preparedness. Pe-

"-eace of mind, laziness, complacency...fear," Meliandre finished for her, punctuating the last word. "Runes have more meanings than the ones Eula chooses to teach. You can't just pick and choose your interpretation. The Perched Bird is a rune for scared creatures who fear to leave the safety of their branches, the ones who feel the breeze blow against their feathers but refuse to spread their wings and fly. No doubt that badger wears it proudly on her stripes. Perhaps one day she'll learn birds were meant to soar through the heavens, to use their gifts as they were meant to be.

"But I suppose that's what's brought you here. Someone's seen something, and Eula's started to tug your chains." Once more, the vixen presented her kerchief, but Mekai refused. Sullenly, she stuffed the rag back into her gown. "Oh, little bird, so scared of what bigger creatures have done. You look behind you at what's happened, and in front of you at what's to come, that you don't look down and realize...

"...that you have talons of your own." Meliandre took the sable's paws and clasped them in her palms. "Go on, child, tell me what's happened?"

And she did.

"I've gone over Todge's dream over and over now in my head, but I feel like there's still something missing, and I just can't find it," Mekai said when she finished her tale. "And Eula, well, she won't look any further into it because she's afraid we might bring this fate upon ourselves. She wants to wait and see what happens, and, you know, perhaps she's right, perhaps that's all we need to do to avoid it. But I don't know. I wanted to know if perhaps there was something you could see that I couldn't."

"I don't bother myself with interpreting dreams. An interpretation is nothing more than an opinion, child." Meliandre furrowed her brow as she thought to herself. After a few moments, a clever smile came to her maw. "Besides. Why would you want to waste your time listening to an old vixen's opinions... when we could just... find the facts for ourselves?"

Mekai looked up from her empty bowl. "How do you mean?"

"Simple, girl. With a spell," Meliandre said with a shrug. "You say this creature, He Who Devours the Sun, shall lead these invaders, right? Well then... let's find him."

Mekai tried to recall what Eula had taught her about seers and realized. "You mean a scrying spell?"

"Precisely, little bird," the vixen answered. "We find this creature, see him with our own eyes without even leaving this room. Perhaps, we'll find him still preparing his ships- then you'll know you still have months to prepare- or if he's already upon the ocean sailing here now, then everybeast here can beat a hasty retreat, or go find those heroes you mentioned."

"We... we can do that? Right now?"

"Not normally, no. Usually a single seer would need something from the beast himself-a claw, a tooth, something important of his- to channel our intent. But!" And Meliandre enunciated this with great enthusiasm. "With two seers we might just have the combined power to do it without those items."

"But I'm not a seer," Mekai said.

Meliandre rolled her eyes. "Seer. Diviner. Clairvoyant. The only difference is that one rolls off the tongue faster. What matters is that Fate has given you and I the same gifts. So, what do you say, little bird? Shall you spread your wings?"

Mekai nodded. "What do I need to do?"

The vixen smiled. "Go in the other room. I need you to bring me maps. As many as you can find. Then, go through my shelves and grab anything that helps us see."

"Helps us see?"

"Aye, like this." Meliandre passed the sable her spectacles. "Just like runes, there's power in objects. We can draw from them to enhance our senses and find this beast."

Mekai understood then and rushed into the other room. By the time she returned, Meliandre had already shoved the armchairs out of the way and rolled up the dirty rug to reveal a white circle drawn into the wood floor. The vixen took the maps and spread them inside the circle, fitting their pages together so that, combined, they created an image of what was close to the known world of Mossflower, the Northlands, and beyond. From there, Mekai set within it a spyglass, a lantern, a candle, a glowshroom, and the vixen's spectacles.

"Good, there's only one last thing," Meliandre said. Slowly, she pulled a double-edged dagger from behind her shawl. Without so much as a flinch or a shred of hesitation, the vixen drug the blade across her palm until blood began to drip upon the wood floor. "The Beasts Entwined, the rune shaped like an X. When we complete both halves of the rune, the ritual will begin, and the blood will show on the maps below where the creature resides."

Meliandre held out the knife for her to take.

Mekai held the unused side of the blade tentatively across her palm, doubts rushing to her senses as Eula's warnings resurfaced once again. She swallowed and looked to the vixen on the other end of the circle.

