Intro

Kaia dipped her coal black wings and swooped toward the ground, her giddy laughter coming out a harsh, gravelly "caw!" The sound she made just made her laugh again. *I'm a Crow!* she thought exultantly. She'd only gained the changing power two weeks ago, and up until now she'd just been allowed to flutter about the courtyard at home, getting used to her new form. Today was her first real chance at flying outside, without adult supervision. It was exhilarating! All around her a flock of other crows cawed and croaked; some of them were her cousins and older brother, but there were several natural crows that had joined them in the sky, dipping and rolling around each other in joyous chaos.
*How do you like it?* Var asked. Kaia's mind immediately translated her brother's series of "caws" and "arawks" into intelligible words.
*I love it!* she crowed back. Several of her cousins laughed, and she picked out each of their "voices." The other crows, the ones that were just birds rather than transformed humans, cawed raucously but still sounded just like crows, their voices not transforming into words in her mind.
*Come on,* Var cried, *we've got something to show you!* And her brother led the way, shooting higher and higher into the sky. Her cousins followed, and she trailed just behind. They rose into thinner and thinner air, and Kaia had to pump her wings hard to catch up. Her shoulders began to ache, not used to this kind of treatment. The natural crows followed them for a while, but soon they began to peel off and return to their regular business, not willing to follow so high.
*Var . . . what are we . . . doing?" she gasped.
*Come on!* was his only response. They flapped and wheezed and climbed, higher and higher until Kaia thought she might black out. Even the others were breathing hard, so she knew it wasn't just her inexperience. Finally they leveled out, and Kaia spread her wings to coast with the others, riding the thin wind and gulping for breath.
*There,* Var said, *Look down.* Kaia looked, and if she hadn't already been gasping, the view would have taken her breath away. The city was laid out beneath her like a glittering blanket, the sun reflecting off every window and metallic surface. The houses were too small to distinguish one from another, and the large mansions in the city's center looked like doll houses. It was an enormous city, but from here she could see it from end to end, and miles and miles of the world beyond. Mountains towered to the north, and Kaia wondered if she were higher than their peaks, or if they rose taller still. Thousands of acres of forest stretched like a green ocean to the south and west. And to the east, past miles of golden fields and farmlands, just within her range of vision Kaia could glimpse the glittering reflection of the sea.
*It's beautiful,* she croaked softly. *I never knew we were so . . . isolated.* There wasn't another large city in sight in any direction, or even a decent-sized settlement.
*Yeah,* remarked one of her cousins. She though it sounded like Grey. *Why do you think it takes so long for trading caravans to get here? Even when they are using those new mechanical carriages.*
Kaia would have shrugged, but her arms were otherwise occupied. She'd never given much thought to how long it took to travel from their city to the next one.
*So, Kaia,* Var said after they'd all enjoyed the view for a few minutes, *Are you ready for what we came up here to show you?*
*What?* Kaia was confused. *I thought I was looking at it. This view.*
*That's just the first part.* I caught Var's eye--I was pretty sure that crow was Var--and he winked at me.
*She'll never do it,* said Grey.
*5 pin' says she does,* replied his twin, Aerik.
*You're on.*
*Okay,* Kaia said, glaring at the two crows that were even more identical than the rest, if that was possible. *What are you talking about?*
*Clipping,* Var replied, and before she could ask what he meant, he rippled and changed before her eyes, and where a crow had been suddenly there was her brother, in human form. He seemed to hover for a moment, grinning wickedly at her,
And then he plummeted.
*VAR!* Kaia screamed, instinctively diving after him, though there was nothing she could do. A crow was far too small to catch a falling human.
*Ha ha! Not like that, Kai!* Aerik dove alongside me. *You've got to clip your wings! It's the only way to fall!* And tilted to get a good distance from her, then changed as well and dropped in human form, whooping as he went.
*Hey, that looks fun!* cawed another cousin, still in crow form. *Great idea, Kaia, diving first! Gets you up to speed!* A black form shot past her in a steep dive, then changed suddenly into Nikko, the youngest of them. He held his hands out in front of him, still diving through the air like an arrow. Then he stuck out one leg, which the wind caught and sent him spinning. "Woohoo!" he yelled. Kaia banked, slowing her dive, confused. Var was still falling, but he was laughing into the wind. "Come on, Kaia!" he shouted up at her, "change!" Around her everyone else had regained their human forms and were shooting toward the swiftly rising earth.
"She won't do it," shouted Grey from somewhere above her. "It'll be too late in a minute! Be ready to pay up, Aerik!"
"Aw, come on, Kai! I don't have five pin' to lose," Aerik shouted over the rushing wind.
*You are all insane!* Kaia cawed at them. She was relieved that they apparently were doing this on purpose, and something hadn't just gone wrong with Var's change. She'd even figured out what they were planning. They would change back into crows before hitting the ground, and fly safely away. But she was furious that they would do that to her, just bring her up there and *drop* like that, scaring her out of her wits. She was tempted to fly away and leave them.
But it did look like fun . . . and Grey was convinced she wouldn't do it. Because she was a girl? Or a newcomer to flight? Either way, she couldn't let him win that particular bet . . .
*Fine!* she screamed, and forced the change, fighting against her instincts that screamed she would die without wings. It was harder than she expected. Fear gripped her and tried to halt the change, but she forced through it, and suddenly her stomach seemed to drop away from her. She was human, and falling!
And it was fantastic!
Wind whipped at her hair and clothes, stinging her eyes and filling her ears with a roar. She couldn't hear as well past the wind, which explained why everyone was shouting at the top of their lungs.
