Ledger smiled, reaching out a paw to shake. “What an adventure. These old boys are never going to forget this night. It was an honor to be of assistance to you. If anyone can get Boxer free, it’s you four.”
Healer shook his paw and Tuxer’s. “Boxer will know you were the heroes of the night,” the sheep said.
Dreamer ran up to Berger and embraced him. “Thank you,” she said. “We owe you more gratitude than anyone else. If it weren’t for you, we’d be lost.” Surprised, the heavyset old dog returned the hug.
Undisturbed by the hunter dogs or the Doberman guards, the group returned the way they had come, through the tunnel to the bunker and out into the clearing.
Ledger took a look at the sky. “It will be dawn soon,” he said. “Everyone come to my house.”
Healer and his friends soon found themselves in more comfort than they had felt in days. Ledger’s house by the river had plenty of leafy wild greens for the two sheep, and Mauler ate fish and rabbit with the dogs. The old Dane sent the four travelers upstairs to sleep in warm down blankets.
It was afternoon when Ledger gently shook Healer awake. “Your twelve hours are nearly spent,” he said. “Time to get going.”
Healer stood up and rubbed his face. “That’s fine. Thank you for your help and your hospitality. I’d sure like to see you again when this is all over.”
The old Dane smiled. “Don’t say goodbye just yet. My friends and I intend to escort you as far as the boundary of bird territory.” His grin turned mischievous. “It’s probably best if we all stay out of sight until things cool down around here anyway.”
Chapter 88
Healer bid goodbye to Ledger, Berger, and Tuxer at the evergreen forest that lay at the base of the mountain range.
“We’ll wander the field for a while until we can ascertain whether we can go home safely,” the old Dane said. “Until we meet again, Healer… Mauler.” He nodded to them in turn, and then led his group back the way they came.
Healer gazed at the sloshing pool at the bottom of the waterfall, the origin of the great river. His eyes followed the waterfall all the way up to the summit of Ptera Peak.
“Well, there’s our destination,” he said. “How are we going to sneak in?”
“Sneak in?” replied Mrs. Flaxer. “I see no need for that.”
Healer cocked an eyebrow at her. “Uh… we are wanted for arrest.”
The little canary laughed gently. “The key difference separating birds from dogs and sheep is that we understand the pigs always have an angle. Always. Just because someone appears in their newspapers as a criminal does not necessarily make them so. Nine times out of ten, they’re just a political enemy.”
“Are you serious?” Healer said.
“Oh, absolutely,” Mrs. Flaxer smirked. “We have nothing to fear by going up there. I’ll bet most of the birds will be very happy to see Ponder again.”
“Then guide us,” said Ponder. “I’ll remove my psychic hold over your movements.” The canaries led the group into the trees, where the ground began to gradually slope upwards.
Chapter 89
It occurred to Healer that he had not taken his Vexylam in several days. The sharp mountain breeze combined with the scent of pine energized his senses and made him feel alert and focused.
Soon he began to see dwellings made of sticks and dried mud nestled in the branches overhead. They had reached the birds’ town.
“Hello!” someone called from behind them. “Is that the Flaxer family I see lurking about in the branches?”
The canaries turned with Ponder and hovered in place. “It’s us,” Mr. Flaxer replied. “Come and see who we’ve brought.”
A blue jay carrying a little satchel full of envelopes emerged from the trees. His eyes went wide when he saw Ponder.
“It’s the prophet!” the blue jay exclaimed. “You’ve found her!” He regained his composure when he recognized the other companions. “I’ve been wondering where you had all run off to, my Flaxers. Helping bandits, I see.”
Mr. Flaxer laughed. “We just needed a little more excitement in our lives.” He turned to the group. “Everyone, this is Wender. He’s a good friend of mine. He’s our mail carrier and a member of the Church of the Goddess.”
“I was just coming home for the day,” said the blue jay. “I’m about to have some dinner. Join me?”