"Mekai," the vixen said, holding out her paw to take. "You have gifts, powerful gifts. Why should you be restrained by Fate to not use them, when you have the potential to do such great things? There's a wind coming and it's time to leap from that branch, and spread your wings, to break from your chains and be the beast that you want to be, the beast that you can be. You want to protect your home? You want to stop the burning? Then FLY!"

The knife clattered to the ground, both ends stained with blood, and Mekai slapped her bloodied palm into Meliandre's. Their claws dug into each other's flesh and their fur stood on end as the Spark surged between them both.

"Now, Vulpuz, Lord of Fate, show us the beast of dark fur, leader of the horned army, He Who Devours the Sun!"

And there was darkness.

Like being asleep without a dream, Mekai was cradled in a void of black, her eyes flickering slowly open. Like a bird, she soared over the world beneath, visions filling her head of places she had never seen. Frozen cities and arctic tundras made blue by the crashing waves and the cold sky above. The rough seafoam gave way to sand, to rolling hills with pink-gold flowers and forests that glowed with fireflies...

...To trees and shadow, and to tangled briars being crushed underpaw.

As the visions faded, Mekai realized she once more stood in front of Meliandre, their paws still entwined. The vixen stared back with wide eyes laced with fear, and Mekai knew then what place she saw in her visions, and where the blood landed on the maps.

"They're... They're already here."

Mekai tore away from Meliandre's grip and stumbled to the floor, spinning and scrambling back up on all fours as she sprinted from out of the witch's hut. Her paws splashed through the mire as she darted as fast as she could back in the direction she hoped was Nest.

Wet ground gave way to thorns and thistles as she broke through a patch of briars and stumbled into the area of the Veil known as the Brambles.

Exhausted, Mekai panted on the hard ground, and looked around her desperately. In the distance, between the spaces in the trees, she thought she caught sight of another beast's shroud out in the open. She squinted her eyes, realizing that it was Forsyth, one of the scouts.

Mekai got to her feet and started running towards the hare, slowing as she realized he was bleeding on his side. The beast stared at something in front of him, blocked from her view by the trunks of the trees, and fearfully flailed his scout's lantern as if it were a torch.

The ground trembled and a shadow fell over Forsyth, and the hare could only scream as two great, dark-furred paws seized him from about his middle and lifted the grown hare like a child into the air. Mekai stopped and fell to a sit behind a tree trunk and cluster of briars, closing her eyes to pretend like what was about to happen was just a dream.

But the sable couldn't close her ears.

Forsyth's neck snapped with a sound like that of a broken tree branch, but it was the wet sound of his flesh being slowly pulled apart by gnashing, dripping fangs that would stick with Mekai forever. As if someone emptied out a bucket full of water, the sable heard the sound of liquid hitting the earth, followed by a thud as the hare's head was ripped from his body and spat out to the ground. A moment later, his carcass followed suit.

Thud. The earth shook once more as the creature took another step. Thud. Another, and Mekai realized it had grown louder.

She covered her mouth, daring not to breathe.

Electricity shot through Mekai's body, and her fur stood on end. The sable's eyes went wide in shock as she remembered the feeling that she had meeting Eula and Meliandre and realized that there was only one other beast close to her.

And that beast had felt it too.

Thud.

A sniff.

Thud.

Mekai shook as a shadow came into view...

THUD.

...and fell over her.

Mekai looked up fearfully at the monstrous creature in front of her, his ebony fur and hulking mass blocking all light from around them as he stared down at her like an all-seeing god with an amused look on his dripping maw. The sable's paws stayed clenched on her snout and she saw, that in the darkness, the runes upon them and her forehead glowed bright and blue in the darkness.

"Oh, Vulpuz, no." The words escaped from behind her clenched paws as the creature raised a daggerlike-claw to her face.

"There is no Vulpuz, girl," the Suneater whispered back, his voice reflecting the screams of a thousand beasts. "Only me."

The Suneater knelt and placed his claw against one of the burns on Mekai's face. It was a tender touch, gentle, caring, and, yet, it still drew blood. "And here I thought I wasn't going to be allowed any fun today." Like a snake, the creature's jaws unclenched as its claws began to wind around the sable's small form.

There was silence for a moment as the creature looked down at the paralyzed Mekai.

