Cloud Piercer

Two

Casimir cleared room in his cabin for me without a question. He was already my close friend, but that night, something bonded us closer—we were both orphans. Now, we're family.

I move over to clear the table. Rusted bolts litter it, clanging against one another. "What's with the bolts?"

Casimir glances over his shoulder. "I traded with Jyro for some new bolts, but they're all rusted—they won't hold."

"Why do you need new bolts?"

He brings the pot over to the table and sets it down, passing me a bowl. "You know why."

I say nothing, reaching over to serve him and then myself. I don't tell him that he's wasting his time or money. My father had new bolts, he had a set of daggers, extra security on the windowpanes. It didn't matter. If the shifters want something, nothing will stop them from taking it.

After dinner we lie on the roof, watching as the stars start to dot the night sky. Casimir dangles his legs in the hole we climbed through—it's over the foyer. He accidentally made it last year when he was trying to fix a leak. We always meant to fix it, but never did.

There's a bite to the night air, a sure sign that we're heading into autumn. Once winter breaks, we'll surely have to cover the hole and won't be able to come up here anymore. The thought makes my heart squeeze. I tug the scratchy blanket to my chest and tilt my head sideways to rest against his shoulder.

"There," Casimir says, pointing to the tree top a couple metres away from us. I squint my eyes. "Do you see?"

The leaves rustle. I strain my ears till a bird song wafts towards us. "Hyace," I say.

"No way. It's too warm in the year for a hyace to be nesting. It's an azu."

"Since when did you become an expert on the seasonal nesting of birds?"

"I thought you'd know by now that I'm an expert in everything."

I roll my eyes. "I'm telling you it's a hyace."

He's right that they're more common in the winter, but my father's old cabin was nestled further in the forest. I fell asleep to the songs of hyace more times than I can count.

"Alright then." Casimir shifts so he's sitting up and gathers a stone from the guttering on the roof. He stands up, wobbling slightly, before launching the stone at the tree. The bird scatters from the branches with a squawk, revealing dark blue wings and an elongated beak.

Azu.

"Shut up," I say before Casimir can say anything.

"I told you, an expert at everything."

I shove him. He loses his footing and slips, grabbing my leg as an anchor before he falls off the roof. I splutter a laugh. "Not so cocky now, are you?"

"Shut up."

He drags himself back to where he was before, pulling some of the blanket for himself. I stare up at the sky, the moon appearing from behind the cloud. It's nearly full, bright silver. Before, when it was warmer, Casimir and I would spend the evenings at the lake. He trained me, teaching me to use a dagger and fight, and then we'd finish by swimming. Cadence would come sometimes, but she'd sit on the shore and watch us. With the change of season, it feels like everything else is changing, too.

"Do you think Jyro would care if you skipped work tomorrow and we spent the day at the lake?"

"Yes, but not as much as your professors would," he says. "You're almost done with school, Frey, don't kick up a fuss now."