“We’d love to,” said Dreamer, “but we’re actually here on a mission. We mean to bring Ponder back to the shrine to Optera. We think it can help us rescue Professor Caper.”
Wender was quiet for a few moments. “Well, that’s just going to have to come first. Dinner at my place after. Just take a minute and tell me what’s going on. In fact, tell everyone.” He put his head back and let out a loud, chittering cry. From the nests above them, heads of all shapes and colors began to emerge.
“What does he want?”
“Look there! It’s the wooden bird!”
“Ponder?”
“The mouthpiece of Optera has come back to us!”
Birds fluttered down from the branches, gathering around the four of them, greeting the Flaxers and landing near Ponder to get a close look at her, some daring to touch.
Wender stood proudly in front of the group with Mr. Flaxer. “Yes, Ponder is back,” the jay announced, “and her companions were just about to tell me of their purpose here. I thought it best that everyone hears it, so we can do everything we can to help.”
“What happened?” someone shouted. “You fell from the Peak!”
“We thought you were gone, but then you were in the pig newspaper.”
“Yes, we were hopeful, but we figured it was just another of their lies.”
“I was rescued from my imprisonment,” Ponder said over the chatter. “By Professor Caper, the Flaxer family… and Old-Timer.”
“Ah, the Trampler! Greatest of all sheep, he was.”
“Yes, old Caper and the Trampler are the heroes of the War.”
Ponder had to raise her voice again to be heard over the excited twittering. “I was kept in a hidden place, far from the hunting eyes of the Reverend Specter who would have used me for his own ends. There, I met Mauler, my dearest friend and my counterpart. He was likewise sent to us by Karkus.”
The whole crowd went quiet except for a low hiss. “Karkus.”
Ponder laughed. “I was fortunate to be found by these two sheep—Healer, son of Trampler, and Dreamer, of the quarry—both having wondrous gifts that helped us find our purpose on this earth. For sheltering us, Caper was arrested and taken to the Megatropolis.”
“Ponder the Prophet!”
“Dreamer the Goddess-Eyes!”
Ponder loudly cleared her throat. “In our desperation to find something, anything, to help us free the professor, we brought Mauler before the underground shrine to Karkus. The god himself told us that the world was about to change and the pigs were about to fall.”
Another hush. “Karkus moves against Toxid.”
“What does Optera say about this?”
“That is what we are here to find out!” Ponder called. “We are here to see if Optera will similarly speak to me if we travel to Ptera Peak.”
Only Healer and Dreamer saw two ravens slide away from the gathering and fly off into the trees.
“Everyone who has aided us in our journey has been threatened with having their freedom taken away,” Ponder said, “and in some cases that threat has been carried out. Therefore, time is of the essence. We do not want to wait any longer. We are headed to the top of the mountain. Those who would have Caper freed, come with us. Those who side with the Reverend Specter and think I should be imprisoned again… do not get in our way.”
No one tried to stop them. Every bird in the village escorted them up the slope and onto the bare stone path to the entrance of Ptera Peak.
Chapter 90
“It is beautiful,” Ponder said when the Flaxers carried her in. “I had forgotten how enormous this room is.”
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Dreamer dipped a hoof in the cold, swirling pool. Her eyes traced across the pool to the smaller waterfall that fed it and then to the recesses up above, covered by curtains. The pool threw a dancing reflection across the ceiling of this chamber. The smaller waterfall spewed from an opening near the top.
“That is our destination,” said Ponder. “Where the water comes from, up there. The source of all water in our land.”
“I don’t see any way up for anyone who happens not to have wings,” said Dreamer.
“That’s by design,” said a new voice.
Dreamer turned, startled, to see a smug raven standing on the bank next to her.
“You see,” the raven continued, “no one but birds may visit the Goddess.”
“My companions and I are going up there,” Ponder said, “and if the Goddess objects, she will have the opportunity to tell us so herself.”
The raven snickered. “The Reverend Specter speaks for the Goddess. You’re going to have to take that one up with him.”
