Bird of a Wing - Chapter 4: Chapter 4
You are reading Bird of a Wing, Chapter 4: Chapter 4. Read more chapters of Bird of a Wing.
Ryraso wasn't sure what he had been expecting to find when he finally met the young leader but certainly not the man who had been in front of him. Inai was almost ten years younger than Ryraso and twenty years younger than Loror but not in the least naive, nor weak. Inai knew how to fight unlike most priests and he was prepared to do anything to stop this war.
Compared to Tai'ray and Loror, Inai was more like Tai'ray in appearance. No scars and a handsome face, but Ryraso put that down to his young age. Inai had been chosen as high priest hours after Loror had murdered the previous High Priest and no one had expected him to be the successor. Certainly not the council who had been hoping the Gods would choose one of the more malleable priests. Instead, they got Inai, who was as stubborn as he was good hearted.
The job Inai had to offer him was to work on a secret warship which had just been completed. A ship which was able to fly and fight Loror's own warships which had been giving the man the upper hand. Until now, the humans' alchemy hadn't been strong enough to duplicate what Loror's side had been able to do, especially with the destruction of the technological centres. The ship was possibly the last of its kind, even the D'mar were unable to repair ships once they were downed.
Inai wanted Ryraso to be his head surgeon. After talking to the man for an hour, Ryraso accepted the job offer. Inai had something about him which made Ryraso curious about how the ship was going to change things. Plus he didn't exactly trust other doctors with the twins.
On the ship, he learned a lot more about the politics of both sides. He learned just how important the k'nairi were to Loror's army. He learned how much Inai had to fight against the council in order to fight back against Loror. Which was the main reason why Inai had gathered a crew of people who were brilliant but didn't quite fit in with the rest of the army, to fight on his own terms.
After working with the crew for a few months Ryraso had come to know the characters fairly well. Some were too odd for the regular army, some were almost too much like the people you would find on the D'mar side and others were just plain damaged but everyone worked together well. For the first time since Ryraso had left the forests, he felt like he had a home again.
Despite fighting the D'mar elite no few of which included k'nairi he didn't run into a k'nairi for a while. There were troublemakers other than the twins and Wiljam, but he gained their respect almost as quickly as he had gained the k'nairi's respect. They learned quickly what Ryraso was capable of doing to people who messed with his patients.
Whether the crew realised it or not, his manner was still more k'nairi than human. His temper had calmed slightly; not that the people on the ship would believe that. His bedside manner grown warmer over the years since Navat, but he still gave orders regarding treatment. Orders he expected to be carried out in full no matter what rank his patient was and he had some stubborn ones.
People often joked about how he could scare even the k'nairi into submission. Little did they know it was true, he could.
The fact he had worked and trained with the k'nairi was not a well-known one. Ignoring Inai, Isst and Taidra, the security director, no one really knew about him. Part of Ryraso had expected to be revealed early on but in was actually a good year before a k'nairi showed up. Ryraso was not looking forward to this confrontation, he thought darkly as he walked down the corridor from his private room to the medical rooms.
The yelling and banging could clearly be heard, as well as the flapping of wings and curses in native k'nairi. Ryraso was going to have to deal with this before it got out of hand. He hesitated before opening the door, squaring his shoulders and kicking the door open loudly.
"What in the fucking hell is going on in here?" he yelled angrily to shut everyone else up as he took in the scene.
As expected everyone froze; everyone on the crew knowing to listen when Ryraso started shouting and as for the k'nairi... The moment he stepped into the room the k'nairi's eyes had snapped onto him, holding a chair in a way which made it clear he had just been about to throw it at whoever had entered the room. Only the sight and sound of Ryraso shouting had frozen him in his tracks.
"Ryraso," whispered the k'nairi, lowering the chair in his hands but not letting go of it.
"S'onon," Ryraso greeted with a nod before taking in the scene about them. "I thought I taught you better than to trash a clinic room," he said disappointedly, resisting the urge to put his hands on his hips.
Isst and a frontliner called Tiew were also in the room, as well as Inai strangely. From how they were standing Ryraso could only assume that they had been trying to disarm the warrior k'nairi and get some information from him. The three men looked back and forth between the two with varying degrees of curiosity at the k'nairi's reaction. Isst and Inai obviously knowing that Ryraso had spent time in Navat while Tiew was not aware of this fact. The curiosity was not helped by the pure fear now coming off the k'nairi at the sight of the healer.