"She did it! Woohoo! Five pin' to me!" Aerik tilted so he careened toward her, then balanced himself out. Kaia wondered at his control. How did he steer himself in the air without wings and beak and tail? "Isn't this great, Kai?" Aerik asked, his face alight with excitement. "It's insane!" Kaia answered, but she was grinning, too. "How do you steer?"
"Very carefully," he joked. "I wouldn't try anything fancy just now, if I were you. Not on your fist clip! Just spread your arms and legs out to catch as much wind as possible, enjoy the rush, and be ready to change back when and how we tell you to!"
Kaia nodded, blinking away wind-stung tears.
"Hey, little sister!" Var had somehow maneuvered himself to come right alongside Kaia, on the opposite side from Aerik. "I knew you wouldn't bank out on us." He smiled and winked, and Kaia felt a brilliant surge of warm pride. She still idolized her big brother, and loved making him smile. "Okay now," Var said, "we're about low enough that we want to change back soon. You've gotta give your crow self enough time to adjust before you smack against the ground, right?"
Kaia's eyes widened at the image, and she looked down. They were above the forest now, the wind having pushed them well beyond the city borders as they soared. And those trees were looking much less like an ocean, and more like individual clumps of leafy spears, ready to completely disembowel her if she changed too late.
"Don't panic, though!" Var shouted, calling her attention back to him. "If you just change without thinking,at this speed, you'll end up tearing your wings of in the wind! You have to change straight into a full dive, and then pull up. Watch Aerik and Grey do it first. And whatever you do, don't panic! We're still minutes away from those trees!"
Minutes. Somehow Kaia didn't find that all that reassuring.
At Var's signal, Aerik and Grey twisted their bodies until they pointed straight down like human arrows, and they fell that much faster toward the earth, until they were well ahead of Kaia and the rest. They held their arms tight to their sides, as they would wings in bird form. Then they changed, becoming small black dots barreling faster still toward the trees, and then they peeled off to either side and shot away over the treetops.
"Got it?" shouted Var, and without waiting for an answer, said "Good. Now go! Everyone go! Make sure you're spread out!"
Panic gripped Kaia, stronger than when she'd forced herself to become human. What if she couldn't force herself back? What if she managed the change, but did it wrong and tore her wings off? What had she been thinking, following Var's crazy example?
But the others were all diving already, and Kaia's choices were to try, or to just keep falling and test that theory about the disemboweling trees. So she straightened out, doing her best to angle her body as straight down as possible. She squeezed her legs together and pinned her arms against her sides, even though that made the wind pick up speed around her ears and took away any illusion her body had of trying to grab hold of something. She closed her eyes against the wind, took three quick, shallow breaths, then changed.
The change came easily. Her rippling clothes became feathers. Her hearing cleared as her ears became mere holes in the sides of her head, and not great scooping caves to catch the wind. She opened her eyes. The trees still rushed at her, and she was going impossibly fast, but she opened her wings out the tiniest bit, fighting the wind that wanted to tear them fully open and stop her painfully. She angled them slightly, and suddenly her momentum shifted from straight down to forward, and she was skimming blindingly fast over the tops of the trees. She'd done it! She hadn't died or broken any limbs, and now she could calmly let herself slow down. When she slowed to a manageable speed, she turned to fly back to where the others were congregating.
"That was fantastic!" Aerik had landed and reverted to human form, and was pumping the air enthusiastically with his fist. "Grey, pay up!"
"You know I don't have it on me," Grey replied. "Remind me later, and we'll see."
"Oh don't worry, I'm not letting you forget."
Kaia circled the small clearing where the others had landed. With a final tired flap, she coasted down and changed back just as her feet touched the ground. With an exaggerated yawn, she stretched sore arms high above her head and behind her back, feeling the shoulders pop loudly. "Well," she said, "that wasn't so bad." The others laughed.
"Are you kidding?" Nikko said, "that was awesome! I loved the diving first idea." Var laughed and tried to ruffle the younger boy's hair, but Nikko dove out of the way with a mock scowl on his face.
"I'm impressed, Kai," Var said, and Kaia glowed at his praise. "I knew you could do it, of course. But you did really good. You're a natural flier." He punched her lightly on the shoulder. Warm pride filled Kaia's chest and spread out through her limbs. She'd always looked up to her brother, and knowing she'd lived up to his expectations was a wonderful feeling. Even though she would be seventeen in a few weeks, she still felt like a starry-eyed child when it came to Var's praises.
"Yeah, you did good. Sorry I doubted you." Grey came over to clap her on the shoulder, too, and Kaia glimpsed one of his rare smiles. Unlike his twin, Grey was calm and steady, not given to much outward show of emotion.
"Thanks, Grey," Kaia said, meaning it. She valued his praise almost as much as Var's, and it was even harder to come by.
"Now you're really one of us," cheered Aerik, and he became a crow just long enough to spin a quick back flip in the air, then landed again on human feet.
"He's right," said Var, "you're officially one of the Corvids. Now you'll just have to figure out what you want in you braid." He tugged a lock of hair just behind Kaia's ear.
"All right, enough celebrating," Grey said, though he winked when he said it. "I'm hungry. Let's go back home and get some lunch."
"I'll race you back," challenged Nikko, and he changed into his jackdaw form and took off.
"No chance am I chasing that kid," Aerik protested. "I mean jeez! I thought I was the energetic one! That kid just never runs out!"
"Walk if you want to," scoffed Var, "I'm with Grey. I'm too hungry to wait." And he took to the air after Nikko.
Kaia groaned. "I don't think I can fly anymore. My shoulders are killing me." She rubbed them for emphasis.
"Nah," said Grey, "you'll be all right. Come on, I'll show you how to find the best thermals. It won't even be like work at all." He changed and flew up, glancing back to make sure she followed. With a sigh, she did so, and Aerik was only a few wingbeats behind, complaining loudly all the way.