I jogged back to the camp with Aster. "Do whatever he says," I called to Izzy as I jogged past in pursuit of one of the dufflars. It was wary at my approach but didn't give much of a fight when I clambered onto its back. I took its lead and re-hooked it to the opposite side of the halter to act as reins before leading it along the footsteps path Vance had left behind him.

The dufflar didn't seem happy to be ridden after such a long day, and even my insistent urging couldn't get the creature to go faster than a slow trod. Frustrated, I slid off its back and headed toward the other dufflar. This one was a little darker than the other, and I recognized it as the beast that had carried me and Izzy all day. It skittered away from me, apparently even less willing to carry a rider now.

"Fine, have it your way." I started to transform, gritting my teeth against the pain of inflexible damaged tissue in my back refusing to obey my commands.

"Mars-" Aster shouted in a voice that sounded like it was the start to a reprimand.

I crouched and sprung onto the side of the giant boulder, sinking my wing and foot claws into every little crack I could reach. As I scrambled up the boulder, I pumped my remaining free-roaming magic into my hollow bones in the form of superheated air. With every foot I climbed, I felt lighter, less burdened by my large size or injuries. Finally, I reached the top of the boulder and spread my wings wide. I didn't need to fly properly, just to glide over the landscape.

I glanced down at Aster, who was wrestling with one of the dufflars as he tried to shove it in the cave. He glanced up at me for a moment before I leapt off the boulder. Wind tore at my wings, bringing tears to my eyes, but the pale snow shot away beneath me. I raced along fifty feet above the ground, my keen eyes fixed on Vance's tracks.

Several long minutes passed with no sign of Vance. I was slowly sinking toward the ground, unable to reheat my bones with no magic left. Then his tracks disappeared. I circled back around to where they'd stopped, losing even more height. That wasn't a good sign. There wasn't anything close that I could climb up and jump off. Even if there was something, I doubted I could've flown with Vance. We would have to walk or shelter here.

I spotted a mound of snow that seemed to be breathing. Flopping indignantly to the snow, I prodded the mound with the tip of my tail.

"Hey-" Vance exclaimed, popping up out of the mound. He looked like he was going to shout at me, but I cut him off with a snarl.

"There's a swarm of flying piranhas coming this way. We need to get in this cave we dug out so we can shelter from them."

"Whoah, let's get on then." He scrambled up my wing and hopped on my back.Yelping, I clenched my beak against the urge to bite him. "Hold on."

"Hey, what happened to your ba-"

I lurched forward, taking large strides and trying to focus on my crunching footsteps instead of the burning pain in my shoulders. Ba-dum. Ba-dum. Ba-dum. Every time my foot hit the ground, Vance bounced on my wounds. In any other circumstance, I would've ripped him a new one for that.

I peered ahead, hoping the boulder cave was significantly closer than it felt. Crap, I couldn't even see it from here. Had I really glided that far? No, no no no. I stopped. The boulder and its cave were hidden behind a seething mass of birds that stretched across the sky. There was no way we could get to the cave before they got to us.

"It's too late to get back to camp. We need to shelter here." I shook Vance off, scanning the immediate area for a place to burrow in. There was a snow drift that looked like it might be deep enough for me. I dove in and crashed against a large stone buried just beneath the surface.

Cursing, I reared back just in time to see Vance disappear beneath the snow. Lucky SOB, he was so tiny that he hardly had to try. I needed to transform. I'd be draining my emergency supply of magic, leaving me stuck in a humanoid form and incapable of reviving myself if necessary, but if the piranhas got to me and I did have to revive myself, they would just feast on my egg. Shapeshifting seemed like my only option, and the deep buzzing of the oncoming piranhas told me I didn't have enough time to debate any other options.

I dropped to all fours, shuffling snow over my back with my wings. It wasn't enough to bury me. I really didn't have a choice. This was going to hurt.

Curling up with as much of my body under the snow as I could manage, I reached deep and dragged out every scrap of emergency magic I had imbued in my feathers and bone and soft tissues. My whole body burned for an age before falling as cold as a marble bench in a winter park. The snow caved in on me as I shrunk beneath it. Frigid cold cut through my feathers as if they weren't even there and froze my lungs with every breath.

