Book 10: Chapter 1: Dancing Cloud
“What is that?” Sen asked as he peered skyward.
“That’s my big bird, Papa!” exclaimed Ai from her perch on his arm.
“Well,” said Sen thoughtfully, “it certainly is big.”
He kept starting up and trying to make sense of the thing. It didn’t look like a bird so much as a hodgepodge of animal parts that were thrown together into the general shape of a bird. He was pretty sure he saw some kind of shell on its back. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think those were fins instead of tail feathers, thought Sen. He’d never seen anything like it before. He’d never even heard of anything like it before. He finally turned to look at Uncle Kho.
“Do you know what that thing is?”
Uncle Kho glanced up from the scroll he’d been reading before letting his gaze wander skyward.
“Hmmm? Oh, yes, that’s a Fenghuang. The heavens only know where she found it, though. I thought they were extinct.”
“Is it safe?” asked Sen expressing his deepest concern.
It had been one thing when a flock of birds was chasing after his daughter and eating insects on command. This… This was something else entirely. That thing was big enough to swallow Ai whole in the blink of an eye. If it was dangerous, he might have to do something about it regardless of how much Ai seemed to love the bizarre flying creature.