The Birdfolk

Long ago, before Strangers came to the island, there were only the animals. They had learned the ways of the island, learned to listen to its song and feel its touch, and they had come to live together peacefully, each of them contributing to the survival of all. The birds, high on wing, could see furthest and fly high enough to see all the happenings of the island, and would report to others where to find shelter, fresh water, and safety. They were apart from the other animals, because they could escape to the sky while the land animals could not. They knew a freedom and had a way of seeing all things that land animals could not understand, and this gave some of them the gift of Third Sight, the ability to know things before they had come to pass.

The Greatbird, oldest and wisest of all on wing, called a warning to all birds one day, in the special language they spoke that the land animals could not. He told them that one day, the mountain would throw fire and stone into the air, and the island would be burned and turned to stone, and would not be liveable for many years after. When this happened, he told them, they must leave the island, only to return once the trees began to grow again.

Many of the birds were upset. They knew that only their flight would save them, and that their land friends would be abandoned, but the Greatbird told them that it was better for some to survive, than for all to die.

The Kirvid, however, refused. She was not the oldest, nor the wisest, and she preferred to play games rather than do work, but she was clever and creative, often seeing new beginnings where others only saw end, and she had one of the brightest colourings of all birds—feathers of bright blue and deep red. She warned that abandoning their friends would only cause them harm, but because she was so young and small next to the other birds, none of them heeded her.

When the mountain began to grow hot, the Greatbird gave the call for all the birds to flee. The Kirvid alone stayed with the land animals, and told them to go into the water to escape the fire. She flew through the ash and smoke, passing the warning to all the land animals dutifully. The water cooled the fire and turned it to stone, and the animals were kept safe as they took shelter in the coves, eyes to the sky as they watched the blue and red Kirvid moving among the black smoke. She did not stop until all the animals were safe, by which time the smoke and ash had stained her feathers a dark black.

Once the fires stopped and the island was covered in hot stone, the animals began to return—but the stone was almost too hot. To save their hooves and feet from burning, they began to walk on their hind legs, and learned to use their forelegs to chip at the stone or dig in the sand, even learning to light fires and cook the fish they captured in the coves. Many had had such narrow escapes that their fur had been scorched off, and staying in the water so long had softened their hides.

The island took a long time to cool, so long that by the time it was safe to walk on all fours again, many of the land animals had forgotten! As time passed, plants began to grow on the island again, and then trees. The Kirvid watched over the other animals, continuing her duties by telling them where to find the best food, where there was shelter, and where to find fresh water. As plants grew back all over the island, she realised that the other birds would soon return.

The other animals, however, were still angry at the birds. They had abandoned them to death, using their gift of flight to save only themselves. They cursed all the other birds, condemning them to share the fate of the land animals should they ever return. And as the birds did return, they lost their wings, and most of their feathers were replaced with the soft skin the other animals had gained. Only the Kirvid was spared, but she became so lonely as the only bird in the skies, that eventually, she too threw off her wings and joined the other birdfolk.