Moonspear know that the shine inside will always keep you strong

He agreed with her, which provided some relief from her emotional duress, if not her physical indisposition. Katmai didn’t seem to notice, for which she was grateful. Pie gritted her teeth, trying to focus on his words—he had a very soothing voice, she noted—as she slammed her eyes shut in a last-ditch effort to take the edge off the shooting pain.

She squeezed her eyelids so tightly, phosphenes began to swim in front of her. One took the rough shape of a ring. Had she ever witnessed an eclipse, Tiuttuk might’ve said it resembled one. She tried to focus on it rather than the torment, which seemed to work for a moment.

And then it was like lightning struck, imprinting itself on the backs of her eyelids. Treepie cried out and crumpled right around the time Katmai repeated his words about Moonglow, citing it as the root of all the Moon villages as he peered toward the spine. She shook her head rapidly, not to disagree with his words but in an attempt to throw off the sudden and inexplicably repugnant images—

—a feather and a shell—

—the scrape of cold, wet rock on her belly and flanks—

—sunlight—

—the smell of salt—

—screaming—

—screaming—

—so much screaming…

Her eyes opened on a gasp, Tiuttuk lurching forward as if she might empty the contents of her stomach. That didn’t happen, though she was left heaving, then panting, as the pain and its unwelcome accompaniment finally began to fade. Pie felt absolutely wretched in the aftermath and could only grimace weakly up at Katmai.