Zephyr Ashwright's Arc

Chapter 3 of 3

The forest was quiet, but Zephyr couldn't stop shaking. The metal boy's words stuck in him. Malachus would come back with something worse. And Zephyr had nowhere to hide the bunny and fox until then. The bunny huddled against his neck. The fox pressed close to his leg, ears flat. "We need cover," the metal boy said. He wiped his sword clean on his knee. "Somewhere he can't reach them fast." He looked at Zephyr. "I know a cave past the pond. Old, dry. He doesn't hunt there." Zephyr nodded. "Then that's where we go." They moved fast. Zephyr flew low, one hand cupped around the bunny. The fox ran under him, green eyes glowing, quick as a shadow. The metal boy jogged ahead, sword pointed forward. Twice he stopped and held up his hand. Twice they waited, breath held, until the forest stayed empty. The cave opened low in a mossy bank. Zephyr set the bunny down inside. It sniffed the walls, then thumped its foot, satisfied. The fox slipped in and curled by the entrance, watching the trees. "This works," Zephyr said. His shoulders dropped. "They're safe now." The metal boy didn't answer. He was staring past the cave mouth, at the far bank of the pond. A baby elephant stood in the reeds. It had a strange long neck, gentle eyes, and only three legs. It leaned on a rock to stay up. When it saw them, it made a small, scared sound. "That's not Malachus's," the metal boy said quietly. "Look at the leg. That's a curse wound. Same kind I've seen before." Zephyr walked toward the calf. It flinched, then let him near. Its stump was smooth, like the leg had never been there. "Someone did this on purpose," he said. "Someone with a lot of power." The metal boy's jaw tightened. "Not the man you fought today. Worse." Zephyr looked back at the cave. The bunny watched from the dark. The fox hadn't moved from the entrance. He had a safe place now. He had kept his friends alive. But the calf couldn't walk, couldn't run, couldn't hide. "I can't leave it out here," Zephyr said. The metal boy studied him. "If you help it, whoever cursed it might notice you. You'd be pulling two enemies your way, not one." Zephyr knelt by the calf. It rested its long neck on his shoulder, trembling. He thought of the bunny and the fox, how he'd fought a whole pig to keep them. This was the same feeling. "I'm not choosing which ones to save," Zephyr said. He stood and helped the calf limp toward the cave. "They all come with us." The metal boy sighed, but he moved to the calf's other side and steadied it. "Then we'd better learn who did this," he said, "before they come looking for you."