"LPK Chapter 10" by Michelle Brooks

"Brandon, I can do it if you'll just let me-"

"No," he retorted. "I can do it on my own. I don't need anymore magic for today, thank you!" He crouched over a pile of dried grasses and sticks, attempting hopelessly to light a fire. Marlow let a few moments pass until she grew impatient with him. She sighed and rolled her eyes as she pointed her fingers at the pile of wood. A spark leapt from nowhere into the pile and slowly began to burn. Brandon laughed triumphantly, thinking it was he who started the fire. Marlow shook her head and laughed as well while I, on the other hand, did not feel like laughing at all.

Ara was gone and I was forbidden to see her. I wanted Vesta to return and tell me if things had gone well on the island. I had wanted so badly to see her off safely.

"Haukin!" Brandon's voice broke my thoughts. "Hey, Haukin, come check this out!" I turned to see Marlow sitting alone by the fire, and catching my eye she nodded upwards. Brandon had taken flight and was hovering just above the trees.

"Brandon, how am I supposed to see what you want me to, especially from way up there? Its not like I have wings you know." He just laughed at me and waved for me to come up to him. For me, the only way up that high would be by climbing. When I got as high as the tree that I was in would let me go, I took the liberty of looking around.

The sun was sinking over the blue, watery horizon. On that horizon line laid a single rocky island covered in thick foliage. I could see small lights twinkle about the island and along its coast I could just barley make out the silhouetted forms of riders and their horses moving along its gently sloping beach on the southernmost point of the island. On the northern point there was a large bonfire and a huge swirling mass of women were moving about it. "They must be celebrating something," I was thinking to myself when Brandon, once again, forced his way into my head. He landed on a neighboring bough and pointed to the ground below us.

The tree we were in sat on the edge of a steep hill, which led to a soft, sandy beach below, but not before dropping off as a rocky cliff. On that beach was a most unbelievable sight: women of all shapes and sizes, but all fit and trim, in a wide array of colors walked and rode the length of the beach, patrolling the coast. It was then that I noticed that we too were on a much smaller island, and there was nothing but water around us as far as the eye could see.

"Oh my-" Brandon whispered excitedly under his breath as he ogled at the women below us. His sense of reality on the whole situation was just too good to pass up, so I laughed and had to check him back in.

"Brandon, you do realize that if they see you they will probably kill you?" He continued staring at them as I talked. I waved my hand in front of his eyes and he went to grab at me several times, but missed most of the time, only catching air. I laughed and gave up on attempting to recover him from his trance. Instead, I decided to watch a small boat with two women in it sail from one island to the other. It was then that my longing for Ara returned.

Suddenly, Vesta flew up right in front of Brandon, spooking him and knocking him into me. The two of us went flailing through the air as we fell from the tree. Vesta called out to Marlow below as we tumbled towards the ground. Brandon spread his wings and caught himself as I continued downward, the beach below looming closer and closer. I knew that if I didn't die from the impact, the Sauromatae below would surely finish me off.

My heart and stomach were in my mouth as I plummeted to the ground. The wind ripped at me as I fell, and then, stopped. I stopped. I was hovering in mid-air, halfway down a cliff with nothing to hold on to. My heart pounded in my chest rapidly and I shook as I realize that I was still alive. Vesta came swooping down from above and hovered in front of me, holding her forefinger over her lips in warning; the universal "shhhh" sign. She glanced from me to her sisters below, then grabbed me by my wrists and carried me back to the top of the hill. Her grip was strong and steady and I could see the muscles in her arms and shoulders flex feverishly as they struggled against my weight. Even the muscles on her wings had to work twice as hard.

Soon my feet hit the hard, solid ground and when Vesta released her grip on me, I fell to the earth, unable to hold myself up yet. I rolled onto my back and looked towards the sky, thankful that I was alive. Vesta, Brandon, and Marlow peered over me as I lay on the ground.

"Are you okay," asked Brandon in a surprisingly serious tone. I nodded and finally began to breathe at a regular pace again.

"Thank you," I said breathily to Vesta.

"Don't thank me. It was Marlow who stopped you from falling." Vesta looked lovingly at her as she blushed humbly. I thanked her and sat up, still a bit dizzy.

"Well," began Brandon, "all this excitement has made me hungry! Who wants food?" His insensitive humor was warmly welcomed for breaking the mood. Besides, we were all very hungry.

