That clear cry pierced the clouds and, like an unstoppable blade, cleaved the heavy darkness around them, letting long-absent sunlight pierce heaven and earth like a greatsword.
Danyla abruptly looked up. An enormous silver-white Giant Eagle suddenly flew out of the dark clouds above the Mountains of the Moon and hurtled toward her at astonishing speed.
"An old god!"
Rafa growled warily. Every dark red scale on his body stood on end, and black-and-red dragonfire began to build in his throat.
Myracis and Dreamfyre hurried to Rafa's sides, one on either flank, and took up attack postures as well, though Dreamfyre's thighs were already somewhat deformed.
"Could that be the Lord of the Skies?!"
While Danyla was still wondering, the Giant Eagle had already reached the skies above the Three Sisters. His wingspan exceeded a hundred meters, every feather gleamed with a cold, moon-white light, and his enormous beak was as sharp as a curved blade.
Most striking of all were his eyes, like two miniature moons flowing with almost liquid silver light. Yet Danyla could sense that he was in poor condition. Some kind of energy was steadily eating away at him, clinging to him like maggots to bone.
The Giant Eagle hovered above the weirwood sapling and lowered his head to gaze at the sludge around its roots. Suddenly, he gave three rhythmic cries.
"Kree-"
"Kree-"
"Kree-"
Eerie blue ghostfire immediately ignited on the weirwood, sending the sapling into a frenzy of growth. In the blink of an eye, it became a tree three or four meters tall, with ice-blue weirwood blossoms blooming on its branches.
"Waaah-"
Just then, as a baby's cry rang out from the distant village, a humanoid flame suddenly flew out of the mud around the weirwood's roots. It shot into the village and