Death - Crow communicate

As he had done on the fields of Kothysos, Dust went berserk. It wasn’t nearly so extreme this time, consisting primarily of an array of loud screeches, a violent fluttering of the wings that resembled some sort of fit, and a clenching of the talons. On the other hand, last time he hadn’t been sitting on Death’s shoulder when it happened.
The Horseman, wincing in discomfort, reached out to remove the bird’s claws from his flesh. Holding Dust in his cupped palms, he lifted the beast to eye level.
The mental link forged itself almost instantly, the voice of the Crowfather cracking through his skull. “Death!”
“More accurately, ‘Deaf,’ if you keep shouting like that.”
“Oh, be silent and pay attention! I’ve discovered something in my children’s memories that you need to know.”
Images buffeted Death’s vision, though not nearly as chaotically as they had before.
Soaring over the mesa and the surrounding lands of the Crowfather’s domain …
Fields overrun with strange creatures, shining rather than fleshy, utterly beyond the ken of avian minds …
Blood and pain and feathers as the flock fell upon the enemy, every instinct overridden by the need to defend the Father …
There! At the very edge of the gleaming stampede, a spread of snowy wings cocooned in light …
Death blinked as the contact was severed. He glanced down at Dust, who peered around nervously before beginning to preen the underside of his left wing.

***

Chapter 11