anticipation of battle as much as he craves the thrill of the win.”
“No.” Sad amusement drifted from Rohnan. “He hates the violence of his role, but will do anything for his love of you. And in that, he is like me.”
Cayan watched as three cats ran out of the gate, followed by Lucius and six other warriors. Lucius must’ve seen the fight and wanted the cats to help, like they had the night before. Thankfully, Cayan already had what he needed.
With a last look at the fallen at his feet, he made his way up the hill to where he felt Marc and Xavier in some sort of disorder.
“What are your thoughts?” Shanti asked, following close behind.
Cayan thought back to that battle. The Graygual had been skilled beyond anything he’d experienced, apart from Shanti. His movements were practiced and perfect, his speed lightning fast, and the strength behind the strikes noteworthy. He moved like a fast-flowing stream. And he’d been surprised by the challenge, which meant he hadn’t experienced others in his travels that posed the same sort of opposition.
He was the top tier of Graygual, and Cayan had beaten him.
“This is doable,” he said as he drew within sight of Xavier and Marc, arguing. Cayan stopped and faced Shanti. “It won’t be easy, but we can win this war. We are better than their best Inkna, and better than their best Graygual. We will win.”
Shanti’s eyes turned solemn. “We are better, but also few. It has always been a fool’s errand.”
“You thought that claiming the Shadow was a fool’s errand,” Rohnan said in his musical, supportive voice. It was the voice he used when Shanti’s thoughts turned dark.
Cayan took her hand and fed her a shot of determination as Rohnan continued. “You made the journey you didn’t expect to make, claimed the people you didn’t expect to claim, and reunited with your people, who you never thought you’d see again. And now you are here, about to capture one of Xandre’s assets, having just killed his treasured fighters. You will go all the way to the end, and when you get there, you will finally make your grandfather smile.”
Shanti snorted. “Even sitting among the Elders, that man will not smile. It would probably be physically painful.”
Cayan squeezed Shanti’s hand, bringing her eyes back up to his. For all her coarse tone and seeming disregard for Rohnan’s speech, he could feel her heart swimming with emotion. Her pairing with Rohnan must’ve been Fate. He was the keeper of her faith; Cayan saw that now.
“He has a bigger army, but they are now too spread out,” Cayan said softly. “They have left a great many holes. All we have to do is slip through. This is manageable, mesasha. We can win this, I feel it.”
Shanti shrugged. “We just have to find the holes, then.”
“Find, or create. Like now.”
Shanti barely nodded. “We’d better get up to the boys. They are about to come to blows, by the feel of it.”
Cayan smiled before running his thumb over her lips. Tonight had cemented in his mind that she was their most important asset. She needed those around her to accomplish her duty, but she was integral to creating the opportunities. Like tonight—this shouldn’t have worked. None of this. The enemy should’ve attacked the city, or shot them with arrows. If nothing else, no one should’ve been able to find the Gifted. Yet two vicious enemies were dead, possibly a third, depending on if they had followed the directive and left the man alive.
Cayan started back up the hill, shaking his head. It was madness.
A burst of fear from the two boys had Cayan breaking into a jog. He cut through some brush and came upon Xavier and Marc, backing up against a body. In front of them, standing still with a lowered head, were both of Cayan’s cats.
“Leave it,” Cayan said before wading through the snarling feline bodies. These cats had no appreciation for new friends. He nudged the male aside with his knee and then reached down to push away the female. “Go on!”
“They don’t listen.” Shanti waded through next.
“Where’s yours, S’am?” Marc asked with wide eyes, still staring down at the cats.
“Who knows? He does whatever he pleases.” Shanti put her hand on Marc’s shoulder before moving him to the side. She crouched down to the body, reaching out to brace two fingers on his neck.
“Is he an Inkna?” Cayan asked.
“He’s dressed like one, but…” She leaned back and looked up at