CHAPTER 9
TALONS AND BEAKS
Blue Dawn Jay knew that eagles and many other great birds were strong flyers, but he never imagined how incredibly high they flew. They were high above many clouds now, where the air was thin and it was incredibly cold, even with the heat of both suns. Yellow Claw’s wings flapped deliberately and with immense power, and although they seemed to be flying slowly based on glimpses of the ground far below, Blue knew that they were actually making rapid progress north.
“Crows don’t fly even half this high, do they?” Blue asked. “Why are we so high?"
“To fly faster.”
“How can you tell where we are?”
“Eagle eyes.”
“Of course, and judging by the suns, even I can see that we are flying in the right direction.”
“Of course. Silence now. I fly, I do not sing.”
With that curt rebuff, Blue kept his silence, though he had many other questions. The creeper kept silent also, though Blue saw him peek out from within the eagle’s giant talons occasionally. The bird was so small that it huddled within the great bird's encircling clawed toes as if it were a snug nest. Blue’s body was grasped snugly, though not so snugly that he had any difficulty breathing.
Time went by slowly, as the eagle flew hour after hour without stop. For long periods it soared on air currents without flapping its great wings, while at other times its wings pumped up and down steadily. Blue would ordinarily have napped during mid-day, but under the circumstances he found that he could not. At every moment he was frightfully aware that an incredibly powerful creature that sometimes ate other birds was holding him.
He knew that if this experience went against his own instincts, it had to also go doubly hard against the instincts of the great raptor. If the eagle had a change of heart, the creature could easily crush him in a moment, eat him in mid-air, and then fly home to the Western Mountains, leaving only blue jay feathers to scatter in the wind. Nobody would ever learn his true fate. He looked down, and could make out hills and rivers, but not well enough to identify any specific locations. The eagle could see what passed below much clearer, of course, with its huge eyes.
Twice Blue spied two other birds flying behind them at the same altitude as they were, but they were too far away for him to identify their species before they disappeared again into the clouds.
Once Blue saw a giant silvery bird flying high above them. Its wings were stiff and a thin cloud trailed behind it, as if it was breathing the cloud out of its strange body as it flew. “It is the Old Ones,” rasped the eagle, hatefully, breaking her silence. “They only dare fly rarely, within their flying nests far above our reach.” She dodged a bit lower into the clouds then, and when they emerged minutes later the silver bird was gone. They flew on then as if nothing had happened.
Morning led to afternoon, midafternoon, and finally late afternoon, and still the eagle flew on. There were storm clouds ahead, great black mountains of clouds that towered before and above them. The great bird stopped flapping its mighty wings, and started to drift slowly downward. “Kreeeeeeeee,” it screamed loudly, above the sound of distant thunder.
“Are we going to rest-out the storm?” asked Blue.
“No, fool bird, we have arrived at Song Wood.”
Sure enough, as they dropped lower, Blue at last began to recognize landmarks, though he had never before seen them from so high. The pattern of streams, trees, and hills was unmistakable. “That large oak on the hill to the right is Council Tree,” he said, though it was clear that the big bird was already acquainted with Song Wood.
“Kreeeeeeeeeeeeee,” was the big bird’s only answer.
“Queeedle, queeedle,” cried Blue happily, hoping to alert and reassure his father’s jay flock through sub-frequencies that this was not an attack by the great eagle.
As they neared the Wood the forest was oddly silent; perhaps despite his cries of greeting, apprehension about the eagle remained with the songbirds. To Blue’s relief, at least there was no blue jay attack. Strangely, there were no birds at all in sight, and none could even be heard singing of the coming storm, which had already brought on a gathering darkness and gusts of moist air from the west. At last the great bird landed in the small clearing at the foot of the tree, but instead of releasing Blue and Brownie, the eagle landed on the soft ground with its knuckles, and held his passengers more firmly than ever.
Blue couldn’t see far or wide, but what he could see puzzled him all the more. He saw no other birds at all!
“I bring Blue Dawn Jay and the brown creeper,” announced the eagle, in a loud harsh voice that cut through the violent rustling of summer leaves.
“Caw, caw, caw; cack, cack, cack,” sang a hundred blackbirds in reply, as they hopped out from behind trees and bushes and stepped towards the trio.
“Fly! It’s a trap,” sang Blue, but the eagle stood motionless. Blue struggled with all his strength to free himself, but Yellow Claw didn’t even seem to notice.
“Indeed it is a trap, blue fool,” said the particularly large crow that faced them.
“I have kept my part of our bargain, Black Heart, I expect you to keep yours,” rasped Yellow Claw.
“I will keep mine, golden one; within two weeks time, you will have the one you seek.”
The eagle stooped and twisted her head to look Blue in the eye. “And I have also kept my word with you, blue one, for you and the little brown bird have arrived safe at Song Wood, unharmed by me.” The giant talons loosened to release Blue and Brownie, but a dozen strong blackbird beaks seized each of them before they could move a feather. Meanwhile the eagle spread its great wings and slowly lifted her great body up and away. “See that you keep your word, Black Heart," she rasped, "or no number of your puny black minions will keep my talons from crushing your little black body.”
