Read Online Lupus Rex by John Carter Cash - Free Book Online Page B

As I die within your beak, so will my bravery live on. As you kill these babes, so will your cowardice be forever consummated! You will kill us with no good gain.” She did not waver to either side at all, only glared up at the crow in insolence.
    It was then that Anur hopped and awkwardly tried to make flight. He took off clumsily and was loud in his desperate departure. Banka took after him and in mere seconds had the small bird on the ground.
    “No!” cried Incanta.
    The chick cried out in fear and pain as the crow drove its claws into its soft, feathered flesh. Banka, perched above his catch, only glowered at the elder bird.
    “Do not hurt the little one!” she cried.
    Incanta, who could not fly at all, ran over to Banka with all the speed she could muster. She had momentarily forgotten Erdic, who, though he surely could have flown to safety in the bedlam, lay still as death upon a blanket of freshly fallen leaves.
    Incanta attacked Banka with what fury she could muster, jumping at him, pecking and screeching. From within the brush, not far away, Ysil could hear the crow begin to laugh.
    It was then that Cotur Ada made his decision. He turned to the younger quail.
    “You must flee, young ones,” he said firmly. “You must away to beyond the river. I must try what I can to save the babes and the elder.”
    Ysil was confused and scared. “Beyond the river? What do you mean, Grandfather?”
    “You must carry a plea to the hawk Pitrin. Take the path of which I told you. Speak my name to him. I pray it saves you from his claws. Tell him his father begs him return to the field to bring order.” Ysil’s confusion grew. Father? “I fear a great war is upon us, children. I feel there are far darker things at work here than just a rascal prince, a thing far more dangerous. You must convince him not to harm you. Bring with you this.” And with that Cotur turned back his head and pulled out a long tail feather with his beak, then laid it down before Ysil.
    “Beg him come, Ysil, Monroth. Ysil, you must carry the feather. Tuck it within your breast to keep it safe. Be vigilantly watchful after you cross the river. He could take you easily, and I pray he does not before he sees the feather. This token will be your only safeguard. You must trust me when I tell you he will not harm you when you show him my feather. I regret it is to the two of you that I must pass this order, but, alas, fate has handed this to you. Hear your command. You must follow.” With that Cotur Ada slowly and carefully moved away from the two.
    “Of course, I can handle anything, Cotur Ada,” said Monroth with a burst of sudden pride, “but you speak nonsense. You are no father to any hawk.” Ysil felt Monroth’s former statement to be only more boasting, but he kept this to himself. Monroth’s latter statement he was in agreement with. He knew his cousin bird was as frightened by the notion of actually seeking out a hawk as he was, maybe even more so. What could Cotur Ada mean saying such a thing: a quail the father of a hawk?
    “There is no time for your questions. Follow my order.” Then he rustled even farther away. He looked back only once more. “Be still, my children. Be still until the dark has fallen. You may find friends in unexpected places and with unexpected faces . . . so take care whom you trust . . . and whom you do not!” And Cotur Ada, the eldest of the quail, took to the air and straight toward the laughter of Banka and the screaming of Incanta and the chick.
     
     
    W HEN HE HAD been very young Cotur Ada had gotten into a fight with a certain young crow. He had been at the field’s edge with his father, Vanda, and his brothers eating the grain of the season’s harvest. The man had raked the field two days previous, and the moon was waning toward dark. The animals had already stored away, but the field still held great bounty. Ada knew that this was the time of best gathering, and his father made sure the chicks did