and I’d say you two were slightly more than friends! And Reydel’s younger.”

    Gilin went on. “We came across, or nearly tripped over, an ancient kirin hiding alone. Exhausted and near death, he was a magician named Olamin. Coming from far to the west, he didn’t understand our dialect, nor we his. We had to speak the formal language we all know: Ruvon. His energies had been depleted by the relentless pursuit of gronoms. It was a miracle that in his condition he hadn’t been caught. He’d managed to stave them off with magical powers.

    “We knew nothing about him, but were greatly attracted to him, and didn’t know why. We encouraged him to come to the clan tree for help. But he refused, insisting that doing so would endanger t...

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