Page 42 of Power Shift
“Come on, you two.” Fee hopped on my left shoulder; Poe settled on the right. They waited patiently while I checked on my plants, giving them a healthy drink of water and a boost of nutrients. A double check to make sure all the protections were in place, and we were off to the kitchen.
“Want to eat first, Poe?”
The raven shook his head. “Fly! Fly!”
“Alright. Keep an eye on Fee. But don’t take off until I double check the wards and put up the canopy, okay?”
“Make high.”
“As high as I can,” I promised, guilt flooding me. Poe could fly as long and as high as he wanted to, but he wouldn’t. Not as long as Fee needed him.
Every time I let them out, I raised the canopy a little higher, but it was almost at its max. Any higher and people would begin to notice.
Both birds’ bodies quivered with anticipation when I stepped onto the porch. “Be patient,” I urged. “It will only take a few minutes.”
Poe made a quarking noise and ruffled his feathers, his impatience evident in his motion.
I moved some leaves out of the way and sank onto the ground, digging the tips of my fingers into the soil. Closing my eyes, I sank into stillness and connected with the earth.
My land was well-sated and relaxed, no longer in a true growing season. Autumn was the time to slow down and beginpreparing for winter. Joy Springs was colder than the Gulf Coast, but we rarely saw a hard freeze for long, if at all. But things stopped growing and slumbered.
I coaxed the ground to alertness and sent them a mental image of what I wanted and why. The land perked up when I showed them Poe and Fee, its attention snagging on the phoenix’s incredible plumage. Slowly but surely, vines rose from the ground, hugging and curling around trees and structures, climbing toward the sky before they reached for each other to tangle in a camera proof canopy.
It took a little longer than I expected. Autumn moved slower than spring and summer, but soon enough my land fell into darkness. I sent several globes of light into the sky, interspersing them in a pattern Poe and Fee could use as an obstacle course if they wanted.
“Ready?”
Fee’s cry was exultant, shattering the quiet evening.
Tears sprang to my eyes, and I wondered if I could ask for help to protect her. The Keep might be a good place. Caelan had a lot more land, but what would he do with such a treasure? Would he use it for his own gain?
“Go,” I whispered. “Fly free.”
Both birds shot from my shoulders in a sharp arc upward, their happy cries echoing through the land.
“Thank you,” I whispered to the land.
A soft, warm pulse was its answer.
Once the birds were fed, they landed on the loveseat and curled around each other. I never kept them behind the locked doors when I was home, but I couldn’t risk allowing them outside with cover. All the shades were drawn and double-checked for any other presence before I let them roam free.
After a quick dinner of tacos, I curled on the couch with my e-reader. Poe flew over and settled onto my lap.
“Fly tomorrow?” Poe croaked.
“Maybe.” I stroked his feathers absentmindedly. “What do you think about me asking Caelan to care for Fee?”
Poe ruffled his feathers and cocked his head up. Intelligence gleamed in his dark eyes. “Like.” He bobbed his neck like that settled everything.
“You think she will stay safe there?”
“Caelan predator.” He snapped his beak a few times. “Eat prey. Fee safe.”
Poe always had good judgment about people. “Poe visit.”
“Are you sure he won’t use her for his own gain?”
A shake of his feathery head. “Lord honor. Love Evie. Won’t steal.”
