A Ballad of the Sun and the Moon

Chapter 23

Niva took cover in the thick forest relying on the fact that dragons were too large to fly through the trees. They'd have to chase her as man or smoke giving her less of a disadvantage. The moon was unfortunately a mere sliver, barely enough light for Niva to control her glow. She'd be a beacon to all of them.

The first were a group of three flying low over the tree tops. They passed overhead twice before slithering down to the forest floor.

Niva opened her senses as best she could listening for footfalls, feeling for that spark of energy the drákon emitted.

One moved quickly closer, so she fled through the thick brambles and tangled saplings taking up the breath between the older trees.

A second man Turned to smoke surging towards her. She veered off doing her best to keep her distance not allowing the men to surround her. They maintained this dance for a time until Niva saw the treeline and realized what they were doing. She slowed her retreat and the men in turn slowed their advance. They moved at her in a choreographed arc planning to push her out of the trees' cover.

A dragon of stag red waited for her at the edge of the forest pacing impatiently as the other three flushed her out. She recognized him; Marcus Danks, one of the original council members who'd been at her trial a lifetime ago when they all thought her a thin-blooded waif. But they knew what she was now and coveted her power. Niva was certain - though she had taken many lives that day - that they didn't want her death. They were after something else. She wondered if Danks and the three herding her were loyal to 'Alpha Grady' or if among them was a new, secret hierarchy.

A few clouds drifted across the moon shadowing the shire. Niva could see the glow grow around her naked body, illuminating her like a brilliant star.

Danks grew frantic, attempting to crawl between trees leaving deep gouges in the bark. Two of the others lurched forward and the third Turned to smoke slinking from side to side.

Niva couldn't go forward and she couldn't go back. Perhaps when they all met in the middle the frenzied drakes would go at each other's throats and she could slip away.

She could also Turn, but then she'd be blind and stuck in this form till sun up or until Kimber came and cloaked her in darkness. She looked past desperate dragon and wondered where her mate was. Was he winning this fight or did he lay somewhere on a field, wings tattered, neck broken, limp and lifeless? Niva couldn't think of such a despair now. Needing to focus, she had to believe he was still alive and had rallied help, all of them fighting up in the skies above Darkfrith. She looked out beyond the tree line and saw yet another dragon approaching: pearl white with silver tips.

Dear god, it was...

Niva released the last bit of light, shining a near blinding bright.

"Come you, fools!" she taunted.

Rue Langford landed on the back of Marcus Danks and snatched him just behind the head in his jaws. With her talons she struck again and again and shred away some of the skin of his wings. He bucked and writhed frantically trying to get her off but she had the advantage of a good position and couldn't afford to let go.

Niva felt one of the men close behind her Turn to smoke and shoot out past the forest's edge. He dipped up sharp rising high into the night, Turned and then began a straight drop down to the fighting duo. It would be no challenge for him to remove Lady Langford from Danks' back and Niva wasn't sure if these men considered her 'too valuable to kill' as well.

Turning was simply not an option. Blind, there was no help she could offer her mate's mother who was sacrificing herself. She looked around for anything she could use as a weapon. A stick, a stone, maybe even an old bone. She found a large rock among some leaves, heavy enough to do damage with the right momentum. Maybe she could get one good hit off the diving drake, if only to buy Rue a few seconds. Niva darted out for a clear throw, raising her weapon up and behind her shoulders.

A forced hit her from behind sending the rock only a few meters forward. The sound of bones crunching went ringing through her ears. Were they her bones or someone else's?

It happened so quickly it took a moment for her to realize the scratching at her face was crisp autumn leaves and the force that had taken her down was a man, his weight now heavy on her back. She rose as best she could trying to roll him off, but his strength forced her limbs down into the duff of the forest.

Stupid. She had forgotten about the other men. Four against two. Niva lifted her head looking for the pearl-white dragon that was Lady Langford. Her senses were worthless here. She could feel no one, hear no one - apart from the heavy breathing of the assailant on her backside - and on the Earth before her all she saw was darkness. She felt the intruding sleekness of the man's manhood plunge forth into her tightly closed thighs. He tried again and again and when she gave him no quarter he jabbed a knee between her legs.

"You fool! Did any of you really believe I returned here without Kimber as my mate!"

Her words must have held some meaning, as he paused just a moment...and then went limp across her back. Niva hesitated at first and when he still didn't move turned her head to the side where she saw a pair of dainty feet just a few feet from her face.