"Figures you'd be the first k'nairi I see here S'onon," Ryraso commented dryly, picking up a scalpel from the side. "Put the chair down!" he ordered, glaring at S'onon.
There was a clanking sound as the chair was dropped. The larger k'nairi male visibly shrinking in an attempt to seem more vulnerable to reduce the chance of Ryraso attacking him. The sight looked almost comical. Inai looked concerned, but Isst began to smile amused.
"S'onon. I know the name... Was he one of your regular?," Isst asked, taking in the warrior's movements around Ryraso.
"I would say so, wouldn't you S'onon," Ryraso asked, his hand combing through S'onon's wings with more familiarity than he technically had right to. Gently pulling out some of the twigs and leaves which littered them, S'onon's wings pushing against his hands. They were soft and clearly well cared for like most k'nairi wings but Ryraso could see the roots greying. It wasn't a good sign.
The warrior blushed but didn't deny it, eyeing Isst nervously instead. "Who are you to Ryraso?" he demanded before yelping as Ryraso pulled out a dead feather without warning.
"That is none of your business S'onon," Ryraso murmured in k'nairi. S'onon shot him a look which clearly said he disagreed with that statement.
"Just a friend from Ryraso's hometown," Isst grinned as S'onon yelled again as Ryraso tugged on something painful.
"You didn't finish the treatment I was giving you, did you?" Ryraso commented darkly, as he moved from S'onon. The k'nairi was shaking in fear but not for his life, but for not following Ryraso's orders. A feeling all three humans understood. Not following the healer's orders was the quickest way to a humiliating death or at least the scolding of a lifetime.
"...How would you know if I didn't?" S'onon bravely called his bluff, his wings stiff, hoping to get out of the storm which was coming. K'nairi liked to play with fire after all but that wouldn't save him from Ryraso's wrath. Only Ryraso's reaction wasn't quite what they were expecting. Instead of yelling, Ryraso's voice went lower and yet they were still glued to his every word.
"Your wings are fading," Ryraso said simply. "The only injuries on you are from where you hit the ground S'onon. Not reason enough for you to not be able to fly off again if you can stand up." Every fact was stated coldly, almost like it didn't apply to a real person. Even as he spoke Ryraso felt slightly sick in his stomach but he wasn't going to sugar-coat things for S'onon. He had done this to himself after all. "You didn't hit the ground because of a lucky shot. You hit the ground because your wings gave out and soon you won't be able to fly again. Forever," he added with some force.
"You have no way...forever?" S'onon's voice started strong but soon grew petrified as the words sunk in. "That, that can't be."
"I warned you, didn't I? If you didn't let the infection heal, your wings would be permanently damaged. You didn't finish the treatments and now your wings are beginning to fade. Soon you will begin to lose your feathers and then you will be just as flightless as I am. For the rest of your life," Ryraso said, with a sad but cruel smile on his face.
Despite pulling the look off, Ryraso felt the sick feeling in his stomach grow until he could feel it in the back of his throat. Scaring S'onon aside, for a k'nairi to lose his wings was no laughing matter and the look of horror on S'onon's face was not an easy one to see. D'mar or not, S'onon had been a good friend.
"But! Isn't there anything you can do?" S'onon begged.
The way S'onon was begging was very telling about his relationship with Ryraso. From the looks Inai and Tiew were giving them it was obviously clear to them that they weren't just strangers. That it was clear they knew each other. Ryraso cursed several Gods for this, he did not want to deal with this bullshit.
"Why would I help an enemy soldier gain flight so he can kill my comrades?" Ryraso's voice was cold and unemotional, the room suddenly feeling considerably colder to everyone.
"You can't do nothing!" The k'nairi said, sounding slightly horrified, a hand reaching out to grab Ryraso, only to grip the bed sheets of the cot next to him instead.
"Sure I can S'onon. For now, I'll fix those injuries, though. High Priest Inai will no doubt get a demand for your release and I'm assuming we are trading you..." Ryraso looked at Inai for confirmation with expressionless eyes. Inai nodded wordlessly, not sure what to say at that moment in time. "When you get back you will inform Tai'ray of your condition. He will send you back to Navat. You will then go to my old clinic and tell them about your condition. If you do this all fast enough and before your feathers go, you have a chance of recovering. Either way, you likely have five days," he predicted.
"Five days... We are seven days away from Navat," S'onon whispered.
