Nina Redfeather's Arc

Chapter 6 of 12

The two creatures had not stopped snarling since Nina brought the demon home. The fire bird spread its wings against the shed wall. Flames licked the old boards. Umbral Nightshade poured himself across the floor like black water, white eyes fixed on the bird. Nina stood between them with her arms out. Sparks fell into the straw. If they fought here, the whole shed would burn, and the house behind it. "Stop," Nina said. Neither one looked at her. The bird screamed and lunged. The demon rose up like a wave. Nina grabbed a bucket and threw snow between them. Steam hissed. It bought her one second, no more. She could not fight both. She had to move one. The bird was bound to her. It followed where she led, or so the old woman had said. Nina snatched a golden apple from the shelf and held it high. The bird's blue eyes turned to the fruit. Its scream dropped to a low cry. "Come," Nina said. She backed out the shed door into the snow. The bird hopped after her, wings tucked, hungry. The demon slid to follow, but Nina turned on him. "You stay. You wanted the door. Guard it." The shadow paused. His grin flickered. He sank down against the shed wall and waited. Nina led the fire bird through the trees. She needed somewhere with no wood to catch, no home to lose. She remembered the boarded-up liquor store past the edge of town. Its yellow sign hung crooked. Snow had piled against the door for years. The walls were bare and cold. Nothing there she loved. Nothing there to burn. She pried a board loose and squeezed inside. The bird followed, flames dimming in the dark. She set the apple on the dusty floor. The bird tore into it. Its fire settled to a soft orange glow. Nina let out a breath she had held for an hour. But standing in the empty store, she saw the trap she had built. She had two hungry things now. She could keep them apart only by keeping them in two places. The bird here, the demon at home. That meant walking between them every day. It meant more apples, and the old woman still kept her tree. Nina knelt by the glowing bird. Its eyes met hers, older than any bird's should be. In her dreams the shadow had pointed to the forest. It had led her to this creature. She still did not know why. She did not know what it wanted from her. "You're not just hungry," she said. "You want something. Tell me." The bird only stared. But she felt sure now. The shadow in her dreams and this fire were one thing, and it had a purpose she had not yet found. Nina replaced the board and stepped into the snow. Two guardians, two prisons, and one question still burning.