{Talon} A Friend Indeed

[Hikami]

☵ 13th of Glade, Year 121, A.o.S ☵
Company: Himself| Thoughts: I wish things were different| Mood: Calm

☵ The sun was bright, beaming its rays down onto to land below for all to bask in. Hyoga had been out, flying through the area in order to clear his mind. His mental health was strained, and being in the city was becoming more than he could bare at the moment. It was better for him to get out of the city, to clear his mind, and to keep him from killing someone. He was much better when in nature, surrounded by natural elements.

As he flew over the area, he could feel a large source of water, it was calling to him to come and play. With a smirk, he followed the call of the water source to a large lake, fed by a waterfall. In the center of the lake, was a small landmass, with a strange statue situated on it.

Landing atop it, Hyoga rested himself on it, taking in the view. It was tranquil, the sound of the water singing out to him. "Come and dance with me, it's more fun than sulking all day." it purred, making Hyoga smile as he lept from the statue he was perched on. His feet graced the water's edge, the water swallowing Hyoga into its embrace.

Moments later he rose from the water, spiraling around as he danced with the water. He was communing with the element that had become close to him. Though he was attuned to all four, water seems to cling to him much harder than the others. The way the water rose with him as he emerged from the water was evident as much. This was the first time he was happy, enjoying the way the water splashed onto his skin.

He felt something more though, a connection with the water that he had been feeling for a while. It was stronger than what he would have anticipated, but he could feel the connection more now than before. He could feel the wind coming to dance with them, and he welcomed it with open arms. The two intermingled with Hyo as he spun and glided amidst the two elements. He felt the two wanting to be close to him.

Following the intuition of the elements, he began to intertwine the two together till something beautiful happened. He watched as the water and wind mixed together and turned into ice. The new element shimmered and glistened around him as the spiral of water began to turn into ice as the wind touched it. By the end of his dance, Hyo found himself sitting atop the new element. "How amazing." he whispered as he sat atop his handy work, now realizing he had performed a new technique his mother spoke about.

"So this is Blending?" he whispered with delight, watching the structure of ice give way and break into pieces. It was a beautiful sight to behold, Hyo continuing to blend the two elements together, as the ice fell around him like glittering rain in the sun. ☵

---

"Common Speech"
"Synskrit Speech"
"Self-Thoughts"

[Talon]

13 Glade 121

Talon sat upon the water’s edge, quietly meditating as he sifted through the thoughts drifting through his head. Many things had occurred since his ascension in the season prior. He was still learning the extent to which he had been changed but he felt as though he were beginning to get the hang of it. Between the revelations that had unfolded before him with Pahoran’s family and his conversation with Lyrielle, Talon was beginning to see pieces of all that was in play. Despite these truths however, he still felt as though he were missing something. There was another aspect of the puzzle that was eluding his thoughts. Aoren and Rickter were scarcely not by his side but that particular day he wanted to spend some time by himself. Those moments were becoming rare. It was not as though he had begun to tire of his partner’s presence. He still felt both of them warmly within his chest.

But he wanted to collect himself on his own for a little while. The two of them had been supporting him for what felt like ages then. He wanted to give them both a little bit of space so that they did not feel as though they had to be at his beck and call. Aoren had begun to miss some of his friends that he brawled with in the taverns. Rickter needed some time to focus on the budding relationship between himself and Telion. Talon had insisted they both focus on themselves for a day or two.

Talon focused on his breathing. His senses were open to the many prayers that were filtering up from the city and in the surrounding area. He was still learning what he could do with the knowledge that such a broad perspective gave him. Talon had begun to communicate some of what he became aware of to the Sky Guard. It had helped them in a few of their investigations. In other instances, it had helped them prevent a terrible crime from happening altogether. He was just about to extend his awareness even more when he heard the flap of wings. Talon opened his eyes, his gaze coming to settle on the form of an Avialae he knew. Hyoga landed near the lake. Just looking at him, Talon could see the obvious. From the hang of his head, the tenseness in his shoulders, there was something bothering the warrior. Talon did not intrude for the moment however.

