He shut his eyes and turned his face to soak up the sun. Warm sun. Golden sun. It reminded him a bit of Ninsianna. He imagined it gave him strength in Ninsianna's stead. Right foot. Left foot. Let the sun sustain him. Let the people's cheers sustain him. Almost there now. Keep your wings from dragging on the ground. Let Ipquidad and Gisou keep propelling you forward. Just focus on standing upright so the people will stop claiming you are dead.
"As you see," Immanu shouted. "Our Champion has returned from the grave!"
"Hurrah!" the Assurians shouted, and the warriors from other tribes.
"Where's Pareesa?" Mikhail asked, surprised his young protégé wasn't front and center, bouncing up and down like a cheerful little yippy dog.
"She's not your little fairy anymore," Chief Kiyan said.
He si