"Better hope Nel'os will help you out then," Ryraso shrugged as Inai left the room leaving Isst and Tiew to guard the prisoner. Ryraso hoped, despite everything, it was to contact Tai'ray about a trade.
Compared to Tai'ray and Loror, Inai was more like Tai'ray in appearance. No scars and a handsome face, but Ryraso put that down to his young age. Inai had been chosen as high priest hours after Loror had murdered the previous High Priest and no one had expected him to be the successor. Certainly not the council who had been hoping the Gods would choose one of the more malleable priests. Instead, they got Inai, who was as stubborn as he was good hearted.
The job Inai had to offer him was to work on a secret warship which had just been completed. A ship which was able to fly and fight Loror's own warships which had been giving the man the upper hand. Until now, the humans' alchemy hadn't been strong enough to duplicate what Loror's side had been able to do, especially with the destruction of the technological centres. The ship was possibly the last of its kind, even the D'mar were unable to repair ships once they were downed.
Inai wanted Ryraso to be his head surgeon. After talking to the man for an hour, Ryraso accepted the job offer. Inai had something about him which made Ryraso curious about how the ship was going to change things. Plus he didn't exactly trust other doctors with the twins.
On the ship, he learned a lot more about the politics of both sides. He learned just how important the k'nairi were to Loror's army. He learned how much Inai had to fight against the council in order to fight back against Loror. Which was the main reason why Inai had gathered a crew of people who were brilliant but didn't quite fit in with the rest of the army, to fight on his own terms.
After working with the crew for a few months Ryraso had come to know the characters fairly well. Some were too odd for the regular army, some were almost too much like the people you would find on the D'mar side and others were just plain damaged but everyone worked together well. For the first time since Ryraso had left the forests, he felt like he had a home again.
Despite fighting the D'mar elite no few of which included k'nairi he didn't run into a k'nairi for a while. There were troublemakers other than the twins and Wiljam, but he gained their respect almost as quickly as he had gained the k'nairi's respect. They learned quickly what Ryraso was capable of doing to people who messed with his patients.
Whether the crew realised it or not, his manner was still more k'nairi than human. His temper had calmed slightly; not that the people on the ship would believe that. His bedside manner grown warmer over the years since Navat, but he still gave orders regarding treatment. Orders he expected to be carried out in full no matter what rank his patient was and he had some stubborn ones.
People often joked about how he could scare even the k'nairi into submission. Little did they know it was true, he could.
The fact he had worked and trained with the k'nairi was not a well-known one. Ignoring Inai, Isst and Taidra, the security director, no one really knew about him. Part of Ryraso had expected to be revealed early on but in was actually a good year before a k'nairi showed up. Ryraso was not looking forward to this confrontation, he thought darkly as he walked down the corridor from his private room to the medical rooms.
The yelling and banging could clearly be heard, as well as the flapping of wings and curses in native k'nairi. Ryraso was going to have to deal with this before it got out of hand. He hesitated before opening the door, squaring his shoulders and kicking the door open loudly.
"What in the fucking hell is going on in here?" he yelled angrily to shut everyone else up as he took in the scene.
As expected everyone froze; everyone on the crew knowing to listen when Ryraso started shouting and as for the k'nairi... The moment he stepped into the room the k'nairi's eyes had snapped onto him, holding a chair in a way which made it clear he had just been about to throw it at whoever had entered the room. Only the sight and sound of Ryraso shouting had frozen him in his tracks.
"Ryraso," whispered the k'nairi, lowering the chair in his hands but not letting go of it.
"S'onon," Ryraso greeted with a nod before taking in the scene about them. "I thought I taught you better than to trash a clinic room," he said disappointedly, resisting the urge to put his hands on his hips.
Isst and a frontliner called Tiew were also in the room, as well as Inai strangely. From how they were standing Ryraso could only assume that they had been trying to disarm the warrior k'nairi and get some information from him. The three men looked back and forth between the two with varying degrees of curiosity at the k'nairi's reaction. Isst and Inai obviously knowing that Ryraso had spent time in Navat while Tiew was not aware of this fact. The curiosity was not helped by the pure fear now coming off the k'nairi at the sight of the healer.
"Figures you'd be the first k'nairi I see here S'onon," Ryraso commented dryly, picking up a scalpel from the side. "Put the chair down!" he ordered, glaring at S'onon.
