A bird pecked at a thin pine nearby

A bird pecked at a thin pine nearby. Taliyah kicked at the snow, accidentally shoving a clump of it into the top of her boot. She pulled at the cuff roughly, annoyed at the man’s words and at the melting ice slipping past her ankle.

“The why of the path? I left my people, my family, to protect them from me.”

She stopped. An unnatural hush had settled. Any small game that had been nearby had long since disappeared at the sound of her stomping feet. Not sensing any danger from the girl, the little bird had kept to its branch and twittered at her angry rants. Now even the birdsong was silenced.

Taliyah stood cautiously. In her anger, she had wandered farther than she had intended from the cave. She was drawn more to the stone than the wood, and had absently followed an exposed ridge until she found herself looking down from a rocky cliff. She didn’t think the man would follow her, yet she sensed something watching her.

“More lectures?” she asked indignantly.

There was a bone-vibrating exhalation in response.

She slipped one hand into her coat, and the other reached for her sling. Three stones tumbled in her pocket. She clutched at one just as loose gravel betrayed the movement of her stalker behind her.

Taliyah turned to face the presence at her back. There, padding carefully around sharp crags, was a great Ionian snow lion.

Even standing on four stout legs, it towered over her. The beast was easily twice as long as she was tall, its thick neck covered in a short mane of tawny white. The lion watched the girl. It dropped two freshly slain hares from its jaws and licked a drizzle of red from a canine bigger than her forearm.

Just a moment ago the high view from the cliff where she stood had been thrilling. Now it left her trapped. If she ran, she would be chased down in an instant. Taliyah swallowed, trying to push down the panic that was rising in her throat. She fit a stone into her sling and began to spin it.

“Get out of here,” she said. Her words came out with none of the terror she felt inside.

The lion took a step closer. The girl released the stone from her sling. It hit the great beast near the mane, the fur taking the brunt of the impact. The animal growled its displeasure, and Taliyah could not separate the heavy resonance from her own heart as it tried to beat its way out of her chest.

She fit another stone to the sling.

“Go on!” she shouted, feigning more courage. “I said get out of here!”

Taliyah let the next stone fly.

The predator’s hungry snarl grew louder. The bird in the thin pine, sensing no good could come from this encounter, leapt from the branch and took off on a current of air.

Alone, Taliyah reached into her pocket for her last stone. Her hands shook from the cold and the fear coursing through her. The rock slipped from her fingers and hit the ground, rolling away. She looked up. The lion’s head bobbed between muscled shoulders as it took another step toward her. The throwing stone was just out of reach.

You gather stones by hand? The man’s words echoed in her mind. Maybe there was another way. Taliyah reached out to the stone with her will. The small rock shuddered, but there was also a quiver in the ground beneath her.

The bough beside her still trembled from where the bird had taken flight. A bird’s trust is not in the branch. The choice was clear: She could either stand frozen in her doubt, letting the beast come for her, or lean into her power and take the leap.

Taliyah, a girl born in a desert land far beyond the shores of snow-capped Ionia, held on to the image of the bird and the empty branch that bounced. In that moment, she forgot the imminent death before her. The loneliness that haunted her fell away and was replaced by her last dance on the sands. She felt her mother, her father, Babajan—the whole tribe encircling her. Her whispered promise to return to them when she finally gained mastery over her gifts.

She met the gaze of the beast. “I’ve given up too much to let you stop me.”

The stone began to warp beneath her in a graceful crescent. She held on to the warmth of that last embrace and leapt.

A rumbling built beneath her, louder than the growl of the beast. The lion tried to back away, but it was already too late. The ground split beneath its thick paws into a sluice of swirling gravel, the weight of the creature pulling it farther down the crumbling cliff.

For a brief moment, Taliyah floated above the flurry of dissolving earth. The rock beneath her continued to splinter into a thousand tiny pieces, no longer solid enough to control. She knew she couldn’t hold on to the destruction forever. The girl started to fall. Before she could say goodbye to the coarse world fracturing around her, a strong wind lifted her up. Fingers like steel grasped the collar of her coat.

