earth, if I don’t mind blasting a crater in the ground beneath me.
Up here, now that I’m actually on it, I can see more clearly that the roof isn’t just one level. It’s several different levels, some lower than we are, some a bit higher or slanted. I can also see the whole damn campus from here, and man, it’s gorgeous. Dusk fell while we were in the infirmary, and the sky is a dark gray-blue color. Moonlight spills across the quad, the forest, and the old, distinguished buildings around us, making everything look otherworldly.
It occurs to me that I really love this place. Maybe not the people, exactly; I could stand to get better about that. But this actual campus, and its purpose, I love that.
I want to defend it.
Dmitri leans against the outer wall of the tower, as if this is just a fun trip to the beach and we’re all hanging out. “All right. What do we do now?”
I shrug. “We investigate.”
Hey, it’s not like I’ve got some master plan or anything. But I want to see if I can find that bird. I didn’t realize how large it was when I saw it that first day, but the student lot is on the very far west side of campus, so I was a long way away. When I saw it earlier today from just below Wellwood Hall, it looked a lot bigger—which makes me wonder how big it actually is.
“Stick together,” Roman cautions.
I want to reply that I’m not sure what sticking together will do for keeping our magic inside our souls. But Roman’s a teacher, and aside from any personal feelings he has for me specifically, or for Dmitri as a friend, he must also feel a responsibility for us as his students.
So instead of being snarky, I just do as he says and stick close to both men as we start to carefully move across the roof, checking for anything suspicious. A trap door to a hidden magical lab or something, maybe? Wacky and out there, yeah, but at this point I feel like anything is possible.
We climb around for a few minutes, and I’m starting to think this whole thing was another wild goose chase—that I really am an idiot. Who puts something dangerous and secret up on the roof of a school anyway?
But then I get a little ahead of the guys, climbing over a pointed ridge in the roof—
And I see it.
There’s a large, uneven shape looming in the darkness ahead of me. It looks almost like a pile of debris, but it’s got some kind of proper shape to it.
I get down on all fours and crawl closer. I don’t want to alert anything or anyone that might be nearby. Behind me, I hear Dmitri hiss my name, and then the muffled sound of two pairs of feet as the guys follow after me. I move even closer, squinting to make out a bunch of twigs, sticks, mud, and…
Is this a nest?
Holy shit.
I rise to my feet again, blinking in shock, as I realize this nest thing is taller than I am. The rim of the nest is probably about eight feet in the air, and the whole thing is at least twelve feet across. It’s huge.
What the hell is going on?
“Give me a boost,” I whisper.
Roman drops to one knee and helps me up.
“What the hell?” Dmitri hisses. “Princess, what are you doing?!”
“What’s it look like I’m doing?” I call softly back, getting a good handhold on the branches. It’s like one of those wattle-and-daub nests, where the birds use the mud to press the sticks into it. I learned about it on a Netflix nature documentary I watched when I was wallowing in misery after fucking up in the Trials.
It takes a bit of awkward kicking and wiggling to get a good foothold, but then I’m able to haul myself up so I can look down into the nest.
I nearly fall backward.
Inside the massive bowl-like structure are a bunch of eggs—and they’re big.
No, I mean big.
Like, people sized.
Holy fucking shit.
I haul myself up the rest of the way and climb over so I can inspect one of the eggs. They’re tall, smaller at the top than at the bottom, smooth to the touch, and warm. I press my ear to the shell and knock gently.
I can’t hear a heartbeat inside, and when I knock, I just hear a vague liquid sloshing sound.