Birdy exuded fear as he landed on Revin’s shoulder. Revin sent feelings of calm as he searched Birdy’s memories for what had disturbed him.

A strong scent of blood.

He gripped the reigns of his gallimai. He could feel frozen blood on his hands. No thought. Blank. He closed his eyes, pressing tightly into his face, trying to retrieve his train of thought.

“What’s wrong?” Omrai said. Revin jumped in response. He looked at Omrai. The man’s brow was knitted in concern.

“Birdy smells blood.”

Omrai whistled softly, the soldiers looked at him.

“Stego tail formation,” he whispered, “ now .”

They moved in, gathering in a circle, drawing rifles, swords, and spears. They each faced outward, the soldier guiding the ceratop turned it to watch the trail behind them. Revin, Shifra, and Kaiato were moved into the circle.

“What’s going on?” Shifra said, pulling a small shield and a spear off her gallimai.

Omrai shushed her, then turned to Revin. “Have your archaeopteryx fly above again,” Omrai said firmly. “Be our eyes.”

On his command, Birdy reluctantly flew high above the group. He fluttered around, looking and sniffing. Despite his fear, Revin had him fly in wider and wider circles. When Birdy was near the rear of the group, he smelled the scent of blood again, and his terror peaked. Revin felt it as well but was able to force out a few words through it. “Behind us!”

The ground pounded and branches crackled, the sounds coming closer.

I need to stay away from dangerous forests, he thought.

“Aim, rear flank!” Omrai said, eyes wide.

Several sets of heavy footprints approached. Revin looked at Omrai, whose surprise had disappeared, and he held his own gun, aimed behind them.

“Fire!” Omrai shouted.

Just as the men fired, a half-dozen creatures burst out of the trees, their bodies long and sinuous, covered in starkly red and orange feathers. They stood at least ten feet tall, their narrow faces snarked with sharp teeth and their vicious-clawed hands ready to tear flesh.

Two were hit and fell to the earth with puffs of blood. Revin screamed as one leaped onto the ceratop’s face, cutting a bloody scratch across its shield. The ceratop threw it to the side with a honk of pain.

Another moved as if to kick a soldier, its single long, curved claw on its foot scraping the man’s breastplate without piercing but left a bleeding gash in his arm.

His mount, however, was not so lucky. The attacking beast bit into the gallimai’s neck. It squealed and was pulled to the ground, rider tumbling down with it. In a flash another beast hopped onto the man. He screamed as he was torn apart.

Revin turned away, bile rising in his throat.

Omrai jumped off his gallimai, landing on the ground with a thud, drawing a sword and his spear tip.

“Keep my daughter safe!” he shouted to his men.

One of the beasts went for Omrai’s head, but he ducked just in time. He jumped forward, swinging his sword up and slicing the jugular of the feathered monster above. It screeched and fell, bright blood spraying the dark trail.

Revin heard screeches from ahead. Three more creatures ran down the road. A soldier shot one in the shoulder. It jerked but didn’t stop.

It charged right at Revin.

Revin’s heart jumped in his throat.

“Duck!” Kaiato yelled. Revin ducked and looked. Kaiato breathed slowly, looking bizarrely calm. He squeezed the trigger and Revin heard the loud pop of gunfire.

Revin looked back to the beasts. One was sprawled on the trail, twitching and spraying blood from its head. The other two tripped over it.

A man to Revin’s left was snatched from his mount by a leaping beast, tackled to the ground in a flurry of feathers, teeth, and claws.

He wanted to run. But there was no direction he could go. Forests to either side. Beasts in front and behind.

Revin looked back to Omrai. Blood coated the right side of his armor, and two beasts lay on the ground, their blood pooling at his feet. But the creatures exuded less rage and more caution. This prey bit back.

One beast moved past its fellows and moved in toward Shifra. Her shield went up and with a shout she rammed her spear into its shoulder, halting its snapping jaws inches from her gallimai’s face.

Revin looked around in a panic. I’ve got to do something!

A moment of focus gave him an idea. On his command, Birdy swooped down and tried to rake the beast’s eye before it could get Shifra. Birdy missed but flew off with a bit of torn flesh and feathers as the beast snapped angrily.

The beast turned back to Shifra, snarling, blood dripping over its eye. Kaiato jabbed at it with his rifle, but still, it snapped at her, the spear in its shoulder holding it back. The spear was bending, and Shifra grunted with the intense effort.

Shifra would either lose her grip or get pushed off her mount any moment now. He felt like an idiot when the idea came. It was crazy. Dangerous. So, he did it.

He jumped from off his gallimai and onto the attacking beast’s neck.

He grabbed a handful of thick feathers. It thrashed and backed away from Shifra, jerking as the spear disconnected. He cursed himself again for not wearing his mastersuit but managed to hold on long enough to reach into its mind.

