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Caution.
Kaxim’s neural command was sharp.
Killen acknowledged the admonishment with a faint nod, dimming his lodestone’s brilliance even further.
Still, he sensed Kaxim and Kione’s pleasure at their reunion.
They’d first met on Devansi not so long ago.
When they’d witnessed his victory over Tempest Light and made acquaintance with the elite Sab?r Hawks of Katáne, the most superior of the Katánian warriors.
Kaxim and Kione led a rising generation of warriors who’d rejected war and marauding for the sake of it.
Kaxim was their Commander, a Ka?'m??r? Krypós Eagle, a chimeric winged creature with sharp-beaked raptor features and the bodies of gigantic lions.
Today, however, he was half transmuted, his lethal-looking talons and feathers having melded away to reveal his human limbs and face.
Tall, imposing with the same close-shorn silver hair and a brusque attitude, he was the man Killen had trusted to lead him into Katáne and now further into battle.
With an enemy he’d yet to meet.
He bowed to Kaxim. ‘Sky Ash,’ he stated. ‘I greet you.’
‘Kíndunas, pray to leave us so I can receive an old friend in private,’ Kaxim commanded the room. ‘Only Kione stays as he too is a boon companion of this ancient eyrie.’
Moments later, most of the room was vacated.
The three men exchanged warm hugs and clasped hands.
‘Storm Pale,’ Kione stated with a grin. ‘Sight for sore eyes.’
Killen returned the warm smile. ‘I see you, Night Frost.’
He stepped back from the shared embrace and contemplated the two men before him. Due to the jewelled lodestone on his temple, they were his First and Second Armourers, close guardians, compatriots and confidantes.
His very life was in their hands, and he knew they’d been working overtime for days now to deal with skirmishes throughout the planet and prime the army for the coming and inevitable conflict.
‘You two drongos look beat. Like you’ve had your feathers tarred and left to dry,’ he teased.
Kaxim raised a brow. ‘Fokk me, he kicks off with insults. Little does he know how many cowardly attacks we’ve been fending off from the enemy.’
‘I trust your accommodations in the encampment have been to your royal standard and caused no drama,’ Kione stated with a drawl and a twitch to his lips.
‘If you call being thrown in with a commotion of coots and warding off a few unhinged buzzards no drama, then fokk you.’
‘Buckle up, Kíríga, that’s just the beginning,’ Kione murmured. ‘Welcome to our asylum of cuckoos.’
Kaxim jerked his chin at Killen. ‘Apologies for emptying the place, but as you know, not all the commanders, the kíndunas, are supportive of the so-called usurper. Several have let Kalila’s poison infuse their minds.’
Killen sliced his eyes to Kaxim. ‘Which ones?’
‘Kassian the Black, for one. He’s not here as he’s stirring the K?str?ls against you and us as we speak. He’s launching attacks on towns and eyries as he gathers troops and moves north to Kos. He was your grandfather’s most senior Klós Kärd and protector for one and our old commander. He’s older, ruthless, enraged by the old King’s death and has fallen in with Kalila to get rid of you.’
‘Can’t wait to make his acquaintance,’ Killen rasped, settling his large body into a vast, cushioned armchair.
‘However, we suspect one or two of the kíndunas you’ve just encountered have also been compromised,’ Kaxim continued. ‘We just don’t know who exactly. We believe Kalila has made backroom promises to back whichever one betrays the Kainôs first and finds the usurper.’
Kione cut in. ‘We can’t trust everyone until we know who is loyal to us.’
