Crown of Shadows

Chapter 8

I blinked my eyes open, crusty with dried tears. I rubbed them, groaning. My wings ached and my head was pounding. The day before was really catching up to me now. Everything was in pain, and I felt exhausted to the core of my bones. I sat up slowly, wincing, and fluttered my battered wings. Feathers littered the ground where I had been sleeping. I rolled over, hearing something crack. I sighed, rubbing my neck. I tried to soothe my muscles by massaging my neck and shoulders, but it didn't do much.

As much as I wanted to go back to sleep and pretend like nothing had happened, I knew I couldn't. The longer I was awake, the longer we would have to find a way to escape. Besides, I figured Anika would wake me up sooner or later, and I'd rather not have that surprise. I pushed myself up to a sitting position, careful not to hit my head on the sticks above. I wouldn't enjoy a bunch of branches tumbling down on me. Even if it was strong, I still didn't want to hit my head.

I stretched my back, wincing as I heard another crack. I felt like I had fallen off the thirtieth floor of some building. Tucking my wings in so I didn't accidentally knock over my hut, I crawled outside. I blinked, yawning, and saw that Anika was already awake.

"Morning," Anika greeted. I nodded in return. It was too early in the morning to make an effort to seem like her friend.

"You must have slept well," Anika commented. "It's already afternoon."

I blinked in surprise. I glanced up at the sky, the sun fully risen. I guess I really had been tired. Which was to be expected, after the day I'd had.

"Yeah," I said. I stared at her. She was leaning against the tree, her knife in hand. I eyed it warily. "What are you doing?"

Anika shrugged. "I figured I would try to cut down the tree. Use the wood to improve our huts or something."

"You don't think it would be good to leave it up? What if we want the leaves on the tree?" I asked.

"What would we use the leaves for?" Anika asked, tilting her head.

"I don't know. I thought maybe we could use them to make a pillow or a blanket," I said.

Anika laughed slightly. "Good luck trying to make anything out of them. How would you stick them together?"

"With the sap," I explained. Then I thought sourly, which we won't have if you cut down the tree.

As if reading my mind, Anika glanced back up at the tree. "There's plenty of trees, you know, and buckets of sap to come with it." Then she looked back at me, eyeing my wings. "You know what we could do, though... I think those feathers of yours would make a soft pillow or mattress. Much better than the ground. Then we wouldn't get leaves in our hair, either."

My eyes widened. "I- I don't have enough feathers," I stuttered in a weak attempt to spare my wings.

"We'll make the most of what we have," Anika said, and I whimpered silently. It was bad enough that my wings felt like death, but now she was going to be plucking feathers off of me like I was some kind of bird? Maybe it was a good idea, and I would certainly use it myself, but I didn't want a Gromlar dirtying my feathers.

"But... we don't have any way to make a blanket out of it, or..."

"We're not making a blanket, we're making a mattress," Anika said. "Wouldn't it be more comfortable to sleep on a pile of feathers? And your wings are so big. You have plenty to spare." I frowned, trying to come up with a valid excuse.

"But... but don't we want a blanket? I was, uh, really cold last night. I think we should focus on that," I said. Anika cocked her brow. I continued feebly. "And, well, when winter comes..."