Chapter 2

W ith no warning, the Klós cadets ceased their cheering.

It took a beat for Kaxim to notice.

Mid-air leap, his lodestone pulsed an alarm,

He reacted, banking hard and rolling.

Kaadin was so focused on the chase that catching on took longer.

He was still caught in the thrill, not maneuvering for a sudden stop during flight.

Kaxim growled a curse and reacted. Rolling upside down and pulling as hard as he could on his rachís was the only thing that kept the two Sāb?r hawks from colliding.

The kínduna wheeled to a halt, as did his protege, who’d finally got the message.

The Klós commander locked eyes on his warriors hovering in the skies just below him.

Their eyes were fixed behind him, dilated with shock.

His heart lurched even as he wheeled around.

What in hotdamnfokkinhellandfeathers was this?

The sight that greeted him delivered a kick to his gut.

A vermilion phoenix hovered mid-air, its vast coquelicot feathers in a vibrant red-orange and gold hue shifting and shimmering in the sun.

The wind whipped through its bright crimson plumes, giving off runes of ancient energy and unspoken magic.

The kríffin was a living tapestry of fiery splendor, a being of sublime beauty and power. Its feathers glinted like jewels, and its wings were ablaze with the colors of a blazing sunset. At that moment, it appeared to embody all of nature’s awe-inspiring magnificence, a creature beyond imagination or comprehension.

Also, unmistakably female, from the gentle curves along its sleek body.

He growled.

His rumble of caution was picked up in an instant by his kujāas . Their pinions unfurled, and in seconds, they swarmed the intruder.

They circled her so fast she was trapped in a flurry and flutter of slicing feathers and foreboding claws.

But the kríffin lifted their head, undaunted.

She raised her wings, and they shot bolts of flames, her potent embers keeping her attackers at bay.

‘Marauders, you need to leave. Get away from here.’

The voice was a throaty whisper that sent an instant jolt and lurch through the commander.

The bolt that ran through him was so potent he shivered in its wake.

Fokk, if he never heard that husky utterance again, he’d go through severe withdrawals.

‘No one tells the elite Sāb?r Hawks of Katánē, the most superior of the Katánian soldiers, what to do.’

The defiant statement came from Kaadin, whose feathers ruffled as he positioned himself next to his mentor, a growl rumbling in his throat.

In response to his challenge, the crimson creature’s form shifted and elongated, its claws extending into razor-sharp talons that gleamed in the sunlight.

‘Fokk, simmer down, Kaadin,’ Kaxim cursed under his breath, bracing. ‘We don’t need bloodshed right now.’

The grated, hoarse rasp came from the chimeric winged creature, with chiseled eagle edges and the build of a gigantic lion.

‘You are a Krypós Gyrfalcon,’ she breathed, for he was even more magnificent up close.

His lethal-looking claws and feathers undulated as he half-transmuted.

To reveal the features she’d become familiar with now.

Immense, menacing, dark.

He was jacked up, his impressive muscles rippling with immense power.

Even though he was hovering mid-air, she could tell he was a giant and thick as a tree. His chest and shoulder snaked above his trews were broad and unmistakably ripped.

Under his lined skin, which told of experience, combat, and war, he sported high cheekbones, a sculpted square jaw, and a protruding brow.

His nose was broken, his full lips lush.

His face also bore witness to a long gone battle, with a talon scrape down his right cheek, adding to the menace coming off him in waves.

The picture he painted was that of a wild, unruly warrior, sinister to the core.

Except for his eyes, which were deep emerald and enigma jade orbs.

Freakin’ beautiful, when framed by his extended, inky lashes, standing out in his scarred face with breathtaking clarity.

He put them to good use to glower at her. The scorching gaze sent a chill down her spine, freezing her limbs.

His frontal shot of sable and silver locks fell over his temple, and his glowing lodestone contrasted with his shorn-shaven sides.

His koyas , five of them, extended from the nape of his neck to his thumping chest.

She clenched her fists as a wild urge came upon her to stroke them, him.

He angled his rachís forward, and her breath hitched.

