The Call of Crows

Chapter 39: Running Out of Time

Taya stood across from everyone else, hands on her hips.

She'd noticed that over the last few days, Seang had been drifting away from her position as leader of the Easterners, though she still presumed herself as did the others. But she no longer stood with Taya, instead acting like she was a member of her party.

But all that was unimportant right now.

"You heard Ruhak." Taya said, "War is coming. And that means our great enemy has decided to have another go at us. My party has never had to fight off an army and from what I hear, you Easterners have little experience combating Bane Knights and Royals."

The room murmured in agreement with her assessment.

"I want everyone training these next few weeks. Everyone. Including myself. Our powers manifest because of our emotional journeys, and while we can't expedite the process, we can make it more efficient. I want you to set daily meditation or reflections for yourself. They'll do just as much to make you more prepared as physical training." Taya said, "Spar with each other, teach each other, ask your comrades for help when you need it. Don't be afraid to delve into the abyss of your psyche. We're here to pull you back out. These are your brothers and sisters in arms now. I trust you all to have each other's backs. Understand?"

Everyone nodded.

"There's not a second to spare. Get training." Taya said, "Except Bjorn, I need to talk with you."

Her allies scattered in different directions to work with their powers. Taya dragged Bjorn by the wrist into an empty pantry in the kitchen and closed the door of the dark, tiny room.

"Alright, so this is one of two things," Bjorn said, "And I thi-"

Taya kissed him.

"It's the second, then." Bjorn smiled.

"I do actually have something to talk to you about, but...I don't foresee us having much alone time until we start marching." Taya wrapped her arms around the back of his neck and kissed him again.

Taya knew well that relationships between allies in what was soon to be essentially a militia were bad for morale, but she wasn't about to let that stop her. As long as she and Bjorn kept it quiet, they could carry on and not deal with the affects it would have on the group.

Taya's hands ran over Bjorn's lean muscles, forged from years of fighting, while his hands ran down over her behind and picked up her thigh. She wrapped the leg around him as though she was trying to meld the two of them together into one body.

They broke off their kiss to breathe.

"Fuck, okay. Let's put a pause on it here. I actually wanted to talk to you. I just couldn't resist," Taya said. "If I go any longer, I won't stop for...well, who knows?"

Bjorn sighed but nodded, "I guess it's kind of on us for deciding to start this thing in the middle of a war."

"There are worse times."

Bjorn chuckled, "Really? Like what?"

"During or right after a funeral." Taya shrugged.

Bjorn part-scoffed, part-laughed. "So what is it you needed to talk about?"

"It's about the Easterners. I'll need to help them through understanding their aspects. I don't think anyone knows what I'm really saying when I talk about Remembrance. But I have to keep training myself. I need someone else to help our party." Taya said.

"You mean...me?" Bjorn asked, "I am equally clueless about all that stuff."

"But I think you get the stuff I talk about the best. I've explained it to you once before." Taya said, "And besides, maybe it's not a good idea for all knowledge of the Companies and values to be in just my head."