The girl buried her face in her teddy bear and gave a sniff. Teige elbowed Hawk.

"Smooth."

Hawk ignored him. "Hey, whoa!" he said hastily, "Don't�cry. What's your name?"

"Vivian," mumbled the girl.

"Vivian, huh? Wull," Hawk said, and dislodged Teige from his spot at Hawk's shoulder by half-unfurling one of his wings, drawing it forward. He plucked a feather out from the underside--it was longer than his thumb, soft grey with slightly darker bars. "I still got a long way to go, but I can give you this."

"What's that?" Vivian asked cautiously, as he offered her the feather.

"It's a monster feather, a'course," he said matter-of-factly. "Monster feathers are magic. This one'll protect you."

She reached out to take it, and there was a split second as her hand got closer to the feather when little rivulets of bright light seemed to burn up from the feather's surface--

Before Hawk could pull his hand away the girl had become merely bright, livid outlines in the dark morning, imprinted on the backs of his eyes--the light blazed over his arm and arced into loops, and his skin prickled at its touch.