Few words were spoken as they left camp that night. Inai double checking Eyeri's cloak was tied tightly and murmuring a prayer for safety as Ryraso stood to a side. Ryraso hadn't said goodbye to anyone else. Some people like Wiljam and the other scientists he would see at the new base anyway and the rest were either busy or just flatly not looking at him. It hurt.
Inai kissed him on the forehead and cupped his cheek gently but said nothing. There was nothing to say. Chances were Tai'ray would already be planning his next attempt to capture Ryraso before he disappeared. This would be the last time for a long time that they would talk or see each other. After four years, it ended like this because of Ryraso's own demons.
Aw'endo pressed against him and Ryraso smiled softly at the boy. Eyeri clutching his other hand. The caw among the bodyguards murmured a greeting in k'nairi tongue and they were off into the darkness of the forest.
Tai'ray watched as the men moved through the forest at a quiet and relentless pace. Oddly silently as they moved through the undergrowth, Tai'ray barely able to heard any sounds of twigs being broken or of stepping on damp leaves. It was well into the night now, the only light in the forest being the moon through gaps in the overhang above. It was a full moon that night so there was plenty of light, at least for k'nairi eyes.
Dyn'ad was ahead of the group, scouting for a place they could ambush them, Nel'os and Tai'ray following from the rear. Tai'ray watched the layout of the group carefully, watching how the men moved together.
Ryraso, Aw'endo and the apprentice were in the centre of the group, a good position to protect them. The two youngest were being carefully watched by the guards to make sure neither grew tired or weak during the journey. Already they had stopped to give the boys a drink and something to eat to keep them going through the night. The stop was in a place ill-suited for an ambush but let the k'nairi see just who they were dealing with.
Tai'ray frowned at seeing Eyeri almost trip over as they stopped, one of the guards catching him and putting the boy back on his feet. He was young, younger than Tai'ray was expecting for someone on the Namya warship. Tai'ray hoped he wouldn't fight too hard, he didn't want to have to kill a child. Ryraso would forgive the deaths of guards, but not of a child and certainly not one of his own. Sakmi had very little information on the youngling, Ravn and his brothers knowing more of the boy's personality than his actual history.
He smirked as Aw'endo hit Eyeri over the head as the human caught back up with his companion. Aw'endo was no doubt enjoying being an older brother. His own charge seemed well looked after and in good condition thankfully. Being able to see but not sense Aw'endo unsettled him, however.
During the stop, Tai'ray had watched the caw bodyguard talk to Ryraso quietly about something, the sight of which left something burning in his stomach. The man was lucky he was caw, because Tai'ray was feeling very possessive of the healer at the moment, and was just about ready to rip the head of any man who tried to stand in his way. The way the human had put his hand on Ryraso's shoulder casually had almost made Tai'ray attack there and then but Nel'os had distracted him by having a moment of realisation.
'I know him,' Nel'os mused as he finally matched the face to a name. 'He was a borderlander. I met him once. He is claimed by one of the summer duty guard nests. His name is Herymi,' he revealed, tilting his head as he watched how the man was acting with Ryraso. Herymi must have been reassuring or comforting Ryraso because ignoring that one touch he hadn't made any other moves on him.
'Herymi?' Tai'ray murmured, searching through the link for the information he wanted. He could feel the information willing surrendered by the man's hopeful intendeds. A nest of four, he noted.
'Herymi lived in Tayawge,' the link revealed gently, an image of a much younger man floating in front of their eyes for a brief moment. A younger, skinnier and more bronzed skinned version of the man Tai'ray saw now. With the bad lighting and the man's armour, it was hard to make out the smaller details that might have changed but his skin definitely looked paler in the moonlight with a blue tint, and his build was broader. The memory of the man suggested he had golden brown hair and clear blue eyes with dark bushy eyebrows and ears which stuck out on his head.
At the very north of the border between the human lands and the k'nairi lands, there was a river which separated much of K'nairi land and human land, the entrance to the forest being just on the other side. Tayawge was one of the k'nairi villages which was within a day's walk of the river.
Some of the human towns built along the river near K'nairi land were literally a stone throw away from k'nairi lands and it wasn't too uncommon for adventurous children of either race to sneak onto the other lands for fun. This was allowed because of their age with the condition that all children when found were returned to their rightful side of the border. The human village Herymi had grown up in was one which actually backed off into the forest without a child needed to cross the river.
One day, the link revealed, when Herymi had still been young enough to be allowed to run free with care, he had wandered into the forest without one of the guardian's spotting him. Eventually, he had stumbled across some K'nairi younglings playing. The younglings were roughly the same age as Herymi, unable to fly well yet and a strong friendship had been formed. Fascinated by the K'nairi and vice versa for the younglings, they had kept playing together.
