Dwellers - Book 1

Chapter 2

Kan rolled over and snuggled deeper into the warmth. Her bed furs had never felt cozier, and she didn't want to get up. No doubt Ain would have a long list of training tasks for her. As usual.

When she pulled the furs up closer around her ear, her feet were exposed and the furs began tickling her nose. She scrunched her eyes shut, intent on prolonging sleep, and searched out the edge of the fur with one toe.

Instead of soft blanket, her toe encountered something hard and unyielding. She froze and cracked open one eye the tiniest bit.

"By the Web," she breathed.

Meters away, the wind ruffled the mottled grey and white feathers of two baby snow eagles that sat looking out over the edge of their nest, watching quietly for the return of their parents. Slowly and carefully she withdrew her foot and pulled it back under the feather.

She cast her eyes down and saw that she was covered by the large snowy white feathers of an adult snow eagle. Feathers large enough to cover her entire body. Presumably, that was the only reason she was still alive. The baby eagles hadn't noticed her.

She tried to remember what happened, but everything was a blank. Calming her mind with a deep breath, she dug through her memory. The Wind, it wasn't being nice. Cold, everything was cold. She had been cold to her core. She'd Called the Sun. She must have been more exhausted than she'd expected when she did it and blanked out from the effort. How did she get here then?

However terrifying her location, she shifted her head minutely to look around the nest in wonder. No stories existed of any Dweller who'd been inside a nest - for good reason. None who tried had survived.

It was an almost perfect circle, but not made of twigs. Instead, the nest structure was made of intertwined trees, root systems, leaves and all. The branches and roots on the bottom had been broken and flattened out from being walked on by the massive birds with the spaces filled by a mixture of feathers, droppings and crushed bones. Remains of the eaglets eggs were still visible near where she lay, although they too were in the process of being pulverized.

Strewn across the surface were bones from innumerable animals. Most were from the great aurochs that populated the mountains, but she could see the odd skull from buffalo, and the smaller globe of what might have been a Dweller or perhaps another of the larger birds that lived in the lower ranges.

Turning her head slowly, she peered the other way. Her back was pressed into the lowest crease of the wall, which towered above twice her height. If she tried to climb, the eaglets could pluck her off and gulp her whole.

Even if she did manage to climb up to the edge, she might not be able to climb down from wherever the nest was perched since snow eagles built upon high, remote ledges not easily accessible from below.

Perhaps if one of the eagles Bonded with her... no one in the history of their people had ever had the blessing of Bonding with such a creature. To be able to see through their eyes as they flew... to experience the dive as they pursued prey... her heart pounded just imagining the excitement of what a dive from the mountain heights would feel like.

Kan looked at the eaglets, who were still peering over the edge and making the odd shrill chirping sound. They towered over her many times over, and would be as tall as the largest tree in the Dell once they reached their full height.

Perhaps she should try to extend a Bond to one of them? Would their mental faculties be mature enough to understand?

The eaglet closest to her sent trembles through the nest as it stamped its feet then stretched its wings out in preparation for flight. Even without being connected to the Web, it was evident the screech the baby bird gave was a desperate plea to take to the skies.