This beast’s mind felt nothing like Avey’s. More like Birdy or Blackfire. Fierce intelligence and a primal, ravenous, rage. The beast was smart, but it was starving.

He tried to wrap his will around the beast’s, force his mind in, but the creature pushed and rejected his control.

“I’ve got you now!” he shouted. His eyes opened for a moment. It was backing away from the group, failing to grab him with its claws and mouth.

He tightened his will into stronger cords and lassoed its mind again, pushing harder than he ever had before. Just when he thought he’d won, its mind and body bucked, shattering his mental shackles as he forged them and tossing him off its back.

His eyes opened and he yelled, flying, and landing hard.

Sharp pain blossomed in his chest and his shoulder burned with a new pain at the impact. He looked up, and the beast glared, jaw agape and drooling. Another beast pushed it aside, trying to reach Revin first.

Revin backed up to a tree and rolled to the side when a clawed foot struck the ground next to him. He heard a low growling behind him and looked over his shoulder. Another beast glared through the branches, teeth bared. A shiver went down Revin’s spine as he felt a cool rush of twitching energy.

Just as it opened its mouth the side of its head exploded, spraying Revin’s face with blood and bone. Revin let out a gasping breath, tasting copper in his mouth.

Kaiato held a smoking rifle. Several of the soldiers tossed small balls at the remaining raptors. The balls exploded with a loud bang and a flash of light. Revin’s ears rang and his vision was filled with blinding whiteness. He reached out frantically, trying to figure out what was happening.

His vision slowly returned, and his hearing even slower. One beast feasted ravenously on a gallimai and Omrai struck. It collapsed to the ground, cutting the tendons at the beast’s legs. It screeched in agony and collapsed, writhing. Omrai frowned and struck again, slicing at the back of its neck. Blood and feathers scattered.

The beast twitched briefly then fell limp, its spine severed.

The last remaining beast was gored by the ceratop. Revin found himself breathing slow, gasping breaths. The trail around the corpses was transitioning from the bright red of blood to a dark maroon as the dirt drank deeply.

Several soldiers leaped from their mounts and approached Revin, taking his arms and helping him up.

“Are you all right?” one said.

“Yes,” Revin said. “Go help the others.”

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Shifra was breathing hard, Kaiato reloaded quickly and aimed his rifle at the trees, keeping his gallimai at Shifra’s side.

The soldiers went to the first soldier who’d been grabbed. He sat on the ground. His helmet and breastplate bore many scratches, but apart from the vicious gash in his arm, he looked alright.

Revin looked back to Omrai. He stood over a dead gallimai. With effort Revin stood and approached. He saw the man who’d been tackled from his mount. Revin looked away, sour bile threatening to erupt. He rubbed his eyes, trying to push out the images.

“What were those?” Revin said.

“Yutaraptors,” Shifra said, she let out a shuddering breath. Revin looked at her.

“Yutaraptors rarely attack armed humans,” Omrai said, tapping his musket. “They fear the gun.”

“They shouldn’t be this far west,” Shifra said.

“They were starving,” Revin said, remembering the desperate hunger, “I felt it.”

Omrai nodded.

“What is happening?” Shifra shook her head in confusion.

“I said you shouldn’t come,” Omrai said, a mixture of anger and fear on his face.

Shifra took a deep breath, composing herself. “I can take my own risks.”

Omrai let out an angry sigh and turned away.

“Something’s very wrong if they were willing to do this,” Shifra said, “I’m sure we’re not the only ones that have been attacked.”

Omrai nodded stiffly. He turned to Revin. “You attempted to master one.”

Revin nodded.

“So?”

“It didn’t work, their minds are resilient,” Revin said, “I was also trying not to die.”

Omrai frowned. “We’ll try again later.”

He turned to his men. “Bury the dead, tend your wounds. We need to get to the mountain pass before nightfall.”

“Why?” Revin said.

“Because if the carnivores’ patterns are off,” Shifra said, “then it’ll be hard to guess what they’ll do next.”

“Could Jebuthar’s invasion have anything to do with it?” Omrai said.

Shifra frowned. “Maybe, those flying ships could cause all sorts of chaos.”

Birdy landed on Revin’s shoulder, breathing even harder than Revin. Revin tried to send comfort, but he didn’t have much to spare. His own hands trembled, and his heart pounded. Nausea threatened to overtake him again.

Omrai knelt at the dead man’s side, muttering a quiet prayer. Revin turned away, his vision filled with more gore and corpses.

And this time, when the desire to vomit came, he couldn’t stop it.

✦✦✦

Revin closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

He drew his sword, swung it around in what he hoped were the moves Ismander had shown him. He tried to relax, but memories of his clumsy attempts to master the yutaraptor… made him furious. Back on the Hiriv island, learning the scriptures came easy, and mastering animals more so. But here, he constantly found himself out of his depth. He couldn’t even swing this stupid metal stick without looking like a clumsy child. He tripped again as he tried to remember the footwork.