Zoe pushed the man off and stretched a hand out, helping Niva up.

"You hurt?" she asked.

"No. I'm fine," she insisted, hoping her voice seemed confident. It was almost the truth, but her body was slightly shaking.

Zoe clearly noticed and drew her into a tight embrace. "Where is that anger? Where did the fire go?"

The truth was Niva was at her weakest at night. Helpless and powerless among her kind in the darkness without Kimber's aid. And her mate was nowhere near.

The weakness terrified her and the shame that she hadn't been able to help Lady Langford may have resulted in her death. She wanted to succumb to it. But she looked down at the little dragon-women steady as the rock she had used to smash her would-be rapist's head in; a woman who couldn't Turn, who was physically weak, who had run out into the night onto the battlefield to fight by her side, and Niva found her courage again.

"It's still here," said Niva. "That fire is still burning."

Zoe let her go, gave her a proud smile and held up something attached to a long piece of twine.

"Good. Because they need your help," she said, pointing to the sky. "Put this on and fight!"

Niva slipped The Black Star over her neck, reveling in the feeling as it absorbed her light. It hung low down past her navel, the length of the twine appropriate for the neck of a dragon.

She moved out of the trees and saw Danks' still corpse on the ground. Apparently Lady Langford hadn't let go until the life left the bastard's body. She looked up and saw that pearl-white dragon along side another of azure putting up a hopeless struggle against two larger drakes. Niva had never seen Joan as beast, but with the gem controlling her blinding magic she could feel that it was her by her mother's side.

Niva Turned and vaulted into the air, beating her wings vigorously to gain altitude. She wasn't invisible, but the The Black Star dulled her to a mousy grey blending her perfectly into the night sky.

The two women were trying to keep their distance from their opponents without slipping into a straight path of flight, perfectly aware that the larger males would overtake them with ease. They had to rely on their smaller bodies being able to maneuver and twist quickly out of talons' reach.

Niva rose above and fell into a dive for speed aiming at the one of a tan base and dappled lilac. He rolled away from a direct hit but she still was able to slice at his thigh with her barbed tail as she fell into a loop. It was enough distraction for Joan get close enough and dig her talons into his side. He snapped at her face which she barely avoided at every strike.

Lady Langford was quick to join in grabbing one of his front legs in her jaws and doing her best to avoid his back ones.

Niva took the only opening not covered by the other women and did her best to contain his strikes. Why must dragon males be so bloody strong? To take a single one down they had to work in unison and be exceedingly careful for he no longer considered them assets to the tribe but rather threats to his life. He would be aiming to kill.

A metallic glint of lilac caught in the corner of Niva's eyes as the other drake flew to assist his companion. If he made it to them they'd likely lose their hold and forfeit their lives. She released the hold her jaws had risking his talons and craned her neck towards the approaching drake. She opened her jaws wide and showered him with fire.

One might have mistaken the grey cloud drifting with seeming purpose as drákon Turned to Smoke, but it was nothing but ash drifting in the wind.

Niva bellowed deep and returned her jaws to whatever flesh she could find, shaking her head violently from side to side, ripping all she could to shreds.

The drake slowly lost strength, limb after limb becoming limp. Niva was the first to release him, likely the most experienced when a body becomes lifeless. Lady Langford followed and then Joan after that, giving him a kick as he fell to the ground.

Lady Langford and Joan followed Niva as smoke to the earth where they all Turned human. They took a moment to take stock of their injuries: Niva a few scratches on her front from the tackle in the forest, Joan a big budding splotch of bruise on her shoulder and chest, and Lady Langford a nasty gouge across her back.

"Ah to be young and spritely," she said, touching a flap of dangling skin under her left shoulder.

"Oh god mother!"

"Joan, I've given birth to five children. This is merely a scratch."

"Can you still fly?" asked Niva, giving them little time to recoup.

"Yes."

"Where is Kimber?"

"Last we left him, just South of Chasen. When the fight thickened he sent us to protect you."

"You weren't hard to find," added Joan. "Lucky for us it didn't send us into a feral frenzy though you do pull the eye."

"How many are there?"

"Enemies or allies?" asked Joan.

"Either."

"Too many to say."

