The Kin

  ***

  Even from a distance Junius could see the men decant the container over the shields of the Kin. In the darkness he grinned. He was so proud of Marius; his friend was doing everything right. He was a superb leader, and thanks to his skill and judgement they would make it through the night.

  Killing Felix had been a risky strategy, but an understandable one. He and Isher-Dan had been delighted, but the Kin had fought back; other men had taken over and they’d evolved an effective shared leadership. But Marius and his combined forces were a match for them and were repelling everything the Kin came up with.

  He felt Isher–Dan move away from the tree he’d been leaning against and come and stand next to him.

  “They’re winning as we knew they would. You don’t need to watch anymore.” Junius felt the Kin run his hand up his back and trail his fingers into his hair. It was a distraction, a pleasant one, but still a diversion from what he really wanted to do. Junius wanted to be there. He missed the thrill and excitement of battle; the brotherhood of standing side by side with men who were trusting you with their lives and you in return were relying on them. That sort of comradeship was exhilarating. It had been too long since he’d been in that situation and now over there, men were fighting for their lives and he envied them. He wanted to be there risking his own life with them.

  Isher-Dan didn’t understand, he’d been a soldier once, but it had been a long time ago and though he’d been a commander, he’d never fought with his men, not like a Roman officer did.

  Junius knew that the Kin leader was anxious to take him back to the mine and continue the transformation process. Isher was intrigued by the resistance his body was showing. The Kin was curious to know exactly what was needed to complete the process, because the rules of Becoming were not applying in Junius’s case and the leader wanted to know why.

  Junius turned to look at the leader of the Kin. “I should be there.”

  “They don’t need you. They’re perfectly capable of surviving the night and tomorrow we won’t have to worry about the youngsters anymore.”

  Junius chewed his lip. “It’s my last battle, Isher. At least let me watch it.”

  The leader stroked Junius’s hair. “And what good can you do from here? You’ve helped your friend as much as you can. It’s your time now. You’re so close, Junius, I can smell it on you. You can’t waste this opportunity. Maybe later you can watch again from the higher caves, after you’ve fed.”

  Junius frowned and glanced back to the battle raging at the fort. Marius was doing very well without him and he wouldn’t be able to get back inside, so maybe Isher–Dan was right, he’d done all he could; it really was time to move on. Reluctantly he nodded and allowed the Kin leader to lead him away through the trees back to the entrance of the mine.