Meldi presides over the flock while sitting at the front of the gathering rock, looking down on them with eyes like a falcon. A few minutes ago, she and the rest of the elders arrived from the mountain’s bowels. But instead of calling the start of the gathering, all she’s done is stand at the front of the rock and silently gaze out over the aerie.

For their part, the flock has continued talking amongst themselves, waiting patiently and acting like nothing was out of the ordinary. Nearly every open patch of rock has been taken by a Lithan, from the floor of the aerie to the rocky cliffs on the far walls where the dens lay, to the towering spires where the ember root fire illuminates the buzzing cavern with flickering, warm light. Back in Varecia, we have similar venues for public concerts or events where the monarch gives a speech. But nothing close to the scale of a hollowed-out mountain, and nothing as spectacular as seeing it packed tight with a sea of fluffy Dragons.

Still on the lower levels of the rock, I’ve been able to listen in on their conversations. There’s much talk of prey -- where it’s located, how big it is, and the strategies used to catch it. Some are catching up with old friends, asking about their dens or how a particular fledge is growing.

But the mood has shifted ever since the Kin from Flat Rock arrived. I’ll hear a flare of surprise in someone’s voice, closely followed by curious stares in my direction. The word ‘Farlander’ has drifted through the crowd like waves spreading over a pond. Perhaps that’s why Meldi hasn’t started the meeting yet.

Then, as if she were listening to my thoughts, Meldi stands and issues an authoritative roar.

ROOOARRRRGH!

Despite her age, she effortlessly carries her ragged cry over the aerie, leaving a nearly silenced flock in its wake. The outliers finish their conversations, and hundreds of eyes are drawn to her. When there’s only the sound of feathers shifting, she speaks in a clear voice that travels far. “Brothers and Sisters. It’s wonderful to see you healthy and vibrant in harvestwing. Today we gather to summon Kevura and address an unprecedented visitor to our flock. Asha, would you please wing forward.”

I do as I’m told and take flight to a tall rock directly in front of the gathering stone as the curious eyes of the flock follow me. I want to say I’m used to situations like this — having so many pairs of eyes centered on me. But in Ellyntide, there were never any stakes that mattered, just the risk of temporarily embarrassing mom. Here in Felra, it’s fair to say that everything comes down to this moment.

As I land, Meldi addresses me first. “Thank you, Asha. Now please, what is the name given to you by your Kin?”

“Princess Asha Eloise Lordanou.” Kuro told me to leave off my full title as ‘Ellyntide’ is protected knowledge.

Uma steps forward to join Meldi. “And where did you receive that name?”

“The Farlands.”

Concerned voices rise around me as the rumor of a Farlander is proven true. Curiosity compels me to swing around to see their response, but Kuro told me I needed to give the elders my undivided attention.

Meldi continues, “Three days ago, a tragedy occurred, and a Lemur named Asha was allowed to take the form you see now. She flew from her home deep in the Farlands and made the crossing unassisted.”

She pauses and allows her words to settle. Kin aren’t allowed to talk back to the Elders during a gathering, but the sounds of shifting feathers tell me everything I need to know. They’re anxious to speak.

“She was found by my granddaughter, close to death at the talons of a pitiful false-kin. And then…” she trails off, and our eyes meet. “Asha. Please, explain to the flock what happened next.”

My heart jumps. She wants me to talk about the Beatrix?! But Kuro didn’t mention anything about giving a speech! Meldi’s gone off-script!! Even the other elders are looking between themselves, a little perplexed. Mentally I prepared myself to answer questions from the elders, but now I have to talk about the Beatrix to everyone?! I stare at her, flabbergasted, but her eyes narrow to slits, signaling my objections have been overruled.

I have to tell the story to them.

Slowly, I turn about and face the flock, every set of eyes from every inch of the aerie fixated on me. Here on my lonely perch, It’s like staring at every large crowd I’ve ever stood in front of and nothing like it at all. I scan them and try to find Kuro, but she’s invisible in the sea of dull-colored feathers. I wish she were here to do the talking for me.