A thousand crows and grackles called out defiantly in response, as the eagle rapidly rose and flew away. Then their attention quickly returned to Blue.
Black Heart lowered his head until his long, thick, black beak was in the face of the helpless jay. “So, here is the famous blackbird killer that some now call the Blue Death. The boastful prince of the forest has come to sing before the Great Council. It is hard to believe that a bird so puny could cause so much trouble. I have had to revise my plans because of you and your little creeper friend, but the result will still be the same.”
“The result will still be your death, black maggot,” said Blue, fighting the pain from many cruel beaks that held him fast despite his struggles, and worrying about exactly what had become of the Council.
Black Heart cackled with laughter. “You jays are all the same stubborn idiots, and that will be the final undoing of you all. When the strange crawlers came four cycles ago, and killed songbirds, you jays foolishly attacked them, and we watched you die. The strangers killed many of the jays in the South Forest for us. We killed the rest. Most important, we cut off any escape or massagers sent to get help. Foolish jays they were, to turn their backs on us! The Council was stubborn too, so it had to be destroyed, and earlier than originally planned, because of you. We would have rather waited until the human crops were riper."
Lightning streaked across the sky, as if giving support to Black Heart’s terrible words, and all the blackbirds trembled, except for Black Heart himself. The crow leader and his cruel words seemed to be part of the storm, a living extension of the dark, violent clouds.
"The Council was destroyed early because of you and your meddling cardinal friend. For all his over-rated wisdom your teacher was an ignorant fool, locked into foolish notions like Balance and Law. The greater truth is that only power counts in the end. We blackbirds always adapt to change and seek power. We have vision. We take advantage of whatever becomes available.” His harsh voice rose with the sound of rising wind. “We are the rightful masters of the World.”
“You are traitors to all birds,” sang Blue.
The Black One cackled again. “We are
traitors to none, stupid one, as we have only ever owed alliance to ourselves. You with your silly blue jay Pact are too stupid to understand such things. It is well that you jays left our flock long ago, for your thinking is muddled with songbird notions. No, we are not traitors to ourselves, and it is you that threaten our rightful New Order. That pitiful threat will die now with you, little blue cousin.” He drew himself up to his full height, poised to strike down at the helpless jay with a mighty killing blow. "Sing your last, blue fool."
“WEEchew, WEEchew,” came a cry descending swiftly from overhead. No sound was more feared, and the crows and grackles acted instinctively, scattering, squawking and flapping their wings in alarm, forgetting Blue and Brownie. Blue felt the sudden release and then a rush of wind and the shock of sharp talons biting into his left leg and back and jerking him roughly up into the air and away.
Blue had gone from certain death to death itself, for he knew from the cry of the attacker that he was being carried off as prey of a peregrine falcon, the most dangerous of all flying predators. Usually found in the lake country to the east and south, where they preyed on big water birds, Blue had never seen or heard one, but he had heard songs of them since he was a chick. This falcon was an incomparable flyer, with a body a bit larger than that of Black Heart but with enormous wings and powerful talons. Even though burdened awkwardly by Blue, they were soon so far away from the pursuing blackbirds that their angry cries couldn’t even be heard.
Once struck by the powerful talons Blue had gone into a state of shock, but he presently began to struggle in earnest when he realized that he was still alive and that the falcon had not seriously injured him. Gusts of storm-wrought wind also helped Blue to twist in the grasp of the falcon.
“Hold still prey bird, or I’ll lose my grip, and your blackbird friends will kill you for sure,” said the falcon. "Heavy as a fat dove you are, and probably as tasty."
"Who kills me now?" asked Blue.
"Friends of Great Beak," said another falcon voice from behind and below. "Hold still, fool prey bird, and live. You are being rescued from the Black Flock."
Blue twisted his head and saw that a second cruel-eyed falcon followed closely, and carried the battered form of the tiny brown creeper in its talons. At that moment the little bird opened his eyes and cheeped weakly. The plucky little bird lived also, but for how long? A sudden wind-blown gust of rain struck, and Blue’s falcon cried out and partly folded back its wings. The falcon dropped rapidly, soon more than matching the speed of falling raindrops. Falcons attacked in this fashion, dropping down from above at fantastic speeds to maul prey with sharp talons and knock flying prey out of the sky. This seemed to be an attempt at a slower, more controlled dissent, but it was still terrifying to Blue, to drop so quickly in the near-darkness of a great storm towards the forest below. All his instincts told him to spread wings and slow down.
"I'll try not to break your neck, prey bird," said the falcon carrying Blue, and then it laughed, as the trees rushed up to meet them. The raptor abruptly spread its wings fully and set its talons more cruelly than ever and pulled up on Blue mightily. As Blue lost consciousness the last thing that he heard was thunder and the terrifying scream of falcons.
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