The female set one foot into the moonlit cup.
Silver closed over her webbing.
She lowered her body carefully, testing the cup before giving it weight. Rookery calls continued behind her. In Ninebell, the male raised his beak from Jiang's shoulder and watched the dark foot descend toward a floor it had never touched.
The chick heard her step. Its head moved beneath the brood fold, and one small claw pressed against the male's flattened toes.
Inside Ninebell, Jiang's good foot vanished to the ankle.
Stone remained visible around his leg. He could see every claw beneath the pale surface, including the backward one bent where no emperor foot should bend. None of them touched the floor he felt dropping away.
The male's weight shifted against his breast.
Jiang tried to pull free. Silver tightened around the hidden ankle and drew his body toward the wall instead. His sound flipper scraped stone. The bound one dragged beneath the adult's flank.
