Fierce Winds and Fiery Dragons (Dusky Hollows: Book 1)

  Chapter 15

  Ivy sneezed, her nose stuffed from hiding all night in wet clothes. Her throat felt scratchy, but worse, she couldn't get warm. She just kept shivering. The sun was out now and the birds were awake. They cried out as they circled above the crack. Ivy thought she had gone unnoticed until one of the large gray birds flew to the ledge and landed where the crack began.

  While confident that the bird wouldn't be able to reach her, Ivy scooted back further against the rock face hoping the bird wouldn't notice her. When a large eye appeared at the crack, Ivy scrunched further back and held completely still.

  The bird's body was too large for the crack, but their heads were somewhat smaller. Ivy hit her head against the rock when the bird pushed it's head into the crack, the beak opening and closing as if to capture Ivy and crush her. She jumped up. The beak scraped against her shoe.

  Sparky! Twif! Somebody help! Ivy jumped again when the beak shifted forward, trying to capture her.

  Watching the bird stretch its neck, Ivy had an idea. It wasn't a very grand idea, and she wondered if she'd even live to regret it. Ivy jumped up where the two rock walls met and climbed up by stretching her legs out so that she was in between the two walls the way she and Carrie climbed the hallway at Carrie's house When the bird shifted its weight to get its head deeper in the hole and look up, Ivy dropped on its neck.

  She felt like an alligator wrestler. She'd seen it once on reality television. She knew if she let go, the bird would hurt her, so she held onto its neck with all her might even while the bird thrashed back and forth banging Ivy against the rocks.

  The secret to Ivy's grip was in her legs. Although her arms were wrapped tightly around the bird, it was her legs that the bird couldn't shake. She locked them at the ankles and didn't care much if the bird choked to death.

  Little worm. What are you doing? The big one will punish you. Twif swooped into the crack and fluttered in a tight circle around Ivy, unwilling to land.

  I'm not a worm. And you had better tell your friend here to fly me back to the ground far away from any of these nests or any other birds. If he takes me anywhere dangerous I will strangle him. And I don't care how hard it is for him to fly, I'm not letting go until I'm safe. Ivy shook with fatigue and adrenaline. Holding on was easier with her limbs locked. The pressure it would take for the bird to remove her was more than it had. She wasn't sure what would happen when they landed but she had the feeling if she let go now, all of her options would be gone.

  No doubt the bird would peck her to death, but she was in an impossible situation now, freezing cold, hungry, tired, and utterly alone. She couldn't count Twif as a friend or an ally. Yes, she was alone. Ivy took a deep breath as tears filled her eyes. She had to keep her head.

  Twif exchanged chatter with the bird and then told Ivy, He agrees. He's taking you now.

  The bird swung its head back, perhaps hoping to catch Ivy off guard, but she clung to the bird because she knew her life depended on it. Curling in so that her head was under her shoulders, she could smell the bird's neck. It was an animal smell, not distasteful, just different. She didn't open her eyes as the bird pushed off from the cliff.

  Twif, what do I do when he lands? He will try to eat me.

  She couldn't see Twif, but could imagine him swooping in excited spirals around the big bird. She heard Twif's voice in her head. The big birds don't like the blackberry patches. Find a tall one and he can push you inside and then you can let him go. You'll have to run deeper in, but at least you'll have a chance.

  Will you come with me into the blackberries? Ivy asked.

  Yes. I will help you find the dragons. Twif certainly was stuck on dragons.

  Give the bird instructions on where to land, and you can travel with me to find the dragons. Ivy clung to the bird with everything she had. Her hands shook. Were it not for her legs locked around the bird's neck, she would have fallen right at the start. The bird was turning an odd shade of purple. Ivy kept clinging.

  They never reached the blackberries. The bird started to lose consciousness. Realizing what was happening, it swooped down in an attempt to save its own life and completely blacked out ten feet from the ground.

  Ivy and the bird tumbled through a field of grass. Her ankles were locked firmly around the bird's neck and while she lay with her arm across the bird's eyes, she couldn't seem to move.

  Are you hurt? Twif swooped down and landed on a stump.

  I'm fine. I'm just having trouble untangling myself. Ivy was still shivering when she managed to pull her leg out from underneath the bird's neck.

  You'd better hurry before Striker wakes up.

  The name Striker was enough motivation for Ivy to untangle herself completely and stumble away.

  Where do I go? Are the others after me? Ivy scanned the skies. Although several of the same kind of birds were in the air, none of them seemed the least bit interested in her. Not yet. When they realized she had escaped...that would be a different matter.

  There's a nice little hidey-hole at the end of the field. You can burrow in and get warm.

  The idea of burrowing into dirt did not appeal to Ivy. She told Twif. I'm not a burrowing kind of animal. Aren't there any houses nearby?

  There's the castle on the other side of the mountains. You could go there. But first we need to get away from Striker. Twif pushed off the stump and flew in a circle around Ivy. Shivering, she followed his lead. Although her legs didn't feel much like moving, she ran across the field, putting as much distance as she could between herself and the bird. She turned back once to see the large head rising and looking around as if dazed. She ran faster.

  In here. Just for the night.

  Ivy climbed into the hole and discovered that the hole opened into a cavern with a rock floor. She went further in and discovered a lattice of caves. From the entrance Twif called, Worm? Worm? Can you come back?

  Ivy gritted her teeth. Would you quit calling me Worm? My name is Ivy. And you can come in here with me. There's plenty of room.

  I'm sorry. I'll call you Ivy now. I'm afraid of the hidey-holes. Your kind eat birds. We can't escape in under-the-sky places. Ivy couldn't exactly deny it, although the chickens she ate never talked back to her. Of course, most of the farmers she grew up around raised cattle and sheep, not chickens.

  Just come in. I'm going further and if you want to meet a dragon, you have to go where I go. It's not like I enjoyed being a thousand feet in the air either. Ivy waited in the twilight darkness for a long time. She thought maybe Twif had flown away. She was cold, tired, hungry, and angry. Somehow she ended up dumped on this strange world without a friend or any way to get home. At least three different kinds of creatures had tried to kill her. It put her in no mood to negotiate with Twif who had originally helped the big birds catch Ivy.

  The bird flew in, swooping low and landing on Ivy's shoulder. Twif held his wings tight to his body and said, I don't like this.

  Neither do I, but I don't have much choice.

  The hidey-hole Ivy had climbed in was the skylight of a network of caves. She could see another skylight ahead, a natural opening in the top of a cave made from an opening in the ground. But the dangers made themselves all too clear when she banged her head on a sharp, low ceiling. A trickle of warm blood poured down the side of her head. “Tigers and Catnip.” She said out loud. It was her mother's swear word when things were really bad, and seemed appropriate for the moment.

  You're dripping on me. Twif complained.

  I know. I'm sorry. Her clothes had never completely dried and Ivy was so demoralized that it seemed impossible to go on. Twif, do you think we're safe here? Will the larger birds poke their head in to grab us?

  I don't know. Twif jerked his wing away in agitation when another drop of Ivy's blood dripped on him. I need a bath. And I don't like it here.

  Without another word, Twif launched from her shoulder and straight out the sky light. Ivy, feeling abandoned,
decided that she would move just a little deeper into the caves. She took each step carefully, not trusting the dim light coming through the hole in the cavern roofs.

  She traveled into the darkness until she could only see the dimmest light from the skylight behind her. Then sinking to the ground, she gave in to sleep, her body so cold it had given up shivering.