The buzz of the flying piranhas grew to a roar that shook the snow and sent heavy vibrations through the air and into my chest. Snow fell in my mouth and nose. My arms were glued to the ground by their own weakness. I weakly blew, trying and failing to clear my airways. The snow tickled the back of my throat. I dug my nails into my palms to distract myself from the overwhelming urge to cough. Soon enough, the birds would pass. Then I could breathe. Well, I could if Vance was kind enough to help me.

What was I doing, putting my life in Vance's hands? He didn't care. He would leave me, and I would freeze to death before Aster could drag me out of this hole. I needed to get out. I needed to uncover myself so he could find me. No, I had to stay. The birds were still roaring overhead. If I moved, if I tried to leave, they would see me. I'd be finished.

My brain oozed along, cold and feverish. It was so dark, and I didn't know if it was because we were under snow or under the swarm or because my vision was failing. I blinked, sending spots flying across my vision. Was that a good sign? Or a bad one? I tried to lift my hand, but it was weighed down. By what? Why couldn't I move? Snow. Right, I was under snow. I was hiding.

The roaring died down to a buzz again before fading away to nearly nothing. They were gone. I could leave now. I had to get out. I tried to sit up, but my head was heavier than I remembered. I was trapped.

"Va-" I sucked in a lungful of snow and coughed, dislodging more snow that clogged my mouth and nose. A coughing fit sent spasms through my body, and I doubled up, desperately dragging my arms out of their snowy prisons. Coughing and wheezing, I flailed my hands at the snow over my face, swiping it away.

Fresh air hit my face. My whole body shook as I forced out the last of the snow and took a deep breath. The night sky was still blurry and fractured, with a handful of tiny spots flying around it. One of the spots swooped toward me in a very un-eyefloaty-way. I squinted in a vain attempt to clear up the eye floaties.

The swooping spot crashed into my face, sinking its claws into the bridge of my nose for a split second before swooping off again.

Crying out in pain and shock, I threw up my arms as two more spots dove down. They sliced my forearms, burning my flesh with their poisonous claws. Before I could call for help, pain cut through the soft, sensitive flesh of my stomach. I dragged my legs closer, curling up with my back to the snow. The flying piranhas were relentless, attacking every inch of exposed skin. There couldn't have been more than a handful of them, but it still felt like an endless barrage. I tried to hit or kick them away, but my limbs were so sluggish that this only exposed more sensitive tissues to attack. I threw my head back, desperately trying to collapse the snow and cover myself again.

Low thwacks and sharp yelps rang in my ears as the attacks slowed. Soft thuds in the snow and the crunching of footsteps sounded as they finally stopped. Scrunching up my eyes to hold back tears, I fought to pull myself together. I couldn't cry in front of Vance, in front of anyone. I'd brought this upon myself. I should've stayed hidden, should've kept quiet. Even Vance managed to stay quiet, but I couldn't.

"You okay?" A surprisingly soft touch of a gloved hand on my shoulder accompanied Vance's worried voice. Even the soft touch made my shoulder burn.

"Yes," I said in a wheezy voice that cracked.

"Need help up?"

"No." I didn't want him to touch me. I didn't want anyone to touch me and make everything hurt so much worse. I just wanted it to stop. I wanted everything to stop.

"Want me to get Aster?"

"N-no." Even his voice was painful after the booming roar of the birds.

"Izzy?"

"No."

"Fluke?"

I instinctively started to turn back to him, but pain brought me back into the fetal position. "What?"

"That flying cat thing, with all the legs."

"Fleck."

"Right, Fleck. You want Fleck?"

"No."

"What do you want?"

Dying and reviving myself would wipe all the pain away. It would feel quick and easy to me, even if it wasn't easy for the others to take care of me. But I didn't have enough magic to do it. "To die, but-"

Vance shrieked, and a snarly distinctly not-Vance's voice said, "That can be arranged."