Kavio
Kavio finally found the simplest way to make the Yellow Bear warriors believe him.
He kicked his guards in the chins, shins, and bellies—then ran straight toward the Tor of the Stone Hedge.
They chased after him, shouting.
Now they blew their ram's horns, alerting more warriors. Fighters poured in from the Tor of the Sun and the Tor of the Moon.
By the time they all reached the hilltop, a full warband had formed. They burst over the rim of the tor—
—and skidded to a stop.
They had expected to catch one man. Instead, they found an enemy camp.
The Blue Waters warriors were caught off guard. They had been focused on torturing prisoners. They didn't expect a battle.
The Yellow Bear fighters were faster to act. When they saw their honored Tavaedies suffering, they flew into a rage.
Screaming with fury, they attacked. Stone clubs smashed enemy skulls. The grass between the standing stones turned slick with blood and brains.
Kavio saw their chaos. With better planning, they could have won even faster. Still, raw anger was working.
And now it was his turn.
Last time he had stood on this tor, he had been a sacrifice. Kneeling in mud, with an obsidian knife to his throat. His father had allowed the Yellow Bear chief, Hertio, to kill him to pay a deathdebt.
He had remembered the taste of sweet onions from his last meal. The feel of a beetle crawling up his leg as he waited for the blade.
Now, he could fight.
And fight he did. His dancing flips and spins became deadly moves. Even the enemy Tavaedies, trained warriors, couldn't match his speed.
The tall stone slabs became his stage. He ran up them, flipped over heads, struck from above. Again and again, he moved faster than they could follow.
His body, once muddy, was now covered in blood—not his own.
While fighting, he also freed as many prisoners as he could. He took a fallen axe from a Blue Waters warrior who was missing an arm.
Then he came to a naked woman tied to a stone.
He paused.
He knew her—though they had never met.
Zavaedi Brena. The one who had warned Dindi not to trust him.
Her eyes widened when she saw him.
"Traitor!" she cried. "Exile! Were you helping them all along?"
Kavio ignored the insult. He raised the axe. She flinched—but he cut her free.
She fell into the grass, confused.
Still, when he bent to help her up, she pointed past him.
"Watch out!"
He rolled aside—just in time.
A massive warrior's blow missed him by inches.
Rthan.
Kavio didn't speak. He kicked for Rthan's throat, but the big man moved fast. He grabbed Kavio's ankle and slammed him into the mud.
Kavio bounced back with a push-kick and flipped away. Rthan came up swinging. The fight began in full.
Blow for blow. Kick for kick. Spin, strike, dodge. They were matched.
Around them, the battle was over. Only they still fought. A ring of Yellow Bear warriors stood watching.
Rthan saw he was surrounded, but he didn't stop. He attacked harder.
Kavio signaled to the others to let him finish this fight alone. They agreed.
Then, a twist of fate. Rthan's ankle caught on a severed arm.
Kavio saw his chance.
He grabbed a fallen spear and dove, aiming for Rthan's chest.
Rthan saw death coming. He spread his arms and roared a welcome to Lady Death—
—but the spear never hit.
A wooden mask slammed into Rthan's skull from behind.
He fell like a tree.
Kavio landed, blinking in surprise.
He turned.
Zavaedi Brena held the mask.
"I think you saved his life," he said.
"Did I?" she asked, coldly.
"Though I suspect he would have preferred death in battle over torture and slavery."
"Enough blood has been spilled," she said, disgusted. She threw the mask down.
Grime streaked her face like tears. "This sacred place has been defiled. And now, the children we fought to protect will die."
"But we won."
"Even so."
She looked at him. Her eyes were hollow. It made him recoil.
"The kiva under this tor is not a normal cave. It was made by the fae. It can only be opened by magic. But we cannot dance it open until the whole hill is cleansed of blood."
She looked at the ground, thick with gore.
"By then, the children will have died. There's no more air."
Kavio remembered his own Initiation. The fear. The silence. The sealed dark.
It was meant to teach young ones about death. But this time, it would be death.
Brena dropped to her knees.
She didn't even cry.
She felt hopeless beyond tears.