Darkness descends, and the land is covered in a ghostly pale glow.

Maki has risen.

I find myself outside the palace later that night, for what reason I do not know. By the light of the planet shining dimly through the branches of the Elder Tree, I see that I’m in the courtyard out back, close to the tree-lined paths leading to the palace’s rear portico. It’s cold outside, and I do not particularly wish to be here. There is still much work to be done concerning the Morthan’s visit. What could have led me here in the first place? Worryingly, I have no memory of how I arrived.

I shake away the surreality of the situation and quickly return to the stone path. For a late autumn night, the air is unusually crisp. I know this because I’m not wearing a coat for some reason. Irritated, I hold my hands against my arms and rub them together to warm myself up. Rabbit fur or not, it’s chilly out.

And then, something far more unusual happens. A glimmer of iridescent light shimmers off the corner of my eye, reflecting from somewhere beneath the Elder Tree. Turning to face the source, what I see defies explanation.

It is a small, red bird.

But this is no ordinary winged creature. Perched on the groomed hedges surrounding the great tree, it emanates a dazzling dappled light that illuminates the surrounding area in a pale blue glow. The excess of light makes it plain to see that the gaze of this otherworldly creature is fixated squarely on me. I stop in my tracks, completely unprepared to respond to this impossible situation. What is this bird, and why has it appeared to me?

Wait a second…

I’ve heard about this bird before. Didn’t Kelani…?

Twaasha!

Without warning, the bird calls out to me and takes flight! It leaps into the air and flies around, leaving a trail of glowing light as its races under the canopy of the Elder Tree.

“Wait, come back!!”

I take off after it, sprinting through the grass and bounding over the waist-high hedge where the bird perched. I land on the other side and continue the chase, following the trail of light underneath the great branches of the Elder Tree. Normally, this area is maintained as a public space for the royal family and the palace workers. But somehow, the grass is up to my ankles tonight, slowing my pursuit down considerably. Has the grounds crew been slacking off? I push aside the thought, resolving not to let it slow me down. Something compels me to chase this bird as fast as my legs will carry me.

It weaves me underneath the tree, over stumps and logs, and around thickets and bushes. The Elder Tree is massive, but it seems like I’ve been running much longer than I should be. As my resolve begins to wean, the bird cries out and summons an intense burst of speed, piercing through a thick grove of bushes and small trees that block the path up ahead. I throw caution to the wind and use my shoulder as a shield and thrust headlong through it.

Emerging on the other side, I expect to find myself on the far side of the Elder Tree. But what I see instead makes my heart stop.

Perched below the imposing sight of a full Maki is the Eastern Weald hollow — the place where everything went so wrong. A primal panic explodes in my chest. How could I find myself here? What sorcery brought me all the way from Varecia? As much as I dread reliving the horror of that day, I can’t help but gaze into the hollow.

To my great surprise, the interior has changed. Gone are the brambles surrounding its interior, those suffocating walls of thorn and bush that trapped the Princess’s party on that terrible day. In addition, the ground had been smoothed into a flat layer of grass, erasing all trace of the fatal encounter. It’s here that I find the elusive bird perched in the grass above a dazzling glowing feather.

I struggle to take in this otherworldly scene. Surely, I must be dreaming. But to dream so vividly of a world steeped in symbolism? The only conclusion I can draw is that the bird has brought me here for a reason, and that reason is the feather lying in front of it. I have to discover the truth of what happened here.

I draw a measured breath and step forward, only to tense up. The memories flow like fresh blood from mental scars torn open. This was the ridge where I encountered the beast on that nightmare of a day, and it was here that I first gazed at the horrors in the hollow. All my senses are screaming at me to flee, but I have to endure. I have to learn why I’ve been brought back here.

Summoning all the bravery I can muster, I place one foot in front of another…

The bird watches me with an expression like stone as I slowly descend into the hollow. Last time I flung myself down these slopes, nearly tumbling face-first into the brambles. Although the thickets are gone, I resolve to be far more careful. The bird is the only one here, yet I can’t help feeling it’s one of many souls watching my every move, waiting to see how I approach this unbelievable situation.

After reaching the bottom, I slowly step forward into the center of the hollow, gazing down at the feather in front of the bird. Shimmering iridescent, nearly as long as I am tall, I recognize it as one of the feathers of the Lithan. On that day, the hollow was littered with feathers like these, visual proof that Crow Wing attempted to fight back against the beast. But why present this to me now? I look to the bird for guidance, but it simply stares back at me with the same guarded expression. Perhaps I could take its silence to mean this feather is mine to discover.