“Well…” I stumble, trying to find my voice. Trying to remember everything I was taught about public speaking. “H-Hello, everyone. I wasn’t expecting to talk to you today. I…”

No, no, no. Ugh, why am I having such a hard time? Though I suppose all the public speaking lessons on the moon couldn’t prepare me for playing up my story in front of a crowd of Dragons.

Who was that playwright Laurent and Bodie were talking about in the hollow? Jakewell? Well, whatever his name was, all his radio dramas are delivered with a distinct style that his fans love. I haven’t actually listened to many of them, but I think I’ve heard enough to do a convincing enough impersonation. If it’s good enough for Ellyntide’s audience, then it should be perfect for the Snowfell Flock.

I loosen my wings, clear my throat, and slip into a different personality.

And so, Ykuvi landed in the clearing where Kuro and Enyll found me. ‘Blue skies?’ asked Enyll. ‘Absolutely not,’ panted Ykuvi, short of breath from his panicked flight. His expression sunk, and his face turned pale. ‘An airship-prey has been spotted approaching Felra!’

Gasps rise from the crowd.

Yes, that’s right! An airship-prey during harvestwing! The news sent Kuro and Enyll into a tizzy, wondering why an airship-prey would appear so suddenly. But I knew the reason. As a Farlander, I know all the secrets of airship-prey, including why this one arrived…

I talk and talk and talk some more until I’m blue in the face from emoting myself and playing up the tale as much as possible. One Kin, I couldn’t tell who, tried to speak out when I got to the part about threatening the Beatrix with fire. It sounded like they were having trouble believing an airship-prey could easily be scared. But Meldi quickly silenced them and encouraged me to continue. I get to the end of the story and dip my neck to the crowd, studying their reactions closely. Some of the Kin around my age are enthralled by my storytelling, staring at me with their faces wide in amazement. But a sizable portion of the older crowd looks more stoic. More judgmental.

Uma’s voice sounds behind me, “Thank you for your colorful story, Asha. The flock is grateful you drove away that awful beast.”

I whirl around and nod to acknowledge him, but… he thought my story was colorful? I didn’t overdo it, did I?

Khosa, an elder with impressively long, gold whiskers sticks her neck out to speak. “So, we arrive at the matter at hand. It seems Asha does not know how to return to her original form, nor does she know how to hunt. She wishes to join the flock and be taught how to survive.”

A chorus of jeers grows around me, ignoring the rule not to speak out. My spine twitches at their harsh words.

“But she is not one of us!”

“That’s blasphemy!”

“She should never be allowed!”

Khosa raises her teeth and answers a fierce growl to subdue the crowd. “Hold your tongues. Our rules for allowing loners into the flock are inadequate to gauge a Farlander. This is a matter Kevura alone must decide.”

Uma nods to Meldi and opens his wings. “So, to that end, by Meldi’s grace, we will summon Keuvra. Let us prepare.”

Slowly, the Elders step away from the front of the rock and move towards a fire pit in the center. Uma stands directly above and shoots a sprig of fire, igniting the ember roots inside. My heart skips as I watch the flame grow tall around them, at least twice their height.

The four elders stand in a circle and intone a chant, “Almighty, ancient Kevura.” At speaking their words, the fire rapidly grows in size.

Meldi speaks alone, “A Farlander has appeared in the image of Kin. We seek your guidance — help us understand this unprecedented event.”

The elders spread their wings wide and chant, “Almighty ancient Keuvra!” As they speak, the nature of the fire changes completely — strange blue flames, shimmering in opaque light, grow from the base of the fire and swirl upwards like a vortex. I glance around and watch the faces of the Kin around me, but none seem particularly surprised by this exotic display of fire. Lacking time to contemplate it, I stifle the curious, scientific part of my brain that’s screaming to learn more about this, quite frankly, magical display.

Uma raises his voice as the blue flame dances mere feet from his face. “The Farlander wishes to join our sacred flock. Tell us if we should grant permission to the outsider from far-off lands.”