In short order, Hyoga was plunging himself into the waters of the lake. That prompted Talon to quirk a brow. He was soon shooting up out of the water in a display that was interesting to watch. Talon brought the man’s aura into his focus. He saw a multitude of emotions flickering across it and certain he witnessed the magic flowing through the man. Talon recognized it as Elementalism. His bondmate was a powerful practitioner of it but where Aoren’s aura was an inferno that spoke of his kinship with the element of Fire, Hyoga’s was cooler and flowed like a river. Talon stood up his feet leaving the ground as he lifted himself with his kinetics. He drifted over the water, suspended lightly in the air as he watched Hyoga’s dance with the elements. When it was over, he spoke.

“You remind me of the dancers at the theater.” Talon rest his hands at the small of his back. The feathers of his silver wings reflected the sunlight that glinted off of the surface of the water. He gave Hyoga a smile. “Copper for your thoughts, Hyoga? You seem troubled.”

[Hikami]

龍 13th of Glade, Year 121, A.o.S 龍
Company: Talon| Thoughts: Of Course you can tell something's wrong| Mood: Emotional

龍 "Someone approaches, he seems to know you." the water gurgled as Hyo looked at the figure approaching him. Eyes of surprise widened as he saw it was Talon of all people. What was he doing here of all places? More importantly, he was alone, and that was odd for someone of his station. Part of Hyo was nervous, as he wasn't sure if a swarm of guards would come to slay him if he engaged the prince. He didn't seem to have anyone with him so Hyo assumed the Prince of the city was indeed alone.

It seemed he was here long before Hyo arrived, commenting that his dance with the elements reminded him of the kind one would see in a theatre, and it made Hyo blush a bit. He wasn't sure if that was a compliment or not, as he wasn't as refined as his noble friend before him to have ever go to a place like that. "Can't say I know how they dance, never been." he joked, but held honestly in those words.

When Talon surmised that something was bothering the Kathar, Hyo quirked his brow at the man, not sure how exactly he was able to tell that. "Of course you know something is wrong, you seem to be able to read people so easily." he mused to himself. Kneeling over the water, he began to form ice, moving clockwise forming a platform in order to stand on it, sending a pillar of ice into the lake floor to anchor the frozen platform stable.

"There are a lot of things that are bothering me. I was attacked by an avialae while visiting my parents' graves. No one will hire me for jobs simply because of my Blood and their fear that I may invite an inquisitor, whatever the hell that is, which is forcing me to have to sell my body just to make enough for me not to be homeless." he spoke, his pride wounded in those words.

"I wasn't able to save my friend Fawn from this bastard who ended up capturing her and torturing her, which he would have never done if I had killed him the night he tried to kidnap her the first time. I haven't even spoken to her or seen her since then fearing that she may hate me for not being there when she needed help. And the icing on the cake is that I'm one step closer to finding the vile bastards responsible for my village's destruction. It's been hard is all. We Kathar arent good with our emotions and I'm still trying to figure out mine."

He unloaded all of that onto the prince, tears welling up in his eyes, and a feeling of shame for having someone of his station witness such weakness from him. Fighting them back he cleared his throat and looked back at the Synnekar. "Did your bondmate have such a hard time when he first arrived here?" 龍

---

"Common Speech"
"Synskrit Speech"
"Self-Thoughts"

[Talon]

“Then perhaps, I should take you?” Talon offered Hyoga a friendly smile. It had been some time since Talon had enjoyed a show at the theater. His instincts told him that the Kathar could use a friend. From what he knew of Hyoga, the man acted with honor and bravery even if he seemed a little rough around the edges. As the young man confessed to the weight that was heavy upon his heart however, Talon’s smile turned into a furrow of concern.

“The lessons of life are seldom easy, Hyoga.” Talon remembered well the aftermath of what Fawn had suffered at the hands of her attacker. It had filled him with a terrible fury but most of all, it had filled him with a desire to haul in her attacker and bring him to justice. In hindsight, he understood why that drive was so powerful inside of him.