Then he leaned forward.

TWHIP

Mekai blinked, the sound knocking her from her fearful stupor. Her eyes widened as they moved from the agitated creature, to the arrow that had embedded itself into his massive shoulder. The Suneater turned, annoyed at being interrupted but hardly phased, and glared behind him. For a moment, Mekai expected nine more arrows to follow, but as her gaze lingered on the object, she realized that the arrow didn't belong to any foreign warrior. For, notched at its end, was the feather of a magpie.

The sable's paws moved from her mouth and to her waist just as Skoven's voice rang out from the trees above. "MEKAI, RUN!"

The Suneater spun back to the sable just as she finished unfastening her bag of powder. Without hesitation, she cupped it in her paws and flung it in the creature's red eyes, leaping out of the way as his massive paws lashed out where she had been a moment prior. Mekai scrambled backwards out of the beast's shadow, staring with wide eyes at the splintered gashes he had ripped effortlessly in the tree trunk, before rising to her feet and darting away as fast as she could.

"So, there IS more than one warrior in this village after all!" The creature shouted, scrubbing the powder from his eyes. The massive creature's eyes darted all around him as he frantically searched for Mekai. Not seeing her, he cursed and looked up at the canopy above. "If I can't have the little seer, then I suppose you'll have to do then! So, come out, coward!"

Leaves fell in every direction around him from the treetops, disguising which direction Skoven had fled. Looking carefully around him, The Suneater vainly searched in the spaces of the tree trunks and the branches above for any sign of the scout, before finally turning up his nose and breathing in. The familiar smell of the linens of their shrouds filled his nose, and he turned before rushing into a sprint that shook the earth with every step. He suddenly turned around the trunk of a tree and lashed out at the hiding creature, his claws tearing through the fabric like paper.

The tattered pieces of Skoven's abandoned shroud fluttered uselessly to the ground as the lantern propping it up splintered into pieces and fell to the earth. The Suneater panted, staring at the broken pieces of the squirrel's decoy, as leaves fell from the canopy far behind him in the opposite direction. "Clever," he said, pulling the arrow from his shoulder. "Maybe this will be fun after all."

...._'\)_....

Skoven caught up to Mekai just as she stumbled out of the Brambles and into the Fields. The squirrel pulled off his mask and panted before asking, "Are you alright?"

Mekai gasped. "For- Forsyth.."

"I know, I know. It can't be helped. Come on, we need to keep moving, before that beast comes back and does the same thing to us," the squirrel said, adjusting his bow and quiver of arrows on his back.

Mekai's eyes glanced over the weapons he carried. "Skoven, where did you get those? Eula doesn't let anybeast have weapons in Nest."

"Eula might pretend like she does, but she doesn't know everything," the scout remarked with a frown. "Me and Bard have been attacked enough to know that no place is truly safe up here. And what that otter calls worrying, I just call being prepared. So, I've been making arrows and stashing bows for seasons now. Looks like I was right to be paranoid."

"Aye, thank you for saving me," Mekai said, closing her eyes for a moment as she reflected on the moment that could have been her death. "Is everyone else in Nest safe?"

"I wish I knew," Skoven answered, following after Mekai as she suddenly quickened her pace.

The sounds of waves lapping at the shore greeted their ears as they neared the cliffs by the edge of the Veil. Mekai peered out at the shore, and at the ship that was nestled in the sand. It was long and thin with a single square sail and adorned with shields. At its bow was the carved image of a fearsome dragon. But as she continued looking, the diviner realized something was wrong.

"Where are the other five?"

"The other five? What are you talking about, Mekai?"

Mekai turned to Skoven. "We need to find Eula, right now. I'll explain as we go."

By the time Mekai finished, Skoven had moved from a run into a sprint, only slowing when the sable behind him got lost to his sight. When they arrived within Nest, the squirrel looked frantically around him.

The entirety of the village was much the same as Mekai had left it. The homes were not in flames like she predicted, nor was the ground covered in torn limbs and blood. However, as she looked around, she saw some windows had been broken, and doors had been kicked off their hinges. The villagers of Nest all stood together by the roots, muttering to one another in fearful whispers, and carrying haversacks of food and commodities on their backs.

