King of Storms by Sulayman X

Author:Sulayman X [X, Sulayman]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press LLC

TWENTY-FOUR

HAVING spent but a few weeks at Mountain Home, Kito was already leaving, and this made him uneasy. Regardless of how he felt, of his difficulty settling in and getting used to the run of the place, he had already begun to consider it his home. The brothers were his brothers. The Patriarch was his Patriarch, his father, after a fashion. When he looked around, he saw eyes looking back at him, eyes that understood him, eyes that offered smiles, suggestions, the hand of friendship. He did not want to leave.

“Why must we go?” he asked, standing beside Tai as the attendants made the final checks and preparations. They were on the roof; four giant bird beasts had landed minutes earlier, each with a Bird Rider—their escorts. They would ride the birds all the way to the Westland, many hundreds of leagues.

“My people must be warned, Kito,” the Feyborn said pointedly, having already answered this question. “Now, stop annoying me.”

Kito made a face as the Feyborn turned away to supervise the checking of their baggage. The Patriarch was standing at the north wall with a group of aides and warriors. Kito went to stand near them, listening while they argued about strategy, timing, how far the trench should be extended. He looked out, past the wall, the trench, the brothers who were even then working though dark had fallen, across the plateau to the sight of hundreds of bonfires burning in the darkness. The Grimmord army. They looked close, and yet he knew the distance was deceiving. Above him, hawks cried, coming and going, a flurry of dark spots against the night.

He wanted to stay, wanted to help, wanted to do something useful.

Brother Sanah was suddenly at his elbow. “It is time, my lord.” Sanah’s arm was bandaged from the Grimmord attack—he’d taken a good slashing—but the man’s spirits were not so easily daunted. The pull on Kito’s arm was gentle but insistent.

To his surprise, Kito discovered that Brother Yenoh would be accompanying them—Sanah explained that the young warrior had been charged with continuing Kito’s lessons during the journey, given the great danger they were in. They were also going to be accompanied by a Yag, and Kito stared at the creature a bit suspiciously while an introduction was made for his benefit. The Yag’s name was Anada. Unlike Kito’s meditation teacher Kuva, Anada was visibly much younger, and rather smaller, but still a hulking, large presence, towering over the others while regarding them with what seemed to be amusement.

“Anada is a healer, one of the pain-eating Yags,” the Patriarch said to Kito. “And I’ve heard he knows a thing or two about fighting as well. He will be a useful companion in many ways.”

The Yag seemed to grin while bowing his head in Kito’s direction.

“What’s a pain-eater?” Kito asked, mystified.

“You will have to ask him, won’t you?”

Altogether, there would be five of them—the Novice Master, Kito, Kito’s guardian Sanah, the young warrior Yenoh, and the Yag healer Anada.

Tai bent down on one knee before the Patriarch and bowed his head, holding a fist over his heart.

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