Brandon and Vesta decided to go hunt while Marlow and I stayed behind. I would have gone, but I was still too shaken up by the fall to have moved just yet. Brandon and Vesta wandered off into the jungle with their tools. Brandon had already agreed to teach her to shoot and Vesta seemed eager to get started. Marlow began to tend to the fire, while I relaxed on a stump nearby, where I got to thinking. I had seen the way that Marlow had been looking at Brandon. She had the same look in her eyes that I had when I first saw Ara.

"So, what is going on between you and Brandon," I asked as she poked around the fire. She sat up straight and blushed a bit as she spoke.

"What do you mean?" I laughed at her desire to avoid the question, but continued to press her for an answer.

"Oh, come on Marlow. You know what I mean. I can read you so easily!"

"Is it that obvious," she asked curiously as she went back to tending the fire. "Does he know," she whispered.

"Well, not really. He's kind of oblivious, to anything for that matter." I laughed at my won humor and Marlow let out a small giggle as well. Then she rose and dropped the poking stick at my side.

"I'm going to go down to the beach. Can you tend the fire until I get back?" I nodded in response and scooted over to where she had been sitting. I watched as she walked over to the cliff side and spread her wings. She took a few great flaps and rose off the ground, heading down.

An hour or so later, Brandon and Vesta returned and in their hands they held an exotic bird and two smallish rodent-like creatures. Vesta glowed with pride.

"She took to it quite naturally," Brandon complimented as he lay the game by the fire.

"Where did Marlow go," Vesta asked as she began to pluck the feathers of the bird.

"She said she was going to the beach," I said, nodding in the direction of the cliff. Vesta offered to prepare the food, while Brandon and I went to look for Marlow. We took a trail that led down the rockier side of the island to the beach, and since the island was so small, we separated in order to find her more quickly. I took the north shore, while Brandon took the south. As I rounded a Cliffside on the southern part of the island, I found Brandon perched on a rock near the shore, gazing out to sea. It was then that I saw that Marlow was swimming in the ocean. I also noticed a pile of her clothes on a rock just behind Brandon. I knew I should have looked away, but my curiosity burned inside me.

I watched from behind the rocks as Brandon watched Marlow. He rose and walked to the water and called out to her. Marlow turned quickly as he called. The dark water came up to her neck and all I could see was her head protruding out from the water and the top edges of her wings. Marlow yelled from her spot for Brandon to get her clothes from behind the rock for her. He blushed and did as he was told as Marlow rose from the water with one wing covering her front side while the other folded neatly across her back, water ran in beads down her feathers.

Brandon returned with her clothes in hand. He looked her right in the eye and for a moment they just stood there and stared at each other. Eventually, Brandon turned around and let Marlow get dressed. I too averted my eyes as she exposed herself, but turned back at exactly the wrong time; there on the beach a very wet Marlow and a rather confused Brandon kissed for the first time. Then, my stomach called out to me loudly, interrupting their moment and I took the opportunity to come out of hiding. I coughed and cleared my throat, stalling for time as I tried to come up with what to say in such an awkward situation.

"If you two are finished here you should probably head back towards camp. I'm sure dinner is ready by now." I chuckled as I turned to leave, and as I walked away I heard Brandon whisper to her,

"Do you think he-" Then I heard the loud thwap of a wing on someone's head as Brandon received a gentle blow from Marlow. "What was that for," he asked as he rubbed his head. Marlow only smiled in response. And as I looked over my shoulder one last time before hiking up the trail, Marlow and I looked at each other and she blushed. Out of the corner of my eye I saw them lace fingers in silence.

When we reached the peak it was almost as if nothing had happened, almost. For the duration of the meal, neither Marlow nor Brandon spoke, only stole glances at each other flirtatiously. Vesta broke the silence by telling us that the Saromatae were having a celebration on the island and how it was cultural practice that Vesta participates, no matter where she was. She invited us to join in her private celebration, an invitation that was readily accepted. Vesta only required a fire and wine; the fire we had, but the wine we did not. So, Marlow used her magic to produce a bottle of red wine and we all began to drink. I think I remember confessing my mission tot he group and that Vesta offered to accompany us. I think I remember watching Marlow and Brandon grow friendlier and friendlier as Vesta and I had 'just one last drink.' After that, everything is a blur.