Twisted Slough An isle of flightless birds

Have you ever seen a slough before? Ty hadn't until this morning. It didn't look very different from the rest of the marshland that the Redhawks called home; a little wetter, a little colder, but smelling strongly like that familiar bird-smell. The slough had recently become the home of a flock of snow geese — they had chosen this location out of all the Wilds.

Tywyll had heard their honking that night as they flew overhead and, being both curious and easily distracted, could not sleep a wink until he knew where they were going. It was still dark out when he came upon the slough; the birds covered almost every inch with their stark white bodies, honking and humming at one another in the dark. The boy couldn't pull his attention away. The sun hadn't even come up yet - someone was probably missing him - but Tywyll wasn't thinking about that.

He winced at the feeling of the cold and damp soil, slinking along through the dark mist. He spied upon the birds for a while and then, bursting with eager energy, went racing in to the horde. The birds reacted as one might expect — a moment passed of sleepy confusion but then it was all-out chaos as they opened their wings and fled for safety. Ty could be heard cackling as he gave chase, no longer worried about the nasty feeling of the slough as he terrorized the flock.