The flower sent by Swordbird had helped him, he realized. But it couldn’t heal him. All Swordbird had been able to do was to give him strength to reach home and complete his mission. “Thank you, Swordbird,” he whispered faintly.

“Miltin! Miltin!” He heard Aska calling his name. He was not sure where Aska was. She seemed to be far off…

A warm, unfamiliar feeling enveloped him. No. He could not just let it come. Miltin tried his hardest to speak, but his throat was too dry for him to utter a clear word. His first attempt ended in a round of terrible coughs and hacks. But soon he managed a small, weak whisper.

“A-Aska…” he croaked. “I cannot go on to bring my slavebird friends to freedom. Please complete the task for me. You are a powerful, determined blue jay, and I choose you to finish it. Soon I will die. I wish I would see Turnatt be destroyed and the slavebirds go free, through your eyes.” He paused just a little and attempted a smile. The strange feeling once again tried to swallow him. He turned to his parents. “Father! Please fly with Aska, to Stone-Run… Turnatt must be destroyed…” His voice grew barely audible. “I love you, Mother and Father…”

The strange feeling came a third time to take him away. This time Miltin did not struggle to keep it off. He let the warmness go through his whole body; he felt as if he were soaring. A burst of brilliant colors filled his vision. They soon merged into a shade of blood red. The red turned into black. Miltin felt as if he were flying through a dark tunnel. The tunnel seemed endless, full of twists and turns. He was not afraid; he ventured on.

He shot through the opening of the tunnel and into the sky. Miltin’s wings no longer hurt, his chest and back no longer ached, and he felt happy and free. Looking behind, he could see his body lying in the nest bed. Around it were his parents, Aska, and his tribe friends. They were crying. All the Waterthorn birds were crying. He hovered in the air for a minute, gazing at them, carving all of them into his memory. “Good-bye, Mother and Father. Good-bye, Aska. Farewell, Waterthorn,” he whispered, tears in his eyes. After a while he reluctantly turned and flew toward the skyline, till his tribe was no longer visible in the distance. He flew higher and did loops in the air. Higher and higher he went, until he was flying next to the sun.

“He’s gone, gone to Sky Land,” whispered Reymarsh, gazing sadly at the still form. He leaned on the hilt of his sword, trying to hold back his tears. “Turnatt, you’ll pay!”

Miltin’s mother sobbed. Aska, with tears streaming down her cheeks, steadied and comforted her.

Aska sorrowfully looked at the robin’s peaceful features. Miltin had a little smile on his face. The afternoon breeze ruffled his feathers. He seemed to be asleep, dreaming of wonderful things. He could live in his dreams forever.

Rest in peace, Miltin, Aska thought. I will fulfill your wish.

The wind blew softly over the maples, as if in mourning.

The next day Reymarsh and his tribesbirds held a funeral for Miltin and planted blue flowers on the grave. After that the robin leader readied his troops and took out the red Leasorn. They flew toward Stone-Run with Aska in the lead, chanting furiously, “Down with Turnatt! Set the slavebirds free!”

20 PREPARATIONS

Turnatt waited for Shadow’s return, eager to hear of the destructions of the cardinals’ camp.

Those little woodbirds killed a score of my best soldiers, he thought. I’ll see them destroyed! To pass the time, he idly turned the pages of the Book of Heresy, although he knew every paragraph by heart. “ Defiance spreads like a plague,” he murmured to himself, quoting his favorite passages. “Let no one oppose you, even for a second. Crush them before thoughts of rebellion can spread.”

But Shadow had been left with no archers or scouts, half a cape, some patches of bald skin, and wounds from arrows and darts-none serious but all painful. He was winging his way, not back toward Fortress Glooming, but deeper into the forest, away from the cardinals and the blue jays and away from the hawk lord as well. Shadow had no intention of returning to face Turnatt and confess his failure.

First there was that strange incident at the Waterthorn tribe, he mused as he flew. Then those cardinals and blue jays defeated Slime-beak, and now even I could not conquer them. Turnatt’s fortune is changing, the raven decided. He’s no longer a lord I wish to serve.

The deep shadows of the midnight forest swallowed the raven, and nobird could tell where he had gone.

Glenagh sat in the hall of the cardinals’ main tree, bandages wound around his head. In front of him was the Old Scripture of the cardinals.

In the margin of the last page of the Old Scripture, Glenagh noticed some words: “The first verse will make Swordbird appear; the second will make him stay long enough. The first verse is in this book; the second will be from your heart. Express your wishes there.”

Glenagh stared at the page, his heart thumping excitedly. Here was the key. At last he knew what was needed to bring Swordbird and make him stay. He dipped his quill pen in the inkwell and started to write quickly on a fresh piece of paper.

Aska, Reymarsh, and his tribe fighters pushed on with their journey to Stone-Run during the night. They passed the White Cap Mountains quite smoothly, avoiding the Sklarkills by traveling in darkness. In the morning they soon passed the border and entered Stone-Run.

“I’m in your embrace again, dear Stone-Run,” Aska murmured happily. She forgot all the hardships on the journey and sped up, flying faster and faster.

The shortest way of getting to the Bluewingle camp was to pass the cardinals’ home first. So Aska, Reymarsh, and his robins headed there. Before they drew near, some cardinals darted out. “You’re back, Aska!” they cried.

Aska introduced Reymarsh and the robins to them, and the birds talked while they flew.

“Where’s Miltin?” one of the cardinals asked.

Everybird became sad and silent at the question, especially Reymarsh, whose face filled with grief. Aska said in a low voice, “He had been too seriously wounded at Fortress Glooming, and we were attacked in the mountains as well. He passed away not long after he reached home.”

The birds fell silent, mourning.

After a while Aska broke the silence. “How’s my tribe?”

“We have bad news, Aska,” a cardinal answered with his head bowed. “Your tribe trees were burned by Turnatt’s birds.”

Aska gasped in horror. “Have birds taken the flight to Sky Land?”

“Only a few, may Swordbird bless their souls. The rest are living with us now. Come and see them.”

Before the cardinal finished his sentence, they had already landed on the threshold of the Sunrise camp. Flame-back, Skylion, Glenagh, and others greeted them warmly, welcoming them inside.

Reymarsh took the red Leasorn gem out of his tunic. “Here’s the Leasorn that you urgently need,” he said, passing the gem to Flame-back. “With it, and the ‘Song of Swordbird,’ the great Swordbird can be called.”

Flame-back accepted the Leasorn and gingerly held it close to his eyes, examining it. The multifaceted gem was translucent and bright, and it seemed as though there were countless crystal windows inside. When Flame-back turned it slowly, it gave off gleaming red sparks. Everybird gathered around the gem in awe.