Niva let a hiss of breath escape. They hadn't returned to kill half their kind. They only wanted to ask for a fight with the guilty and instead had started a war. Niva closed her eyes and cast out her senses. The sky was filled with fury, energy like a raging storm destroying all in its path. The beating of hundreds of wings rang in her ears, each with their own unique tune until one was snuffed out and the sound turned to a smack.

The drákon were frenzied, crazed, now possibly fighting senselessly. There was no telling who was on what side. If she let this continue there might be so few left come morning. Husbands, fathers, young men with prospects and aspirations, all of them with dearly held opinions and terrified about the future of their kind.

"We must end this," said Niva.

The two dragon women cocked their heads confused.

"How could we possibly stop this chaos?" asked Lady Langford.

"I'll need you two to get as many you can from the village and bring them to Chasen."

Niva told them of her plan. Though both skeptical, the women agreed.

Zoe, on my back," she called out to the forest.

Zoe stepped timidly out from behind a tree and approached Niva as Joan gave her a curious look.

The three she-dragons flew low, hoping to avoid attention from the ongoing madness high above. They passed over a few lifeless bodies, like simple lumps of coal lying in ash. The two flanking Niva Turned to smoke as they crossed the village and drifted to houses below. Niva continued onward with Zoe atop her back. She landed on the roof of Chasen manor next to the great Adam dome then Turned to human after Zoe had climbed down.

"Are you sure about this?" she asked, a slight tremor in her voice.

"No. But it's either try or see more bodies before the dawn," she answered looking upward. "The fact that so many are up there killing each other means this goes deeper than I and even Kimber could have imagined."

They both felt the approach of their kind, human and on foot. Niva peered through the glass. Audrey was there, alone and Niva hoped her husband was at their home with their two children. Lydia came too with a few members of her clique. Many more women and a few men - clothed and having not engaged in the battle - funneled in and took a place on the large stairwell winding upwards.

Niva removed the Black Star and handed it to Zoe, her signature glow returning. "See you at the bottom?"

Zoe nodded and took off over the rooftop to the nearest entryway into the grand home of the Alpha.

Niva would give her some time, almost feeling sorry that Zoe was bound to spongy flesh and two legs. Then again, if things turned sour she'd be certain to escape unseen and unharmed.

Niva took a last glance up, noting the fierce blurs of colors streaking by. It was time to end this one way or another. She became dragon: brighter than the moon, bright as a star, as the terrible sun itself. All she could see now was the blinding light emanating from her own body. With a talon on the glass done she oriented herself and breathed deeply summoning a song that she had never used before. The sound rippled through her bones permeating the air above and the stone below reaching far up and deep down. The glass rippled at first then began to shake as Niva intensified her call. It shattered in an ear-piercing series of fractures. Niva tightened her throat and closed her jaws cutting off the call. She slithered through the now open circle in the roof, big enough for a single dragon at a time, and dropped to floor far below, spreading her wings to slow her fall.

She could hear the crunch of glass of beneath her pads and a shuffling of feet both bare and booted on the step of the giant stairwell. The room began to fill with the scent of mist and smoke and the crackle of magic. Though she could make out no one in particular, the unmistakable stream of power was a blur of pure energy.

"They're coming," whispered Zoe close to her ear, "all of them."

Niva grunted something resembling satisfaction and continued focusing on the dragons flowing into the great house.

"Joan and Lady Langford are beside you now," added Zoe. "Rhys is here," she said with a relieved sigh. "Franklin and, oh, your father and Lord Langford." Zoe continued naming select members of the tribe that arrived. "And Grady," she said in a dank murmur.

It was the one man Niva had hoped most had perished in the slaughter. Her stomach caught when Kimber's name was not yet listed and she feared she'd made a grave mistake.

The sliver of soothing darkness crept towards her awaking her with hope. A large hand with known finger tips caressed her mane filling her with overwhelming relief and joy.

"I'm here my love," whispered Kimber.

Niva inclined her head to him then moved to where Zoe had last been standing - and where she luckily still stood. With the Black Star around her neck and sight returned, Niva became human and marvelled at the audience.

The Langford women were all clustered between Niva and the back wall including Audrey. Men she suspected as staunchly loyal to the Kimber - or at least his father - stood clumped near these few women of the tribe who could Turn, nervous and cautious at their adversaries being so very close. On the opposite end by the doors leading to the gallery stood Claude Grady. None of his council was to be seen presumably all killed in the clash.

The stair case was laced with tribesmen, the balcony jutting out from the higher stories packed with both clothed and nude dragons, some faces recognizable, others Niva couldn't recall, but all staring intently down upon her.

