Trico left me.

Spears were being thrown into his back, and he was just taking it. He didn't even defend himself.

And I let him go.

I had no choice. It was either dying or leaving. No one would listen to me, no one thought I was sane. They thought I had been eaten by Trico and left to die. But Trico would never do that. He loved me, and I loved him. Nothing could have ever separated us.

Except my village.

The moon flung its light onto Trico. His mangled feathers, his scarred eye. His desperate expression. My people were throwing spears at him. I didn't know what to do; I was sick, exhausted, hurt, and sad. The weight of everything pushed down on me until I was unconscious.

I wake up. The warmth of Trico's feathers cover me, until I realize that it's just a woolen cover. I close my eyes and try to imagine soaring with Trico, but the memories don't stay. They drift off as the sun reaches my eyes, leaving me seeing red behind my eyelids.

I open my eyes and look at everyone around me. Everyone is still sleeping in their cots. I sit up and rub my marked arms. The morning air is chilly. I put my tunic on, and I go outside into the dewy grass. I slowly amble to the bare spot in the grass. Where Trico flew away.

Feathers on the ground twitch with the gentle breeze. I pick the biggest one up. The vane feels soft in my hand. I sit on the ground, cross-legged. The wind picks up, and the other feathers blow away.

Something glimmers in the corner of my eye. My shield. I quickly crawl over to it. I pick it up and aim it at the ground. Even though the light shines, no lightning comes to strike.

I sit back down in the dirt. A few men and women are walking around, tending to their chores. I see one of the men who hurt Trico. It takes all of my energy to not attack him.

The morning sun climbs higher in the sky as more of my fellow friends wake and exit out of the orphanage. One of them, a girl, looks at me for a few moments and then continues on with her business. What was her expression? Could it be pity?

"Hey, Altair, are you okay?"

I turn around. My friend, Ilan, bends down to look at me.

I answer him with a grunt.

"What happened?" He sits on the ground next to me. "All I remember was a giant dog taking you."

I stay silent. I don't want to relive my memories. Not now.

"Please?"

"No." I get up and walk away from the patch of dirt and walk away from him.

I hear him get up and walk toward the orphanage for breakfast. With the feather dragging on the ground and my shield on my back, I go to the orphanage, although I have no appetite.

The chatter of children is loud inside. I sit down on a mat in the corner, farthest away from everyone. Of course, Ilan comes by and hands me a bowl of porridge. I reluctantly take it.

"Where did you get the shield?" He asks.

"I found it in a tomb." I take a bite of the porridge.

"Is that the monster's feather?"

"He's not a monster. His name is Trico." I pout.

"He ate you, though."

"To save me. He was in a fight with other Tricos and he got hurt, and he wasn't strong enough to carry me."

"Woah, how many Tricos are there?"

"A lot." I eat some more porridge.

"Why-"

I interrupt him, almost in tears. "Stop asking me questions."

Ilan gets up and moves to another mat.

I get up as well, and give my bowl of porridge to our caretaker and walk back outside.

I run to the outskirts of our village. The grassland is scarcely filled with trees. Out there, leagues away is Trico. Maybe, I could go out there and find him.