“I am not! You’re too old!” Azure crowed back in response. His plumage fluffed up and he stood tall in a manner that suggested this was a regular argument
between the two Powerful beings. Reven only shook his head. He felt tired and raw. Arguments and explanations could wait for another time.
“Forget I asked,” he chortled in a near whisper. He’d gone five years as a blank slate, he could suffer a bit more. He wasn’t entirely certain he wanted to know his past anyway.
“The Vessel is weak,” the old man said.
“Well, it’s been a very long day,” Reven replied. He shut his eyes feeling the vertigo return…
… and slowly melt away with the rising of the sun outside his window. He stared at the yellow-white orb until it became blinding then rolled away. The exhaustion was incapacitating and his mind was a haze of new, raw knowledge. He blinked a few times when he turned and saw Serai sleeping soundly beside him. He stared at the tiny freckles on her back, slowly recalling the previous evening.
Well played, he thought, reaching for Serai to pull her closer to him. Serai only grumbled in minor protest, settling back against him without further complaint. He held her close, nuzzling into her neck before falling back into exhausted sleep with an orange- blue phoenix watching them from the window.
Chapter Eleven
High above the city limits of Azucena, a single creature soared among the stars. Periodically, the figure dipped into the few clouds in the night sky or became one with the silhouette of the mountains to the north. Kaleo watched the figure until its shadow vanished from the sky completely. Azure. That meant his father was close.
Kaleo sat at the edge of the giant fountain at the center of the city, with two bags sitting at his feet and a guitar over his shoulder. He ate a thick, spicy stew from a terracotta bowl, shoveling it all in his mouth quickly before it grew cold or, worse, was stolen from his hands. That had happened more often than not in his travels. His leg felt like agonizing fire. Two months of living life as a vagabond made him feel like a failure and he was starting to feel ill on top of it all. He ate only once a day and slept in alleys, searching inn after inn for his father. People who passed offered him a glance - the only person wearing a cloak in the middle of a desert heat wave - but otherwise were content to leave him in peace; for now.
The city itself looked rough. Directly across from where he sat were twin towers with rickety plank- board bridges connecting them at various spots along their unnatural height. To the diagonal from the towers was a single-story building that was nearly as long as the fountain was tall with several steps leading up to giant double doors of polished wood. Other, smaller buildings dotted the area; businesses varying from food vendors to weapon smiths and everything in between. The city sat at the edge of the Campo de Arena, the great desert that the locals called ‘the field of sand’. Despite the heat, all of the buildings were so close together they were practically touching with the only space to breathe being the center where the Fuente del Cielo stood. The fountain predated time itself according to the legends. Kaleo knew that could not possibly be, but it was still awe-inspiring to see something from a time before the Destruction. As he sat there, he realized how incredibly small his world really was.
He sighed, absently rubbing his leg. He must have winced, for an old woman leaving an offering at the fountain scuttled away, marking herself with a sign against evil. Kaleo blinked and glanced at the goods left behind: a doll made of straw, an orange-colored fruit with bumps on it, and a tiny terracotta dish. Nothing worth stealing. The fruit, maybe, but he’d never seen anything like it and hesitated.
“Tu!” a large man said, pointing right at Kaleo before grabbing him by the scruff. The action twisted him all up, and tangled his wings in the cloak and the guitar at his back.
“Ah, what’d I do!” Kaleo cried, his voice cracking as the man hauled him bodily away from the fountain without even letting him grab his bags. It didn’t take long for those that loitered to descend upon the bags as Kaleo was dragged deeper into the crowd, limping along with each step producing a wave of fire up his leg. “Wait! Those are mine! Let go!”
Kaleo’s pleas disappeared into the crowd as he was hauled away to a fate unknown.
***
“… for help and where is he? Nowhere to be seen, but if I find my own help he shits kittens!”
Two weeks between regular shows for the lord of Azucena was the decided path of least resistance between Liam and Reven for the negotiated contract that the bard was responsible for. Liam wanted more, Reven less if for no other reason than to give his voice and fingers a break. However, the bard could not argue with the revenue that was already rolling in or the bonuses slipped into his pockets for the private events given to those in power. Fine details, however, were still left too often to chance for Reven’s liking. Today, for example, was to be the first of many shows with special guests from La Mesa del Mundo - a monastery of sorts that taught the legally recognized leadership of Mahala. It was in the cartel lord’s best interest to make peace with them which, for some unknown reason, required grand entertainment. However, grand entertainment required staff that Reven did not actually have. He had Serai, her drums, and his violin. Neither were anywhere near grand.
“Complaining again, my love?” Ajana asked as
