Wind Under Wings

Chapter Three, Part One

"There it is!"

"I'll get it!"

"Not before me you won't!"

All of the nestlings were darting through the grass, scurrying haphazardly about as they chased a mouse through the meadow. It was quick and elusive however, and the nestlings were so focused looking at the ground that they frequently crashed into each other as they tried to catch it.

Finally one of them pounced upon it, and the game was over.

"Ha, my team wins!" Igri cried, "Good work, Taliak!"

The mouse was dangling from the end of Taliak's beak, and he made sure to hold it high as possible for everyone to see before he devoured the prey in a few quick bites. Afterward Kaavis and his nest brothers lowered themselves in the grass while Igri, Teralt, Areel, and Taliak prowled around them, fanning their wings while pretending to fly over them in the victory rite.

"Your defeat is wind under our wings," Igri intoned. She paused, then added the formal words the adults used whenever one Order conquered another in a war. An adult passing through the meadow the other morning had taught it to them and they had been using it ever since in their games. "Your defeat will lift us higher, carry us farther, and strengthen our will. With your defeat my Order—I mean, my team, prevails."

"You won't be so lucky next time," Kaavis told Taliak when the game was finished and he and his nestmates had gotten to their feet. "The mice won't always be so fat and slow."

"Maybe you're the one who's fat and slow, Kaavis, since you couldn't catch it," Taliak retorted.

Igri and the others laughed and puffed out their down with amusement. Kaavis growled under his breath and prowled over to Taliak as though to attack, but instead the other krall simply bumped his wing against Taliak's flank and dodged out of the way before Taliak could swat him. Kaavis turned again to face him. His beak was opening in a mischievous grin. Gone were the days when Kaavis would hiss mean-spirited taunts at him, when Taliak in turn would raise his back and lash out in anger. It seemed ages ago when they had first met. Now, with high summer well under way, the only thing left between the two young kralls was friendly competition.

"Why don't you join my team the next game we play?" Kaavis said suddenly. "You don't have to get stuck with Igri all the time."

Igri, overhearing this, rounded on Kaavis and buffeted her wings at him. "Why would he want to join your team? You've never wanted him before."

"That was when he was too small to be useful. He's much bigger now."

"But he's always been on my team. You don't deserve to have him."

They wrangled back and forth like this for several minutes while their nestmates looked on, but Taliak didn't mind. He just stood tall and soaked it all in, occasionally flexing a wing while trying to look casual. He loved being reminded of how much he'd grown since his first outing. Kaavis was right, he was not a little squab anymore trailing after the others and getting knocked about in the games. On the contrary, he was easily as big as Kaavis and Igri now.

"You can keep him," Kaavis was saying, dropping down into a crouch, challenging Igri, "If you can fight for him."

The two circled with their wings half-spread, about to square off in a nest leader match. Dankar, Sittiss, Teralt, and Areel crowded around them, cheering them on, but Taliak had had enough. He bulled through the ring and thrust out his wings to keep them apart.

"Ssst! I am a nestking and I will decide whose team I'm on," he told them, glaring. He didn't mind them arguing about him but he wasn't about to let them forget that he was their equal in status and could make his own choices. With him always having to be on a team because he had no nestmates himself, they sometimes forgot.

Igri and Kaavis both blinked at him, then stepped back.

"Sorry, Taliak," said Igri. She brushed herself alongside him in apology. Kaavis did likewise on his other side, but he hissed into his ear, "But you still want to be on my team, right?"

Taliak shouldered him off and rustled his wings. "I'll think about it."

Everyone broke the ring apart, sighing and looking dejectedly at Taliak. Nest leader matches were always entertaining to watch and provided an excellent opportunity to boast about which brood had the strongest nestking or nestqueen. No one thanked Taliak for putting an end to their quarrel.

"What should we play now?" Asked Dankar, looking expectantly at Kaavis and Igri. Between teams nest leaders always got to the pick the games. Taliak had chosen the last one.

"Why not border patrol?" suggested Kaavis.

"I like border patrol," said Taliak. "Or sky battle." He reared onto his haunches and beat the air with his wings. His claws came out and he hissed fiercely at Kaavis like he imagined an enemy griffin from a rival Order would do. Kaavis pushed up to match him, but Igri cuffed them both and they lost their balance and crashed together in a heap on the ground.

"What did you do that for?" Kaavis demanded while he and Taliak disentangled themselves.

"Because it's my turn to choose. And I know just the thing." She lifted her wings a bit, and Taliak noticed how they quivered in the sunlight, as though she were working herself up for something daring. When she spoke next her voice dropped in a conspiratorial whisper. "Let's go to the sand baths."

"The sand baths?" Taliak echoed, his face blank. He didn't know what she was talking about. Everyone else, however, was gaping at the nestqueen.

"The sand baths is too far," Kaavis said slowly. "It's all the way across High Forest. We've never gone by ourselves before."

"Neither have we," said Teralt. "Our parents haven't taken us in ages. It would be nice to go on our own."

"I don't see why we shouldn't," said Igri. Now that no one was outright disputing her she spoke louder, growing more confident. "I say we go, and since it's my turn to decide what we do..."

"Well..." Kaavis cocked his head, mulling it over. His nestmates were flanking him now, their eyes wide and imploring.