Skoven caught sight of Bard among the rabble and threw himself into the otter's arms. "Skoven! Hellgates, I'm so happy you're safe," the other scout said, embracing him tightly.

"What happened?" Skoven whispered.

Bard broke from the squirrel. "A bunch o' beasts, about a score of 'em, just showed up out o' nowhere, wearin' helmets with horns. They just started ransackin' the place. Goin' through beasts' homes like they were lookin' for something an' just takin' things that they could carry," the otter explained. "Odd part was, they had axes, but weren't usin' 'em. It's like they were afraid of us."

"Afraid? Why?"

"I wish I could tell ye, Sko. But I'm not gonna complain about it either. Eula says we're gonna hide out for a bit, until they leave for good."

"Bard. Where's Eula?" Mekai asked as she approached. "I need to talk to her right now."

The otter pointed up with one claw. "Yer room, I think."

Mekai nodded and looked to the other scout. "Skoven. Could I have your bow? You have more hidden right?"

The squirrel unshouldered the weapon and his quiver of arrows. "Aye, but why?"

"Because I realize now what it was that Eula and I were missing."

...._'\)_....

When Mekai opened the door to her room, she saw Eula sitting at the end of her bed. The badger didn't turn to face her, instead staring mournfully at the space on the sable's countertop where her father's ashes had been.

"I wanted to stop them from taking it. What could they want with it anyway? But I was afraid if I tried what might happen," the badger said looking to her. Seeing the bow strung on her back, a growl rose in Eula's throat. "Where were you? Where did you get that?"

"Eula. I'm leaving. I'm going to find the warriors, and I'm going to bring them here," Mekai said, beginning to go through her things and stuff her satchel full of what she might need. Though it pained her to see the empty countertop, the sable had more important things to worry about.

"For what reason, child? The beasts are gone. Came and went."

Mekai suddenly turned to her teacher. "Forsyth is dead!" she shouted.

"What? How...?"

"He Who Devours the Sun," Mekai answered. "He's in the woods, Eula, Skoven and I both saw him. I don't know what kind of creature he was, but he stood taller than any badger. His claws could tear through the tree trunks and Eula, Eula... he was a seer, like us.

"Eula. This prophecy, it's not over. There was only one ship by the shore. Todge saw six in his dream. He also saw fire and heard screams. They're going to come back! And they're going to bring more!"

"Then we wait. The warriors will arrive and help us."

"The warriors aren't coming, Eula!" Mekai yelled. "And I know why now."

The sable pulled Skoven's bow from off her back. "Arrows don't fly on their own. There needs to be a beast to hold the bow, and to pull the string."

Eula narrowed her gaze at her apprentice. "Give me that dreadful thing. I will not allow anybeast, least of all you, to carry a weapon. You are not a warrior, Mekai. I will not let you be a warrior!" Mekai dodged away from the badger's paw. Her mentor stood there, looking at the dried blood on the sable's paw. "You went to Meliandre. Is this the nonsense she filled your head with?"

"She taught me how to be free, Eula." Mekai balled her fists and scrubbed the Perched Bird from off her forehead. "I'm leaving. This might not be your home, Eula, but it is mine, and I'm not going to let it burn. Not again."

"Mekai, you don't understand. You can't leave. You can't," Eula whispered, extending out her paw for the young one to take. "You don't understand what will happen if you do. Please child. Stay!"

"What will happen?" Mekai said in disbelief, staring at her outstretched paw. At the badger's silence, the sable continued. "You saw something. What did you see?"

Eula winced. "It was after I found you. I had a dream. I saw you grow up. And I saw the beast you would become," she said quietly.

"What did you see?!"

"If you pick up that bow, if you continue down this path, Mekai," Eula started, "then the roads you walk shall forever be marred with blood. Everywhere you go, you will forever be welcomed with the screams of innocents and the clash of steel. And that fire you fear, the flames that have always chased you since you were young, will instead be in front of you, for it will be you who sets the pyre. Mekai, please. Take my paw. Don't walk this path. We'll find another way. Fate will protect us. It always has. It always will."

Mekai considered this as memories of fire and blood filled her head. But as she looked onward to Eula's patient smile and outstretched paw, those images slowly faded, replaced with visions of warm meals and caring smiles. Of safety.

Of home.

And Mekai never once regretted her choice as she spread her wings...

...and flew.