She glanced to the side at her mate, blood crusted on his thighs though still standing like the Alpha he was. She wondered how bad his injuries were, but she made no move to check him.

She swallowed once for courage and looked as best she could into the eyes of those watching.

"Have we gone mad?"

The men surrounding them, some bloodied, some still with glowing dragon's eyes looked about: at their friends and foes, at the woman standing below and before them.

"Is this our way? I was to understand that we are led by one Alpha, his word, his say. Is this not true?"

Some subtly nodded, while others stood stiff.

She locked eyes with Grady standing at the base of the stairs. Where his ear had once been, was now a tattered bit of flesh bleeding profusely. "Claude Grady. Step forward."

He did as she bid with a laggard step.

"You're a man of tradition are you not?"

When he said nothing she continued.

"Customs are your bread and butter it seems. So why then did you turn to subterfuge?"

He straightened proudly as if he'd the fanciest arbiter's robe over his shoulders and the backing of something divine to his words.

"An Alpha's duty is to ensure the future of the tribe! He," declared Grady, pointing with an accusatory finger at Kimber, "failed time and time again. No one here alone could contend with the Dreaded Night, but he had to be stopped."

"Stopped? Seems like encouraged would have been more fitting. I can assure you though his pursuit was relentless," she said, thumbing the scars at her throat. A few subtle grins crept out from the occasional face.

"And he has not failed," she continued. "I've returned. And I plan to stay. And that future that you are so concerned with already grows inside me," she added, rubbing her belly.

She felt Kimber shift towards her, but didn't acknowledge it. A few behind Grady began to whisper as well affected by her revelation. He opened his mouth to speak but was cut off.

"And the rest of that future stands by my side bloodied and battered. Or guarding trembling children clinging to their skirts." She glanced back at Joan and Audrey and their mother Rue - the one who had started it all.

Niva scanned the room after this exchange looking for eyes of agreement, disagreement, or even perhaps indifference. Many of the men had fought tonight and there would be no way of telling on whose side they truly were. The women were even more difficult to decipher, as nearly all were unlike her and had to rely on secrecy and subversion.

"I know the next generation of your Alpha is not your only fear..."

"What could you possibly know of our fears? You're not even from the tribe!" called out someone from high whose face she couldn't make out. A cacophony of mumbles followed, echoing their words.

"Is that so? Then why was I brought and kept here in the first place?" she asked the tribe.

The murmurs began again, slowly increasing in volume until Grady finally answered.

"Madam, please, you know perfectly well why you needed to be brought and kept here."

Niva shot him a scowl and nodded. "Secrecy. I understand it more than any of you. A loan dragon out in the world of humans knows more about hiding what she is than any of you can fathom. I understand it so well that all but one of you," she said, jerking her head towards Kimber standing at her side "even knew what I truly was."

She gave them a moment to let that sink in.

"So which is it?" she asked.

Grady looked at her confused.

"If I'm going to judged, am I, the half-human daughter of a nobody, who was raised among humans and lived as a nomad...am I of the tribe or not?"

Grady's eyes sparkled finding the flaw in her logic that she had baited him with.

"You are," insisted Grady. "Which also means you are subject to our ways. Our sacred laws which we have upheld for ages. They have kept us safe from the world out there. And by those laws-"

"Our laws!" interrupted Lady Langford in a booming voice of fury. "Our laws which you broke! No one looks safe here to me!" she boomed towards the dragons, many of them bloodied and bruised. "You conspired against the Alpha. You kept...keep Christoph drugged and gagged and hooded in the undercroft. Tried to have my son's mate - his by right - taken and raped! And when you realized what she was decided to claim her for yourself. You slithered around in holes in the ground like a snake, waiting till the tribe was occupied and then you struck for power. You've held my family hostage. Kept like vermin in our own filth! And you dare call yourself Alpha!"

The crackle of magic peeled across Niva's skin, as Rue fought the Turn. Niva looked back at her flank to see her mother-in-law's golden dragon eyes. It spread to the other Langfords, their eyes lighting to incandescent jade and sun orange and night black.

A few of their immediate supporters tensed, stepping forward while Grady and his ilk did the same.