Almost every part of him bore some degree of pain. He did his best to meditate, to ignore it. Ignoring the physical pain only made the mental more obvious.

“You’ve got… decent form,” Kaiato said. Revin turned. Kaiato leaned against a tree. The soldiers were still burying the dead men but were leaving the gallimai. Revin was just far enough away to be out of earshot.

Revin swung his sword again, “Thanks, but you’re a bad liar.”

He struggled to remember more, hoping to look impressive. Little came to mind, so he repeated the few basics he half-remembered.

“So, you couldn’t master a yutaraptor?” Kaiato said.

Revin tightened his grip. “Nope.”

“Why?” Kaiato said, “You’ve mastered ceratops, ankylos, those are bigger than yutaraptors.”

“I don’t think it’s size,” Revin said, swinging again. “It’s intelligence. Will. And these carnivores are much smarter than anything I’ve mastered before.”

Kaiato nodded. “If these are so smart, how will you master a metal warrior smart enough to use weapons?”

Revin stopped swinging. He let out a sigh of frustration. “I didn’t think of that.”

“Unless we figured out, we don’t stand a chance.”

“I just don’t get it,” Revin said, sheathing his sword with an angry snap, the sheath making a quiet, woody noise, “I mean, my father and the other high priests said I had potential just like Narazoth. But if that’s true, I don’t know why I’m having such a hard time.”

“He’s had a lot more practice,” Kaiato said.

Revin shrugged. “I don’t know. Before he even left the Hiriv, he’d mastered dozens of beasts. Maybe he was always stronger than me.”

Kaiato shrugged, “There are many philosophies of how to deal with beasts, Johuto always debated which were best.”

Revin shook his head. “People keep asking me that. I don’t know any other way!”

When he didn’t respond, Revin looked at Kaiato. He frowned. Revin realized his own selfishness.

“You miss her, don’t you?”

Kaiato nodded. “She’s the only family I have left.”

Revin sat on the grass. “What happened to the rest?”

After a moment’s hesitation, he too sat.

“Virtue, do you know this word in the Hiriv?”

Revin nodded, “Yes, yes we do. It is one of the values we live by.”

“In my country, men die for virtue. To us, it means worth. Or respect. Since death is inevitable, we accept it coming, and we devote ourselves to dying for what’s right rather than choose wrong to stay alive.”

He closed his eyes and let out a slow breath. “My father died in defense of my country, and my mother died of sickness when I was still young. All I had left was my sister, the greatest carnofighter Koyeji has ever seen.”

Kaiato opened them again, “I was accused of assassination, but my sister and I disobeyed our leaders’ command. We took virtue upon ourselves. I fled. My sister had encouraged me, yes, but I fled. I did not accept the inevitability of death, and chose selfishness, to defy my lords, to avoid it.”

He frowned, “And now, I stand here, helping my nation’s enemy, I feel this is the ultimate notion of anti-virtue.”

Kaiato’s bottom lip and chin trembled, and his eyes grew glassy, “The worst part is, I don’t care. If I had any virtue, I would take my own life.”

“What?” Revin said, “That’s not virtue. That’s giving up.”

Kaiato flashed with momentary anger which faded quickly.

“Then, you know nothing of virtue,” Kaiato said.

“Really?” Revin said, “I disobeyed my father to honor him. What worth is virtue if it leads you to do wrong? To let my people be conquered? No, Kaiato, I think I know plenty about virtue.”

Kaiato didn’t look convinced. “Well, I should have stayed. But… I just think Johuto couldn’t stand to lose any more family. I barely had time to argue as she rushed me out of the city. And once I had a moment to think, I didn’t want to return. I disrespected the laws of my country and the wishes of my lords.”

“You know,” Revin said, “Maybe there are greater things to serve then laws and lords.”

Kaiato cocked his head. “Like what?”

Revin shrugged. “Maybe your gods?”

“My gods are not as benevolent as yours.”

“Well, maybe there’s something more important anyway. A principle, a philosophy. The only way our world will survive is if the nations work together, if they quit killing each other in the name of king and country.”

Kaiato’s brow furrowed in thought, then he nodded slowly. “Maybe you have something, maybe Ateya could work with Koyeji against Jebuthar.”

Revin looked up at the clouds. “Now wouldn’t that be something.”

Kaiato looked also. “I hope Koyeji has rejected Jebuthar. Since you told me that the messenger mentioned they were in talks, I haven’t stopped worrying.”

Revin put his hand on Kaiato’s shoulder, “If we stop him here, he won’t be able to get to either of our homelands.” Revin smiled.

Kaiato nodded, cracking a faint, hopeful smile. “I hope you’re right.”