“Our future generations?” the man argues, fixing his angry gaze on Wekun. “You only pop in when you’re here to pluck strings in a favor of a future only your kind can see. You ran for the gates and a new world, abandoning the rest of us to suffer and get picked off. Don’t talk as though we’re one people when you know that’s not true.”
Wekun shakes his head, like he’s disappointed. “Are we back to that again?” he asks, scanning the crowd like his question is for all of them. “Some Sentinels chose to leave, others chose to remain, what happened after was the consequence of that choice, on both sides. How is one side held accountable for the tragedies the other suffered? Tierit and its people have also known hardship and struggle; we’re hidden from the world there, just as you are here. Blaming others for our problems serves no purpose,” he points out, and the gathered crowd grows quiet.
“I think we’ve had our say,” the leader of the camp announces, her eyes fixed on me and Wekun. “I don’t think we are in the position to truly help. You should speak to Cree and the Gryphons, they would be in a better position to help,” she tells me, and I nod.
“Thank you for trying at least,” I offer, but she just looks at me weird. I remember that the Ouphe and Gryphons aren’t big on manners and just smile at her and wait for the crowd to disperse enough for Wekun and me to take off so we can go speak to the gryphons.
“Is Cree the female with the cool mohawk and scars?” I ask Wekun as we’re waiting.
“The very one, although you might not want to bring up the scars.”
“Oh, is she sensitive?”
“No, but it will start her down battle memory lane, and we could be there for weeks as she tells stories and forces us to drink.”
I chuckle and shake my head. “Yeah, I’m not going to lie, I could be down for that.”
“You’re just trying to get out of training,” Wekun accuses, and I shrug, not even trying to deny it.
“I still don’t understand why I can’t just work on things on my own,” I grumble. “I’m not saying that they can’t get rune lessons too, but it doesn’t have to be together,” I point out.
Wekun went and organized a little group training with me and the mates I apparently can’t escape. I was glad to hear that Zeph was doing better and working to embrace what happened and find a way to make it work for him, but I’d prefer they did it far away from me.
“Get over it, Falon, it’s time to Sentinel up and do what needs to be done,” he announces, slapping me on the ass like I’m some obstinate horse that needs to get a move on. Three growls simultaneously fill the air around us, and I roll my eyes and rub my ass cheek.
“I should let them take you out,” I threaten Wekun, who simply glares at me, unamused by the joke.
“Then you’d really be stuck with them,” he points out as he takes the lead through the remaining crowd in the direction of the gryphon camp.
“When are you going to go have your little chat with the other Bond Weaver in Tierit anyway?”
“When you are good enough with your runes that I can leave for a couple days,” he calls back over his shoulder.
Well, crap then. Guess it’s time to Sentinel up…whatever that means.
We make our way to the gryphon camp quietly. I’m not going to admit this to Wekun, but I’m actually excited to start working with my runes. I’m just not overeager to be working on them with an audience of inconsiderate mates, who all just so happen to know that I tried to undo our bonds. So far, I’m not sure what to make of how they feel about that. Treno seemed annoyed, Zeph seemed surprised, and I don’t know what Ryn’s feelings are on the matter, I haven’t seen him yet.
I sort of feel like I’ve been caught doing something I’m not supposed to, but that doesn’t quite capture the awkwardness I feel today facing them. If it had worked, it would be a different story. I could just keep it moving and ignore them. But it backfired and somehow connected us even more, and that’s just plain fucking awkward for me. I feel like fate is laughing its ass off right now, and I’m just supposed to go about my day like I can’t hear it cackling and calling me out.
On the plus side of things, I woke up this morning feeling more alive and invigorated than I have ever felt before. I can sense something different, and very powerful, flowing through my veins, and I’m eager to tap into it and see just what I was always meant to be able to do. When Pigeon was freed, I felt more complete than I ever have before, but now that everything inside of us is unlocked, we’re both flying in and around cloud nine.
We wind through tents, and I can feel the guys somewhere behind me, tracking our every move, but I don’t look for them. I’m not sure why they’re so interested in keeping an eye on me, but I suspect it has to do with what Zeph said in the forest the night he brought all of us here: they’re there to make sure I don’t betray them in some way.
Two large male gryphons with staffs step in front of Wekun, and we stop. “What business do you have here, String Puller?” one of the beefy males asks.
As much as Wekun has helped me navigate everything going on around me, I’m starting to get the impression that he’s not the most popular guy around the camps. I don’t know if it’s simple
