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Windkin wears his wings, thinking of his poor, lost Ahdri and how she questioned
him on this. SunVillagers lived in peace and quiet, they couldn't understand. Windkin's
sire Tyldak understood, so much that he was willing to let Winnowill torture his
flesh to give him wings. Lightning almost hits Windkin, so he soars downward, thinking
of Tyldak, "He knew enough to come in out the Skyfire, too." Windkin looks
for an aerie to wait out the storm. He sees movement: an old woman. She tells Windkin,
"First it was the Earth Demon, then the Water Spirit, now the sky sends its
creatures to us...my people are doomed. As am I..." Windkin thinks she is gone...dead.
The following morning after he awakens in a mumble he hears a tinging. Windkin is
grateful he had the brains to put the old one to rest away from this spot. A whole
herd of five fingers...six of them, elders and one cubñña girl. They come to the
symbol of the Ground Spirit...a type of cross. Humans always called Windkin's mother's
people Forest Demons. They demand the spirit honor its contract with them. A troll
yells at them for these demands and tells them to get out. He warns them he will
chew their heads off and spit in the stumps. Windkin thinks it reassuring that some
things will never change, calling the troll a mud digger in his mind. Windkin can
glide down as quiet as a thistledown, "Ah Ahdri," he thinks to her. The
troll pulls a chain and up comes a female water elf with fish for the troll, calling
the troll her lord. Windkin believes the girl is one of those water dwellers that
Yun talked about (in NEW BLOOD). Windkin lands when the troll is gone and pulls the
chain to get the girl to surface again. The girl says, "You...you're like me!"
Windkin says, "Hehññnot quite. I don't think I would last very long underwater.
I've heard of your kind but you're the first I've seen." She tells him that
her people lived here for ages ever since they came to this ocean in a falling star.
She loves the sea and wanted to explore it all. She was caught in a storm alone and
nearly died. Windkin knows what it is like being a captive, his sire even more so.
The troll keeps the only key to the chain around his neck. Windkin says, "Don't
fret," to the girl, "There's a way. There's always a way. I learned that
from a chief of elves." The humans in their town plan against the troll. There
is to be a big market festival inland and they want trinkets before that. Trolls
can feel every footfall those who move on the ground make. They live underground
mostly. The girl feels the waves and tells him that something's coming over the water.
Windkin will go see. He sees three ships, returns to the girl and tells her to hide.
As the humans approach, hoping the troll is asleep, the troll storms out at them
with a hammer. This is OldGrudd. Windkin drops out the sky at them and joins the
fray, calling the humans round ears. The humans flee back to the boats. The girl
tips one of the boats, which she thinks are poorly made. Grudd hits one or two humans.
The troll is completely caught up in his anger which is the time Windkin makes his
move, getting the key to the chain. Windkin flies to the girl and opens the lock
on the chain around her neck, after facing the troll, telling him that no elf will
ever be a slave again to anyone. Windkin flies off and the girl dives into the ocean
once more, both free. |