Strayborn: Draev Guardians by E.E. Rawls

Author:E.E. Rawls [Rawls, E.E.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Storyteller Wings Press
Published: 2019-10-13T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 19

Aken strode into the study room, wiping both palms together as if he’d done a full day’s work. He stretched noisily before plopping down on a sofa, arms spread out and both feet propped up-and-over the sofa’s back like an upside down bat. “Whew, what a load of pots that was! But no labor is too great for these here biceps. Right?” He flexed his arms. But showing off failed to work upside down, his hair spilling across the floor.

Mamoru rolled his eyes to the ceiling. “Yes, what a fit princess you are.”

“Princess?” Aken exclaimed.

Master Nephryte commented without so much as a glance, “Hanging upside down is dangerous, Aken-Shou. You’ll fall on your head—not that much would spill out.”

Aken pouted and stuck out his tongue.

Hercule snorted, while busy thumbing through a thick green book from the shelves.

Aken glanced in his direction. “Fall in a pile of ashes, did you, Hercule? Oh, sorry, that’s just your natural hair color, isn’t it?” He grinned sardonicly.

Cyrus watched from a chair at the alcove’s study table. Across from her, Zartanian eyed the growing tension with unease as he let the raven chick run about the tabletop. Lykale was absorbed in three books and refusing to acknowledge anyone’s existence.

“Ever thought of playing old Santa Claus in the next Christmas play?” Aken continued. “You wouldn’t need to wear the wig.” He rocked his body side-to-side, “Just wear a smile and get that jolly Ho-Ho-Ho-ing a going!”

Steam swirled out of Hercule’s ears and grinding jaws, the hazy vapors filling the room.

“Oh no, the dude’s gonna blow!” Aken feigned worry. “Quick, get a bucket of water. Call the Guard!”

Aken halted and spun back around. “On second thought, you’d make a much better Scrooge than Santa.”

“I’ll beat the snot out of you!” Hercule bellowed.

“Aken-Shou.” Master Nephryte intervened, giving up on any further peaceful reading for the day. His gaze beat a stern warning into both of them, and Aken shut up and put on an exaggerated apologetic face.

The Master tried not to facepalm.

Hercule stomped out of the study room, growling under his breath as he went, “Stupid no-good nrgrg, wanna...strangle...stupid...khrgr.” Angry mutters trailed out the door and down the corridor.

Cyrus shook her head. Seriously, how childish could boys be?

Zartanian made his way over to the window. He didn’t seem as shy as before, though he did keep an arm’s length of space between himself and her. At the open window, he looked from the chick in his hand to the tree.

Cyrus was about to scoop it up and climb back outside again, when Mamoru took out an amber rock. The rock grew, and something unfolded itself and crawled free: a winged puppet, half-dragonfly half-grasshopper, knee-high tall.

Cyrus watched, creepily fascinated, as human-puppet hands at the end of two insect limbs scooped up the chick. The device glided on dragonfly wings out the window to the nest. The chick hopped into its home and chirped at its siblings.

Relief washed over Zartanian’s face, and he turned to Mamoru with a grateful smile.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.