Chapter 9

I followed Poe through the door. The heat hit me immediately. I strained to see the tops of the trees that stood like giants around me. I was in a jungle, but where?

Poe was perched on a bush not far to my left. His dark feathers standing out like a thorn against its bright flowers.

"There you are!"

I whipped around to see a girl, tiny and delicate, stepping out of the undergrowth with a spear. She wore a wrap of bright orange, like a monk's almost. But even though the color was vibrant, her expression of suppressed fear and urgency was what really startled me.

"You're talking to me?" I asked her looking around.

She nodded. "Come, my people need you." She motioned for me to follow her, and even took my hand when I hesitated, dragging me forward. "Come, Come!"

I followed her as she ran barefoot through the jungle, barely able to keep up with her. Poe glided over us, never too far from my sight. We came around a large root of the tree on a hil