Bird of a Wing - Chapter 35: Chapter 35

Back at the hut, Dyn'ad was cooking over a fire outside while the others were still in the hut. It smelt like fish that morning. Tai-ray flew up to the hut to see if anyone else was awake, letting Herymi join Dyn'ad. Eyeri was sitting up as he landed on the balcony, the boy rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Tai'ray reached with the link to greet the young man good morning only to find there was nothing there. He frowned remembering Eyeri hadn't developed the link yet. It seemed like a silly thing to forget but Tai'ray was so used to being able to communicate with people using it that it seemed strange not to be able to.
"That will have to be sorted soon," Tai'ray mused. He did not like the idea of someone so close to one of his not being K'nairi. Problem was, ignoring a few unconventional ways, it normally took a few years of living close to the K'nairi for the link to form. Then again, the fact the boy was going to be close to the heart of the link would also speed it up. There was also a way to force the link quicker if need be...
'Please tell me you are not serious!' Herymi almost hissed over the link, apparently still linked to Tai'ray from their morning conversation.
'He is old enough,' Tai-ray murmured idly. 'But no, I'm not planning to have sex with him. Not unless something happens which would require a link to form quickly.' Only a few things would require that. 'For now, I'll just keep him close and the link should hopefully snap into place sooner rather than later,' he said to reassure everyone listening.
'Glad to hear it,' Ryraso's voice murmured through the link, clearly waking up. 'I would have hated to have tried to explain to Eyeri how you forcing him to have sex is perfectly acceptable.' There was a bitterness there, one which made Tai-ray wince inwardly. The man's blue eyes glaring at him from the bed. Ryraso was still scared that was what was going to happen to him and much like proving Eyeri was safe with them, only time would prove the royal triad would not.
'I wouldn't force a person into sex without a very good reason,' Tai-ray mused darkly. As Winglord he had the right to force someone but at the same time not to cause a person harm and there was a difference by k'nairi law. Not that it was much better, which is why Tai-ray had only ever used that solution during situations where people had gone in knowing it was a possibility, things like duels and dominance matches. It was not something he used by choice.
Previous Winglords hadn't been so thoughtful to their subjects. Rape happened among the K'nairi. There was simply nothing you could do if a dominant in a rut-rage pinned you down. Fighting would only end up with you seriously hurt, or even in some cases dead. All you could do was get through it. As the Winglord, it had been Tai-ray's job more than once to sort out which incidents had been avoidable, and which ones hadn't. Accidents happened and if Tai-ray, or one of the priests able to read the link, thought someone was in a dangerous relationship, he would separate them. Bonds were for life. However, he could destroy them if that was what it took to protect one subject from another.
'I'm glad,' Ryraso replied, his tone unreadable, nuzzling Eyeri who was uncomfortable. The boy likely knowing they were having a conversation over his head by the fact Tai'ray was standing there not saying a word while Ryraso glared. "How far are we going today?" Ryraso asked out loud for the boy's benefit, moving a stray piece of hair back behind Eyeri's ear.
"We will reach K'nairi land by nightfall. We may stay at a border town before continuing. Once we are on K'nairi land we can take our time," Tai-ray answered calmly. "Ryraso, can you double check on Herymi's wounds?"
Herymi winced through the link, realising Tai-ray had picked up on the fact the cut on his arm was hurting him a little more than it should. Tai'ray heard Dyn'ad tell the man off down below and smirked amused by this. Weakness was not something to be shown and yet at the same time, injuries were not to be left to fester. Something Herymi hadn't learned despite being in an army for seven years.
"Of course," Ryraso agreed, getting up off the bed. Nel'os groaning slightly, having been curled up against him. Eyeri tried to move to get up as well, but was quickly ensnared by Nel'os limbs and pulled to the older K'nairi's chest like a teddy bear. Nel'os snuggled in and closed his eyes again, much to Tai-ray's annoyance and Eyeri's trepidation.
'Nel'os,' Tai-ray said sternly over the link. If the man was already awake, it would not be good for him to fall back to sleep. They were going to have to leave soon.
'Yeah yeah, quit your griping.' Nel'os muttered cheekily, 'I won't fall back asleep,' he promised.
Tai-ray growled lightly but nothing. If it had been anyone else he would have punished them but Nel'os wouldn't be Nel'os if he wasn't a cheeky git. He was one of the few fully grown K'nairi who the Winglord would allow it from. Younglings tended to be cheeky and arrogant. The trick was putting them back into their place without hurting them. Adults had no excuse but Nel'os was a spoilt baby. Nel'os grumbled at the description but made no argument against it.
"Can I get up?" Eyeri pouted, struggling lightly, only making the K'nairi hold on tighter to his prey.
"No," Nel'os said firmly, too comfortable to move. 'Gods, you weren't kidding about scars,' Nel'os murmured sounding almost horrified by them. They were hard to see at a distance, but up close... Tai-ray could feel Nel'os' desire not to let go of the boy until he was certain no more harm would come to the human.
