Firewing Read Free Page A

just
might
happen with it.
    “There’s something else, too,” he said, and allowed himself a dramatic pause.
    “What?” Rowan asked, almost in a whisper.
    “We could use it to keep warm.” They all looked at one another, not sure about this.
    “Oh, sure, the weather’s warm
now
,” Griffin hurried on. “But before long it’ll get cold, so cold we have to leave here or
freeze to death!
”
    The other newborns jerked in surprise.
    “But that’s why we migrate,” Luna reminded him.
    “Exactly. But that’s the whole problem. I’ve been thinking about the migration, and I think it’s really a bad idea.”
    “We’ve been doing it for millions of years!” exclaimed Skye.
    “I know. It’s ridiculous,” said Griffin with a sad shake of his head. “We’ve got Tree Haven right here, this amazing roost, and every fall we have to leave and fly over a million wingbeats to Hibernaculum, sleep away the winter, and then next spring, fly all the way back here. Doesn’t it seem like a bit of a waste of time? But, we get some fire, keep it burning in the base of Tree Haven all winter, and we don’t need to bother migrating anymore!”
    “But I want to migrate,” said Luna, smiling. “It’s going to be fun.”
    “Yeah,” Rowan, Skye, and Falstaff agreed simultaneously but without, Griffin noticed, wholehearted enthusiasm.
    “Fun?” Griffin said, puffing out his breath thoughtfully. “I don’t know if I’d call it
fun
. It’s an awfully long journey. You’ve got storms, high winds, lightning, hail, freezing cold. Every year there’s some who don’t make it. I mean, look at some of those older females in the colony. They’re pretty weak; they can hardly hunt for themselves anymore! And what about
us?
We’ve never done it before. Who says we’re strong enough to make it?”
    “We’ll make it,” said Skye, looking at the others for reassurance.
    “Look what happened to my father,” Griffin reminded them. “Caught in a storm, swept out to sea.”
    This stopped them for a moment.
    “But he
made
it,” Luna said.
    “He was lucky. Just imagine yourself flying along the coast and a storm kicks up and you get blasted out over the ocean, the waves churning, the rain and hail smashing down so you can’t see or hear—and then
wham,
right into the water! It’s up your nose and soaking your wings and making you so heavy and freezing that you can only sink down and down and down to the ocean’s depths!”
    Falstaff swallowed. Rowan’s wings gave a
creak
as he shifted anxiously from claw to claw. They were all staring, riveted, at Griffin, and he almost smiled.
    “I’m not saying that’s going to happen to any of us,” he went on. “But don’t you think we should at least get to
choose
whether we migrate or stay at Tree Haven? We steal some fire, we have a choice.” He took a deep breath, revving himself up. “A
choice!
So the weak need not fear, nor the elderly and infirm! So we need not be victims of the elements, but
control
them and so become
masters of our destiny!
”
    He was out of words and breath. He looked at the newborns, who stared back at him, mouths ajar. Probably he’d overdone it a bit with that destiny stuff.
    “I think it’s a good idea,” said Luna, and all heads swivelled to her.
    “You do?” Griffin asked, startled.
    “Absolutely. Me, personally, I’m going to migrate, but I think you’re right. Why shouldn’t we be able to stay here all winter. Why not? Let’s get ourselves some fire!”
    Griffin nodded weakly, glancing back at the fire. Somehow he hadn’t expected it to go this far. He’d just talked and talked, and the words had spun out of him like some dazzling, chaotic spiderweb.
    “Maybe we should ask the elders first,” Griffin said, feeling queasy.
    Luna shook her head, eyes flashing with mischievous delight. “No, I think we should just go ahead and surprise them. So, how’re we going to do this, Griff?”
    Normally, Griffin liked it when she called