Our next stop was Keris, a bustling fishing village nestled in a small cove. According to Jenara’s list, I’d find a retired battle crow rider here named Lazarayev. They weren’t hard to find either. It took all of a flash of Res’s wings before we had a crowd around us and someone had volunteered to go fetch the old rider.
Flashing Res about was another thing Samra and I had come to an agreement on. I refused to hide any longer, since that was exactly what had led Razel to start attacking Rhodairen towns. It’d be a few days before word reached her of what we’d done in Isair, and by then, we’d have already moved through several towns, following a path that looked very much like we were returning to Aris.
The crowd parted for a middle-aged person with the long, pale blond hair common among the Korovi and a thin, wiry body. I’d met Laz once in Rhodaire, the day I’d wandered into a blacksmith’s shop in the Turren wing, entranced by the black gold weapons on display.
Laz bowed to me, and I returned the gesture, a smile tugging at my lips. “It’s good to see you again, Laz. Jenara said you might be able to help me with battle crow training.”
“And you, Princess,” they replied. “I’d be honored to help, though I have to say I’d heard rumor it was a storm crow you hatched.”
“About that.”
After leading Laz onto the ship and filling them in on the strangeness of Res’s powers, they wasted no time in devising a training plan for us. The most fundamental battle crow power was the ability to harden their feathers into metal, something Res struggled with.
“It’s as much mental as it is physical,” Laz explained. “You have to see your feathers as the metal you wish them to become.”
Res clicked his beak, closing his eyes. A moment later, they flew open, and he spun to face the door to the crew’s quarters as it creaked open. Caylus appeared, his auburn curls catching the first rays of sunlight. I perked up, at once glad to see him outside and suddenly nervous. For a quick, uncertain moment, we just looked at each other. Then I spotted the handful of cooked chicken in his hand, and he smiled sheepishly as if to say, “Not scones!”
Res hopped over to Caylus, cawing excitedly. A knot loosened in my chest, though it refused to let go entirely. He was okay. We were okay.
“You can’t give him treats before he’s done anything!” I said exasperatedly as Res gobbled down the chicken.
Caylus tilted his head, looking perplexed. “He’s hungry,” he said as if we hadn’t had this exact conversation ten times before. All Res had to do was feign an injured wing or sway wearily on the spot, and Caylus would feed him whatever he wanted.
“You’re just doing this to annoy me now, aren’t you?”
Res let out an indignant squawk, and Caylus simply blinked at me.
“Ugh, never mind,” I muttered, marching up to where Res was sniffing Caylus’s hand for missed chicken. “Caylus, this is Laz. Laz, meet the boy who derails all my training sessions.”
Laz waved.
Caylus’s eyes brightened, no doubt at the prospect of seeing more crow magic. This was the boy I knew.
“What are you working on?” he asked.
“Battle crow magic.”
Caylus’s eyes rolled toward the sky in the telltale sign he’d retreated into some private thought as Laz peppered Res with a few more instructions, but as the crow squeezed his eyes shut, feathers fluttering, nothing happened. He let out an exasperated huff.
“You know the way you manifest the clouds?” Caylus asked, drawing Res’s eye. “Try to do the same with your feathers. Manifest the metal.”
Res’s concentration trundled down the line. His wings twitched, his feathers shifting. Then they flickered. I smothered a gasp with a hand. They flickered again, then settled into a deep, shining gray.
Metal.
Res let out a triumphant caw, lifting his wings. I yelped, leaping back as he nearly knocked me to the ground. Caylus caught me with a steadying hand.
“Watch it with those things!” I snapped.
Res chirruped, but Laz nodded gravely. “An important point. Battle crows have incredible strength, especially when armored up. Getting hit with a metallic limb is a far cry from a feathered wing. It takes practice to get accustomed to the additional weight, and even more to control your body in this state. I recommend remaining armored up for long stretches of time while you go about daily activities.”
“You heard them,” I told Res. “Full metal mode for the rest of the day.”
We spent the rest of the afternoon with Laz, during which Res even managed to release a couple of metal feathers as projectiles. Thankfully, Samra wasn’t around to see the holes.
Talon pulled one out of the mainmast and peered into the hollow inside. “I’d’ve thought it’d be the whole feather,” he remarked.
“That would make flying very difficult,” I replied. “It’s just an outer metal layer they release.”
“Huh.” He stuck the feather in his pocket. I rolled my eyes.
At the end of the training session, Laz wrote down a suggested schedule like Jenara had, leaving us with instructions and advice.
“I wish you the best with your training,” they said as I escorted them back to the dock. “I hope when this is over, you’ll come see me in Keris.”
I smiled. “Deal.”
When I turned back to the ship, Caylus stuffed his hands behind his back, but not before I caught a glimpse of something that looked suspiciously like a scone.
* * *
The next few days followed a similar pattern. We stopped in each town on Jenara’s list, seeking out the riders there and requesting their aid. Some were familiar faces, some new, and each one imparted invaluable advice for Res’s new powers.
