Page 145 of Mikoto and the Reaver Village
“That, my dear apprentice, is an understatement.” Salalicocked his ear and smiled. “I know full well what a mismatched jumble of shardsyour brother found. Barely worth a second look. But he’s not only coaxed theminto song, he’s tuned them to each other.”
“So my brother’s a crystal adept. Not exactly news.” Ginkgoswiveled his ears, trying to catch the music Salali was hearing. “Unfortunately,I’m not.”
“Kyrie isn’t any old ward.”
“You’re weighing in on his assessment?”
Salali peered at him from under a drooping brim. “I could.If anyone bothered to ask.”
“I’m asking.”
“Your brother’s improvisation amounts to a trap.” Thesquirrel gestured broadly. “He’s weaponized an entire forest, and your dragonfriend cannot escape.”
“That’s … impressive.”
“That’s an ambuscade for you.”
Ginkgo was catching something faint, and he didn’t think itwas crystal resonance. But Salali’s remark distracted him. “Ambuscade. Is thata subclass?”
“Obsolete ward class,” said Salali with a wry twist of asmile. “Not the sort of thing you’d find on an academy syllabus. We had one ofour own, back at Wardenclave’s founding. Hemet was a good man.”
“You’re going to have to tell me. I’m way out of this loop.”
“Hemet could use crystals as a focus. The destructive forceof his soul scattered Wardenclave’s attackers. And in a few memorableinstances, he ended them.”
Ginkgo’s ears snapped forward. “What?”
“Reavers of the ambuscade classification are killers.”
“My brother’s not a killer!”
“I am talking about skill sets, not wholesale slaughter.” Salalitapped Ginkgo’s nose. “Hemet was a good man. Kyrie is a good boy.”
Calming enough to think, Ginkgo caught another fragment of amelody. “What am I hearing?” he asked. “Is that someone … singing?”
Salali pushed back his hat, unseating Gent. “You have goodears. This sort of thing happens in high places.”
“Where’s it coming from?” It wasn’t easy to see past the overlappingsigils of Wardenclave’s barriers.
“High above the blue.Muchharder to see them, thistime of day.” Salali’s smile was a jaunty thing. “Around these parts, the starslike to sing.”
Just then, a pale blur streaked past. “What wasthat?”
“A wolf.”
Ginkgo wasn’t sure he liked that the wolf was headingstraight Kyrie’s way. “Should I be worried?”
Salali huffed and started running again. “You have a moresuspicious nature than you let on.”
“Let’s call it a protective streak.”
“First off, when the stars sing of peace, there’s nothing tofear.”
Ginkgo was ready to pile skeptical and cynical on top of hissuspicious nature. “Like to see for myself, thank you very much.”
Salali grinned at him. “Second, the wolf wouldn’t be insidemy barriers if he wasn’t a friend.”
They picked up the pace and soon burst into a clearing. Thewolf—who had all the markings of a crosser—was already there, standing at thecenter, tail low and twitchy, arms open wide.
