Storm Crows, page 9
He recognized many of their neighbors from the estuary, plus hundreds of birds that Cawnor did not know.
Rebecca and the others didn’t see him. Their attention was locked on something on the ground. Was it one of the crows? He could see Rebecca plainly. His heart nearly burst when he saw that she appeared to be unhurt. There was Tor, and Mellori, and Wia.
It was Antsie.
He was lying on the grass. He was not moving.
“Rebecca,” Cawnor said as he landed behind her.
She turned. Rebecca smiled then burst into tears, as she hopped forward and wrapped him in her wings.
“Oh Cawnor, thank Corvus you’re okay. But Antsie, it’s awful.”
“I’ve been looking everywhere for you. I was so worried. What happened to Antsie?”
“We were waiting by the beach when the wave hit. A lot of debris was being tossed around. Antsie got hit by a piece of wood that came off of the pier.”
“How is he?”
Wia looked up and shook her head.
“Not well. He is broken in many ways. He does not have long.”
Antsie’s left wing was bent at an impossible angle, torn and full of blood. His face was bloody and a leg was broken. He coughed and it sounded like a rattle. One eye was swollen shut, but the other was clear. He looked up into Cawnor’s face. He tried to laugh, but pain snatched it away. When the spasm past, Antsie took a shallow, tentative breath.
“We found you,” he said. “We waited by the beach, like you said. The water was so beautiful. So beautiful...”
And then Antsie died.
The funeral rites of crows are not complicated. To a crow, when death comes, the soul—that which is the essence of all that one is—separates from the body and joins Corvus’s flock. The body that is left behind is considered to be waste. Generally, the flock leaves a body where it falls. And while a crow will not eat from another crow, they have no delusions that the corpses of their kin are not food for every other animal and microbe who wants a bite. But they are not bothered by it.
In this case, though, they did not think it was appropriate to leave him there in the field. Cawnor was exhausted, and Tor looked nearly as tired. But they put their fatigue aside and each grasped one of Antsie’s wings and headed for the beach.
It was not very far, but they still were forced to make it in short jumps of one hundred or so yards at a time. Rebecca and Mellori pitched in and helped.
They reached the beach. The waves had returned to normal. But the debris, destroyed buildings, and the bodies in and near the water made it impossible to forget that nothing was normal right now.
Gaudio saw the crows and came to meet them.
All around them was misery. Rescue efforts had just begun. Police, fire fighters, and paramedics were working hard to organize the chaos around them. The birds were oblivious; they had their own sorrow.
“We should put him farther out,” Mellori said. “If we put him into the water here, he’ll just wash back up with the rest of this junk.”
“Take him out, twice the length of the pier before it was destroyed, and the current will carry his body north,” Gaudio said.
“Does anyone want to say something?” asked Cawnor.
“Why?” said Tor.
“Antsie was not brave,” said Wia, “but he gave up everything to come to the ocean. So let the ocean claim his body, while his spirit flies with Corvus.”
Cawnor and Tor took hold of Antsie one last time. They pushed into the air, slowly heading out over the water. Neither spoke. The sound of their labored breaths filled Cawnor’s ears, and his chest burned with effort.
When they had gone three pier lengths out, they could not carry Antsie’s shell any longer. Together, Tor and Cawnor released their grip and his body dropped into the blue-green water. It splashed, floated, and began to drift north, just as Gaudio had said. Tor and Cawnor did not linger to watch it. Wheeling about, they headed back to land.
thirty-five
An Engagement And An Ambush
Over the next three days, things slowly returned to normal. The crows’ nests were unharmed, so they pitched in helping those who had not been so lucky to rebuild. Cawnor and Rebecca were helping a pair of starlings collect mud to cement together their new nest.
They set down their most recent loads, and then they rested next to each other on a lower branch of the starlings’ tree. In the distance Tor and Mellori carried long pieces of red twine toward the trees where the grackles were rebuilding.
“They seem to be getting along well,” commented Cawnor.
Rebecca nodded.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if they started sharing a nest soon,” he continued.
Rebecca said nothing.
“Come on. I have something for you.”
Cawnor led Rebecca back to their nesting trees. He went to his nest and retrieved the ring that he had found on the beach and nearly forgotten. It seemed like so long ago. In reality, it had only been a few short weeks ago when he had seen the ring glinting in the sun, when things had seemed to be going so well between him and Rebecca. Before everything had gone wrong.
But now?