There was a clanking sound as the chair was dropped. The larger k'nairi male visibly shrinking in an attempt to seem more vulnerable to reduce the chance of Ryraso attacking him. The sight looked almost comical. Inai looked concerned, but Isst began to smile amused.
"S'onon. I know the name... Was he one of your regular?," Isst asked, taking in the warrior's movements around Ryraso.
"I would say so, wouldn't you S'onon," Ryraso asked, his hand combing through S'onon's wings with more familiarity than he technically had right to. Gently pulling out some of the twigs and leaves which littered them, S'onon's wings pushing against his hands. They were soft and clearly well cared for like most k'nairi wings but Ryraso could see the roots greying. It wasn't a good sign.
The warrior blushed but didn't deny it, eyeing Isst nervously instead. "Who are you to Ryraso?" he demanded before yelping as Ryraso pulled out a dead feather without warning.
"That is none of your business S'onon," Ryraso murmured in k'nairi. S'onon shot him a look which clearly said he disagreed with that statement.
"Just a friend from Ryraso's hometown," Isst grinned as S'onon yelled again as Ryraso tugged on something painful.
"You didn't finish the treatment I was giving you, did you?" Ryraso commented darkly, as he moved from S'onon. The k'nairi was shaking in fear but not for his life, but for not following Ryraso's orders. A feeling all three humans understood. Not following the healer's orders was the quickest way to a humiliating death or at least the scolding of a lifetime.
"...How would you know if I didn't?" S'onon bravely called his bluff, his wings stiff, hoping to get out of the storm which was coming. K'nairi liked to play with fire after all but that wouldn't save him from Ryraso's wrath. Only Ryraso's reaction wasn't quite what they were expecting. Instead of yelling, Ryraso's voice went lower and yet they were still glued to his every word.
"Your wings are fading," Ryraso said simply. "The only injuries on you are from where you hit the ground S'onon. Not reason enough for you to not be able to fly off again if you can stand up." Every fact was stated coldly, almost like it didn't apply to a real person. Even as he spoke Ryraso felt slightly sick in his stomach but he wasn't going to sugar-coat things for S'onon. He had done this to himself after all. "You didn't hit the ground because of a lucky shot. You hit the ground because your wings gave out and soon you won't be able to fly again. Forever," he added with some force.
"You have no way...forever?" S'onon's voice started strong but soon grew petrified as the words sunk in. "That, that can't be."
"I warned you, didn't I? If you didn't let the infection heal, your wings would be permanently damaged. You didn't finish the treatments and now your wings are beginning to fade. Soon you will begin to lose your feathers and then you will be just as flightless as I am. For the rest of your life," Ryraso said, with a sad but cruel smile on his face.
Despite pulling the look off, Ryraso felt the sick feeling in his stomach grow until he could feel it in the back of his throat. Scaring S'onon aside, for a k'nairi to lose his wings was no laughing matter and the look of horror on S'onon's face was not an easy one to see. D'mar or not, S'onon had been a good friend.
"But! Isn't there anything you can do?" S'onon begged.
The way S'onon was begging was very telling about his relationship with Ryraso. From the looks Inai and Tiew were giving them it was obviously clear to them that they weren't just strangers. That it was clear they knew each other. Ryraso cursed several Gods for this, he did not want to deal with this bullshit.
"Why would I help an enemy soldier gain flight so he can kill my comrades?" Ryraso's voice was cold and unemotional, the room suddenly feeling considerably colder to everyone.
"You can't do nothing!" The k'nairi said, sounding slightly horrified, a hand reaching out to grab Ryraso, only to grip the bed sheets of the cot next to him instead.
"Sure I can S'onon. For now, I'll fix those injuries, though. High Priest Inai will no doubt get a demand for your release and I'm assuming we are trading you..." Ryraso looked at Inai for confirmation with expressionless eyes. Inai nodded wordlessly, not sure what to say at that moment in time. "When you get back you will inform Tai'ray of your condition. He will send you back to Navat. You will then go to my old clinic and tell them about your condition. If you do this all fast enough and before your feathers go, you have a chance of recovering. Either way, you likely have five days," he predicted.
"Five days... We are seven days away from Navat," S'onon whispered.
"Better hope Nel'os will help you out then," Ryraso shrugged as Inai left the room leaving Isst and Tiew to guard the prisoner. Ryraso hoped, despite everything, it was to contact Tai'ray about a trade.
End of Bird of a Wing Chapter 4. Continue reading Chapter 5 or return to Bird of a Wing book page.