10-21 - 10.21
Posted May 31, 2020 at 12:00 pm

"Oh yes," Numair said with some bemusement, "it's run in my family for thousands of years. The magical 'system' is normally insulated, you see, like a wire. With this condition, it is not insulated everywhere. And so destroys the tissue around it."

"Jeez." Hawk grimaced. "How d'ya fix somethin' like that?"

"I can only manage it. My medication burns up the damaged tissue in my lungs, and forces it to regrow."

"Doesn't that hurt??"

"Only if there's a lot to burn away and exhale. I'm well used to it by now."

A movement overhead suddenly caught Hawk's eye. He glanced up to see the shape of some bird of prey wheeling idly overhead, a silhouette against the blue sky.

"Hey, y'all," he said, and all the chickens around his feet and in the garden beds actually perked up at his voice. He pointed. "Big buzzard up there."

Some of the hens cocked their heads to look, and then, without too much fuss, they all went away across the garden beds to a low shrub that was growing at the other end of the plot. Clucking quietly among themselves, they settled in the shade of the shrub. Numair watched this wordlessly; Hawk turned back to him as the chickens settled and said, "Sorry. Anyway."

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