“I didn’t realize you were serious about bringing down the mountain, Little Sparrow.” With a grunt, the man pulled Taliyah up onto the newly created ledge. “I now understand why much o

結果 (中文) 3:

一只鸟啄薄松附近。taliyah踢雪，不小心把一丛到她的靴子上。她扯了一下袖口，在那人的话感到很恼火，在她脚踝上滑倒了。“这条路的原因？我离开我的人，我的家人，以保护他们从我。”她停下来。一个不自然的寂静。任何小游戏，当时在附近早已在她跺脚的脚步声消失了。不觉任何危险的女孩，小鸟把它的分支和推特在她愤怒的咆哮。现在连鸟鸣沉默。taliyah站谨慎。在她的愤怒，她已经走远比她打算从洞。她被吸引更多的石头比木材，又心不在焉地跟着一个暴露的山脊直到她发现自己从悬崖上往下看。她认为这个男人不会跟她在她，但她感觉到有什么东西在注视着她。“更多的讲座？“她气愤地问道。有一个骨振动析出反应。她一只手伸进大衣，另一只手伸进了她的吊带。三块石头在她的口袋里翻滚。她抓住一只为松散的碎石出卖她的跟踪者身后的运动。taliyah朝她背面的存在。那里，填充仔细的在锋利的峭壁，是一个伟大的爱奥尼亚的雪狮。即使站在四个粗壮的腿，它挺立在她面前。野兽很容易长了一倍，她高高的个子，粗壮的脖子上覆盖一层黄褐色白色鬃毛短。狮子看着女孩。它把两刚杀的野兔从它的嘴舔一点红比她的前臂大犬。就在那一刻前，她站在悬崖上的那一个高高的景色让她激动起来了。现在让她陷入了困。如果她跑了，她会在一瞬间被追捕。taliyah吞下，试图压低恐慌在喉咙里升起。她把一块石头放进她的吊带上，开始旋转起来。“离开这里，”她说。她的话出来了，没有一个恐怖，她觉得里面。狮子向前迈了一步。女孩从她的吊带上松开了那块石头。它击中巨兽附近的鬃毛，皮毛以冲击的影响。动物咆哮着自己的不满和taliyah不能单独重共振从她自己的心因为它试图打败摆脱她的胸部。她把另一块石头装在那把。“继续下去！“她喊道，假装更多的勇气。“我说出来了！“taliyah让一块石头飞。捕食的饥饿的咆哮声越来越大。这只鸟在薄松，感觉不好可能来自这一次遭遇，从分支上跳，并采取了一个气流。独自一人，taliyah把手伸进口袋里她的最后一块石头。她的手颤抖得从寒冷和恐惧传遍她。岩石从她的手指滑下，打在地上，滚走了。她抬起头。狮子的头在肩上，它与肌肉迈出了她。扔石头刚够不到。你收集石头的手？这人的话在她的脑海中回荡。也许还有另一种方式。taliyah伸手石头她会。小岩颤抖着，但也有一个颤抖的脚下的土地。她旁边的树枝还在颤抖，鸟飞了。一只鸟的信任不在树枝上。这一选择是明确的：她可以站在她怀疑的冻结，让野兽来为她，或精益到她的力量和采取的飞跃。taliyah，女孩出生在远离海岸爱奥尼亚雪皑皑的旷野，在这鸟和空分，把图像。在那一刻，她忘记了她即将到来的死亡。那萦绕在她的寂寞中，被她最后一次舞蹈在沙滩上的舞蹈所代替。她觉得她的母亲，她的父亲，巴巴简整个部落包围她。当她最终获得对自己的礼物的控制时，她轻声地答应返回他们。她遇见了野兽的凝视。“我已经放弃太多了，让你阻止我。”那石头开始在她脚下的一个优美的新月形下弯曲。她紧紧抓住最后拥抱和跳跃的温暖。轰隆隆的建下她，比那野兽的咆哮声。狮子试图放弃，但已经太晚了。在它的厚爪之下，地上裂开了一个旋转的砾石的水闸，它的重量把它拉下来，把它拉得更远了。一瞬间，taliyah漂浮溶解地球系列。岩石在她继续分裂成一千小块，不再牢固控制。她知道她不能永远坚持毁灭。女孩开始坠落。在她能跟她说再见的时候，一个强烈的风把她举起来了。像钢铁般的手指抓住了她的大衣领子。“我不知道你带下山，严重的小麻雀，“咕噜着，把人拉taliyah上n