“Don’t lie,” Liam said, shoving at the door with more strength than Reven gave him credit for. “I know she come t’you after wha’ I done. I din’t mean it. I got wasted an’… c’mon, Reven, where’s she at?”
“With Serai,” Kaleo answered. “In town.”
The door opened enough for Liam to nearly tumble into the grand foyer. They both looked at the young avian, Liam with a scowl and Reven with a curious frown.
“Still around?” Liam scoffed. “Shame. Woulda been best fer ya t’go on home.”
Now Kaleo frowned, watching as Liam stepped aside. The courtyard was filled with avian soldiers, all armed to the teeth. The one in front, a woman, shot a dart from a tiny crossbow at Reven. It hit him center mass, dropping him to his knees.
“NO!” Kaleo cried. Reven heard him but could not move or speak, could barely think. “REVEN!”
“We square then?” Liam said. Reven’s eyes rolled in his skull. Movement made him dizzy. He watched Kaleo fight, losing Power at the soldiers that was oddly deflected. The boy lost, growling at his opponents. Reven watched another avian move into his line of sight and stare down at him with a wicked smirk on her scared face.
“We are… square, Master Roe,” the woman said. Reven did not hear anything more but muted voices. His body felt heavy and his mind stuffed with cotton.
“You son-of-a-bitch!” Kaleo hollered, watching the bard struggle to remain conscious on the floor. Liam smirked with vicious glee - until a pistol came up into his face.
“Of course, assisting in the kidnapping of the amatti is as reprehensible as the desecration of the ancestors,” Tondra Caelestis purred. “Arrest him.”
“Er, wha’ now? We ‘ad a deal, woman!” Liam growled as he was taken down and clapped in irons. Kaleo grinned though it did not help him or the bard in the least. It still offered sick satisfaction to see Liam get what he was owed for his betrayal.
“And I honored that deal, Master Roe. Zorian Li’ael will be reported dead and no longer hunted.
You’re welcome. Take them away!”
“No! No!” Liam hollered. He was silenced with the hilt of a sword to his temple. Kaleo sneered at Tondra Caelestis, the woman leading the insurrection, as she took his face in her hands. There were no irons on him; his containment was worse. He knew what dropped Reven so quickly, a serum known as tol shal that robbed a caster of literally everything. It was potentially lethal to them in large doses. She would not dare use such a thing on a member of the amaterasu. She would, however, use something else. He could feel his Power but not touch it, the bracelets on his wrists cool and tight against his skin. Binding shackles. The ropes that held him were nothing compared to the shackles.
“Your mother will be so relieved to have you home,” Tondra purred.
“Step-mother you heinous bitch!” Kaleo barked as he was hauled away.
Chapter Eighteen
Navid worked his way through the center jungle of Tierra Vida with great caution. The creatures of the island were as deadly as they were beautiful. The island was not all jungle, with many mismatched environments stuck together. Closer to the city, the jungle gave way to lush forests of evergreens with an oasis of rolling white sand just outside the city limits as if pieces of every land mass found their way to Tierra Vida and glued themselves into a single landmass. It was confounding but it sufficed as home - for now. Kaleo’s letter gave him hope even if it stirred Maeve’s ire.
Eila and Rielle followed him, each with a hook sack full of pilfered supplies. Navid knew Maeve had a strong dislike of him and his kind. His presence was tolerated because the girls would have it no other way. However, given the news from Kaleo, Navid no longer felt the need to suffer the woman’s ill-placed rage. Yes, he failed in his duty as guardian, but he did not cause the downfall of the tirsai people. Lacking another target, however, Maeve aimed her wrath at the savage centaur who lost both her brother and her nephew which left the tirsai people without an heir. Maeve would not even entertain Kaleo as a possibility and, to be honest, Navid could understand why. There were… issues between the tirsai and the avians now, and bastard children were not normally given much thought beyond their name-day. From what he understood, Kaleo had been the first to even survive past his name-day.
“This one is Aeron’s,” Rielle said, handing Navid a smooth, nearly-black stone with sharp edges. “The dark-skinned man had them all. He’s Itahli, I think.”
“Alchemist, most likely. Smart to give them to him,” Eila agreed. The centaur smirked, admiring how much the girls had grown. They were smarter than their brother and as mischievous as any thief. Their weakness came in being unable to operate without each other. Where one went, the other followed, always within eyesight of each other. He hoped that would not be a hindrance to them on their coming journey.
“That will get you there. This one,” Rielle continued, handing Navid a second stone with a different rune at the center. “Will get you back to me wherever I happen to be so be a little careful on that one.”
“And,” Eila added. “You can only bring three others with you. It has a limit. I haven’t been able to spell them to bring more.”
“Though, I imagine if he finds a Shard it might help bring more,” Rielle theorized, tapping her chin. Eila nodded in agreement.
“Maybe but it isn’t tested so, try to keep it to three just in case.”
Navid nodded as they reached the city limits. Gavail, like the other two cities known to Navid, was a port town open to trade, pirates, and passing ships heading to or from Esbeth. It was the pirates and thieves that concerned the centaur. They were
