“Hello,” Mikoto greeted in a low voice.
“Couldn’t sleep?” asked Ginkgo.
“Not really.” He shrugged awkwardly. “Am I intruding?”
Ginkgo hooked his arm. “Kyrie’s waiting on us, and you’re welcome. Did you know there’s a Kith shelter just over there?”
“Yes.” With a faint smile, Mikoto remarked, “I did not realize you were acquainted with Transcendence.”
“Who now?” His ears went cockeyed.
Sinder interrupted to grumble, “Well, I didn’t know this was here. Why are there so many barriers around a barn?”
“I know, right?” said Ginkgo, pulling open the door.
“It is a wolvish custom,” said Mikoto. “Glint and Radiance supported her decision to go into seclusion.”
“You mean Snow?” Ginkgo turned to Sinder. “The Kith in here knows you’re coming. Best I can tell, she doesn’t mind.”
“About Snow.” Mikoto touched his shoulder. “Did Radiance tell you she is Kith?”
The question confused him. “She introduced her. How else would I know her name?”
“Nickname,” gently corrected the headman. “Radiance has a playful manner. She finds misunderstandings like this amusing.”
“I’m sorry?” Ginkgo didn’t like the direction Mikoto seemed to be going. His ears drooped.
Mikoto took the lead and offered his palms to the white dog. “May I enlighten our guests?”
Snow’s gaze locked with Ginkgo’s, and she dipped her head.
“I am pleased to introduce Transcendence Starmark, who is chief of Wardenclave’s security team. They are often referred to as the Demon Dogs of Denholm. Transcendence has been in seclusion since the death of her bondmate last winter.”
“You’re a traditionalist?” asked Sinder, who’d lowered himself into a passive crouch just inside the entrance.
Mikoto hesitated, but Snow—who Ginkgo really needed to think of as Transcendence—made a sharp gesture with her muzzle.
“This was her choice, but also a necessity.” Mikoto’s whole posture radiated respect. “The chief’s bondmate Path was a Kith of the Starmark clan.”
FORTY-FIVE
By Your Deeds
Now that he had a name, Mikoto had sort of hoped that Sinder could call out to the whisper of wind that was suddenly, achingly missing. The stillness was unnerving. An absence he’d always associated with the end of summer. It had always meant that Lupe was gone from Wardenclave. Except now he knew that he’d lost touch with his imp.
The lonesomeness left him empty, breathless, but Kyrie needed Sinder. Something about an assessment.
“Why me?” asked Sinder, looking between the Mettlebright brothers.
Ginkgo’s tail puffed and settled. “Because you won’t ask unnecessary questions.”
Sinder made one of those pretty little fluting sounds that reminded Mikoto of the avian clans. Finally, the dragon said, “I’m willing, so long as you don’t ask how I came to my conclusions.”
The boy, who was usually really reserved, all but abased himself.
Lowering himself carefully to one knee, Sinder touched Kyrie’s hair. “Hey, kid. I get that this is important to you, and I’ll give it my best shot. But I doubt I can tell you anything your family hasn’t already figured out.”
“But you are a dragon,” said Kyrie.
“So’s your friend Lapis.”
Kyrie caught the hem of Sinder’s sleeve. “He is like Mother. He loves me too well to see anything but the best.”
Sinder’s lips quirked. “For all his scholarly pursuits, he’s certainly a romantic. Fine, then. I won’t ask a bunch of questions. More than words, I need deeds.”
As the boy eagerly presented his palms, Mikoto began to wonder if he was intruding on something private. He edged away, trying to fade into the background. And out the door.
“Mikoto, stay,” said Sinder.
Of course he’d stay. Why would he leave? Not when Sinder wanted him.
Ginkgo thwapped the dragon’s shoulder. “Don’t do that!”
Sinder swore and hurried to pat Mikoto’s face. “My bad. I get careless with friends because they’re mostly immune. Sorry.”
“I did not notice,” admitted Mikoto.
“Even worse.” Sinder turned to Kyrie. “Help me work with him? I know there aren’t any dragons in Wardenclave, but leaving a world leader vulnerable is just asking for trouble.”
“I am willing.” Kyrie jumped to his feet. “It is one of my responsibilities at home.”
Mikoto inclined his head and answered in Japanese. “I am in your hands.”
Kyrie slipped to his side, went up on tiptoe, and asked, “Why are you alone?”
“Noble is with Zisa.”
He shook his head and whispered, “Did you send her away?”
“She is missing,” Mikoto admitted, surprised by the tremor in his tone.
The boy cocked an ear toward the window, then the door. Patting Mikoto’s hand, he solemnly said, “Trust me.”
And he wanted to. So much. But not because the half-dragon was trying to sway him. Perhaps it was a case of having no other choice. Mikoto took a receptive stance and cleared his throat.
Mercifully, Kyrie interpreted this in a positive light.
“I’ll need to see him in action,” Sinder was saying. “How much leeway will you give me?”
“Whatever you need,” said Ginkgo.
Sinder frowned at the sky. “Could he join the rookies for maneuvers?”
Ginkgo gestured for his younger brother to speak for himself. Kyrie asked, “Why, please?”
“Because you’re eager, and it’s next. And it doesn’t really matter where we start. I’ll need to see you in different settings. All I know so far is that you have a way with barriers.” He pointed in the vicinity of the boy’s shoulder. “And that you have a way with crystals.”
Kyrie loosened the ties on the yukata that must have been his sleep clothes. Pulling free one arm, he displayed an armband set with pale crystals—lavender, blue, and green.
“Personal wards?” asked Sinder.
“Not precisely.” Kyrie shyly admitted, “I passed every test. I do not require safeguards, but … if I did not keep these crystals close, they would miss me.”
Sinder’s incredulity came out in a soft whistle. “Crystal adept?”
“Quite the charmer,” confirmed Ginkgo.
“Well, then. I propose a practical test. The battlers in these mountains are trying to work out how to track a dragon. And catch one. See if you can outdo them. Chase after me. I want to see how you fare with tracking. Bonus points if you can show off a bit of sigilcraft on the fly.”
Ginkgo raised a hand. “Aren’t you worried all those rookies will get between you?”
“I could stay with him,” offered Mikoto.
Kyrie turned his wrist gratefully, but he said, “You would not be able to keep up.”
“Not a bad idea to have friends to fall back on,” countered Sinder. “How about we pair Mikoto with Timur. They’ll do well enough. And Kyrie can run with Torloo.”