Kavio
In the dead of night, Kavio woke up fast.
One moment, he was deep in sleep. The next, he sat up on his cot, fully alert. He didn't know what had woken him—a soft snick, a shuffle, something small. Then he tasted smoke. Not the warm kind from a hearth. This was harsh, gritty.
Then came the shouting. Then the loud crackle of a huge fire.
In an instant, Kavio jumped from his mat. His bow was already in his hand.
Warriors poured through the open gate. They were painted in yellow and white, wearing bear masks and fur capes.
Yellow Bear warriors!
The wall had not been broken. Someone inside the compound must have opened the gates. Both of them. That meant it was no accident.
"Kavio, you traitor!" Rthan shouted.
Four Yellow Bear warriors surrounded him. He knocked them away one after another and ran at Kavio, spear raised.
Kavio turned to face him. His bow was drawn.
Rthan's spear was also drawn back, ready to fly.
"Those are Yellow Bear warriors! You planned this!" Rthan screamed. "You used the peace offer as a trick to get deep into our lands! I knew something was wrong from the journey omen, you slippery eel!"
"I didn't let them in!" Kavio said.
His arrow stayed drawn. He was ready to shoot the moment Rthan threw his spear.
Then, a Yellow Bear warrior rushed Rthan from behind.
Rthan threw the spear. Kavio rolled aside just in time. Rthan's spear missed him by a hair and struck deep into the chest of the Yellow Bear warrior.
The attacker staggered toward Rthan, already dead. Rthan yanked the bloody spear from the man's chest. He kicked the body aside—
Only to see another warrior coming, larger, hairier, and uglier He wore a full bear pelt that dragged on the ground.
He thundered with heavy, rolling steps. His eyes shone bright gold behind the eyeholes of his mask.
Kavio's breath caught. This was no normal warrior.
He glowed with a bright Yellow aura. A pure Yellow. Not only was he a Yellow Morvae, with a single band of color in his—the halo around glowed so sun-bright it hurt to look at.
"Rthan, careful…!" Kavio warned.
"Cowards, all of you!" Rthan spat. He lunged with his spear.
The warrior didn't dodge.
He reared up. Too tall. Too fast. First, his bear mask cracked and peeled back. Then his whole body twisted and cracked. Muscles bulged. His jaw grew long like a snout. Fur burst from his skin.
The bear cloak wasn't just a costume. It was a warning...
Someone screamed—not Rthan.
"Bearling!" came the cry. "It's a Bear Shifter!"
The beast dropped to all fours with a thud. The ground shook.
It was twice the size of a man. Its fur was gold, thick like armor. Its breath came in hot clouds.
Then it charged.
Rthan bellowed and stabbed it in the chest.
The spear sank shallowly—then snapped like a twig in the creature's mouth.
The bear struck him a second later with one great paw.
Rthan flew backward, hit a wooden post, then dropped to the ground. He didn't move.
The Bearling reared again, mouth red with blood.
It gave a terrible roar—like a death-cry.
Then it charged again, straight toward Rthan's limp body.
Kavio loosed another arrow. It bounced off the bear's shoulder.
It didn't slow down.
Kavio had no more time. Rthan will die. Now. Unless—
Kavio jumped onto a boulder.
In one smooth move, he drew a third arrow.
The bear lowered its head to finish Rthan.
Kavio took aim. He fired.
The arrow flew fast, whistling through the fire-lit air.
It struck the Bearling between the eyes.
For a moment, there was silence.
Only the fire flickering.
Then the creature fell.
Its body hit the ground like a mountain. Blood spilled. Its last breath steamed into the dust.
Kavio stood frozen. He watched the bright Yellow aura fade to black.
Only then did he breathe again—and leap from the rock, arrow already nocked. The night was not over.
Rthan pushed himself out from behind the fallen bear.
He climbed over the body and faced Kavio.
"You saved my life?!" he shouted, like it was an insult.
"I told you—I knew nothing of this attack," Kavio said. "We were both betrayed."
The four warriors Rthan had knocked aside earlier returned.
Rthan hit one in the face with the back of his spear. On the way back, he stabbed another.
Kavio flipped a third over his back. The man didn't wake.
He kicked the fourth three times in a row. The warrior fell into a piss ditch.
"If you didn't plan this treachery, then who did?" Rthan asked.
Gremo ran out of the hut he had shared with Svego.
But his aura was clear—he had not caused this fire.
In the firelight, they both saw the truth.
Vultho.
He was shouting orders to the Yellow Bear warriors as they arrived.
"Kill the half-fae and the Blue Waters Zavaedi first!" Vultho barked. "Once they're dead, we can pick off the rest like lice from a cur!"
The bear-masked warriors charged at Kavio and Rthan.
Outnumbered, they had no choice but to stand back to back and fight.
Kavio shot more arrows before the warriors got too close. Then he had to switch to his obsidian dagger.
The enemy had spears. Kavio was at a disadvantage.
He spotted Brena. She was ready to fight too. But Kavio shouted to her, "Get the women and children out of here!"
Brena nodded and turned around.
She began gathering the screaming people of Jumping Rock. She led them toward the docks and the boats.
But before they could reach the canoes, a wall of fire roared up.
"We cannot pass!" Brena shouted.
Rthan raised his hands to the sky. He shouted terrible words that made no sense.
From the river, Blue fae leapt into the air.
They dragged water with them in great sheets.
The wave washed over the docks, the fire, and the houses.
It even soaked the fleeing people.
But after the wave passed, they cheered.
Brena rushed to get them into the boats.