It had rained for fourteen days straight. The driveway in front of the ramshackle trailer, and the gravel road leading to it, had become a pond. A depression had settled over the small city of Progress amidst the aggressive storms, the death of Annabelle Farwell, and the disappearance of both her daughter Sunny and her neighbor Delilah Lowe.
In the dimly lit living room of the dwelling, Kalmutt, Elder of Thunder, paced with a sense of urgency. "All this rain. The rising water. She'll thrive in it. We've got to stop it." He turned to his granddaughter. "It's time for you to put on your cloak, my dear child. It will take all of us."
Sunyah stared at the stained carpet below her feet. All of this was still so overwhelming. Two weeks ago she had been Sunny Farwell, a quirky but albeit somewhat normal person—a journalist with big city dreams and a sassy momma. Though rather dull, her life had made sense. Now it was something out of a fantasy novel. Now it was too exciting.
After Annabelle died, Fallah had brought Sunyah here to the tucked away trailer and introduced her to her birth family. What was left of it, anyway. Other than her brother, there was only her grandfather, Kalmutt, her sister, Verahn, and her uncle, Ramull. Her father, Valmat, and her mother, Yarra, had died together ten years ago, at the hands of Serpa, a vile and cruel snake creature that had been killing off Sunyah's family for centuries. The same creature that had taken Annabelle's life.
Kalmutt had explained everything to her upon her arrival. He told her of her heritage, that she was more than human. Of course, she thought she had been kidnapped by crazies, until her grandfather showed her his cloak. It was midnight black and covered in feathers, ranging from six to at least fifteen feet in length. Kalmutt had raised it above his head, flung it over his shoulders, and before Sunyah's eyes had transformed into a mighty bird, as large as the trailer. She could barely breathe as she watched him take flight over the forest surrounding them, gathering the storm clouds to him as he went.
"We're Thunderbirds, Sunyah," Kalmutt had told her. "Bringers of the storm, guardians of the sky." He had then gone on to fill in the details.
When she questioned him being her grandfather at such a young age, he had laughed. "As long as we wear our cloaks, we don't age past thirty years, child." He smiled at her. "I'm two hundred and fifty years old."
He had then gone on to explain that his brother, Ramull, was two hundred and sixty-three, and that Fallah and Verahn, twins, were seventy-five.
"Your mother was one hundred and twenty; your father was one hundred and forty-six," he had explained. "You were their last child. The youngest of seven. And one of only three surviving."
At that point of the conversation, he shifted focus to Serpa.
"For years, we wondered how the Serpent Mother constantly evaded us. How she was able to continually kill us off. She shouldn't have ...." he trailed off, tears forming in his eyes as he thought of his fallen family.
When Kalmutt hadn't spoken again after several minutes, his brother picked up.
"She had help," Ramull said angrily, his fists balling as he spoke. "There were rogues, distant family ... very distant ... godless birds willing to deal with the snake. Give over their own so that they could live free from threat and prey on the humans."
Kalmutt had returned to the conversation. "There are some of us," he started in a low, thoughtful voice, "that desire to rule over the land species. To be feared as gods." He shook his head as he thought of the shame that the others had brought upon their legacy. "They guard Serpa and bring the rains for days on end to create a safe place for her. She cannot live where the land is dry. She must have water to survive."
Fallah stood from the dusty green couch he had been sitting on. "We have to dry the land to drive her away ... but there are enough ponds and lakes nearby for her to escape to. The only way for us to kill her now is to remove the life stone from her forehead and destroy it." He paused, looking toward the door to the kitchen where Verahn had just entered. "Sister," he said, "what have you learned?"
Verahn was holding her own shimmering cloak, dripping wet with rain. She removed the matted strands of her hair from her face as she spoke. "It is Loka and her brother, Morahn, who are guarding Serpa. They have made a nest on the other side of town. It seems they are keeping the rain up until she can safely move across the land toward us."
Sunyah had listened to their revelations in a state of shock. How could this be? How could this be her life? Flying? Running from giant snakes? All of her parents dead? What of Andrew and Alexis?
She had spent the last two weeks perpetually silent, listening to them speak of these things, but not ready to believe. She wasn’t ready to engage with the family she didn't know. Her fantastic family of big birds. They had shown her the cloak she had been born, or rather, hatched with, but Sunyah had refused to put it on this entire time. That would make this all too real.
"Sunyah, please."
She finally snapped back from memory lane at the sound of Delilah's voice. Her boss and neighbor had known everything all of these years, for she was the one who helped rescue Sunyah as a child. She was one of the few humans privileged enough to be called a friend of the Thunder.
Delilah had seen Serpa enter Sunyah's former home, and she immediately called Kalmutt. She had then fled across town to the trailer, knowing the snake would come for her next. Though Sunyah was somewhat bitter over Delilah not at least attempting to save Annabelle, her presence had been the girl's only comfort in the days since.
Delilah spoke to her again. "Birdie, I know it scares you. But please, girl, if you don't accept this, more death will come."
"ACCEPT THIS!?" Sunyah jumped up from her chair in a rage. "Why should I accept this? Why should I have to? I didn't ask for this! I didn't ask for a dead mother and some family of black birds who decided to fight a fucking snake! I didn't ask to be some ... some MONSTER! Some freak!" Sunyah paused, panting and shaking as she glared toward Delilah. "I don't have to save the world; I don't WANT to save the world! I WANT to go back to my house with my mom ... my momma ..."
Sunyah collapsed onto the floor in violent sobs. It was the first time she had felt anything but numb shock since everything happened. How dare they tell her what she needed to accept.
In an instant, Kalmutt's arms were around her. "My precious girl," he said, "just let it out. Let it all out."
And she did. She cried for what seemed like forever until she finally fell asleep in her grandfather's embrace.