Seveila, a retired fire crow rider, taught him how to create and extinguish flames, the latter turning out to be much more difficult. Gavilan taught him the peace of mind and patience required to heal with a sun crow’s skills. He struggled with the earth crow lessons from Esos, ending up with a long list of training activities to practice, something we did with every moment of free time we had.
Caylus’s help was invaluable. He had a way of rooting out what was stumping Res and helping him look at it in a new light. The riders understood the powers and the training, but Caylus and Res had had a connection from the beginning. Granted, it was built on cookies and scones, but between Caylus’s sugary motivations, the riders’ experience, and my bond with Res, we made steady progress.
Most of the crew watched with rapt fascination. Except Onis. I couldn’t walk past the grizzled sailor without him clutching his talismans and muttering prayers under his breath, but he didn’t confront me again like he had outside Samra’s office.
On the seventh day of our journey and with the town of Fendail and its shadow crow rider behind us, Res and I prepared for our final stop in our journey: Rosstair, home of the wind crow rider and also one of the kingdom’s most well-known flight training courses. It was barely a day’s ride from Aris, and we often funneled new recruits out to it for monthlong intensive flight training.
I scratched the top of Res’s head. “We should take a break from the other magics and work on your next level of storm magic.”
A low rumble in his throat mirrored the vibration of hunger he sent down the bond. He nudged me with his beak, and I pushed him away gently.
“You just had breakfast,” I groaned.
“What’s the next level?” Talon asked from where he clung to nearby rigging. His feet were hooked in, and he leaned back in it like a sling, his bright red hair a beacon against the blue sky.
I withdrew a piece of paper I’d scribbled a training plan on weeks ago. “Every crow has a different training program tuned to their type of magic.” I showed him the paper. “They’re broken down into beginner, intermediate, and advanced techniques. Res can pretty much do everything in the beginner and intermediate one, so it’s time to start working on the next set.”
Talon skimmed the list. “I heard you tell Kiva he’s done a lot of this stuff already.” He pointed at the advanced section.
I snorted. “He’s messed up a lot of this stuff already. It’s not just about exhibiting the power; it’s about controlling it.”
Res trilled in disagreement, opening and closing his wings in short bursts.
“Well, prove it,” I replied. “Create a storm cloud. One storm cloud.”
Our bond thrummed, Res’s magic rising. The light caught the silver in his eyes, and the space around him seemed to thicken and charge. The air just above Res blurred, as if obscured by a rolling fog. It condensed, darkening into a single, puffy rain cloud.
A wave of satisfaction slid down the link, and Res flapped his wings as if to say told you so.
The cloud shifted, sliding through the air. Before I realized what he was doing, he’d moved it over my head. A moment later, a torrential rain poured from the cloud.
It’d barely struck me before I sprang forward with a screech. Res dodged me, flapping his wings in a burst of strength that sent him fluttering a good five feet away. Laughter rocked down the cord as he beat his wings in amusement.
“Bloody chicken,” I hissed.
Talon’s distant laugh echoed. “Crow one, princess zero.”
I huffed. It was supposed to be crow and princess versus everyone else.
“The minute he can safely control lightning bolts, I’m frying you,” I called back, to which Talon only cackled.
“Can’t he just transport us to Trendell?” He snapped his fingers. “Now that he’s all shadow crowy and all.”
“He’s barely had any training,” I told him. “I’m not getting stuck in between places, but if you’d like to volunteer, be my guest.” Talon grinned, and I added, “Besides, even the most powerful shadow crows couldn’t transport an entire ship. The most I ever heard of them taking were two people. Most of them could only transport themselves. I’d be surprised if Res can teleport anyone else.”
“Boo.” Talon swung idly in the riggings. “Ooh, I know! Let’s find an old Sella road instead. My ma said they connect the whole continent.”
“If those roads ever existed, they disappeared with the Sellas,” I said. The only time I’d ever even heard of them was when my mother told me stories from Saints and Sellas. The book last night had mentioned them more than once. “Anyways, what do you care? You’re a sailor. Don’t you like sailing?”
“Of course. But I’d like teleporting through shadows even more.”
“Well, you’ll just have to settle for lightning.”
Res snapped his beak, and a burst of thunder echoed in the cloudless sky. Talon yelped with surprise, nearly losing his balance on the rigging. I laughed, and he joined me, swinging down from his perch to chase after Res. The crow sprang away, landing by me with a flutter of his wings. I spun on him, and he chirped in surprise, barely managing to avoid my embrace.
With a snap of his wings, Res sent us both tumbling to the deck in a flurry of wind.
“Oi, that’s gotta be cheating,” Talon said with a groan.
Flat on my back, I simply laughed, and then again when Res appeared above me, looking far too proud of himself.
“Yeah, yeah, you win.” I pushed his beak away, and he huffed.
Caylus appeared above me, a wry smile on his face. He offered me a hand up, and I took it, hauling myself to my feet. He nodded to something over my shoulder.
“We’re here.”
I spun about.
A sprawling, white stone city sat nestled in the rolling hills like a pocket of sea foam, glistening in the noonday sun.
Rosstair.
It was time for Res and me to fly.