“Killing a man in cold blood is not the answer. It never should be. That makes you no different than a murderer. What purpose would such slaughter serve?” Talon shook his head. “It would stop that one evil, yes. But what of the rest? Will you hunt down and butcher everyone you believe to be at fault? That is not a path to closure, Hyoga. That is a path to pain and suffering.”

The young demigod spread his senses across the aether flux and down into the water below. As he got a feel for the weft and weave of it, Talon created a more solid point in the lake beneath him. He did not try to interrupt the flow of the water or the flux so much as he created a more heavily concentrated area of aether beneath him. Talon then enacted Seeming to that point in the river of aether. As he lowered himself to the surface of the lake, his feet touched upon that anchor point using it as a place to keep himself aloft. To the naked eye it appeared that Talon was standing on the water as though it were solid ground, even as gentle ripples lapped at his boots. In truth, he was standing on the platform of aether he was seeming with.

“Justice is in setting an example, my friend. Stop that one man and you bring an end only to him. Make an example of that man and a lesson is learned by those who would seek to emulate him.” Talon flexed his wings, enjoying the breeze that brushed over his feathers. He turned his face toward the sunlight that always seemed to seek him out. The warmth was comforting to him and filled him with a sense of familiarity that he could not quite place. As Hyoga continued to vent his frustrations and his struggles, Talon was troubled with just how much was weighing down on the other Avialae. He did not miss the misting in the other man’s eyes. He stepped closer to Hyoga but did not reach out to him physically. He did not know how well the man would respond to a friendly clasp on the shoulder.

"I am sorry for your loss. I am sorry that you suffered such a thing in such a sacred place." Talon worried his bottom lip for a moment. When Hyoga posed his question regarding his bondmate, Talon opened his mouth to answer but another voice responded.

“Yes.” Aoren’s deep voice came from the edge of the lake as he glided down. He landed softly and with the skill of one who had spent most of his life flying. His raven wings spread wide before being tucked in close behind him. The witchfires in his eyes burned steadily. Without hesitation he stepped onto the surface of the lake. Where his feet landed, Talon created a path for his partner to walk so that he could join them on the lake. Aoren walked up to Talon, cupping his face as he brought their brows together in a show of affection. He then turned to face Hyoga, openly studying the bat winged Kathar.

“I sold myself. My sword. My fists. My cock.” There was no hesitation as the man confessed these things. They were truths that Talon already knew for there were no secrets between the two Core Bonded men. “When finally the coin, sex, and fights didn’t satisfy the hole inside of me, I gave myself to the Dead Legion.”

Aoren looked over Hyoga. He folded his arms over his chest as he regarded the other man.

“We are Avialae but we Kathar are built a little differently than our Synnekar brothers.” Talon brought up a hand to gently brush his fingers along the flank of his partner.

[Hikami]

龍 13th of Glade, Year 121, A.o.S 龍
Company: Talon| Thoughts: Of Course you can tell something's wrong| Mood: Emotional

龍 He smiled at Talon's offer to take him to the theatre, shaking his head in refusal. "I don't think I'm refined enough to accompany you to such a thing." he scoffed jokingly look over to the Prince, watching him as he weaved some form of magic on the water. It intrigued Hyo as to what he was doing, but the Kathar merely watched with fascination.

Talon's words were as expected, as he wasn't trying to make the prince understand him, merely hear him out. Hyo's eyes flashed with a tinge of anger at the prince's response to his feelings on the situation with Fawn, the Kathar clenching his fist tightly. Maybe it was his upbringing coming out, but Hyo disagreed with that wholeheartedly. "if it meant the ones I care for wouldn't have to endure that, I would gladly walk that path." he whispered as he was still fighting against his body urge to cry.

Hyo had already suffered enough, the loss of his parents, the prejudice of the city, people attacking him. He was emotionally at his breaking point. Talon's condolences however put a smile on his face, a small one anyway. "You have nothing to apologize for, if anything I should be apologizing for burdening you with my issues."

His inquire to Talon's Bondmate experiences in the city was answered by the man in question himself. Hyo had seen him that initial time when he first arrived in the city, but never really got a good look at him. Seeing up close now, the man was impressive for sure. He held a stoic, stoney disposition that reminded Hyo of his father. From his tone down to the way he stood, this man exuded everything his father use to tell him about the Kathar Avialae.

