[Belin]

“You saw him?” cried Kadwyr.

“Quiet!” answered Brak. “It’s night. Yes. I saw Krikaw, just as I told you. He was alive then, but by now…”

Kadwyr made an uneasy croaking sound deep in his throat. “I left him there. I didn’t even think of him. Do you suppose if I’d warned him again--"

Brak did not answer, so Kadwyr subsided. Stubborn old Krikaw probably wouldn’t have listened to him a second time in any case. Stupid bird. He probably would have attacked Kadwyr, and then where would they be? Never liked him anyway. Kadwyr twisted around, ostensibly to preen his tailfeathers, and gazed back toward the battlefield. What kind of a captain could he be, if his warnings did no good, if he abandoned the others whenever—well. That was the past.

He turned his attention to his wings, and to Mitakaw. Now there was a bird with something to regret, and something to fear. Why was he isolating himself like that, when he ought to be speaking to the companies or at least to Akaaw, finding his new place? Such strange news, and maybe Kadwyr didn’t believe it after all. There were some things he'd considered permanent. “Is it true about Fingot, Brak?” he asked, just as the other bird was finally settling into sleep.