The Cor Chronicles: Volume 02 - Fire and Steel by Martin V. Parece II Page A

use for each other ever since a recent incident, and it put Cor in an aggravating position of balancing the two and their idiosyncratic personalities. Generally, he thought it would be best if they stayed away from each other.
    In very little time Rael made it clear that he disapproved of Thyss’ very presence. He considered her a distraction and said that she would only disrupt Cor’s attempts to rebuild the Dahken. The older Dahken said that like all women, she was too prone to emotional outbursts, especially since she mirrored the mannerisms of irrational and unpredictable gods. Thyss took exception to his comments to say the least.
    “Once you have gotten everything you want from him, you will leave. And what will you leave him with?” Rael had said. “You are just another whore.”
    Thyss had drawn steel in a practiced move meant to take Rael’s head clean off. A seasoned warrior, the Dahken avoided the maneuver, and the two set to fighting in earnest. They would not listen to Cor’s shouts for peace, and he had to insert himself between his companion’s blades to make them stop. Rael was stoic and seemingly emotionless, but his jaw was set and his eyes hard as steel. Thyss seethed, and Cor knew she restrained herself with only the greatest effort.
    “Rael will watch the wagging of his tongue, or I will burn it to a crisp within his mouth,” Thyss growled. She sheathed her sword and stalked away angrily. Rael merely nodded quietly under Cor’s angry glare and went his own way.
    As he ran through the halls, Cor’s mind raced as to what could cause Keth to behave so; the boy was only a few years younger than he and always very respectful. It simply must be bad. Rael gathered all of the Dahken, even the small children, early in the morning to practice fighting and help them learn to feel their blood. It had been slow going; none of them seemed to be able to tap into it as easily as Cor had, but Rael had said that was normal. Rael seemed generally unconcerned.
    Except with Geoff. Keth and Geoff were the two eldest, and Keth seemed to be learning at a pace that satisfied Rael. Geoff on the other hand had been completely unable to accomplish anything, and he was a fairly poor fighter. As he ran through the palace toward the practice grounds, Cor genuinely feared the boy had been seriously hurt or worse.
    The practice grounds consisted of a large flat area, open to the sky, but wholly contained within the palace. Only the Queen’s Guard, the elite of Aquis’ warriors, practiced here typically, but Queen Erella had made an exception for Cor’s Dahken. It suited their needs, but no doubt helped her to keep an eye on them. The grounds were roughly fifty yards across and over two hundred wide with archery targets at one end. There were also several rows of practice dummies, really just tunics stuffed with straw and stuck on a stake in the ground; they reminded Cor of limbless scarecrows. Racks of weapons were scattered about the grounds, many containing real, battle ready items, while others held wooden practice swords, blunted arrows and the like.
    At the far side he saw the Dahken gathered in an area bounded on either side by two racks of weapons, both live and practice. All of the children save one hid from the disturbing scene, watching from behind the weapon racks. Cor could see Geoff on the ground unmoving, and Rael stood perhaps twenty feet away with his sword and shield readied. Between the still Geoff and battle ready Rael stood a thing the likes of which Cor had neither ever seen, nor even imagined.
    The thing was easily seven feet tall, towering over any of the Dahken including Rael and Cor. It was relatively lanky in appearance, but nothing like a Loszian; it was thin of limb and body, but not stretched and narrow. The monster, for Cor could think of no other word for it, had no muscles of any kind that he could discern, nor joints, nor even a face. Cor could make out no fingers or toes, and it had no ears