Ponder’s eyes glimmered in a peculiar way. “I mean to.”
“Suit yourself.” The obsidian bird took off straight up and ducked behind one of the privacy curtains above them.
Dreamer watched the raven leave. “Well, maybe we shouldn’t make trouble. Would it be best if the Flaxers just take Ponder up there without us?”
“No!”
Every head turned at Ponder’s outburst.
She fumbled for a moment. “I… apologize. I would just rather not go alone, if we can help it. All we have done has been as a group.”
Out of Ponder’s line of sight, Mrs. Flaxer threw Dreamer a severe look. She was reminded of what the canary had said the previous night about Ponder’s panic. She put it aside and examined the gleaming cavern walls. “Maybe Mauler can climb up with us on his back?”
The beast glanced at his claws and then the stone. “It will be hard.”
“I see that, buddy,” said Healer. “These walls have been worn smooth by the water.” He walked around the edge of the pool until he was directly under the lowest of the curtained side chambers, some twenty feet above his head.
“Mauler, how high can you jump?” he called out over the rumble of the inner waterfall.
Mauler’s mouth curled up, a rare smile. “High enough.”
Wender and the other birds followed the Flaxers and Ponder straight up while the three earthbound companions made do. Mauler held Dreamer under one arm while Healer clung to his back. He jumped up and across the chamber from ledge to ledge.
He had to make an extra-long leap to reach the one just below the entrance to the shrine and caught the edge of the passageway with one hand. Dreamer realized too late that this was the one the raven had gone through. The curtain swept open and an impatient talon clicked on the stone dangerously close to Mauler’s gripping hand.
Chapter 91
The Reverend Specter bent his head down on his long neck to look at the three intruders dangling from the entrance to his private chamber. For a long minute, he and Mauler glared at each other. But before Mauler could make a move, the old condor noticed Ponder.
With a triumphant caw, Specter dove over Mauler, spread his wings to glide across the cavern, and slammed Ponder against the opposite wall. The Flaxer family scattered in a panic. With the toes of one foot spread wide, Specter clung to the smooth stone. With the other foot, he held his captive by the chest. His hooked beak was an inch away from hers. The flock of birds landed on the ledges around them, twittering with anger and surprise, but none of them dared to confront Specter directly.
“You’ve been missed, prophet,” he crooned. “It is truly a miracle of the Goddess that you have returned to me of your own accord. We can start again right where we left off. Be thankful I found you before the Chugg Corporation did. For all your complaints about your situation while under my care, you can bet our pig masters would have treated you much worse. Stay with me this time, Ponder, or you will surely regret it.”
The wooden macaw fumbled for words. “I… I…”
“What’s this?” said Specter. “Are you afraid of old me? Good. You can set an example. Since you came, these nitwits suddenly think they know everything. And not just Caper’s sacrilegious goons either. Even members of the Church have been spouting absolute rubbish. Your fear will help me to bring them all back in line.” He spread his wings to return with Ponder to his private room.
“Hey.”
One voice cut through the rising squawks of the birds and silenced them all. Specter turned his head towards the source. Mauler had climbed up onto the ledge and put the two sheep down. Dreamer glared at Specter, leaning forward at the very edge of the drop, challenging him with her audacity.
“We came to see Optera,” Dreamer continued, “and that’s where we’re going. Leave Ponder alone.”
Specter laughed. “You’re not going anywhere except to a prison cell in the pig city.”
Mauler growled and made a move to jump across the gap.
“Stop, Mauler,” Dreamer snapped. “That won’t be necessary. See, the Reverend Specter is going to listen to reason.”
The condor’s pale yellow eyes rolled in their dark sockets. “Is that so?”
“Yes, that is so,” Dreamer replied. “Look around you, Specter. Other than those two ravens licking your feet, you’re alone. All of these birds, whether they belong to the Church or declare themselves atheists—whether they fall on your side of the feud or Caper’s—they’ve all united behind Ponder and want to see her make it to the shrine.”