Another image of Herymi as he had been moved over his mind. A boy who couldn't have been older than twelve with a head of shocking white hair and a mischievous smile. Tai'ray smirked feeling the emotions behind that memory. Puppy love was the term humans had for it and Tai'ray liked the phrase. Four k'nairi hatchings had unwittingly had their hearts stolen by a human babe. The image hurt Tai'ray's chest slightly as he looked at his own charge and the young human who was with him. Eyeri was older but with how Aw'endo had protected him in the maintenance shafts, it wouldn't be surprising if the boy caught his own share of puppy love. Eyeri was a pretty one.
Herymi had met up with the younglings at every chance he got until he was too old to play anymore and had to do his share of the work on the land. His father was a farmer and he was a middle child. While he would not inherit the farm, his father still wanted him to have the skills he would need. Herymi missed his friends, but there was nothing he could do. The fact they had been friends had been a strongly kept secret.
Then something happened which changed everything for Herymi. On his sixteenth birthday and the day of his choosing ceremony, before he was able to do the ritual which would legally bind him to a cruel farmer to be his apprentice, he was kidnapped. The younglings had found out what Herymi's father had unwittingly set him up for and had decided to save their friend. He had never been so relieved to see his friends, and his family hadn't believed their eyes as they watched the K'nairi younglings steal away the human boy. They had taken him to an abandoned nest and taught him how to survive on his own in the forest. He survived a good six months and well into winter before the adult K'nairi had ever found out.
The parents of the children had almost fainted when they found out what their children had been up to all that time. The elders of the K'nairi settlement had also been unsure of what to do. Normally they would have insisted on the boy returning to his home village, but he had been gone for so long, there was no future for him there anymore. Not to mention it was a future the boy himself did not want. While the boy was self-sufficient, none of the K'nairi felt safe about leaving a teenage human boy in the forest to fend for himself. Even more so when some of their children were blatantly attached to him.
Eventually, they decided to teach him the K'nairi way of life, the governor of Tayawge effectively adopting him into his nest to look after him. They had taught him to be a huntsman, something the man was very good at.
The people of Tayawge had been very hurt and confused when the human they had cared for and looked after decided to join the Namya side. They had forgiven him slightly when the circumstances around the event became clearer. His friends, who had grown up to form a nest between each other, blamed themselves. A lot of pain was coming from the nest, but they hoped to fix everything which had happened. After all, there was more than just friendship, whether the human knew that at the moment though was debatable.
Nel'os and Dyn'ad murmured an agreement to that thought. The friends had been courting their human much like they had been courting Ryraso. Subtly, forgetting humans didn't know the meaning behind every action like a K'nairi did.
'I wonder how many we lost because of that?' Tai'ray mused to his mates as the humans started moving again. 'It seems to be a common theme here,' he thought darkly. Only a few other caw had been unsealed but most of their reasons had also been related to romantic issues.
'Likely more than we would have liked,' Dyn'ad said, having finally found a place that they could use. 'But they are also likely to appear first,' he pointed out. The caw his people were most likely to go looking for, the people they had strong feelings for.
Tai'ray pushed the thought to the back of his mind as the time came for them to attack.
They gave no warning, no war cry or screech of battle. Only the sound of wings and then the screams of the first man to die under K'nairi claws. Ryraso swore viciously as he drew his blade, doing his best to defend the people around him. Herymi defending his back. Aw'endo and Eyeri cowered between them, doing their best to stay out of the way. The fight which ensued was a blur of feathers, claws and blood. Of screams, swords and of men dying, the smell of blood quick to surround them.
Both Ryraso and Herymi fought against the foe, even knowing there was little they could do to stop this. They were nothing against the royal nest.
"Enough!" hissed an angry and familiar voice through the trees, Tai'ray's blue eyes shining like cat eyes in dim. "Your comrade's fate is to die tonight, you two on the other hand, shall face your punishment," he snarled, grabbing the nearest human and cracking his neck. Ryraso felt his blood run cold as his worst fears were confirmed, Tai'ray had hunted him down.
Ryraso would have surrendered at that point. He was almost painfully aware of the fact he had already angered the Winglord too far but then he turned to see Dyn'ad's sword coming down next to Eyeri. The boy letting out a gut wrenching scream of fear as he cowered. Aw'endo unable to do anything to stop it, as the blade separated the two boys. Dyn'ad lifted his claws and went to strike Eyeri. It was Herymi who stopped the talons, sparks flying as Dyn'ad's sharp claws skirted along Herymi's blade.
"What are you waiting for? Run!" Herymi yelled to Eyeri over his shoulder, as Dyn'ad began to duel him. Dyn'ad fought against the warrior caw honourably, almost surprised with how well Herymi used K'nairi skills against him. Ryraso was by Eyeri's side, dragging the boy to his feet and pushing him away from the battle as he was forced to defend the two of them from Nel'os. The K'nairi having tried to commit a sneak attack on the boy.
A hand grabbed Eyeri's and the human teenager found himself running half-blind through the forest. Aw'endo leading the way, limping slightly. They had to get away from the fighting. They had to.