Bird of a Flock (Bow 2) - Chapter 41: Chapter 41

There was no true way to describe the sensation as power from the Goddess left his body and then surged back in with a vengeance. Fire and ice burned through his veins and for one brief moment of bliss, Tai'ray was not damaged by the holes in his mind, he was whole in the love of the Goddess. Then it fled, leaving only the euphoria as he stared down at the man who dared challenge him. He grinned, bloodlust filling him.
He was the champion of the Goddess. He was the one the link had chosen. He was the Winglord.
The next few moments happened so fast barely anyone saw them. Tai'ray leapt forward, wings spread wide, punching the challenger in the chest. The man gasped, his mouth spitting blood. Tai'ray reared back and punched again, feeling bone crush under his knuckles as shockwaves spread from under the man.
"I am the will of the k'nairi," Tai'ray growled lowly, and yet the words echoed dangerously around the room like a whisper. The tone sent shivers of fear down Ryraso's spine and just a touch of something else. It was not like anything he had ever heard before from Tai'ray. It was primal. "They choose me!" he roared. The roar reverberated through the hall, and Ryraso was pretty sure no one was even breathing at that tense moment. Tai'ray looked down at the man, teeth gleaming, beaming with a sadistic look to his eyes. "Decide," he warned.
"I surrender," the man coughed out through the blood.
Tai'ray growled but stood, not concerned with the pathetic lord down beneath him broken. He had fought far more skillful warriors, human and k'nairi alike. Still covered in the blood of the now defeated k'nairi, Tai'ray turned to face his people, his movements more birdlike than normal. His neck seemed to move strangely and his wings shifted too as the more instinctual side of him was close to the surface.
"Does anyone else dare defy me?" Tai'ray demanded, the sound echoing throughout the palace and into the city. Echoing through the entire link itself, even to the still sealed Caw. Someone had challenged him and been defeated, miserably. His rule was just. His rule was firm. He was the leader of the k'nairi and heavens help the next person who dared cross him at that moment. "Anyone?" he repeated, meeting the eyes of several vocal opponents in the room.
They averted their eyes. No one spoke, people barely breathing, some now on their knees watching in a twisted horror. No one dared speak.
Tai'ray sneered at the cowardice. "Too soft am I? Too soft!" Tai'ray laughed cruelly, before kicking the defeated k'nairi in the ribs. The man screamed in pain. He turned and stormed up to where Nel'os was cradling Eyeri and Aw'endo, his sons' eyes wide with terror. Tai'ray paused long enough to kiss both their foreheads, lingering on Aw'endo for a moment. Gently he pulled Eyeri from Nel'os' arms and pulled him gently into the centre of the room again, ignoring the fact Eyeri was dragging his feet reluctantly.
"Winglord!" Ryraso called, able to plainly see Eyeri panicking as he was dragged to the centre of the room. Dyn'ad covered his mouth, but Tai'ray had heard and glared at Ryraso for a moment before continuing.
"Let me re-introduce this human boy!" Tai'ray yelled his voice still furious. "This is my chosen's apprentice. His adoptive son. KIN. I do not want to hurt him! But it is by your will the old laws still exist. YOUR will that the caw will be branded. If I followed YOUR will, I would have to whip every inch of skin of every runaway and their families. I would have to brand their bleeding flesh and leave them without medical help and see who had the strength to live. I REFUSE to allow such a thing!"
His voice was still full of anger, but now it had a purpose too. The room shifted uncomfortably at the reminder of the original punishment. He hugged Eyeri close, Eyeri not fighting the hold but he was tense under Tai'ray's talons. Tai'ray took a deep calming breath before continuing.
"The humans have grown. The caw were our friends. Our family. I protected those who would not fight. Who would stand for their crimes without running and for that, you call me soft?" the Winglord sneered. "Anyone who would wish that fate on Family does not deserve it!"