“I got this for you a while ago, but I’ve been holding it until the time seemed right.” Cawnor extended the ring, the gold and the diamonds sparkled a hundred different ways. Rebecca’s eyes widened. She hesitated for a second before she reached out and took the ring.
“Rebecca, I love you. I want you to be my mate. What do you say?”
“I say yes!”
She smiled and caressed his beak with her own. Wings wrapped around one another, they were oblivious to everything but each other.
“Well, isn’t this nice,” said a sneering voice.
Cawnor and Rebecca broke apart. In the next tree sat Kraven with Rafe smirking next to him. Two more rough looking crows were on a branch above them. Cawnor heard leaves rustling behind him. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Grall accompanied by two more large crows. Another pair of crows landed in Cawnor’s tree, a few branches above them. He saw three more to the right.
Twelve in all. And they had Cawnor and Rebecca surrounded.
thirty-six
Stronger Together, Part Two
Cawnor moved so that Rebecca was behind him. Not that it mattered. Kraven’s crows were all around. Cawnor made eye contact with Rebecca and nodded ever so slightly. Her eyes were wide, but a moment later, she nodded back.
Kraven didn’t notice the exchange. He was delighted that he had finally located his quarry and had caught them dead to rights. He deserved to gloat a little.
“I’m sorry to intrude on your beautiful moment, but she was promised to me first. The only thing you have to look forward to is—”
“Now!” Cawnor yelled.
Cawnor pushed Rebecca forward and shot off the branch after her.
Kraven was left gawking with an open beak. Grall was not surprised. He moved almost as soon as Cawnor did. And by the time he and Rebecca were away, the hard-eyed crow was only a feather’s breadth behind.
Kraven recovered from his surprise and gave chase. The others took off after him and spread out in a ragged, trailing formation.
Cawnor and Rebecca dipped and banked trying to put space between them and the Black Wing Captain. It didn’t work. Grall followed Rebecca and quickly closed the distance. He came in above her, grasping at her wings with his talons. Cawnor turned to help—only to run right into Rafe and a big ugly crow called Kreiss.
Cawnor tried to dodge, but there was no room. He collided with Rafe. They tumbled through the air, a flurry of jet black feathers, clawing and pecking at one another as they fell. Rafe stabbed at Cawnor’s eye, but he twisted his head and Rafe’s beak opened a small cut on his neck instead. Cawnor battered his opponent’s head with his wings, and then pushed himself away. He pumped his wings and tried to gain elevation, but just barely slowed himself down before he struck the ground. Luckily, it was still soft from flooding. Rafe crashed into the ground next to Cawnor and appeared to be stunned.
The other crows surrounded Cawnor. Grall forced Rebecca to the ground and herded her next to Cawnor.
This area had been on the edge of the wave, not far from a dirt incline that separated the estuary from the manicured lawns of the human habitation beyond, the farthest point the waters reached. Many shrubs and bushes remained, providing concealment for whatever happened next.
“Kraven, you coward! Fight me yourself!” said Cawnor.
Kraven affected a yawn.
“Why should I fight you? I’ve already won. I have Rebecca. In a moment, you will be dead, and then we will deal with the other four traitors that came with you.”
“Three,” Rebecca said without thinking. “Antsie died when the wave struck.”
Kraven smiled, and Rafe, who had gotten his wind back, chortled happily.
“Excellent,” Kraven said. “That’s less work for us. We’re already halfway done here. Any last words, Cawnor? Just kidding, I don’t really want to hear another word from you.” He turned to his cohorts. “Kill him.”
Rebecca cried out and tried to go to him, but Grall held her tight. She could only watch as eight crows closed on Cawnor.
“Call them off, Kraven!”
It was Tor. He had appeared in a low limb of one of the surrounding trees. Rebecca and Wia were perched nearby.
“Umm, no? But thank you just the same. You’ve made our job so much easier. It wasn’t easy finding you, but now that we have you have all been very accommodating.”
“It won’t be as easy as you think.” Tor’s muscles bunched as he prepared to launch himself at Kraven. The females also looked ready to dive into the fray. Below, Kraven was laughing, but prepared for Tor’s rush, while two of those who had been advancing on Cawnor broke off to stand by their leader.