“There is no need for that. I am in accord with the Goddess’s will,” Specter said.
“Really?” Dreamer cocked an eyebrow. “Then what’s the harm? If you already know what Optera would say to Ponder, or if you’re sure she would say nothing at all, what are you so afraid of? These birds have been anticipating Ponder’s return, so why not let them get an answer, one way or another?”
The words were beginning to cause a stir in the assembly. Specter’s wrinkled face changed from derision to a withering glare.
Dreamer was not intimidated. “If you’re a man of faith, as you say you are, then you have nothing to worry about. The only possible outcome here for you is that your authority is given even more legitimacy when Optera speaks up in your favor. Letting us visit with her would only hurt you if, say, you were a hypocritical fraud who’s been bought off by the pigs. And we all know that’s not the case, so what’s the problem here?”
The gathered birds were speaking intently among one another, their voices echoing in the hollow, domed chamber.
“She has a point.”
“Could Specter be lying to us?”
“Is he afraid of what we’ll hear?”
Specter’s eyes narrowed. He opened his mouth to speak again, but the words that came out clearly pained him. “You’re right,” he hissed. “You’re absolutely right.”
“Thank you,” Dreamer said. She glanced at the Flaxers. “Go get her.”
The canaries took to the air and lifted Ponder out of Specter’s grip. He glared at them but made no effort to stop them.
“But the law is the law,” he rumbled, starting his climb up to the entrance of the shrine. “We birds will go with her and settle this matter amongst ourselves. The rest of you will wait for our return.”
Dreamer returned his glare. “It is Ponder’s wish that we accompany her.”
Now standing by the inner waterfall, Specter shrugged. “I won’t allow it.”
Mauler and Healer started forward again, but Dreamer made a gesture with her hoof, bringing them to a stop. “Just me, then.”
“I’m not going to make allowances for…”
“Look at my eyes. Look at Ponder’s eyes. You’re a founding member of the Church of the Goddess. I’m sure you had something to do with the statues in Fleece City and at the quarry. Ponder and I have shared our memories with one another, so I already know what the shrine at the mountain peak looks like. I kn
ow all the statues of the Goddess have the same color eyes we do. If that’s not a sign, I don’t know what is. Optera has been arranging for this day.”
Wender was the first to shout in agreement, which led to a chorus of chirping voices.
“She’s right!”
“She has the eyes!”
“Dreamer the Goddess-Eyes!”
“Let her through!”
“Goddess-Eyes! Goddess-Eyes!”
Specter just shook his head and turned to walk along the tunnel and into the shrine. The Flaxers followed, carrying Ponder. Mauler picked up the two sheep and jumped across the gap. The rest of the birds began to stream in after them. The two ravens made a move to stop Healer and Mauler from entering but changed their minds.
Led by Specter, the congregation traversed the narrow footpath beside the rushing water and entered the shrine chamber.
Chapter 92
Ponder took in the sensations of this glorious room that she had only seen once before—the cold air, the shimmering stone walls, the open ceiling with the starry night sky, the mist from the rushing water, and the enormous bust of Optera with amethyst eyes, weeping the torrent of water that fed the waterfalls and the river down below. Bioluminescent algae growing on the stone underneath the water’s surface filled the shrine with a teal glow.
The group waited in silence for a few minutes while Specter stared at the stone bust.
“See?” he said. “I guess we have our answer.”
“Wait,” Ponder said. “Set me down.”
The Flaxers obediently carried her over the water-filled gap and onto the circular platform in the middle of the room. They set her down on the flat stone and left her there. Another minute passed. Nothing. The eagerness of the flock of birds was palpable.
Specter scoffed. “Enough of this.” He pointed at Ponder. “You’re coming with me. Everyone else, get out of here. You, sheep, take your monster and leave our mountain. Congratulations, you’ve badgered me into breaking hundreds of years of tradition and letting non-birds set their soiled feet in this chamber.”
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