The Traitor by A. Lombardo (i can read with my eyes shut TXT) 📕

“Lies!” Roark shouted. “You sent my son into the lion’s den of Milnos, and I have no news since the wedding. And then you abandoned Diu. You attacked your men for the Katori, and now you killed my best friend—you must pay.”

For the first time, Roark exposed his grief and fury. While Tolan’s journey to Milnos started in celebration, the lack of recent news left everyone, especially Tolan’s father, Roark, worried.

Another round of aggressive blows forced Kai on the defense. Given the Admiral’s armor, there was little room to land a solid punch and strike muscle and bone. There were only a few exposed areas, areas Kai made quick work exploiting. A few more hits to the Admiral’s sword hand forced Roark to switch hands.

Following Roark’s next attack, Kai landed a kick to the knee as he dodged Roark’s blade. A pommel strike to the temple while he was on one knee shocked Roark, but he did not yield; instead, he punched Kai in the ribs, quickly putting distance between them.

Bent over and catching his breath, Kai eyed Roark. For a man without an ounce of Katori blood, he held his own and at times made Kai think twice about not using his speed or sword to stop the fight. They both dripped with sweat. Although Kai could outlast the Admiral, he had no choice but to decide if he could stomach permanently maiming a man he held in such high esteem.

Once again, Admiral Roark delivered a combination of strikes and blows with the same pounding fury. His blade was swift, and his decisive thrusts put Kai back on the defensive. Unfortunately, the Admiral also embraced Kai’s tactics, adding brute strength to his arsenal; Roark landed a dizzying punch to Kai’s cheek, followed by a kick to the gut. Kai slid across the grass, gasping.

Rebounding with a renewed fury, he charged Roark with a series of blows to put his opponent on the defensive and delivered the first cut to the Admiral’s cheek.

The sight of blood stunned Kai, and, in his hesitation, Roark returned the favor, cutting him on the arm. The pain surged up to his shoulder, and he parried the next two attacks before regaining his composure to resume his assault.

Shouts from the crowd danced around the outskirts of Kai’s mind. He kept their cries distant, focusing on his next set of moves, which bounced between offensive and defensive.

Tired of the repetition, Kai knew there were a limited number of moves one can perform with a sword, and most ended with someone dying if they made even the slightest mistake. He was most certainly not willing to die today, and he did not want Roark’s death on his hands, either. If the battle must continue, Kai needed to remove the swords from the equation. Without them, there might be a chance of subduing the Admiral and rendering him unconscious or temporarily paralyzed with the techniques he had learned from the Guardians.

Upon Roark’s next round of strikes, Kai grabbed the Admiral's weapon at the hilt and pulled against the man’s thumb, removing the sword from the Admiral’s hand. Then Kai pushed back, putting space between them, ever mindful of the dagger when something caught Roark’s attention. The Admiral looked to the skies, and his expression became fearful as he stumbled back, leaving Kai the high ground.

A darkness fell over the land, and Kai spun to follow the Admiral’s gaze. High in the clear blue sky, a thunder of dragons filled the air. Surprised, Kai swirled around to take note of his surroundings. The vast circle of men dispersed in fear, leaving him standing alone. Even Roark retreated toward the tent. Nola and the council stood watching the creatures. By Kai’s count, there were eleven in total, surrounding him in a circle: four black, three red, one blue, and three various shades of gray. There was one dark metallic gray dragon—Raijin, among them. The memory of meeting his first real dragon brought a chuckle to his lips, remembering how Raijin disapproved of him at first. Still, he eventually took Kai flying, allowing him to create his first Beastmaster connection.

It pleased Kai to see the real dragons support him. For the first time, he noticed the subtle differences between natural-born dragons and Katori Beastmaster dragons. Their size, coloring, and spines were smaller and more organic. The Katori-created dragons were intense and armored, and their wings were thicker and covered in a glinting layer of something akin to folded metal.

The ground continued to shake and moan as more dragons dove from the sky, landing with a thunderous thud in various locations around Roark’s soldiers, near the lake, and on both sides of the river. There were now so many that Kai counted at least twenty additional dragons dotting the landscape. Still, high above, one remained circling. A silver flash pulled at Kai’s heartstrings.

Benmar, grandfather, you came.

Kai could not help but feel glad that his grandfather came. Even after every mistake he made, they came as dragons—for him.

The silver dragon swooped and circled lower and lower until he, too, landed with a thud. The massive beast lowered his head to Kai. Thankful for the show of support, Kai held up his hand and touched his grandfather’s dragon scaled head. “Thank you, grandfather. I am happy you are here, but you should not have come not for me, not like this.”

Hot smoke blasted out of Benmar’s dragon's nostrils at Kai, followed by three varied warbles and shrill tones that Kai understood. We are family, always. Then Benmar lifted his dragon head and spewed fire into the sky. The show of strength sent gasps around the hillside, followed by clangs of armor from freighted men taking a few steps back. But they drew their swords all the same, ready for a fight.

The first Katori Kai saw was