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When he dimmed his lodestone once more, Kesia stirred, walking to the edge of the compound where a ledge overhung the training grounds in the valley below.
‘That’s because it is,’ she said, facing Killen.
‘Go on?’ he pushed.
‘The hawkstone is rumoured to be one of the eyes of Kag?an.’
His gaze narrowed. ‘I’ve been told of the legends of the great bird.’
‘You may know then that he was a mythical giant lightning eagle that Khiron commanded thousands of years ago with his hawk stone. A leviathan of the skies whose feet rested on the planet while his head reached the sky. His wings were so huge that they darkened the sun when they unfurled. Kag?an was said to tear apart armies in seconds with its thunderbolt and talons. The great eagle, however, is a myth unseen for eons. Only the hawkstone remains, which was his good eye. The other was the vulstone.’
‘The what now?’ Killen rasped.
‘The vulstone, his eye dedicated to kízakan, to the darkness beyond. In theory, this meant that the hawkstone was filled with kσχ?ς. The two lodestones, however, were linked. So, the wearer experienced both aspects of good and evil. However, it is said that indulging in the darker lodestone allows kízakan to take over their mind and will.’
Killen pursed his lips and thought for a beat before letting out a whistle under his breath. ‘Which might explain the dark visions I’m privy to. I’ve even witnessed revenants of your father-in-law, Tempest Light, leaning into the vulstone.’
Kesia gave a sad shake of her head. ‘I’m not surprised he was playing with the kízakan aspects of the vulstone as his marauding worsened. Koreau shared as much with me.’
‘Is that right?’
‘Did you know that it was only by Koreau’s secret intervention that the hawkstone was saved from being lost to darkness and given to your mother? It chose her, and Koreau helped her escape her father when he hinted he’d have her killed to reclaim it.’
‘That bit I remember her sharing,’ Killen growled. ‘What happened to the vulstone?’ Killen asked.
‘Tempest Light inherited it,’ his aunt answered. ‘When your mother fled Katáne with the hawkstone, he turned to use the vulstone and its shadowed secrets to gain more influence.’
‘Why was he playing such a dangerous game?’
‘Why else? He was drunk with power and coveted more. His council and the elders were getting high on looting and pillaging, and they wanted more íkan to conquer their enemies and, above all, be superior to the Kythnians. Enamoured by the dark visions of grandeur the vulstone fed him; he went after the hawkstone. Worse still, Kultur and the Kiama council found an old poem that told of the possibility of awakening Kag?an. And how riding the great eagle once more, with both his eyes, would bestow immense power to Tempest Light. It also stated that the old King needed the Eye of Elysium to find the location of the mythical eagle.’
Killen snapped his eyes to Kesia. ‘The One SHärd?’
She nodded. ‘Indeed. It turns out he was complicit in exterminating the Shotelai. Because he wanted the SHärd —the third eye—to show him where the SHärd eagle, Kag?an, lay under the surface of Katáne.’
Killen whistled under his breath. ‘Fokkin’ hell. How do you know all this?’
‘I’ve put it together over the years, based on what my Tempest Light said and even what Kalila herself has revealed. What I learnt horrified me at how much my father-in-law had let kízakan control him. You did us all a favour.’
‘When I killed him?’
‘Naam. At first, my husband and I, as well as Kamilla, thought it was sacrilege for you to have murdered him. Until Koreau shared that he was on Devansi to try to capture the Lost SHärd. To use it to find Kag?an.’
Silence fell between them.
‘One more thing,’ Kesia went on after a beat. ‘Kalila is the carrier of the vulstone. She inherited it, which is why she is beholden to dark íkan and has taken on her father’s mantle. She has stated that if she can’t continue her brother’s mission to find Kag?an, she intends to raise Khiron.’
‘Is that right?’ Killen murmured.
‘She has a mad, crazed idea that she can resurrect the first Kíríga to life.’
‘To what end?’ the Kíríga drawled, half-amused.
‘To use him, or rather his influence and legend in Katáne, to take the throne.’
Killen huffed. ‘How?’
‘She will use all the dark íkan she can and the power of the nýkhta lance to raise him from the dead. From what I hear, only Khiron can wrench the lodestone from your head with the night lance in hand. But first, she needs to both raise him and find you.’