He confirmed he too had to sell himself when he first arrived, causing Hyo to scoff. "I'm starting to think this is an unofficial rite of passage for the Avialae who come here" he mocked averting his eyes from the newcomer. However, his words were true enough at the end, that though Avialae, they were built differently.

Looking back he looked over the both of them, Talon and his Kathar bondmate. Looking directly at the Kathar, he posed a question. "Tell me, if you had the chance to avenge Talon, to kill the ones responsible for his death, would you? Would you walk the path of a demon in order to bring justice to his soul?" he inquired, standing and facing both men, but his eyes remaining on the ebon wing Kathar.

"My parents, my village, their murderers are here in this city. If you were in my shoes, would you not do everything possible to see their death's avenged. I would gladly sell my soul if it meant giving their souls rest." he added losing the fight with his own tears, flowing down his face. "From one Kathar to another, speak honestly." 龍

---

"Common Speech"
"Synskrit Speech"
"Self-Thoughts"

[Talon]

There was a stretch of silence between them as Aoren studied Hyoga carefully. As the young man spoke, posing his question, Talon watched as realization dawned on the raven winged man’s face.

“You were born here.” It was not a question but there was surprise in his bondmate’s voice. “Do you know why we are called Synnekar and Kathar, Hyoga?”

His partner searched the bat winged warrior’s face earnestly. It was a genuine question that was soon followed by the answer.

“When the Avialae were made, there were no Synnekar or Kathar. We just were. Then the Imperium enslaved us. That is where I am from, Hyoga. The Gelerian Imperium, where the Kathar Loyalists remain as Slave-Knights to the Imperial Throne.” Talon furrowed his brow as he felt the storm of emotions stir inside of his partner. He did not work to dull them but he opened himself up to be a harbor of safety for his beloved raven. He felt Aoren do the telepathic equivalent of lacing their fingers together.

“I was born to a father I have never known and a mother who was used as little more than a breeding mare. The same as all Kathar. I was raised by the Imperial Inquisition, our masters and keepers. They strapped a collar around my neck that stripped from me my free will. Pain, blood, rage and war. Those were my lessons. That was my life.” Talon watched his partner’s body tense. The muscles of his frame flexed and his jaw spasmed as the memory of his childhood and young adult life came back to him. This time, Talon actually did reach out to lace the fingers of their hands together. Aoren brought his hand up to his lips and kissed the back of his knuckles even as he continued.

“There is no peace for a Kathar in the Imperium. You are a slave.” Talon felt Aoren squeeze his hand. His raven wrapped himself more snugly around the warmth and comfort of their bond. “When we were old enough they rounded us up and put us all in an arena and told us that the only one allowed to leave was the one that killed the rest. I was thirteen years old.”

He shook his head. Talon knew of only two other people with whom Aoren had shared the details of his past. He felt it inside of his partner, Aoren wanted to see Hyoga take a better path than the one he had walked. It made Talon’s chest ache as he realized the level of shame that his bondmate still carried for the life he had lived.

“And I do not have to imagine what I would do if I lost my Talon.” Talon felt himself physically pulled closer to the raven winged Kathar. Aoren wrapped an arm around his waist possessively, his eyes narrowing at Hyoga. He did not elaborate on that statement but it made Talon physically flinch. It would be a long time before any of them recovered from the disaster that occured in the Warrens. It had concluded with a positive outcome but it had been an experience that had left its mark on all of them.

“But to answer you, no. I would not sell my soul. I would not become a demon. I have been down that path. It’s not worth it. Embrace your pain, Hyoga. Don't hide it. Take my word for it, Avialae were not meant to bury our emotions. The Bond is living proof of that. But don’t let it turn you into a monster.” Aoren fell silent then. A cursory perusal of his bondmate’s thoughts told Talon that he did not expect his words to reach the other Avialae. It was clear that the man was suffering. It was a grief that Talon could understand. In the face of overwhelming loss, his father had thrown himself into rebuilding his family and exposing as much corruption in the ranks of the nobility pledged to House Novalys as he could. Talon himself had walled himself off from everyone and everything around him when he had lost someone important to him. It was only thanks to Aoren and Rickter that he had come back from that desolate place.

