The Eternal Flame Read Online Free PDF Page B

away. And there was Arc-kaya, the eaglewoman whose loving generosity hadn’t spared her from a brutal death.
    And there was one more face he couldn’t forget—that of a young, golden-eyed eagleboy named Hawkeen. Although they had truly bonded in the midst of their grief, Scree wished that he could have spent more time with this lad who reminded him so much of his younger self. But he had been forced to depart straightaway, leaving Hawkeen behind.
    Suddenly a burly eagleman pushed his way out of the crowd. “What makes you think you can lead us?” he demanded.
    Scree gazed sternly at his questioner. Although this eagleman stood in human form, he looked ready to sprout wings and take flight at an instant’s notice. And from the many scars on his chest and the red leg band that identified him as a warrior, it was clear that he’d flown into combat several times.
    The warrior thumped the end of his upright spear on the charred ground, sending up a puff of ash. “What makes you think so?” With a sneer, he added, “You’re not even a member of this clan.”
    Scree’s yellow-rimmed eyes narrowed. “That is true. But I am born of this same realm of fire and rock. And I also belong to this same people—your people, the eaglefolk of Avalon.”
    The warrior looked at him skeptically, rubbing his angular jaw. “Still, what do you know of the Bram Kaie clan?”
    “I know that you have lost more than your leadership. You have lost your way as eaglefolk. By your murderous actions, you have disgraced yourselves—and the rest of your kind.”
    The warrior stiffened, his shoulders flexed. Behind him, villagers stirred, murmuring and arguing among themselves. Someone shouted, “Kill him for that!” while a woman’s voice called out, “He’s right. We have flown astray.”
    Just then a pair of young eaglemen near Scree started shoving each other roughly. “You’re a traitor to side with him!” shouted one.
    “And you’re just a thieving coward,” retorted the other.
    All at once, they transformed into their winged forms. One of them suddenly whirled, striking the other’s face with the bony edge of his wing. Blood flowed from a gash in the youth’s cheek. They raised their talons, just about to tear into each other—when Scree stepped boldly between them. He grabbed each of them by the shoulder and held them apart.
    “Wait,” he commanded. His voice rang with such authority, echoing over the fire-blackened ridge, that the young men slowly lowered their talons. Although they remained in their eagle forms, glaring at each other angrily, they did not try to break free.
    “Fighting among yourselves isn’t the answer,” he intoned. “I ask you, can two wings of the same bird fly in opposite directions? No! And two clans of the same people are no different. If they try to fly in opposite ways, they will succeed only in tearing themselves apart. For we are all, every one of us, part of the same body, borne by the same wings.”
    As several eaglefolk nodded their heads, Scree released the young men. After pausing to make sure they wouldn’t attack each other again, he continued speaking. “This clan, under Quenaykha, has gained great wealth.”
    He turned, waving at the obsidian avenues between the nests, the gilded statues, the spiraling stairways of oak and mahogany, and all the spoils of plunder that lay strewn about like discarded feathers. “But you have also gained,” he declared, “far greater shame.”
    There were angry murmurs again. Yet now it seemed as if more people were listening, cocking their heads thoughtfully as he continued.
    “You are eaglefolk, after all. The fiercest, proudest people in all of Avalon! Does it make you feel true to your glorious traditions—and to your ancestors, who have flown higher than any creatures in the Seven Realms—to stoop to murder and thievery? To soar not on the strength of your own wings, but on the wings of those you have robbed?”
    He lowered his voice.