Niva could let it continue, let the conflict play out till the only ones left standing were the mighty or the ones who'd cleverly kept themselves hidden. She glanced at the stairwell where mothers and grandmothers and the men who cared for them stood nervously looking down at the potential blood bath. How many of them feared losing a mate or a parent tonight? How many already had? How many would slip into poverty with their loved ones gone? How many generations lost? The tribe had always taken care of those who'd fallen on hard luck. Even her own father had been cared for despite his crippled state. But with so many men perished in a battle for dominance who would mine the silver, and tend the fields, and handle accounts, and represent the tribe to an outside world where women were considered meek and incapable. The drákon weren't humans, but sadly had far too many similarities to them to be ignored.

Niva reached out to Kimber and placed a sedative hand on his shoulder.

"Stand down," she commanded. Kim's shoulders rose up and down, his breath desperate for his body to surge forward.

Niva gripped him tighter. "I said stand down!"

She moved in front of him and rose to his lips. "Kim. Cooler heads must prevail," she demanded in a quiet voice.

As Kimber regained a semblance of control looking at Niva, his eyes cleared and returned to small black pupils surrounded by white. She rewarded him with a gentle kiss on the lips "I cannot promise we will get our revenge, but we can, we must strive for peace," she whispered. He cocked his head and pulled his brows together.

Niva turned back to their enemies. "Claude Grady, I'd like to think there is something we all have in common."

"What might that be?"

"We both care for our people."

"Aye," he said truthfully.

"And we've all broken our own laws."

Grady gave her a slow, singular nod.

"I have a proposal to end this if you are willing."

"I'm all ears," he said, curious.

"Good."

She pulled the Black Star from her neck and handed it backwards to whoever would take it. She made no attempt to warp the light around her, letting herself glow like a sunburst before the tribe.

There had been only a few who'd seen her like this and some who had were dead. But she wanted everyone to see what the prize was.

"I am Alpha. I've been challenged many times and won," she said looking at some of the young women. "Inside me I've more power than any of these women could dream of. It is a natural law of our kind that Alpha mates with Alpha. This isn't something we decided in a council or courtroom or by vote. It simply is. No law we create can change this."

Grady licked his lips. Of the faces she could see many men's eyes were transfixed on her body some even shifting to dragon glints. Naturally, she thought, they desire the fire in the bedroom, but wish for it snuffed out as soon as we've left. Kimber shifted closer to her side, but she made no move to assure him of their bond.

"By the traditions of our people I am already wed. But even that can be challenged. So let us settle this dispute of who shall lead the tribe. If you wish to challenge my mate, now is the time. If you win, I will freely become yours. I won't fight and I'll give you the future you are so worried about. Whatever the outcome let this wasteful struggle come to an end for the sake of our people. The tragedy of this night will be finished in his death..." She turned her head towards Kimber but kept her eyes on Grady.

"Or yours."

Grady's brows shot up, his interest piqued by her offer. He looked Kimber up and down, likely taking in an inventory of his wounds.

"Have you lost your mind?" and "are you bloody insane?" came from the Langford sisters. Even Zoe gave her a slanted look of concern. Only Lady Langford kept silent.

Niva glanced reluctantly at Kimber, scared of what she might find there: disgust, fear, betrayal. But she found understanding in the form of a momentary puckish grin, one she and she alone could percieve. It vanished quickly and Kimber slowly slumped, looking the vanquished warrior. He favored his leg a bit and grimaced at the large gash on his chest. He knew what her plan was. Together, with her radiance and Kimber's pretend defeat they taunted Grady.

Either outcome was desirable. The traditionalists didn't support Grady out of principle. They did so out of the belief that their way was the safest for the drákon. And only the strongest of them could provide that safety. If Grady lost he'd be dead and Kimber would be proven Alpha. If Grady refused, he would lose all support and be considered weak.

Grady measured Kimber again with his eyes then scoured Niva's naked body again, considering the fight and the reward.

"If I win, will everyone who supports the old Alpha's son stand down?" he asked.

"I'd like to believe so," returned Niva, glancing at the drákon behind her. "But I cannot speak for them."

Grady squinted his eyes looking at those near Niva, when Lady Langford spoke up behind her.

"I give you my word, Claude Grady, if you should triumph, neither I nor my family will raise a talon against you."

The rest of the Langford's bristled. Rhys clutched his mother's shoulder, leaning into her ear whispering inaudible harshness, but she brushed him off and he obediently stepped back.