The silence in the room after was so thick a knife could cut through it. Tai'ray ripped Eyeri's upper robe off him without warning, revealing the mess of scars covering his young body. The room recoiled in horror at the sight. Eyeri whimpered and Tai'ray held him in place, not letting him hide but also aware that what he had done was rather unkind to the youngling.
"Family, bloodkin, protect each other. They follow you to the deepest hells and drag you out again. Eyeri is a survivor! He has suffered greatly at the hands of brutal men, surviving the D'mar death marches and more, yet he stands here today, a healer of all things," Tai'ray declared, gently pulling the remains of Eyeri's robes back onto him. "Do any of you doubt his right, or any of his brothers' rights to be my sons?" he asked seriously.
"No," came the answer after a brief moment, the entire link whispering with the truth. If Eyeri was a survivor, he had their respect even if he was human.
"Yet you force me to make him relive his nightmare. A brand is a punishment. You mark your slaves and your livestock by it. But you offer me no other choice. He is not caw. He did not break the laws and yet the link is insistent on this act to make him ours! So I ask you! I ask you all! Is there any other way? Not for the caw! Not for the traitors! But for the innocent! But for the fledgelings! For those who had no choice and those who did not betray us to begin with! What else can we do?" Tai'ray paused dramatically, sending a personal prayer to the goddess for a miracle. "Speak now, or forever this will be the way. I will not let others escape the fates that people in the same situation as they had to endure"
The room was silent. Everyone waiting, hoping someone else would speak up. It was almost a painful moment to exist in and Ryraso was struggling to breathe. His mark was burning. He could not interfere.
"Well?" Tai'ray called, his voice serious, "Can no one think of another way?"
Herymi walked forward. Tar'ray's eyes locking on him. O'cheter grabbed hold of Herymi hand, intending to pull him back but Herymi's shook his hand off, glaring at O'cheter firmly. "I realise as caw, I have little say in this. However Royal Bonded Nel'os mentioned finding a possible alternative method a day ago," He spoke, his voice strong and unwavering. He may be a countryside boy but he knew how to deal with the k'nairi and acting scared or timid was not the way to do so.
The room turned to Nel'os who nodded, loosening his tight hold of Aw'endo to appear more like a noble. "In the library. In an ancient scroll, they spoke of a way for a human to become k'nairi," Nel'os said hesitantly. "A ritual. Involving the Winglord, the heart of the link, and a human." He paused, closing his eyes. The next words he spoke were in pure k'nairi. A language few remembered anymore, though a few words remained in common use in the k'nairi tongue.
There was a stirring in the Nobles. A murmur among those who had been taught the language from a young age. Tai-ray furrowed his eyebrows considering the meaning behind them and the consequences that could occur from such an incantation.
Herymi looked at his friend slash courter with a clear question in his eyes. O'cheter shrugged helplessly. He was no noble. He didn't know. "May I request a translation for those of us who don't speak ancient k'nairi?" Herymi asked bravely, knowing that an interruption at such a tense moment could be dangerous.
"The ritual triggers a spell but I don't like the wording," Tai-ray commented softly. "The verb used. It can mean many things and because of k'nairi magic..." he trailed off
"It could have bad side effects," Ryraso murmured, familiar with k'nairi magic and now the wordings were important to the effect of what could happen. The link was quiet for a moment. Was it worth the risk? A spell that could harm the child in ways unknown or the brand which would harm the child in a way they knew how to heal and deal with.
Herymi looked at his arms, at the tattoo's marking the duties he had chosen to represent and felt something inside of him burn. He wasn't quite sure what but he felt almost compelled to do his next actions.
"What does the ritual go through?" Herymi asked, his voice thoughtful as he unhooked his dagger from his side and passed it to O'chetur. The man took it too surprised by the action to question it.
"In essence, the human kneels and swears itself to the K'nairi. I accept and welcome you in. The person offers their arm, I cut it and trace the symbol of the k'nairi on their forehead," Tai'ray commented. "The wording suggests the human comes into the link. But the words I say, they are the important bit. It literally means become k'nairi. I don't know what that will do."
