Bird of a Wing (Bow 1)

Chapter 3

It had been a fair warning, Ryraso mused in retrospect. Tai'ray had been unwilling to let the humans go without a fight, but the Winglord had also been unable to do anything without insulting the humans in his care. That didn't mean the Winglord wasn't trying to do everything in his power to drag them back.

As Ryraso had warned, he hadn't been the only person to leave that night. From the reports which Ryraso had read since it was clear that no one was quite sure how many humans had fled the city of Navat in total, it was in the hundreds. It was a similar story all over the region controlled by the k'nairi. By the end of the week, almost three-quarters of the original human population had returned to the human lands. Most of the caw seemed to agree that those who had stayed were either mated to a group of k'nairi who were unwilling to rebel against the Winglord, or simply had nowhere to go to.

Since they had left Navat the Winglord had put several things into place to ensure their return, and not only their return but their safety from the D'mar troops too; which confused more than a few people. The k'nairi had quickly left their mark on the war, gaining a reputation for being brutal, bloodthirsty creatures who would rip apart even children if they were in their way. That particular rumour had been quickly squashed by the k'nairi caw, and by the D'mar k'nairi too. Brutal and bloodthirsty maybe, but the k'nairi loved children too much to harm one.

As Ryraso had warned Tai'ray, he joined the opposing side to the Dmar, the Namya. He worked his way up the ranks and gained a reputation for being the best at his trade, but also for having a furious temper. He made few friends at first, mostly because the rumours of the fact he had lived with the k'nairi meant few trusted him.

He wasn't alone with that problem, a lot of healers were under scrutiny for having studied under the k'nairi. Luckily for him, he had unexpected friends in high places. The other survivor of his village happened to be the bodyguard to High Priest Inai himself. Isst wasn't the only one from his past before the k'nairi who was in with the upper circle of the Namya force either, meaning he was safe from most judgments. Between Isst and Wiljam, Wiljam being an inventor with a knack for blowing even the most everyday objects up, most tried not to get on his bad side. His old friends kept him safe from the people who would try to accuse him of being a spy, however being a doctor in wartime also gave him a lot of credit and respect.

Few doctors survived long in wars and he had already saved a great many people who would have died if they had been taken to anyone with skills lesser than his own, on both sides of the war. Some might have accused him of something for treating enemy soldiers as well as Namya but the High Priest had been very vocal about the treatment of enemy soldiers and how if they were to expect their own prisoners to be treated well, they had to treat the D'mar soldiers well too.

Ryraso, like many former human k'nairi, resented the fact the k'nairi had joined the D'mar, but it didn't stop him missing the winged people. He missed the forests and the singing which could be heard there. He missed not being at war, but he had few illusions about how the city would be now. He doubted it was as peaceful as when he left. His life now certainly wasn't.

"I'm actually getting confused about how you two are continuing to exist without seriously fucking yourselves up," Ryraso snarled at two young men who were sitting in front of him. He had spent the first few years working at a less than stellar outpost in the middle of nowhere. They fought D'mar a lot and as the only real doctor there Ryraso had to work very hard to keep everyone healthy and fit. Something which wasn't helped by the two troublemakers in front of him.