"I would have that honor extended to you and yours," said Kimber. "This is a fight between you and I. No one will retaliate and the victor shall not punish those on basis of who they supported. When it's over, it's all over. We needn't any more deaths."

Grady began to chew his lips. This wasn't just about who would win Niva as a prize. It was deeper than that. It was about who would lead the drákon forward or hold them in a place that they had been for centuries. Grady gave one more look at his rival and touched his missing ear.

"I decline."

"You will stand down?" asked Kimber frowning. "You accept that I am Alpha?"

Grady neither confirmed nor declined. Whether he was admitting defeat or preferring to settle for an outright war was unclear.

Niva looked at the men closest to him, their eyes shifting, their feet taking minuscule steps away.

He's lost.

"Do you acknowledge this fact Claude Grady?" asked Nive, the words were directed at him, but were addressed to everyone.

Grady must have sensed his loss, the demeanor of those who had clearly been his supporters melting. His prideful face changed to a defeated one and the confidence seemed to seep from his stature.

"I yield," he said quietly.

"Then accept that I am Alpha," demanded Kimber in a tone that was a last attempt to provoke him.

"You are Alpha, Lord Kimber Langford. As is your mate, Lady Sunniva Langford." He took to one knee, bowing in acceptance with his neck slightly exposed.

He isn't unwise. And does not lack for cleverness.

Niva took Kimber's hand and stepped before Grady.

"Mr. Grady, we will forgive but we will never forget. Remember that."

***

They sat on the roof of Chasen as the sun peaked above the skyline taking a moment before they began the odious task of burying those who had perished that night.

Niva looked at Kimber, his hair now the shimmered in the gold of the radiant sunlight.

"It's not what I expected," said Niva frowning as she looked out onto the lawn dotted with the bodies of their kind.

"Nor I," whispered Kimber, pulling her further into his arms and resting a cheek atop her head. Niva was thankful for his comfort wondering how he was always so strong. She let a few tears fall when she felt a bit of moisture on her head. Kimber squeezed her tighter to him.

"I never thought," he paused to sniffle and wiped his eyes across her hair. "This wasn't supposed to happen like this. There were supposed to be just a few of them."

Niva realized he needed her comfort just as much as she needed his. She pealed him off her, rearranging her calves beneath her thighs putting herself higher than him. She pulled him close again cradling his head between her bosom and held him tightly.

"Do you regret returning?" she asked.

He shook his head as much as her breasts would allow. "No. I've gone through too many scenarios of how it might be if we hadn't.

"And there is this as well," he added, smoothing his hand back and forth across Niva's belly. He continued stroking her bare skin, sometimes tracing with his fingers, sometimes smoothing his palm flat over her womb.

"There was one thing I was right about though," he said.

"What's that?"

"This fight is not over with the deaths of tonight and the capitulation of Grady."

Niva looked down at her mate whose eyes were still transfixed on her stomach. "Then we will root them out one by one and..."

"And what?" interrupted Kimber. "Kill them? Isn't that what we wanted to avoid."

"Killing? No. The council has nearly completely destroyed. We can appoint those who support us. Or better yet abolish it completely and bring the change we so desperately need."

Kim shook his head.

"In my hubris I didn't realize how many thought like Grady, those terrified that abandoning the old ways would spell our demise. We can't ignore them or else it will be an unending cycle of escalation and confrontation."

"I won't have us, nor my child living the way those old coots would have us live. That is what will cause our demise," warned Niva.

Kimber wrapped his arms around her. "I know. And it will change. In increments. In a slow process."

Niva let out an exasperated sigh. "I guess my days of dawning a face that isn't my own aren't over? How will this do?"

She warped the light around her giving herself a head piled with perfectly iron white curls and rouge lips and a dress befitting a high born gentlewoman.

"You look the part of a politician."

"You know diplomacy has never been my strong point," she said, knocking a few of the "curls" back over her shoulder.

"It doesn't always need to be. You've got me and I've got you. Together we will be flame and cool water working and molding the tribe from raw steel to a sharp sword."

"A suitable compromise I suppose."

They turned their heads downwards as many from the village approached with shovels and wheelbarrows prepared to mourn and bury the dead.

Kimber tore himself away from Niva. "Come my love, let us tend to our people," he said rising and offering her a hand.

"Yes, our people need us now more than ever," she said, giving him a somber smile.

He offered her a similar smile in return. "They certainly do."

They Turned to smoke and fire and began the painful and difficult process of healing their tribe.