His thick, hefty body rippled with power under his tight, dark half-suit. ‘My name is Kaxim, and my hunter moniker is Sky Ash. I’m the k í nduna Commander of the elite Ka ?? m ? ?r? Sāb?r Hawk Hunters of the Kain?s Katánē Army. Speak to me, and I’ll address your complaint.’

His sinister raptor-like alertness gave off intense gryphon energy.

He smoldered at her, arms crossed over his massive chest, waiting for her response.

He was a giant, towering over her like an outsized demigod. His craggy face was handsome and chiseled, yet possessed an eagle-like menace.

She couldn’t take her eyes off him and the unusual lodestone with jade brilliance that pulsed at the center of his forehead.

He jerked his chin at her, prodding her.

‘You need to leave,’ she repeated once more

He raised a brow. ‘Whatever the fokk for?’

She took in an inhale and braced herself. ‘You’re noisy, loud, your freakin’ warriors whoop day and night, howling in the bivouacs into the early hours of the morning. Dancing, drinking, singing lewd songs that carry across the water to my home.’

As she said each word, the lead warrior’s superciliary arch rose with increasing incredulity.

‘Is that right? We’d no idea there was anyone else out here in bumfokknowhere ,’ he grated.

The crimson creature, its eyes ablaze with fiery intensity, stared at Kaxim with an unyielding gaze.

‘Ignorance is not an excuse for your intrusion,’ it whispered, its voice an alluring melody that sent shivers down Kaxim’s spine. ‘This land is not yours to desecrate with your reckless revelry and warfare training.’

She bristled as she spoke, causing her feathers to spark and hinting at her spirited nature.

Kaxim tracked the flaming-out scintilla with a raised brow.

‘A true kríffin phoenix, one who wields the power of destruction in their wings. Rare as fokk, too. None of you have been seen alive for centuries. Except for the one who tried to kill the Kíríga on Mount Karth. That you?’

The Klós cadets below had fallen silent, their brows cocked in wonder and curiosity at the unexpected visitor and the heated snark between her and their commander.

The kríffin tossed its scarlet krest . ‘I’m not going to get pulled into a debate about the accusations you level at me when you are the ones who’ve invaded my space.’

‘Care to show your face as we deliberate?’ Kaxim growled, hinting at no compromise.

For a beat, the stunning being slow-blinked.

Then its coquelicot wings stretched out, each feather glowing with a vibrant vermilion, orange, and gold hue that shifted and shimmered in the sun.

With one final crackle of a fireball and a flick of her wing, flames shot out from the end of her rachís . Engulfing her kríffin form in a blaze.

Its feathers melted away into a swirling inferno that danced around its silhouette like ribbons.

Revealing a vision that got his heart lurching into overdrive.

Fokk. She was a beauty.

Her hair was an intense shade of crimson, cascading down her back in wild waves.

Her wings had transmuted into a delicate translucence that shimmered with threads of light. Her íkan wove around her in tendrils of gold that swirled in intricate patterns on her skin with an otherworldly glow.

His entire body bucked as he stared into her eyes, flashing with an amber glint, deep copper tones, and gold highlights that seemed to hold the wisdom of ages.

Lowering his timbre, he adjusted a rachís to cover up his tumescent reaction to her. ‘We are in training as protectors of the realm.’

‘We mean no harm,’ he rasped, even as his gaze traced her beauty. Still mesmerized.

He fokkin’ hoped he wasn’t staring at her like a fresh-faced drongo.

Her ruby eyes blazed with a fiery intensity as she spoke, resonating with power that sent shivers down Kaxim’s spine. ‘Let’s be clear: your territory is over that side of the river. The Ilki territory is here. Ignorance is not an excuse for disrupting the peace,’ she murmured. ‘You have trespassed upon our land, and now I ask you to return to where you came from.’

A sense of unease crept over Kaxim, a primal instinct warning him of an uncertain danger. The Klós cadets below were silent, their earlier exuberance replaced by the same tense anticipation he felt.

‘Leave now.’

‘What if we keep the clamor down?’ he offered.

‘It won’t be enough -’

Her words were snatched away

By a thrumming roar. A screeching, howling, raging storm of chaos.

It approached him in a khaboob of a whistling cyclone, spinning sediment and boulders flung into a tempest.

