Page 143 of Mikoto and the Reaver Village
“Is he a black panther?”
Timur didn’t mind chatting, but he pulled a quick sigil outof the air to muffle their voices. “Basically. Fend favors his mother, who isfrom a jaguar clan. But cats of their coloring are often referred to as blackpanthers.”
“How long have you been together?”
“We’ve been partnered for a little over a year, but he wasborn at Stately House. My home. I got to cuddle Fend as a newborn cub. But incat years, he’s probably older than me now.”
Mikoto nodded. “That is how it is with Kith.”
They lapsed into a comfortable silence.
Like they’d been friends for years.
As a battler, Timur could only approve of Mikoto. Althoughyoung, he exuded competence and reliability. Earlier, they’d spent the betterpart of an hour comparing arsenals, each impressing the other. A battler ofMikoto’s caliber was wasted on Wardenclave. He was a front lines kind of guy.
Mikoto sat shoulder-to-shoulder with him, facing theopposite direction. Routine for battlers, since it gave them vision on allsides.
For a while, Timur pondered how far they could’ve gone inthe annual tournaments as a two-man team. Totally unrealistic, given theirresponsibilities. New headman. New dad. But it was fun to ponder training menusand battle strategies.
A large owl passed overhead. A rookie’s Kith. It gave nosign of having noticed Sinder, but that didn’t mean it hadn’t.
Sinder slipped away without a sound.
Mounting Fend, Timur and Mikoto followed.
When Sinder next stopped, Timur made sure he drank some teabefore falling back to a reasonable distance. To Fend, he said, “It happenedagain. I was standing right there, or I might not have noticed.”
Mikoto silently signaled a request for information.
Timur took more care with his sigils this time. “It’sKyrie.”
“Is he coming?”
“I don’t think so. Sinder would be reacting differently if Kyriehad begun his approach.” Timur searched for some sign that the dragon realizedwhat was happening. “I’m going to have to get that boy to show me how it’s done.”
Mikoto shook his head.
Timur lowered his voice. “Kyrie’s marked him.”
“With what?”
“Small sigils.” His curled fingers described a circle nobigger than a coin. “They started arriving just before sunup. I have no ideahow he’s delivering them. Unless he marked Sinder before they parted. Or keyedoff that crystal I warded. But … I don’t think so.”
“How far can a sigil travel?”
“Depends on the anchor. Etch a sigil into stone, and it’llgo as far as you can fling it. But these are airborne.” Timur squinted atSinder. “I wonder why he hasn’t noticed? I mean, he’s a dragon.”
Fend’s big paw gently biffed him across the cheek. Thenplanted that paw on Timur’s ankle. Where a small sigil gleamed faintly on hispants cuff.
“Oh. Well spotted,” Timur muttered sheepishly. “Kyrie gotme, too. I wonder why I hadn’t noticed. I mean, I’m a ward.”
Mikoto rubbed at his face, trying to hide his smile.
Shaking his head, Timur scanned the forest. With a scowl, hegruffly lapsed into the accent of his mother and his uncle. “A dragon whothinks like a fox. Is a dangerous combination, yes?”
As a rule, Amaranthine were patient. But Sinder hadalways been a bit of a rule-bender, if not an outright breaker. “Joining thedawn patrol implies attacking at dawn,” he muttered. Yet the sun was nearingmid-high.
“Show me what you can do implies showing up at all.”Sinder’s gaze flashed across scenery. Granted, a dragon’s camouflage was universallyeffective, but he’d expected Kyrie to leap out of a shrub or cast a barrier or…something.
