and flings the blade from the gash. The blade tumbles in the sand,
warped into nothing but a piece of scrap.
I scramble back and pull my dagger from my ankle. I’ve never used
a knife for anything other than butterflying a chicken cutlet and then
during my Deathday. It feels foreign in my hand.
Nova raises his mace, and we stand shoulder to shoulder. We can’t
keep backing up because that’ll take us into the river. But we can’t
walk forward because there is nothing but wall and the flock of
molting birds all around us.
“I count three more cats,” Nova says.
“Cats is an understatement.”
Nova grins. “There could be more. I’ll distract them with my
light, and then you run.”
“Don’t be stupid. I’m not going anywhere without you.”
Wings flap and birds caw and the sky churns. The rock wall begins
to tremble.
Nova looks at me, and I reach for him. I can try to channel my
magic into him. We are better together, stronger. But he does it
without me. His light is a brilliant thing that erupts around us. It’s
like a flare, and it dies just as quickly.
Then, a new kind of pain rips through me. Sharp talons dig into my
shoulders. I’m pulled into the air in a hard jerk. I can hear the
rattling sound of stones tumbling against each other, and I realize,
the wall is opening up.
I scream for Nova. Veins of light swirl around his forearms,
leaving behind black burned marks. They’re not tattoos but marks from
his magic…
Nova falls face forward on the sand. The birds around us take
flight, squawking and zooming around in a wide, protective circle.
Maybe the pain is making me delirious or maybe I’m just not built for
this land, but it looks like one of them shifts in midair. Her wings
elongate to a massive wingspan, and hands with claws form at the tips.
A long neck gives form to a human head with a black beak and black
eyes. It isn’t until she’s looking at me that I realize I’m six feet
in the air.
The bird woman flies to Nova and grabs him by his shoulders. She
opens her beak and a terrible cry sends a ripple across the river.
It’s so powerful that the beasts tumble against each other. It takes
them seconds to get back up. They get low to the ground, ready to
pounce. The biggest one opens its mouths to reveal a long, red tongue.
More and more of the fowls shift into half-bird, half-women form.
They fight and slash their talons at the saber-toothed demons.
Somewhere in the back of my head, I know these bird women are
avianas. Lula used to tell me if I didn’t give her my dessert, she’d
feed me to them. As they drag us into the open mouth of a cave-the
Caves of Night-I can’t help but think that, unwittingly, my sister
kept her promise.
17
When mortals defy the Deos,
heads roll from sunset to dawn.
- from the journal of Fernandio Neruda
The aviana’s claws dig deep into my shoulders. My screams echo in
the sparkling caves. The caves! Nova wasn’t wrong. There was an
opening. It was just hidden. The walls tremble as the entrance shuts,
leaving us to fly in the dark. There is only the flap of wings, the
rush of water, and the scent of burning cedar.
When I stop struggling against the creature and let myself be
carried, it’s just like what I imagine the free fall of a skydive to
feel like. My eyes adjust to the hazy, yellow glow coming up ahead.
The insides of the caves are dazzling, like someone chipped away
pieces of rock to reveal the glittering bits of gold and crystals that
pulse with light.
The ground gets closer and closer, and we aren’t slowing down. The
aviana releases me, and I fall to the ground with a hard thud.
“Alex!” Nova shouts.
I open my eyes despite the pain in my skull to see his hands
reaching for me. The bird woman carrying him swoops down past me. I
hold my hand out, but everything aches. I manage to graze his fingers,
and then he’s gone, into another dark hall.
“Where are you taking him?” My voice is as weak as the pulse of my
magic.
I can’t sit up, so I fall right back on the ground. A loose stone
digs into my side. From down here, I can see the layout of the cave.
The ceiling goes up so high there’s no telling where it ends. The
avianas flock to large cavities in the stone walls, and I realize
those are their nests.
A few feet away from me is an enormous statue. I recognize the
likeness from Rose’s tarot deck-El Cielo, god of the sky. He’s always
depicted with great wings and a crown of feathers around his smooth,
bald head. Here, he stands with arms stretched out toward the sky and
his wings stretched down to his taloned feet.
The large bird that carried me lands at my feet, blocking my view
of the statue. Her large talons change into feet with feathers growing
at the ankles. I catch a glimpse of strong, muscular legs before the
pain in my head forces me to shut my eyes again.
“We do not allow men in the caves,” she says.
I finally succeed on my third attempt at sitting up. Four other
avianas flank the one who carried me. In their half-human, half-bird
forms, they look even more battered and beaten than before the attack.
One of them looks feverish and weak but tries to remain upright.
“What were those creatures?” I ask, rubbing my shoulder.
The bird woman studies me with her unnerving gaze. “Saberskins.
They hunt along the wall. Not that there is much to hunt anymore. What
is your business here, bruja?”
Her face is more human now, though her striking features retain
the likeness of a bird of prey. She’s terrible and wonderful to look
at, with soft, bronze wings that grow from the bottom of her arms and
reach down to the ground. I wonder if they ever get tired from such a
weight. Instead of hands, she’s got long, red talons. When she sets
her hands at her sides and paces on the natural dais around me, I
notice her hourglass figure, naked except where feathers form natural
sort of clothes. Her movements remind me of a hawk watching its prey
with luminous, dark eyes. Unlike the others, she’s strong, and I can
tell without a doubt that she’s their leader.
“My friend and I,” I say, “we’re trying to get across the caves.”
“Is that all you seek?” She’s almost completely human now, with
the exception of her bronze wings.
I remember the story Nova told Oros. Lie , I can hear Nova saying.
Then why are my words failing me?
“We wish to get across the Caves of Night.”
“Why?” She leans closer to my face. This close, I can see myself
in the dark pools of her eyes.
“To-to get to the Poison Garden,” I say. “We do not wish to harm
you.”
“Harm us?” The aviana’s wings expand. “We are avianas, Daughters
of El Cielo and Guardians of His Treasures. You cannot harm us. Nor
are you the first mortal to come into these lands to attempt to reap
its wealth and die on its paths.”
When I look at the other avianas, I don’t see guardians. I see
hunger and weakness. If it weren’t for their leader, we wouldn’t have
survived the saberskin attack.
“Please,” I say. “My name is Al-Alejandra Mortiz.”
“I know who you are,” she says. “And I know your tale is a lie. I
can smell it on you the way I smell your fear and hear the rattle of
the dead that trails at your feet. Now, tell me, Alejandra Mortiz. Why
are you her e ? ”
Footsteps echo through the cave, but the aviana still waits for my
answer. The guards behind us flaps their wings as a girl pushes past