"If the k'nairi find it acceptable, I am willing to be the scapegoat if you are worried it might cause Eyeri harm," Herymi offered, stepping towards Tai'ray again. "A test subject before risking an innocent."
"No!" O'chetur exclaimed, concern radiating from him.
"You sure?" Tai'ray asked seriously as he felt the link consider this offer. Herymi was caw, he deserved his punishment but this wasn't to avoid it. Herymi spoke as someone willing to risk everything if the spell had a bad side effect to protect an innocent. Herymi had spent his time in Navat helping the guard. Herymi wanted to return to his home village. He was a man of honour who had made a wrong decision in the eyes of the k'nairi but he was not a coward. "You would risk it?"
Herymi smiled warmly. "I'm not going anywhere any time soon. Winglord, as you said this would be used on the innocent. Better to check it has no side effects on a guilty one," Herymi reasoned, looking confident. He trusted the hearts of the k'nairi, had from the day the villagers had taken him in. He had left in rebellion and hurt but he would do what was right now, only to be stopped by O'chetur.
"No! I won't let you try something dangerous!" O'chetur said firmly.
"Let go, O'chetur," Herymi warned softly, a touch of irritation filling him as much as he understood why.
"If O'chetur is reluctant to let you be the test..." Tai'ray said softly.
"Since when has O'chetur been the person who decides what happens to me?" Herymi demanded while not looking away from O'chetur's eyes. "Winglord, you said yourself. The claim is the right to court. Not the right to our lives." O'chetur flinched and the look in his eyes turned more pleading. He didn't want Herymi to endanger himself.
Tai'ray paused at those words. An image of Ryraso appeared in his mind, declaring Tai'ray didn't own him. Smiling softly, he nodded. "That is true. Let him go O'chetur. His path is his own to walk," he ordered.
The k'nairi didn't own the caw. The caw were a part of them and had to be treated with respect. It had been what they had been telling Eyeri to try to calm him about the brand and it was true. The brand, the link, was not slavery. It was home. It was time to stop treating the innocent as property.
"Herymi!" O'chetur pleaded one last time.
"Trust me, O'che," Herymi murmured, squeezing the man's hand briefly. "I accept the risks. But there has always been risks to living with the k'nairi," he grinned.
O'chetur looked into his eyes. Herymi wasn't sure what the k'nairi was looking for, but he seemed to find it. O'chetur let go of Herymi's hand, a worried expression still filling his face. Herymi gave him a big reassuring smile before walking to Tai'ray, nervous but oddly unafraid.
"Eyeri, go stand by Nel'os," Tai'ray said gently in human, kissing the boy on the forehead. Eyeri nodded, walking towards the other k'nairi, who pulled him in close in a hug. Eyeri still had no idea what was going on but could tell something important was about to happen. Aw'endo held Eyeri's hand tightly and Eyeri could only watch as Herymi reached the Winglord.
The Winglord reached out and placed a hand on Herymi's shoulder. "You certain you want to risk this," Tai'ray murmured, to the man. "We don't know what will happen. We didn't even know it existed until yesterday. It can't have been used since..."
"The first," Nel'os commented softly. "The scroll had his seal on it. I only broke it because there was a note on it saying never to open unless humans were considered truly sentient."
Silence filled the room again. High Priest Ton'eth caught Ryraso's eyes and sent a meaningful look. Ryraso could feel whispers of knowledge in the back of his mind. This ritual had been hidden and allowed to be found. Secrets were meant to be revealed, even ones thousands of years old.
"I'll do it to stop the innocent suffering the fate of a branding iron," Herymi said firmly.
"The the question remains do you accept this?" Tai'ray asked the room and the link. "For Herymi to be the test of the ritual?"
Every k'nairi was watching with bated breath, waiting and watching eagerly. Everyone wanting to know the fate of the humans who had unwittingly put themselves into their care. The link sang.