Page 84 of Blood Fist

“He broke your wings,” Brune breathed, his eyes wide.

“Cyrill had no use for a harpy that could fly.” Buzzard’s words were so bitter Ridan could nearly taste them on his tongue.

Taking away Buzzard’s wings was like robbing a horse of their ability to run. A dog’s ability to bark. A cat to pounce. It was so cruel; it was inconceivable.

“Shortly after that is when I met Schok,” Buzzard continued, still plucking at his feathers. Almost like a nervous habit. “Cyrill had become entangled with Krait Tylock. They shared a similar goal, and between the two of them, their greed grew too big for just me. They needed more.”

Ridan put the pieces together. “Schok.”

Buzzard’s lips tightened. “Yes. The Tylock line is ancient. It runs strong and untainted. And of the Tylock children, Schok was the strongest.”

Corric said that Schok had disappeared. Stolen away when he snuck out one night. “Cyrill stole him.”

“Cyrill wasgivenhim,” Buzzard snapped, his eyes finally turning back to Ridan. They blazed with emotion. “Krait Tylock gave Cyrill his eldest son. Put him in a cage and tortured him.” His voice cracked. “They pushed him. Harder and harder. Even when his flames grew too hot and started burning him. When his lungs seared, and he couldn’t breathe. When he could no longer control any of the other elements. When he begged them to—” he stopped, trying to collect himself.

“Schok saved me,” Buzzard finally said, his voice strained. “He pretended to fall forward, knocking the latch on my cage open. Told me to leave. Told me to—” he shook his head, deciding their last words would be kept between them. “I left him a feather so that he could always find me again. Guess he did, in a way.”

No one knew what to say. So engrossed in what Buzzard was saying, Brune had forgotten the meat.

“I made my escape. But a flightless harpy isn’t exactly…I didn’t know where to go. Or how to survive somewhere without bars. I thought if I followed the magic, I could maybe find home. Instead, I found a couple of Gollums who kept me around to draw in magic.”

The food over the fire burnt before anyone moved again. Brune finally shook himself and collected the meat, handing a whole skewer to Buzzard. The harpy stared down at it, his talons pinched delicately around the stick as he let the food cool. Brune took the other, peeling off hunks of meat and blowing on it before handing it to Ridan.

It was fine. The meat was a little overcooked, and they had no spices for flavor, but Ridan didn’t think it would matter even if they did. After what Buzzard just told them, he wouldn’t have been able to enjoy even a platter of Momma Sehleh’s cooking.

Buzzard dove into the food, eating far too quickly. Ridan had to chastise him, tell him to slow down. His stomach wouldn’t accept it. That often happened when hunters came back from a long hunt. They were so usedto small rations and infrequent meals that they would get sick from overeating.

“I don’t understand,” Brune finally said as he chewed the meat, licking fat off his lips. “What could be so important that Krait would sacrifice his own son?”

“What do all men want?” Buzzard asked with a scoff. “Power. The magic in Kaldonea is gone. They’re existing on remnants and soon that will run dry. When the people find out, they will overthrow Krait. He will lose everything.”

“Right.” Brune handed a piece of cooled meat to Ridan. “That’s why he tried to steal Stone Blade lands.”

Buzzard’s eye ridge rose as he watched the two of them. “You think a man like Krait wants farmland?” it sounded like a rhetorical question. “He’s after the one thing that could give him his power back.”

They’d assumed Krait attacked them for land, to feed his starving people. But if that wasn’t the case, then why the Stone Blade? Why not any of the other clans?

Because the Stone Blade had something the other clans didn’t.

“Sinestrus,” Ridan breathed.

Buzzard looked over their heads towards Artrax’s mountain. “He used my magic, and Schok’s ability to manipulate it, to contact Sinestrus.”

“No,” Ridan denied, shaking his head. “Sinestrus is dead. He’s been trapped in the mountain for millennia.”

“He may be trapped, but he is far from dead. He may not be able to free himself, but he knowshow. And he told Krait.”

Ridan reeled. How could this be possible? Krait didn’t attack to steal their lands or to get Corric back, he sent the attack to test them. To see how strong they were. Which means his suspicions were confirmed.Another attack wasn’t a question of if, but when. And this time he would go after something so precious failure was not, could not, be an option.

His gut twinged, and he felt sweat beading on the back of his neck. Crossing his arms, he held himself as he tried to keep his sense.

Sinestrus had been safely contained since Artrax locked him there. No chief had ever had to defend the mountain before. The idea that Sinestrus could be freed was inconceivable. He had never been prepared for this.

Ridan’s breath quickened. Panic began bubbling in his stomach. How could he possibly stand against the might of a man who would torture his own son?

A warm hand slid over his back, rubbing softly. Brune was looking at him, the flames lighting up, eyes filled with surety. With confidence. Like Brune knew exactly what he was thinking, but instead of questions, he had faith. In Ridan. In his clan.

In them.