He waited, watching Hyoga with both patience and kindness in his eyes.

[Hikami]

龍 13th of Glade, Year 121, A.o.S 龍
Company: Talon| Thoughts: Of Course you can tell something's wrong| Mood: Emotional

龍 Hyoga listened as the raven wing Kathar told his own story. He was born in the imperium, just like his father was. His past shared several equivalents to the tales his mother used to tell him about his father's past. This avialae was more like his father than Hyoga first realized, the way he clung to Talon, like a dog to his favorite bone. His words made it seem so easy, using his pain.

Sitting on the platform of ice, Hyo couldn't help but chuckle. "So what am I suppose to do? I feel like I've already taken the first step down the path of a monster. I found myself caring very little for the citizens of this place. I've only met a few people who have proven to be worth caring for, but even that is muddled by the stares and whispers, the discrimination and the abuse of the people." he spoke, sculpting the water of the lake in his hands.

"Granted I guess this is better than living in the Imperium. From what you have told me, and the stories my father used to tell of the place, I should count my blessings." he began, blending the water and wind once again forming an ice structure in the palm of his hands. "My father was born there too, but somehow managed to escape along with his family and a few others. My mother said that he changed his name so as to throw off his pursuers, which was one of the reasons she was married to him. The village I was born in was found by my father and two other Avialae clans."

His words held a weight of sadness to them. "I was only 18 when it happened, when the village was attacked. I still remember the screaming, the smell of fire, the way my father's head rolled to my feet." his first tightened with his next words. "The golden wings of the Avialae that killed both my parents." he growled, the water around his icy platform rippling viciously in response to his emotions.

Looking to the two Avialae, to Aoren first, then to Talon he adverted his gaze as he posed another question. "How can you serve justice, without killing the ones who have brought so much pain and suffering to you? Is it even possible? I've had dreams of the day I finally kill all five bastards responsible. I have so many thoughts, I have doubted my skills even at one point." he asked, finally turn his gaze back to Talon, seeing the compassion in his eyes.

"Revenge is what has become my only means of living at this point, so if that path is not worth it, then what do I have to live for? How can you expect me to bring them to justice without seeking my revenge as well?" he posed again, his fist clenching, the water around them rippling in reaction to his emotions. 龍

---

"Common Speech"
"Synskrit Speech"
"Self-Thoughts"

[Talon]

“Gold?” Talon’s eyes narrowed. Golden wings were rare, on par with the rarity of Talon’s silver wings. He could count on one hand the amount of Avialae he knew who possessed golden wings. They typically attracted a great deal of attention due to the supposed prestige they afforded the individual born with them. He wished it were not so but Talon knew that prejudice existed among his people. They had much to fear from the Imperium, especially with Zaichaer growing more sympathetic to the empire every passing day. He knew that a pseudo-caste system even existed given the type of wings that one was born with. It was not until he was an adult that he truly became aware of it. The veil of just how fortunate he had been in his life had been peeled away not long after he established himself on his own as a businessman.

Beyond that, the more that Hyoga spoke, the more Talon grew horrified at what the man had faced. He could feel the anger inside of him growing with every word. Talon’s gaze drove deeper into the reaches of Hyoga’s soul. He saw within the warrior a shadow of pain and suffering that called to him. Beneath it was the flicker of the silver flame that he had come to associate with the ideal of Justice. It was obscured by the press of hazy shadows. Talon could not clearly make out the deeply troubling event that had so shaped Hyoga’s thirst for revenge but he could catch a glimpse. What Talon saw disturbed him.

“You assume you must do this on your own, Hyoga. You do not.” Talon stepped forward then. He reached out to the young Kathar, bringing up his hands to rest them upon his shoulders. He squeezed them gently.