His heart pounded in his chest as the impossible unfurled before his eyes.

Creatures, unlike anything he had ever seen, emerged from the swirling mess. A flock of them covered in iridescent jewel colors that reflected all available light.

Out of instinct, he put out a hand and held the woman back.

Their attackers had elaborate flank plumes, six flag-tipped long, lustrous barbs projecting back from their heads, and glowing head streamers with an enameled appearance.

Although glossy, their forms were immense, beaks and talons chromed with menace and eyes parsing with radiance. They were a macabre fusion of beauty and feral intensity.

They were chasing after the woman.

His breath hitched.

With a gasp and a terrified look, the woman veered away.

And fled.

She took off, wheeling as her pursuers dived for her.

Reaching to her nape, she tugged out a pair of crimson koyas. Each elongated into lean and shaped into sleek arrows, shimmering with ancient runes that danced and shifted like living embers.

She launched them at her attackers, but they missed them, falling to the planet’s surface.

The air around the woman, and indeed up into the prismatic sky, was charged. With gold and sable cinders and end trails of flames, the latter swallowed by the former in a beautiful war of elements and light.

The flock of wild-colored creatures led by a single ebony-winged creature roared, drowning out the winds and charging at the woman.

With a roar, Kaxim leaped forth as he soared towards the colossal avifauna, sparring with driven intensity. It was a desperate move, but he had no other choice.

Her life and safety depended on it.

He turned back and snarled at his kízínduna kujāas . ‘Get in the fokkin’ fray!’

A burst of energy arced from her pursuers’ rainbow-hued koyas and landed over her.

It was like she’d been hit with a series of shocks.

Without warning, the woman’s body shook with violence, and feathers distended in a dazzling array of colors, the air around her crackling with lightning.

He reached out with a roar, but it was too late.

She erupted in a brilliant flare of light and color.

Streams of golden rays shot out from her, engulfing her as she exploded into hundreds of iridescent feathers and a thousand SH?rds that scattered and drifted away in the evening breeze.

He reeled midair, his heart pounding in his chest.

She was gone, vanished back into the skies like a fleeting dream.

The strange creatures that had been giving chase wheeled to stop, staring at him.

He snarled at them, then turned to his Sāb?r Hawk kujāas . ‘After them warriors.’

It was all they needed to hear.

With roars and shrieks, his soldiers transmuted into their chromed avifauna forms and charged.

The enemy screeched and hissed before they high-tailed it, zipping through the air so fast they seemed to flit through the interstices of space itself.

Far off in the distance, his Sāb?r Hawks cadets were giving chase to the wild-hued attackers. He stared at them, then at the skies around him, his mind unable to grapple with what he’d witnessed.

He was so lost in wonder that he almost missed the crackle of energy through the sky.

All of a sudden, a lightning bolt arced out of nowhere, splitting through the firmament close by him.

He darted away, his wings beating as more electrified strikes hit the spot he’d just hovered over.

Then another and another.

Strands of íkan formed in the erupting atmosphere in a string of tiny, building explosions.

Kaxim’s mind just about blew as the elemental k?tu formed the tender rebirth of a crimson-tinged feather.

In seconds, it was joined by another plume and more until they formed wing by wing.

Vibrant scarlet, copper, and gold feathers materialized, glowing with an electric potency. Each quill emerged with a crackle of mesmerizing thunderbolts.

The form of the kríffin phoenix began to come together, its coquelicot wings growing in size and radiance as if infused with new life. A faint smell of ozone filled the ambiance, a remnant of the energy sparking its resurrection.

More crimson rachís formed, each with a flash of vivid, deep red glory.

Utter disbelief swept over him as Kaxim witnessed the woman’s rebirth, re-emerging in all her glorious kríffin resplendence.

When she finally floated before him, relief hit so hard that his knees weakened.

Her hands crossed her chest, and her eyes closed in supplication.

Raking his hungry gaze over her resurrected shape, he huffed.

He tracked to her and stared down at her bristling. ‘Damn, woman, I thought your kemí was up,’ he rasped, blood pounding in his ears even as his admiration for her grew at her complete mastery over fire, even using it to shapeshift.

