Rannok followed the woman into the inn while she muttered on and on about how sorry she was, how her daughter clearly didn't know manners and please, wouldn't he stay for dinner on the house as an apology. 

The bird chittered above them, hopping from tree branch to tree branch as they moved. Periodically, the icy tendrils of its mind slipped into his. Rannok tried to shake off the intrusion. It slid out again like a key from a lock.

"Stop that," he hissed into the tree branches while his host wasn't looking. He blew air out his nose and looked around as she opened the door. He watched the sign swing above the door and wanted to kick himself.

"Gee, sorry I want to know what is inside. I'll be out here, I suppose," the crow replied in a voice so loud Rannok had to remind himself that no one else could hear. Rannok ignored him and slipped through the doorway after her and did not glance back as it slid shut.

"I believe Erean is upstairs on the far left...honestly I'm surprised you found the place, most of the locals don't speak Terrean," she said.

"Yeah," Rannok responded dryly. The room opened up beside him into a small kitchen with chairs around a wide table. Light spilled in from the open windows, and condensation gathered on the bartop. A set of stairs snaked upward into a narrow hallway lined with stark pine doors. The woman did not stop him as he stepped from her and ascended up the stairs.

The hallway smelled like damp and wood. He knocked on the far door and stepped back. Someone shuffled papers. The door opened a crack, then swung open wide. Erean fixed him with a huge smile and put his arm around his shoulders.

"I was hoping you'd be intelligent enough to find it," he said. "I wanted to make sure my assistant was sharp enough to help me when we're out."

"Thanks," Rannok replied. He tried to keep the hint of irritation out of his voice. Erean beckoned him through the doorway, and Rannok folded his wings in tighter as he passed through. The lock shut with a soft, metallic click.

It was a tiny room, with a comfortable bed on risers in the corner, not anything like the fur sleeping mats they had in Terres. There were no oil lamps to light it; instead the sun spilled in from a huge picture window on one end. The same gentle breeze blew here as outside. Rannok eyed Erean suspiciously as he ruffled through his paperwork. 

The crow slipped back in between his eyes. Rannok winced. The creature stood just outside the window, clinging to a tree branch, fixating on him with one pulsating yellow eye. He shooed it away, but it disregarded him as if he wasn't even there.

"I promised I would reveal the nature of my research when you found the inn. There was a reason I did not mention it before. Those in the southern plains find it...uncouth."

Rannok shivered. He suddenly remembered what the girl downstairs had said about fugitives. Her voice had made it sound like they were common; an occurrence that happened nearly every day, and not one she was excited about. 

"What kind of uncouth?"

Erean chuckled. "Nothing that can hurt you. I studied things people found strange. Bodies. Magic." He pulled a piece of paper from the stack and handed it to Rannok. A man stood in the middle of the page, so lifelike Rannok thought he might jump out at any moment. Beside him stood a crow. All around the pair, the artist had scribbled words in a text Rannok could not decipher. 

Magic wasn't real. It hadn't been in a long time, but Rannok didn't say that. Erean was clearly crazy, and he wished he had another option. One that did not involve taking off with a crazy man into the middle of nowhere when neither of them had a clear idea where they were going.

He handed the paper back to Erean. "How long have you been studying this?" He tried not to let his suspicion tinge his voice. He knew now why the crow had said they had aligning interests. Rannok hoped he knew more than just a few words on a piece of paper.

"Not long. But the breeding grounds for the crow are said to be within a month's travel from here. Unfortunately, I do not know how to get there, nor do I have an assistant to carry my belongings. That's where you come in. The guide we'll worry about later." He furrowed his brows. "Given my funds, it may be rather difficult."

A bit of heat crawled up Rannok's neck. Erean's eyes were dark and humble, like he held faraway secrets he wasn't keen on telling anyone, let alone him. Rannok couldn't help but think of Griffon, and the way he'd looked whenever he brought up where he and Armand came from. He wasn't sure if that was a good or a bad thing.

"What do the crows have to do with this?"

"I'm not sure yet," Erean said. Rannok opened his mouth to say something, but caught motion out of the corner of his eye. The crow was perched on the windowsill, not feet from where they were standing. It cocked its head and let out a small screech. Rannok jumped a little.

The crow cawed. Erean turned around, eyes wide with a mix of fright and fascination. He took a step forward, then looked at Rannok.

"Don't tell me this creature is yours," he said. 

"I am no one's," the crow corrected. The voice projected into the air this time, instead of into Rannok's head specifically. He narrowed his eyes at it.

"Of course, of course," Erean said. He approached the crow and reached his hand out for one of its wings. "May I?"

"Sure, why not," the crow said as it reached its wing into his hand. Erean ran his fingers over its glossy black flight feathers and then traced the spot where the black merged with white. Rannok sighed and folded his arms, wings held tightly into his back. At least he wasn't the one being examined.

"Oh, they're magnificent," Erean murmured. "Where did you come from? How did you find us? Surely you know where the breeding grounds are--you really are a spectacular creature. I'd heard the legends but I've never actually met one that talked!"

Rannok resisted the temptation to roll his eyes as it strutted along the windowsill, beak held aloft as if he were somehow special for having one. He preened one of the feathers Erean had been manhandling back into place and then turned to Erean.

"Why thank you." The crow puffed itself up around the chest a small bit. "Unfortunately I do not know where the breeding grounds are. I have been following you for quite some time, but I lost you in the marketplace and...this...man was the only one able to get us inside. I did not know if you would take kindly to me rapping on your window." The bird enunciated the word 'man' as if it were intended to be an insult. Rannok muttered some choice words under his breath.

Erean's face fell a bit. He turned back to his notes and ruffled through them as the crow glided inside and perched on his bedpost. He ruffled through his paperwork, pulling out a crudely drawn map and scratching his head as he examined it.

"We'll need a guide," he announced. "I know the approximate location, but not the area. We'll most likely require horses for those of us who can't fly, and even then the forest may not be appropriate for flight." He turned to Rannok. "Have you ridden a horse before?"

"What's a horse?" Rannok asked.

Erean wrinkled his eyebrows. "The tall animals that pull the carts and live in the building outside. Don't tell me you haven't seen them before."

Rannok's heart dropped into his stomach and a cold sweat pricked on his brow. He glanced out the window, but the building those awful creatures had been in was mercifully on the other side of the property. The crow let out a shrill laugh.

"He's seen them before, alright." 

"You mean you can ride those things?"

That only made the crow laugh harder. 

"It's quite alright, I'm sure we can get a quiet mount from somewhere." Erean's lips pulled taut as he traced his fingers over the surface of the map. "But the guide. The guide will be a problem. We'll discuss it at dinner, perhaps the innkeeper knows someone who will be of assistance."

Rannok kept his eyes fixed on the window, as if he expected one of the massive creatures to come around the bend and crawl through the window at any moment. He tried not to think of the blood foaming on the reaver's jaw as he hovered in the air with it snapping at its legs, the body below forgotten. It made him feel sick to his stomach. He wished he'd never left Agatine in the first place.