Kolindo's Arc

Chapter 2 of 4

Kolindo left the beast in its hollow with the three sleeping voles and flew back along the creek. The charm hung cold against her collarbone. She had a nursemaid to protect and a princess who still wanted a killer's head. Voleena would not take her word alone. Kolindo needed witnesses. She needed voices Voleena would trust more than her own. Her owl banked toward a crack in the hillside above the reeds. Kolindo had seen the crack before and never gone in. Now she did. The tunnel opened into a wide hall lit by lanterns that were not fire. Silver wood arched overhead. Rainbow stone flecked the walls. Red banners hung slack in the still air. She had heard rumors of a sky tribe grounded by a storm. She had not known they lived under her creek. A figure blocked the passage. Red hoodie, rainbow hair to the waist, robot wings folded tight against their back. The wings did not move. A small flying dog circled their ankles, prism-bright, wearing the same red crest. The dog barked once and lifted off the floor. Its owner did not. "You're above ground," Kolindo said. "You're below it," said Prism Skyweaver. "State your business." "There's a beast at the creek." "We know. That's why we're down here." "It didn't kill the voles. It's hiding them. I have proof." Kolindo held up the charm. "This reads what a creature feels. It went still at the beast. Still means curious. Not hunger. Not fear." Prism looked at the charm. Then at Kolindo. "One trinket." "Come see. Bring anyone. Your tribe listens to logic. The vole princess listens to her tribe's allies. If your people say the beast is gentle, she'll believe it." "Our wings don't work." "You can walk." Prism was quiet. The prism dog landed on their shoulder. "Show me first. Alone. If you're wrong, I go back down and seal the crack." Kolindo led them out. At the hollow, the beast was awake, licking mud from a vole pup's ear. Voleena stood on a stone at the water's edge, arms crossed, guards behind her. She had followed the tracks. She had seen the beast. She had not seen it feed the pup a curl of cress from its own paw. Prism watched for a long moment. "That's not a killer." "Say it to her," Kolindo said. Prism walked to the stone and said it. Flat, short, no softening. The guards lowered their spears. Voleena's arms uncrossed. She stepped down into the mud and touched the beast's foreleg. The beast made the low purr sound. "He stays," Voleena said. "On trial. He guards the haven until I say otherwise." The beast had a home. Prism had walked above ground for the first time since the storm. Kolindo had her witness. And Prism turned to her with a new demand in their eyes: fix the wings.