from the trunk to form a perfect, level perch, sat the largest bird she’d ever seen. It looked like a black-beaked raven, if ravens could grow to the size of young children. The bird stood three feet tall, and she couldn’t begin to imagine its wingspan. Its glossy obsidian feathers shone in the moonlight and it was just as still as its much smaller cousins. Eyes as pale as the moon above watched them. She stared back at those solid silver eyes, unsure whether the bird was blind. Could it see them? Shiro dipped into a shallow, overly casual bow of greeting. “Would it have killed you to fly a
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