“Almighty, ancient Kevura! Appear before us!”

A pillar of fire explodes upwards, cascading to the ceiling, spreading outwards over the rocks and the crevices. I hold my breath and turn to watch the fires near the base of the rock flicker.

Nothing happens.

Confused, I swivel around and look at the flames on the tall spires to see if they’re flickering. But they burn just as steadily as they have all day.

“Where is Keuvra?!” A single voice cries out, and the crowd becomes rowdy with apprehension. The elders stare amongst themselves in confusion as feathers fly, their wings still open from the ceremony.

“What’s going on?!” I shout over the commotion. This can’t be what’s supposed to happen, right? None of the fires in the mountain flickered!

Khosa drops her wings. “Uma!”

“Right!”

Uma leaps from the back of the rock and glides to the guarded entrance on the far wall. He lands and rushes by the guard I saw earlier, his face swelling with concern.

The anxiety of the crowd begins feeding into my own fears. What happens if Keuvra doesn’t appear? Can they try to summon him again? Or am I just out of luck? Unwilling to wait for answers, I grit my teeth and fly forward to confront the elders on the gathering stone.

“What’s going on!? Where’s Kevura!”

“Asha!!” Khosa hisses. She splays her white wings wide and growls, “Return at once!! Only the elders are allowed on the gathering stone!!”

“Not until you tell me what’s going on!”

Meldi approaches with her wings open in an aggressive posture, but her face is more measured than Khoas’s. “Fress, something is wrong. Keuvra should have appeared to the flock by now, but he hasn’t. Uma is going to his den to check on him directly. Now please, return!”

My feathers bristle hearing her response. I accept that they’re following ancient traditions, but I’m not going to sit around and watch my chances of learning something about my transformation dissolve. Forget the ceremonies. Just have Keuvra come out and address the flock directly as the elders do!!

Meldi bares her teeth as her impatience rises. I want to object further, but I’m handily outnumbered, and a confrontation with the Elders would be the end of me. Maybe Uma will return with Keuvra now that the ceremony has failed? If that’s the case, then I don’t want to be seen breaking any of their rules when he returns. I lower my feathers but say nothing as I turn around and glide back to my perch.

The flock is still buzzing with conversation as none of the elders have spoken yet, but they don’t seem concerned enough to try something as daring as flying to the gathering rock as I did. Glancing around, it seems quite a few Kin are glaring at me rather cross for my little stunt. Well, whatever! Be as angry at me as you want. You don’t have an entire Kingdom grieving for your apparent death as I do.

A few minutes pass, and there’s still no word from Uma. My agitation for the elders begins to subside and be replaced by impatience for Uma to return. Idly, I glance around the aerie and try searching for Kuro again. I don’t care if the flock hates me for what I’ve done, but if Kuro is upset…

“Uma’s returned!”

A Kin speaks out somewhere close to me. I whirl around to see Uma exiting the elder’s dens with nobody trailing behind him. He takes to the air and screeches to call the flock’s attention.

SKREEECH!!

He comes in fast for a hard landing while the aerie becomes quiet, waiting with bated breath to hear what news he brings. He ambles past the extinguished fire pit without acknowledging the other Elders and stands at the front of the rock.

“Kevura is still present in the mountain,” He announces, his voice frail after the sprint from the elder’s dens. “I have spoken with him, and he does not wish to appear at this time.”

What?!

So, that’s it?! I’m not going to get to see Keuvra?! Around me, the flock reacts with similar shock to the news.

“This has never happened before,” Meldi says gravely. “Brother, why won’t he appear?”

Uma shakes his head slowly. “He did not provide me a reason.”

Khosa exchanges a suspicious glance with Meldi. “And what about Asha? What are we to do with her?”

“Concerning the Farlander, he had this to offer:” Uma pauses to draw a careful breath and raises his blue head to meet the flock.

“The fate of the Lordanou rests on your wings. I will return once the matter has been settled.”