Page 22 of Saber Blade

He lifted a brow, tucking his klaw to the side of his inner cheek, eyes raking over the newcomers.

Before him stood five apparitions, with dawn’s light at their backs.

All eyes aimed square at him, even as more koya feathers quivered in the air between them.

Killen gazed over their massive wings, sharp-beaked, fierce eagle features, and colossal leonine musculature.

Their faces, human, ragged and scarred, told of scorched battlefields in their wake.

Their stares were imperious, and he met them with brazen insolence until one of them snarled in impatience.

‘What foolhardy scrub wren wanders the perimeter of the imperial kambí?’

While he spoke with force, wariness lurked in the depths of his eyes as they flicked over Killen like he’d captured a wild, unpredictable beast.

‘Greetings, Kärds of Krypós,’ Killen smirked.

His voice was like a thunderbolt, deep, calm, rasped.

It commanded attention, and the mammoth creatures bucked at it, exchanging glances.

Their lead stepped forward. ‘Who dares address us like you know our krests?’

Their quarry shrugged. ‘I go by the kína Killen. A humble k?st member of the ignoble Sable eyrie, a kíjí far, far, far from here.’

The winged sentries studied the giant, silver-haired man.

Their eyes flicked over his long locks, open robe, and dust-caked trews and boots. Over his lush hair that he’d caught into a rough bun, concealing his five chrome and brass feathers within it.

His muscled and hardy form was more extensive than theirs, and his oversized wings glimmered with metallic and opalescent menace, which had given them pause.

For Killen was shrouded with the potency of the ancients, the monarchs who’d gone before him.

This legacy leaked into every corner of his body, filling him with otherworldly strength and vitality.

In addition, his hawkstone amplified his abilities by the day, making him stronger and faster than ever.

Even now, an intense rush of energy coursed through him like a fire burning within his veins.

During his flight to Katáne, he noted that his endurance was also surging, allowing him to push himself further and harder.

His tolerance for larger loads also increased as his muscles enlarged and became more defined. The result was a jacked, powerful, and shredded physique that exuded masculinity to the core.

But it wasn’t just his physical appearance that was evolving.

Since leaving Devansi, Killen’s presence had become more imposing; his gravitas had tonnage, and it rolled off him like a tsunami, sweeping over all who chance on him.

He sensed the fear coursing through his new companions and sent a kusudi command to decrease their agitation.

In doing so, his meta eyes glowed silver, as did the now-small lodestone on his forehead.

On sighting the minor-sized jewel, the Kärds shared glances and sneers of derision.

‘They’re rumours of a similar piddling k?st on the outskirts of the Kakawa Forests,’ one of the Krypós uttered with a curl of his lip.

The lead stirred his rachís, shaking them out. ‘By the Kamokau Plateau? Doesn’t the eyrie of the Kakawahu soar that plain?’

Killen shrugged. ‘I’m not sure. I’ve never come across them. We’re a much more obscure Kíjí, farther and smaller than all the great ones you speak of.’

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