Thanus71

Yarrick had been brought in with the elders that evening, surly as anything and haggard. I didn’t smell alcohol on him, so that was an improvement. Unfortunately, I had the luck of running into him while gathering the men, him leaning up against a post with his arms crossed, staring up at the sky. His bronze arms spiraled with my faded-out work. He was a magpie for tattoos, collecting lots of little things that amused him rather than a design that defined him. It defined him—impulsive and easily amused. As a collection of odd ends and bits, I prayed Gaffriel would be different. He made a decent start with his band, though; I wondered if Yarrick knew he’d gotten his first tattoo.

“Where’s my boy?” Yarrick’s voice droned in hoarse gravel and dry notes. He was a spectacular fire wielder in his day, and I could see it in his posture. Nowadays, though, he lacked the body to follow it up, tall and too-thin, dried out. I don’t think he’d been in our gym in years.

“Dunno. We’re off to go find him.” I didn’t want to answer him at this moment. Gaffriel wasn’t his problem, and he’d made that clear so often over the years.

“If he’s dead, tell me. I can’t hang around here like this anymore, Tan. Ester is gone, and if I lose Gaff, too….”

“Either dust yourself or man up, Yarr. If the cycle calls you, don’t make everyone else suffer. We’re going to find him,” I said, staring him down.

He stared at me with his cold grey eyes, with none of Gaffriel’s hazel bite to them; he got that from his mother.

“Nah, Ester can wait for me. I’m not in a rush for her right now.” Yarrick rubbed at his jaw a bit.

“Anything else you need?” I asked.

“A drink.” Yarrick gave me a cocky half-grin. His smattering of ginger facial hair and scruffy long dusty orange locks spilled about. I wondered if that would be Gaff in thirty years.

“I think you’ve had enough. We’re going to go get your boy.”

Yarrick nodded at me and turned his back a bit, avoiding my gaze.

Balester had been easy enough to find right off the bat. He hung around exactly where Sorrin had said, sitting with a few men, smoking. He lifted a dark eyebrow at me and grinned, half-cocked and jaunty. His dark skin and closely-shorn hair contrasted with the sandy and bronze hues of our own people. His mother had been from the Nyota, and his golden eyes and brown skin sang of the harsh sun of their homeland. His tattoos spun in harsh concentric rings all down his arms. Dizzying to look at, banded from shoulder to wrist, but beautiful work. He looked me up and down and sniffed the air, a grin spreading across his soft features.

Balester sat up and nudged at a man next to him and tossed his head at me. The men with him looked up with curiosity.

“We have a bet. Which leg is your mark on?” Balester gave me a wide toothy grin, and I subconsciously rubbed my hand over my right outer thigh.

“I—” I started, interrupted by a slew of groans and laughter. Balester collected a few dollars from each of the men.

“What?” I narrowed my gaze with scrutiny.

“We all had bets that if you and Kiromir ever bonded. I voted you’d be the right,” Balester said.

“Oh, feather’s sake! Get off of it,” I told him, waving my hand dismissively.

“Whattaya need? Surely not bonding advice.” He waggled an eyebrow at me, but I ignored it.

“Sorrin asked me to round you up and get Lerrin, Kahera, Senson, Ren, and Kirayan together. The wanderers have some lost ones we need to find,” I said, taking charge of the moment.

“Sorrin picked us?” Balester stood up with a languid stretch. Bones cracked as he situated himself and nodded to three men with him. Kahera, Senson, and Rehn, I learned.

“Kirayan and Lerrin are on fledgling duty, so we need to find a replacement if we’re needed. So why is he sending us all out for a few missing fledges?”

“Sentinels kidnapped Niala and Gaff. We think they escaped, but they’re in trouble.” I couldn’t contain my anxiety, and my aura of peace flicked.

“Wait, our little woodpecker got nabbed?” Balester seemed more upset by it than the others, but they turned all stoic and grave in turn. The Songbirds liked Niala because she brought magic with her.

I told them what they’d intended for her and Gaff’s incidental grab. Their lips twisted with disgust at the mention of it.

We found the others, Lerrin and Kirayan, swans themselves. They gathered in one of the open-sided outbuildings with a group of little ones trying to teach them simple mana manipulation. They could do that all the time here, something most of our flock couldn’t because we only got to learn on migration. Occasionally the stronger of us got to spend the whole summer here. Kiromir had, and that summer sucked so bad. At five years older than me, it could be hit or miss as to whether or not we got along as fledglings. I think he found me annoying until I got my fires. The oblivious part of me didn’t notice the looks he gave me or the ones I gave him.

I made a note to talk to them later. The whole swan thing was great, but I could tell that Kiromir and I just… We didn’t know much besides kissing and aulting. Which, don’t get me wrong, felt amazing, but beyond that lay some mystery. When the binding fever would set in, we’d need to figure out how that worked.

Nodak and Krell were eager to join us. Though they healed up nicely, I nearly needed a crowbar to pry Krell off of a pretty Nyota girl with green fires and dark wings. The second I said we intended to get Niala, he jumped to his feet and ran with us. He felt partially responsible for the whole ordeal. Krell thought if he’d been a little bit faster, a little more observant, she’d be with us.

“So, you’re in charge on this one,” Kahera told me, hands on hips—grinning.

“That sums it up,” I told them, with all honesty, but Senson and Balester had a strange look about them as if they wanted to ask more.

“She’s got her fires, hasn’t she?” Balester scrutinized.

I nodded sharply. “Yeah, which is why we need to get her away from Gaff. The sooner, the better. They’re too young and compatible.”

“What color?” Balester’s arms folded in a tight knot.

He called my hand, and I spoke as quietly as I could. “Black.”

A few of the men hissed beneath their breath as we all exchanged glances.

Rehn pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. “Just tell the rest. Kiromir’s kept her too guarded just for that.”

“She’s got a seraphim’s tail,” Nodak spoke up; he usually stayed quiet. Krell looked up with a raised chin and a hard swallow, looking as reserved as the songbird men did. Unease passed between them.

“Black wings, tail, black fires….” Balester bobbed his head from side to side.

Rehn threw up a hand. “I’m out.” He said, no emotion in his voice, and walked off. We watched him with reservation. I think we could still roll with Sorrin’s plan without him.

“Anyone else?” I steeled my jaw, though some reserved looks passed between us.

“I’m not happy about it, but I know Niala, and I know she’s not like that,” Senson muttered.

“She’s a kid. I know Niala. I also know the stories. Until she shows me any different, I’ll just have to follow my heart, not my brain.” Balester sighed and wilted.

“She’s compatible with Gaffriel. If anyone has a chance at her, it’s him. I think she’d take the left for him.” Krell spoke with as much conviction as he could manage.

“Then she’s as good as ours!” Lerrin spoke up and took a shuddering breath. “I’ll go get Rehn.”

“No need. If he’s not comfortable with Niala, knowing what she is, then I don’t trust him to do what’s best for her.” I was almost sad that I might have been right all along about her. Now, I didn’t blame Kiromir and Lowak for teaching her to keep it hidden.

We reached a consensus among us, and while I wasn’t happy about being a Songbird short of a formation, we had a job to do.

“My thought was that we could hit point pleasant first.” I heard a muttered ‘Mothman’ from someone. A quiet ‘nice’ from someone else. I ignored the comments. The story made me sad.

“No point wasting time. Let’s go.” Balester locked arms with me, and we formed our circle. I could feel our energy synching and the Songbirds’ more potent mana.

“You know where we’re going?” Balester asked me.

“Yep.” I closed my eyes and let the light take us away.