"Relax kid, we'll start moving again soon," Tai-ray commented, letting his own wings stretch out, before grasping Ryraso and jumping down of the balcony. Ryraso glared at him lightly but said nothing as he left Tai'ray's grip, moving to Herymi. Tai'ray was willing to let his mate cuddle with the boy for now. If nothing else it meant Nel'os was starting to warm up to the boy, even if that only meant he thought the boy was good to cuddle. There were worse ways to be thought off by the k'nairi.
Gently Tai'ray reached out to Aw'endo mentally and nudged him awake, the boy having somehow slept through the mental chatter. Aw'endo was slow to wake, mentally curling around Tai-ray and refusing to move.
Chuckling at the childish action, Tai-ray walked over to the group by the fire and gave his awake mate a deep kiss. Dyn'ad wrapped his arms around the Winglord kissing back. He could sense a calmness in Tai-ray's mind. No longer held back by fear or worry, the weight which the man had been carrying with such a large number of sealed minds was slowly being lifted.
"Morning," Dyn'ad murmured on his mate's lips.
"Morning," Tai-ray purred, making it perfectly clear how happy he was.
"Get a room," Ryraso said before the two started anything seriously.
"Only if you join us," Dyn'ad teased.
"Fuck off!" Ryraso growled back, eyes firmly on Herymi's healing wounds. Dyn'ad and Tai'ray smirked, Dyn'ad's arm wrapped around Tai'ray's shoulders in a tight embrace.
"What about me?" pouted Nel'os, appearing still cuddling the slightly blushing Eyeri. Nel'os sat and put Eyeri between his legs, his chin resting on Eyeri's bony shoulder. The apparent reluctance from the day before to deal with the boy now gone, replaced with a kind of clinginess. Tai'ray could feel the protectiveness in Nel'os soaring by the moment.
"Shut up!" Aw'endo complained, having also moved from the bed and sitting down next to Nel'os and Eyeri. He was also blushing, reaching the awkward age where he had no sex drive, but he understood the jokes. At this age, K'nairi were as skittish as any other race.
Aw'endo accepted his portion of food and ate it while leaning on Eyeri's legs. Eyeri pressed against him, Nel'os refusing to let go of him. Eyeri exhaled but relaxed against Nel'os too and ended up sprawled out between the two men. Nel'os smiled in Eyeri's hair as he tried to kick Aw'endo off him as Aw'endo teased him gently.
Tai-ray watched Ryraso, noting how the human was blushing lightly with a bubble of hope in his chest. That was either a very good sign or a very bad one.
-x-
'How far are we?' Nel'os asked, 'Ryraso is starting to fall asleep on me.' Nel'os sounded like a teenager, but Tai-ray could tell he wasn't complaining that much about the situation, if anything he was enjoying it.
'Shut up. All we have seen for hours is trees,' Ryraso muttered from where he was curled up in Nel'os arms. The day's weather had been considerably better than the previous day's but flying for long periods of time, even if you weren't the one flying, was exhausting.
K'nairi land was spread over mostly forests, but it was a while in before you found settlements. Even then the first ones were, or rather had been, human settlements on the rivers and around the lake. Most of them were abandoned now due to the war, the humans having gone south to the plains. Those who were left had either been too old, too sick or too stubborn to leave. Some D'mar lived with them to make sure they behaved, meaning there were also K'nairi there now too. While not 'k'nairi' those humans did live on k'nairi land and were allowed to live by k'nairi law, not D'mar. Sufficient to say, outside of the k'nairi forests, it was D'mar law in place but not even Loror had tried to change k'nairi ways here.
'Herymi, your call,' Tai'ray commented over the link gently, giving the man the choice.
'Fuck it, why not,' Herymi groaned, the others able to tell he had mentally decided just to jump and hope for the best.
'No cursing,' scolded Dyn'ad. He didn't like cursing. He didn't stand for it from his men or from his mates. He was not about to stand it from the man he was carrying. Once Ryraso was his and his mates, he was going to get the human out of the habit as well. It wasn't healthy.
'Fuck you!' growled Herymi adding the feeling that Dyn'ad had no right to order him around.
'Actually, I do,' Dyn'ad growled before doing something Herymi did not expect. He let go of Herymi and let him fall to the ground below.
'Dyn'ad!' Tai-ray scolded. 'Shouldn't drop humans like that. Scares them.' The Winglord didn't miss how Eyeri's grip tightened on him as he watched the other human fall. A loud curse shouted back up at Dyn'ad from Herymi as he fell. Eyeri's nails digging in slightly on Tai'rays shoulders. Tai-ray chuckled and wrapped his arms behind him and round Eyeri a little tighter to reassure the boy that he was still safe with Tai'ray. Humans who lived with the K'nairi knew that the K'nairi occasionally did drop their human friends from great heights. The boy did not.
"Winglord?" The boy whimpered, obviously wanting to know why Herymi had been dropped and why no one was going to save his ass.
"Don't worry, someone will catch him," Tai-ray reassured.
"Someone?" Eyeri frowned, looking down as Herymi fell, just cursing loudly.