“Oh. Bet they regret that,” I said petulantly. “Surprised you didn’t wipe mine.”
She gave me a curious look and said, “I told you I would never take your memory.” She blinked rapidly, then asked softly, “Do you wish to forget what passed between us?”
“No,” I answered immediately. “Do you?”
“I do not.”
The relief I felt surprised me. The shock of finding Ana in my arms in the Grove of Dreams had worn off. My dream woman, the one who’d haunted my mind for years, had been replaced by a very real girl. I’d always assumed Kells was the one I’d chased through the woods, kissed, and declared my love to. But now I suspected it had been Ana all along. It made sense. Ana was the only one who had the power to both blind me and hide our scent. Her hair was much longer than Kelsey’s and she was much taller.
“That leaves one last thing,” Ana said, thankfully interrupting my thoughts before they went much further.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“The ravens.”
“Right. Are you going to summon them?”
“Not exactly.”
We stopped on a tree branch high above the ground. The air around us blurred as Ana moved time forward. My stomach lurched and I grunted as my muscles trembled. Two people came into view—me and Kells. Ana whispered, “Now, whatever you do, don’t come in contact with yourself.”
She snapped her fingers, and the magic of the scarf wrapped around us despite the fact that we’d just left the Divine Scarf at the top of the tree. It transformed us into ravens. I flapped my wings with irritation, cawing at Ana, who gave me a bird wink, but she leapt off the branch. Flying came as naturally to her as everything else she did. Her feathers were the color of her hair and they shone in the light as we trailed the people below.
I nearly fell as I flapped awkwardly and beat my wings hard to avoid coming in contact with myself. “Caw!” I said, when I meant to say, “Look out!” Luckily, I landed in an upright position, and then immediately took off, trying to put distance between me and my former self.
Time sped forward in spurts and I used my connection to Ana to find her in the little tree house. She was sitting in a nest there, pecking at some honey cakes. Kelsey’s bracelet and the camera were lying beside her.
What have you been up to? I asked.
Stealing things. It feels gratifying for some reason. Don’t worry, I’ll give them back. They don’t need them right now. What does that box do anyway?
It’s a camera. You take images with it. Remember when I explained them at the circus?
How does it work? she asked as she pecked at the cakes.
Here, I’ll show you. I managed to take an image or two with my tiny bird tongue, which was harder to do than I thought it would be, and showed her the images.
Just then, I heard noise. We peeped down over the edge of the nest. It was surreal watching me and Kelsey scramble into the tree house. If I could have rolled my eyes at the idiot I was making of myself as I swung into the tree house like a monkey, I would have. It was a pretty pathetic show I was putting on. At least Kelsey called me on it.
“Stop showing off, for heaven’s sake. Do you realize how far up we are and that you could fall to a grisly death at any moment? You’re acting like this is a great, fun adventure,” Kelsey said.
I tried to tune the rest out. Clearly, I was making moves on Kelsey, and it was embarrassing to know Ana was right next to me watching it. Unfortunately, it was also eye-opening to see how Kells wasn’t really responding in the way I’d thought she was. Sure, she liked me, but as I studied her from a new perspective, I could see how me being hands-on made her uncomfortable.
Ana was fixated on the show below. If I could have groaned I would.
How did you do this? I asked in an attempt to distract her from the scene below.
Do what? she replied, her eyes fixed on the other me.
How did you change us into Hugin and Munin. I wrote off the orange tiger version of myself as a simple rearranging of color, but the birds? I didn’t think it was possible.
You forget how we changed the young silk maker into a horse. Perhaps you should redefine your parameters for what is possible and what is not. Now shush, Sohan. I want to listen.
I puffed out my feathers, irritated that my not-too-subtle attempt at diversion had failed.
“…I like being a man all the time,” the other me said, “and I like being with you.”
Oh, brother, I thought. It was awkward knowing Ana was watching my old self fawn all over Kells, especially with everything that had recently happened between us. Finally, they sat down and Kelsey pulled out her trusty notes. Gotta love Kelsey’s efficiency. I missed that about having her around. We remained quiet, watching them and listening as they talked. Finally, I got impatient and made a noise.
“Hello? Is anybody here?” I heard my old self say.
What do we do? Ana said, her bird voice honking.
Uh, let’s see. I bobbed my head up and down. I don’t really remember. It was something about clearing thoughts.
Ana ruffled her feathers and squawked at me. Never mind, she said. We’ll figure it out.
She took off and I followed, still awkward in flight though she pulled off a few very impressive pirouettes. My old self actually pulled out the chakram. Please, I thought. Don’t strain yourself. Only I would be wary enough to try to cut off the head of a raven with the chakram.
Always the smart one, Kelsey said, “Let’s wait and see what they do. What do you want from us?” she asked.
Ana landed and echoed, “Wantfrumus?”
“Do you understand me?” asked Kelsey.
Ana nodded.
“What are we doing here? Who are you?” Kells asked.
Taking my cue from Ana, I tried to channel bird and said, “Hughhn.”
Ana cawed and said, “Muunann.”
Kells asked about her stolen items and the honey cakes, which Ana had mostly eaten already. She was probably hungry. I hadn’t thought to try and find her some food. So much for taking good care of the goddess. Now that I considered it, I was starving myself.
Wanting to get the show over with, I hopped onto Kelsey’s knee. When she tilted her head, it came back to me what Hugin did. He’d cleared her thoughts, showing her what she’d face at the top of the tree. That was easy enough. Using the power of my connection to Ana, I placed a thought in her mind. It was more of a memory, actually. I showed her one of the birds who guarded the scarf at the top of the tree. Then I impressed upon her mind what the scarf could do and how she could use it and would use to help them on their quest.
I also gave her an extra memory. A vision of how we’d saved Ren.
“What are you doing?” she asked as my little talons clutched her shoulder.
“Thoughtsrstuck,” I replied.
When I was done, a tiny, wispy worm clung to my beak. I didn’t conjure it so I guess it must have been Ana. I opened my beak and swallowed it like I remembered the bird had done before. It tasted like nothing but fog. When Kelsey gasped, accusing me of brain damage, I could have laughed.
Ana, as Munin, did something similar to me, well, the old version of me.
Kells asked me if Ana was clearing thoughts too. I just twitched back and forth on my bird legs and waited for Ana to ask me what she should do. She never did.
Kelsey kept pestering me and finally I said, “Waitforit.”
Finally, Ana hopped down to the floor holding a wispy black strand the size of an earthworm. She swallowed it.
Um, what was that, Ana? I asked.
When she didn’t answer, I listened to my old self talk. I remembered it, but it felt like it had all happened decades ago.
“I’m fine,” my old self said. “He . . . he showed me.”
Ana bristled. Ruffling her feathers at being called a he.
The old me spouted off about Yesubai and the things I remembered from my past.
What did you do, Ana?
I took away your blame, she said softly. Yesubai would not blame you. Your love and concern for her caused you to remember what happened differently.
Did you alter the memories?