From Cawnor’s left came a squeaky chirp. He looked and there was Karn, the grackle. Behind him was at least a dozen more of the small, black birds. More birds poured out of the trees. It looked like all of the birds of the estuary were flying in. Grackles, starlings, sparrows, finches, robins, black birds, blue jays, even a pair of noisy, green parrots flew in. The birds stood with Cawnor and Rebecca and alit on the branches, surrounding Kraven and his henchmen.
Gaudio flew in, screeching like a madbird, followed by a formation of gulls and huge pelicans who landed near the crows of the Mesa, towering over them menacingly. A blue heron that stood even higher than the pelicans landed as well.
None of them caused the consternation that Mallec and Skriah did. The hawks swooped down as rapidly as if they were hunting a rat. Every bird in the clearing jumped ,and there was a flurry of flapping wings as everyone tried to get out of the way. Kraven and Rafe tripped over each other trying to avoid the diving hawks. Only Cawnor held his ground. Mallec stood before him.
“Everything alright here?” Mallec asked.
Cawnor nodded. “Yes, I think it is now.”
Kraven and his followers were now in a tight cluster, surrounded and held by the angry throng of estuary birds. Cawnor made sure that Rebecca was okay, and then he turned to Tor.
“Tor, how?”
“Wia spotted you and got us. As for the others, it wasn’t us.”
Karn came forward.
“We saw that you were in trouble and thought that it was about time that we stuck together. You’ve been here for us since you arrived, but we’ve kind of missed the worm. We weren’t there for you when you needed us. I think I speak for everyone here, when I say, ‘We’re sorry.’”
“Thank you,” Cawnor said.
“Wait,” said Mallec. “No one speaks for me. However, a lot has happened these last few days. I don’t intend to let some mite-ridden crow kill you. I still might want to do that myself sometime. But not today. Whatever harm you did my family you made up for with your actions during the wave. In fact, Skriah and I decided we will no longer hunt any of the birds of the estuary.”
Relieved cheers met this news.
“What will we do with them?” asked Gaudio, looking at frightened Kraven and the others.
Cawnor hopped toward Kraven who flinched and shrank back.
“I shouldn’t let you leave,” Cawnor said. “I should show you the same mercy you were going to show us. But I’m not you. That’s why we left the flock in the first place. So, I am going to let you go. But you will never come back. We’re united here. There aren’t enough birds in the whole Flock of the Mesa to break that. If you ever return, you will never leave.”
“Yes,” said Kraven. “Yes, we’ll go. We won’t come back. Thank you.”
Grall looked at Kraven with disgust. Even Rafe seemed to see his friend for the first time.
Cawnor turned his back on his rival. Kraven tensed as if he might attack even then, but his body deflated. He was defeated, diminished in the eyes of his squad. No doubt the whole flock would know about it as soon as they returned.
Kraven flew east, away from the ocean. The other Flock of the Mesa crows followed.
thirty-seven
Nothing But Sunshine
A year passed.
Cawnor went out and searched for food to bring back to the nest, while Rebecca stayed with the chicks, four of them, two boys and two girls. Tor and Mellori were mated as well, and Mellori had hatched five chicks within days of Rebecca. Seven other crows had joined them from other flocks. The Flock of the Estuary thrived. The cooperation and unity with the other birds persisted.
Wia remained unmated; she was happy though. Cawnor, now flock leader, frequently sought her advice, and her sight remained long. When she closed her eyes, the deadly water was gone. And when she looked into their futures, she could see nothing but sunshine.
Afterword
I hope you enjoyed this revised edition of Storm Crows. Reader reviews are vital to the success of indie books. I would be grateful if you took two minutes to go to whichever site you purchased my book from and left feedback.
If you want to learn more about my books or want to reach out to me directly, check out my website at https://ErikChristopherMartin.com. Take a moment to sign up for my mailing list to receive my newsletter with information about upcoming projects, appearances, deals, and the craft of writing.
Thank you!
Erik
About the Author
Erik Christopher Martin grew up in Cleveland, OH but lives and writes in Southern California. He is the author of the Dotty Morgan Supernatural Sleuth series and other books for young readers, as well as numerous short stories for adults. He is a member of the Society for Children's Books Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) and the San Diego Writers and Editors Guild (SDWEG).
Besides writing, Erik has tried his hand at singing telegrams, social work, and owner of the now defunct In A Bind Books, an indie bookstore in Lakewood, OH. The store may be gone, but In A Bind Books lives on as a publisher.
Erik is married, and is a dog uncle and a real uncle. He once saw Robin Givens in a Waffle House.
Erik Christopher Martin, Storm Crows
