I woke up on the couch with my mother fanning my face with a newspaper. She carefully placed a bowl of hot minestrone soup on my lap, and I winced at the awkward burning sensation I felt. "How are you feeling, honey?"she asked, "Do you need anything?"
"How long was I out for?" I asked, ignoring her "mom questions."
"Three days. Taylor has been worried sick about you, as have I. What happened?"
"Someone knocked and I went to answer it and... I don't remember anything else. It's strange... I remember thinking it was Taylor until I opened the door and then it wasn't."
"Is that it? Is that all you remember?"
"Yes. I'll send word to Wolfy, see what's up."
Ash moaned and slammed his little snake head against the wall, then moaned again, voice cracking into a shriek. "I know *exactly* what is going on..." he said, "it's happened to me."
"What is it?"
He stayed relatively silent. Thirty seconds went by. Forty. Fifty. A full minute had passed before he spoke again. "Staaaaaarling..." he finally whispered softly and lyrically under his breath, "Staaaaarling..." his body blurred in and out of sight in purple, misty flashes. I suddenly found myself short of breath, and he stopped as I rested by body weight on a chair.
"Woah, what was that?" I panted.
He didn't reply. He just stared off. "I'm not nearly strong enough to make you feel faint. Only Blackwood and Wolfy can as far as I am aware. I suspect you can, too."
"Is starling a spell?"
"No, it's a bird."
"Then why do you say it?"
"This is a thought spell, not a speech spell."
"Okaaaaay...?"
Then there was a knock at the door.
YOU ARE READING
Hunter's Fowl; Starling
FantasyBecky is dead. Hunter's life has been shattered, and as his waking hours shorten, he must fight for his life. After Taylor gets a note from the hooded creature, who's name has been revealed, Hunter is forced to flee his home. Andy, at a push, is for...