Still, there is one thing I must know. I stare into the bird’s unchanging eyes and ask, “Are you the one who flew in the Queen’s dream?”

The bird quirks its head sideways but offers nothing in response. Somehow, I get the impression this creature could speak to me if it so desired. Perhaps our meeting tonight is not related to Her Majesty. So be it.

I kneel and inspect the mysterious feather lying on top of the grass. It’s beautiful, in a sense. Far thicker than any avian equivalent, its barbs are arranged in an intricate, alternating pattern of dazzling whites near its base, gradually turning black as it runs to the tip. I graze the back of my hand against it and discover it’s covered in an oily sheen that radiates the light in a kaleidoscope of colors. And it’s at this point that I notice the light emanating is actually coming from beneath the feather rather than the feather itself. I pick it up using both hands and gasp at what I find underneath.

Burrowed into a swirled pocket of grass is a glowing ring — the serpentine diamond!

Dumbfounded, I glance to the bird for help. But once more, it offers me nothing but a piercing stare. Could its silence indicate the diamond is for me? Slowly, I set the feather aside and retrieve the diamond from the ground. As I do so, the glowing dims, causing me to flinch slightly. After receiving another blank stare from the bird, I inspect the missing treasure of Ellyntide up close. It appears exactly as I remember it on the hand of the Princess, undamaged in any way by the attack that took her life.

“The diamond is intact,” I announce, still fixated on the object. “What does this mean?”

SKREEE!!

The silence of the hollow shatters as the bird rears its head skyward to issue a fierce cry, somehow initiating the vehement shriek of the Lithan that sent me tumbling to the ground in pain. It takes flight, lunging with impossible speed, banking hard to the left as it zips past my head in a flurry of feathers and light. It climbs in altitude on a northerly path away from the hollow, illuminating the night sky in a portentous glow of dappled light.

“Wait!” I yell, springing to my feet. “Please, come back!!”

I take off after the bird with the diamond held firmly in my right hand. How could it leave without saying a single word? Doesn’t it know how important this is to me? Oh God, please come back!

As I enter the field beside the hollow, the world around me changes supernaturally. The grass dies, grows backward, and fizzles beneath my feet. Quicker than a heartbeat, Maki sets, rises in another section of the sky, then dims out of existence. Soon the distance between the bird and me stretches outward into an impossible gulf, separating us by miles. The bare ground trembles as the world begins to disintegrate around me, wrenched apart into crumbling chunks, dragged downward into a void darker than the blackest night. As I watch the bird become another speck of light on the horizon, I gasp for air, feeling myself descend into the abyss.

My eyes open.

I see a familiar setting in a darkened room beyond warm bedsheets.

I rise fast as lightning, sending Bro and Pro tumbling from the top of my bed onto the floor below. I sit there panting, struggling to catch my breath and slow my stampeding heart. Gods above, what the hell just happened to me?!

That wasn’t a dream. There’s no way something so vivid, something so real, could be a mere dream. But if that wasn’t a dream, then what the hell was it? I slam my eyes shut, silently pleading the strange world I witnessed would return to me. Moments pass, but nothing happens.

Wait a second… the diamond!!

I tap my pajama pocket, feel around the duvet and search beneath my bedsheets. But despite my best efforts, I can’t locate the diamond. Even though I held it firmly in my hand when that world ended, it doesn’t seem to have returned with me.

Bro returns to my lap and rubs his face against mine, the warm sensation of touch bringing my rationality back into focus. I had an intensely vivid dream, just like the one Her Majesty experienced a few weeks ago. What’s more, the strange bird she witnessed in hers was also present in mine. Questions race through my head about the meaning of this profound experience. Why present the diamond to me? Does the Lithan’s feather have some connection to it? Who was that strange bird, and where was it flying to?

After sitting in silence for a time, an uneasy conclusion draws over me. Feeling conflicted, I gaze at the empty side of the bed. On nights like these he would lay beside me, warmly inviting me into the comfort of his arms.

What would you have me do, Calypso?

…

‘We can choose to let their deaths be in vain, or we can choose to do something that honors them.’

…

I fall against the covers, determined to quickly return to sleep. Tomorrow will be a day rife with planning.

I have to return to the weald.

The diamond is still there!