“I have never felt your pain, Hyoga. But my father once spoke of it. When he lost everyone, his brothers, his own father, his mother, to my great uncle’s madness, he wanted to kill him. With every fiber of his being, he wanted to exact revenge upon the Mad King that had caused so much pain.” Talon pressed the flat of his hand to Hyoga’s chest, directly over his beating heart. The steady thump of it told Talon just how on edge the man was.

“This is what stopped him. Jacien was defeated. He faced justice for his crimes. He was stripped of his wings. He was banished to the Warrens with the sentence that if he ever returned, he would face death for what he had done.” Talon felt a shiver go up his spine. The people who had been sent to kill him in the Warrens, the attempt on his life the previous Ash, he had a suspicion that Jacien had survived. It was something that weighed on him, a threat that would have to be dealt with another day.

“You do not have to face this alone, Hyoga.” Talon looked up into the man’s eyes. He could see in Hyoga the makings of a proud and mighty warrior but there was darkness that weighed on him. It was a heavy thing and Talon did not know if anything but revenge could satisfy the anger he felt inside the other man. But that would not stop him from trying.

“This world is filled with cruelty and darkness. But you have the power to change that. Not today. Perhaps, not even tomorrow, but one day at a time we can change it together.”

[Hikami]

龍 13th of Glade, Year 121, A.o.S 龍
Company: Talon & his Bondmate| Thoughts: Of Course you can tell something's wrong| Mood: Emotional

龍 "There is so much hate that festers within your people, within the those that live in the city. I can't prove it, but I know the ones responsible for my village and my parents are behind the hate that I have been experiencing since coming to the city. I know they were responsible for that mob yesterday." he said, looking into the pool of water and then looking to Talon & his bondmate.

"But like I said, I can't really prove anything." he sighed, turning his gaze back to the water, continuing to blend the elements together. He listened to Talon as he pleaded to the Kathar to seek another way, to punish them, but allow them to still live. He was having a hard time trying to see another way to go about it.

His vengeance is what had been driving him for so long. Everyone battle with every interaction was just one tiny step closer to having his justice. Looking at the winged man once again, Hyo had tears building in his eyes but he fought them back, turning his eyes away once again as he spoke.

"I'm so close to finding them Talon, so close I can taste it. I don't think I could possibly turn down the chance to kill one of the five responsible if given the chance. It has become so entwined into my very being. Asking me to spare them is hard. What you are asking of me is not something I think I could do, at least not now."

Talon continued to speak of his father's past with revenge. Hyo remember his father was the Shokaze, he remembers the man he saw that day during the festival. He could see great power and strength in him, a strength to banish rather than kill. He began to think for a moment, of what he would do if he didn't kill them, how he would punish them to the same degree in which they caused him to suffer.

When Talon spoke of making the world a better place, to change it for the better, it caused his emotions to rile up again. "And how many innocent people have to suffer till then?!" he yelled, the icy platform cracking slightly. "Can your justice really be obtained while many still suffer? While we take our time one day at a time trying to change this cruel world what will you tell those who have already been suffering? What will you tell the citizens in your city, in the lower city who struggle, while we crawl to true justice."

He caught himself, as he could tell he was becoming heated, his fist clenching from the frustration. "You have not suffered, you have not had to wonder where your next meal will come from. You can't possibly think to change a cruel world without knowing or experiencing that cruelty yourself. I have to look over my shoulder now, not knowing who or when someone will attack me or challenge me to a duel to the death again."

For a moment the water around his platform was rippling, responding to the feeling of the Elementalist. Hyo had to calm himself, he knew this, Talon was still a prince after all. That and the way his Bondmate stood next to him, Hyo didn't want to make him think he would bring harm to the other Avialae. He just wanted someone to understand where he was coming from. Sitting back down onto the icy floor, he called to the water and began playing with it again.

