something flying low through the trees-not the Darkhorn, as he'd feared, or Bedlam's army swooping in, but something he'd almost forgotten about in his mad dash: the Marrowick from the bowling alley.
They'd never figured out why the Marrowick had gone to the bowling alley in the first place, and now it was moving swiftly and sticking to the shadows as if hunting something just out of Sky's sight. Sky frowned. The timing of the Marrowick's strange behavior, occurring so close to the arrival of the hunters and Bedlam, was too odd to be a coincidence. Was the Marrowick somehow involved in all this? As much as Sky hated it, he knew that Exile would have to wait.
"We need to hurry," Sky muttered, "before he gets away." Fred cawed and let go of Sky's hair, flying off to the east. "No, wait! Fred!" Sky plummeted.
The other Piebalds squawked and tugged to no avail, and then let go entirely to save themselves, leaving Sky to plunge into the icy waters.
He came up gasping for air, then paddled for shore. As he dragged himself onto dry land and collapsed to his hands and knees, he spotted his Core a few feet away.
"CAW!" called out the Piebalds, landing nearby, but not too nearby.
"Thanks a lot," said Sky, picking up his Core and putting it on.
"CAW!"
"Yes, the mud is all gone, but if I'd wanted a bath, I would've given myself one-and not in a swamp full of dead bodies!" Sky slammed a Cheez Whiz canister full of Fog into place.
"CAW."
"I know it's not your fault," said Sky. "Fred and I are going to have a long talk when he shows his face again."
He pulled a Baggie full of crackers from his backpack and tossed several to the Piebalds. "Here, P-crackers-your favorite-made fresh at the lair four months ago."
"CAW!" the Piebalds complained, dancing around the crackers.
"I meant Pas in phosphorus! Of course they're not actually soaked in pee! That's preposterous!" The Piebalds leaped onto the crackers, snatching them up. Under his breath, Sky added, "As far as you know."
He tracked down his other gear, reassembling it as he went. Last of all, he found his cloak sitting next to the broken Pounder. He surveyed the sliced tubing-cut by Crenshaw's knife-and decided, sadly, that he couldn't fix it.
Sky pulled out his pocket watch, the only key to Solomon's prison he still possessed. One monocle he'd lost last year. He'd given the other to Crystal before the east cemetery imploded. He thought about her and the others and remembered some thing Phineas had told him years ago after finding him, crying and stuck in his own trap with a pair of woven branch pants wrapped around his head. After showing Sky how he could've broken free if he'd just thought it through, he'd said, 'We are hunters, Sky-tears are our lot. But we mustn't allow our sorrows to trap us. At night, we hunt evil in all its forms and we survive. There's plenty of time for tears in the morning, and often you'll find, when the light shines, the tears will come for entirely different reasons."
Sky checked the time. Less than an hour had passed since he'd left Crystal, Andrew, Hands, and T-Bone behind, buried in the earth and in Nackles's hands. One lousy hour, and the night was still young. Part of him was afraid to return, afraid of what he might find.
He sighed heavily. "Come on, let's find Fred and the Marrowick before something else decides to kill me."
He set off through the swamp after the Piebalds, running northeast.
------------------------
It took him some time and a few roundabout paths to find any trace of Fred and the Marrowick. And when he finally found that trace, it was confusing.
He knelt down and examined a glob of soft Marrowick wax on the tip of a small gray feather. He rubbed the glob between his fingers, which caused them to tingle strangely. He stood and stepped carefully around the pools of wax and feathers that littered the ground.
The Piebalds watched him
They'd never figured out why the Marrowick had gone to the bowling alley in the first place, and now it was moving swiftly and sticking to the shadows as if hunting something just out of Sky's sight. Sky frowned. The timing of the Marrowick's strange behavior, occurring so close to the arrival of the hunters and Bedlam, was too odd to be a coincidence. Was the Marrowick somehow involved in all this? As much as Sky hated it, he knew that Exile would have to wait.
"We need to hurry," Sky muttered, "before he gets away." Fred cawed and let go of Sky's hair, flying off to the east. "No, wait! Fred!" Sky plummeted.
The other Piebalds squawked and tugged to no avail, and then let go entirely to save themselves, leaving Sky to plunge into the icy waters.
He came up gasping for air, then paddled for shore. As he dragged himself onto dry land and collapsed to his hands and knees, he spotted his Core a few feet away.
"CAW!" called out the Piebalds, landing nearby, but not too nearby.
"Thanks a lot," said Sky, picking up his Core and putting it on.
"CAW!"
"Yes, the mud is all gone, but if I'd wanted a bath, I would've given myself one-and not in a swamp full of dead bodies!" Sky slammed a Cheez Whiz canister full of Fog into place.
"CAW."
"I know it's not your fault," said Sky. "Fred and I are going to have a long talk when he shows his face again."
He pulled a Baggie full of crackers from his backpack and tossed several to the Piebalds. "Here, P-crackers-your favorite-made fresh at the lair four months ago."
"CAW!" the Piebalds complained, dancing around the crackers.
"I meant Pas in phosphorus! Of course they're not actually soaked in pee! That's preposterous!" The Piebalds leaped onto the crackers, snatching them up. Under his breath, Sky added, "As far as you know."
He tracked down his other gear, reassembling it as he went. Last of all, he found his cloak sitting next to the broken Pounder. He surveyed the sliced tubing-cut by Crenshaw's knife-and decided, sadly, that he couldn't fix it.
Sky pulled out his pocket watch, the only key to Solomon's prison he still possessed. One monocle he'd lost last year. He'd given the other to Crystal before the east cemetery imploded. He thought about her and the others and remembered some thing Phineas had told him years ago after finding him, crying and stuck in his own trap with a pair of woven branch pants wrapped around his head. After showing Sky how he could've broken free if he'd just thought it through, he'd said, 'We are hunters, Sky-tears are our lot. But we mustn't allow our sorrows to trap us. At night, we hunt evil in all its forms and we survive. There's plenty of time for tears in the morning, and often you'll find, when the light shines, the tears will come for entirely different reasons."
Sky checked the time. Less than an hour had passed since he'd left Crystal, Andrew, Hands, and T-Bone behind, buried in the earth and in Nackles's hands. One lousy hour, and the night was still young. Part of him was afraid to return, afraid of what he might find.
He sighed heavily. "Come on, let's find Fred and the Marrowick before something else decides to kill me."
He set off through the swamp after the Piebalds, running northeast.
------------------------
It took him some time and a few roundabout paths to find any trace of Fred and the Marrowick. And when he finally found that trace, it was confusing.
He knelt down and examined a glob of soft Marrowick wax on the tip of a small gray feather. He rubbed the glob between his fingers, which caused them to tingle strangely. He stood and stepped carefully around the pools of wax and feathers that littered the ground.
The Piebalds watched him
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