Hana tucked the diary into her waistband and walked back out to the sunlight. The air was hot and smelled of dust, a sharp contrast to the cold history she'd just touched.
Caspian and Kulu were already completing the first haul, their wings creating a mini-cyclone as they touched down. Raiden was being dropped off at the den with his precious mirror, and the Boars were working like a well-oiled machine.
Everything was perfect.
That is, until Lira stepped into the clearing, her eyes fixed on the silver crates with a hunger that had nothing to do with survival and everything to do with greed.
"My, my," Lira sang out, her voice cutting through the sound of the wind. "Look at all these shiny toys. It's almost a shame they're being taken by someone who doesn't even have a home to put them in."
Hana didn't look up from her inventory check. "I have a home, Lira. And unlike yours, mine doesn't require me to beg for my food."