For a moment he was quiet as he was blending the elements once again, dancing the wind and water together to form ice within the water in front of him. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell you. You and another, Rickter if I remember his name correctly, are among a small few who have shown me kindness." 龍

---

"Common Speech"
"Synskrit Speech"
"Self-Thoughts"

[Talon]

13 Glade 121

Talon listened to what Hyoga had to say. He could see the pain and hurt in the warrior in front of him. It did not take being a demigod to recognize that Hyoga had suffered. But he did not agree with the man’s assessment of his people. Nor would he stand idle while the man hurled accusations at him with the assumption that he was so ignorant of his people’s struggles. But he stood there. He waited patiently for the man to vent his anger and his frustrations. Beside him, he could feel his bondmate’s anger rising.

“How dare--” Talon gently placed a hand on Aoren’s forearm. He smoothed a thumb over the knotted muscles in his partner’s arm, urging him to calm down. Meeting his partner’s infernal gaze, he shook his head. He watched as the muscles in Aoren’s jaw flexed but his companion relented. Talon then turned his silver eyes upon Hyoga. He looked at the man calmly but with a sharp clarity.

“You are correct, Hyoga.” Talon’s voice was gentle as he spoke. “I have never had to wonder where my next meal is going to come from. My only fear was for the man who had to taste my food before I ate it. I recall clearly waiting with my breath held as I prayed desperately that this man would not meet the same horrible death as the one before him...or the one before that.”

Talon remembered the names of the food tasters who had died when he was a boy to protect him. He still visited their families when he could. He made sure that those left behind were as well taken care of as they would allow him. He understood their pain and anger but in time, they had come to welcome him as he mourned the passing of innocent lives just as they did. Talon continued.

“You are correct, Hyoga. I have never suffered in the way you have. I knew where I would lay my head at the close of every night. How I enjoyed my soft pillows and silk sheets. I would dream. Dream of the day I would not have to teach myself to sleep lightly, for fear I would miss the shift in the air that signaled the dagger ready to slit my throat as I rested.” The memories of waking up in the middle of the night to the sight of a figure in black hovering over him and the ensuing fight that followed were as clear as day for Talon. The attacks had not been frequent but when they had come, they had been well coordinated. Again, he made a point to provide for the families of those who had been injured or died in their vigilant watch to protect him. It was one of the reasons Talon had fought so hard to become both the warrior and sorcerer that he was in the present day.

“You are correct, Hyoga.” Talon leaned in, eyes narrowing as he looked upon the Kathar warrior with an almost cold anger. Talon was not angry at Hyoga. He was angered by the circumstance that forced him to confess these things and to bear further witness to the continued injustices around him.

“I do not face the trials of the common man. I do not have to worry about the leak in the roof. I only have to worry for the hundreds of thousands whose roofs need to be protected from the demons of the Warrens or the tyranny of Zaichaer or the Imperium. I only have to worry about the zealot who, in front of a crowded room, will turn himself into a monster and try to murder me in my own brother’s tavern.”

Talon was still haunted by the nightmares of the man who had tried to kill him in the Ash season. The poisoned drink that he had consumed, the wretched beast that the man had turned into. The way Talon had screamed in agony as his very bones felt as though they were on fire and he was stripped bare of all the gifts he had to protect himself. He remembered it well. He could never forget it.

“I do not face the trials of the common man, Hyoga, because I am not common. I never have been. I never will be. I will never pretend to be. But that does not mean I am incapable of understanding, of seeing the struggles that my people, our people face.” Talon shook his head as Hyoga apologized.

“I am kind because I know the value of kindness, my friend. Do you think I do not know who I am? I am the firstborn son of one of the seven Daizoku of Kalzasi. The heir to the reigning Shokaze. With a word I could change the lives of thousands to suit my whims.” Talon whipped a hand out, pointing a finger at one of the nearby trees at the edge of the lake. He sent a thread of his kinetic power rippling outward. The trunk of the tree exploded as the force of his unrestrained power smashed into it. “I am the son of one of the region’s most powerful sorceresses. With a thought I can shatter the bodies of my enemies or…”

Talon let out a breath, calming himself.

“Or I could use my gifts to build, to create and not destroy. I can use my privilege to advocate for others among my peers, to demand those who are loyal to my family’s banner to be custodians and servants of their people, not tyrants. Do not mistake my kindness for ignorance or my patience for apathy, Hyoga. I know what your struggles are, I might not face them, but I do understand them.”