Her eyes flew open and locked with his.

She lifted a hand and placed it on his arm, staying within the circle of his wings. Her gaze tilted up at him, her lips soft, and her mouth half parted.

He was hit with a surge of desire, muscles locking, cock hardening to diamond rigidity.

Time contracted, senses surged, and awareness heightened.

A wild, unbidden thought went through him as he stared down at her.

Damn, it was like his entire existence was distilled to this moment, to her, like she was his past, present and future.

‘What the fokk? Where did you go?’ he growled at her, heart still pounding at her flaming loss.

‘Where my enemies sent me.’ Her voice was more raw and husky.

A gust of wind whipped through the air, stirring their hair.

The tension crackled like lightning in the charged aura, their eyes locked in a transcendent connection.

She tilted her head, a ghost of a smile playing on her lips as if she could read his every thought.

A rush of desire mingled with a primal instinct to protect her at all costs.

The moment stretched on, each heartbeat echoing in the space between them.

And then, without warning, she broke the spell. With a swift movement, she touched his cheek, her fingers cool against his skin. A jolt of electricity shot through him at her touch, sending shivers down his spine.

‘You thought you’d seen the last of me,’ she murmured, her voice barely above a whisper. ‘But I always rise from the ashes.’

‘Always?’

‘And forever.’

The world seemed to narrow to just the two of them, caught in a surreal and inevitable moment.

‘Your name?’ he demanded in a rough growl.

A flicker of an unreadable emotion crossed her face. ‘Ke’Liana. Most call me Liana.’

The appellation settled in his soul like warm liquid honey.

As they stood there, locked in a silent exchange, a faint smile tugged at the corner of the kríffin’s lips. Her gaze held a depth that spoke of experiences far beyond his imagination. There was a wisdom in her eyes, a knowledge that seemed to transcend time.

Kaxim found himself drawn to her, his eyes searching hers for answers he didn’t even know he was seeking.

In that fleeting moment, everything else faded into the background—the kujāas , the camp, and even the looming threat of danger from their surroundings.

She cleared her throat, breaking through the spellbinding silence and snapping Kaxim back to reality. ‘That’s the other reason you need to leave,’ she murmured with a small smile. You’re going to get me killed over and over again.’

His brow lifted. He tilted his head and huffed, his lips curled and upturned. ‘Does this mean I’ll get to see you over and over again?’

When her eyes dilated, he chuckled, a deep bellow that surprised him.

Kaxim was not a laughing man but a battle-hardened warrior who’d found women in his past a hindrance to his badass bachelor lifestyle.

He’d also led a rebel army for years, planning skirmishes in the Badlands of Pegasi.

There had been no time for romance.

But fokk, the woman in front of him was dragging him and his heart into territory he’d never fathomed before—in the space of a few minutes.

Sobering up, he gazed at her, staring into her soul through her amber eyes.

Wading, falling, tumbling into the crimson-tinged crevices of the unknown.

Without warning, her vibrant scarlet and gold wings began to beat on her back, the coquelicot glowing with a mystical íkan radiance.

‘I must go where they can’t find me.’

She locked eyes with him; her lips curved up in a sad smile.

Then, she vanished with a sudden crack of thunder and a flash of bright lightning.

Leaving behind a single scarlet and copper-burnished quill.

He reached for it, snatched it from the sky, and pulled it on instinct to his face.

He breathed in her ka’s essence, a perfume of ozone, flames, and the sweet, unexpected scent of blossoms.

Kaxim turned around slowly, eyes alert, looking for any sign of Liana.

He hovered midair, lost in shock and the sense of massive loss.

What the fokk? Where was she?

Was she caught up in an otherworldly realm or locked in a terrible nightmare?

No answers were forthcoming.

Instead, all that was left was the lingering fragrance of her lifeblood and searing energy.

Her haunting melodic voice and the heat and light of her potency.

Which washed over him in a breathtaking display of pure energy and exquisite magnificence, igniting him and leaving an aching chasm behind.

At that moment, he understood he would never breathe the same.

He growled, hating the sensation, the weakness that flooded him, how it wormed under his rugged and unyielding spirit.

Fokk!