Arrows lay scattered around them and as she leaned over, gathering the few within arm’s reach. One lay at Keraunos’ feet which he poked at with his long, tapered bill before slipping back into his human form and gathering the remaining arrows into his hands.

“What were we chasing?” Keraunos asked, extending the arrows to her.

With a grimace, Alkidike grabbed them. “I dunno,” she said, sliding them into her quiver. “Some sorta snake. It’s been eating people’s animals.” She shifted her arms and got them under her with a groan.

Keraunos held out his hand and pulled her to her feet, pressing his palm to her shoulder when she swayed a bit. “We should get you home,” he said, echoing her mother, voicing her worry.

Alkidike yanked backwards. “No! The traps, I gotta check the traps.”

“The… what?”

“My rabbit traps. My ma, we—” The girl sniffed and swiped her hand beneath her nose. “It’s food. We need it.”

Hesitant, he mulled over any agreement, but Alkidike was already pushing past him, wincing every couple of steps, but marching on. He trailed after her, eyeing the bloody scrape on her elbow, waiting for the wound to begin sealing itself shut, but it never did. Instead, her jaw quivered while a thin stream of blood inched towards her palm.

“You were a really pretty bird,” she said, breaking the silence. He thanked her and she continued with a sniff, admitting that, “It woulda been cool if you were a hawk or eagle or something. We could’ve hunted together for real.”

The boy tilted his head. “Were we not hunting?”