The healers from the hospice cast spells to make sure they could be safely removed, then, the two were lifted carefully out of the womb of twisted wreckage. Only then could Wolf hold Tinker in his arms and reassure himself that she had emerged once again safely out the void. She seemed so small and fragile without her normal vibrant personality.
“Oh, thanks gods, I was so worried about you,” she murmured as if it had been him in the airship. “The others?”
“Your Hand is safe.” He spared her the news of the dead tengu.
She cried in dismay at the extent of the damage to the airship. “Oh, I crashed True Flame’s dreadnaught! He’s going to be angry.”
“He will not care. It is a thing. All things wear out — just usually not in such a spectacular fashion.”
Tinker groaned.
“Do not worry, beloved. He will be only concerned that you and yours are safe and that the dragon is dead.”
Tinker whimpered against his shoulder. “Windwolf, I’ve made the tengu mine.”
“So I’ve heard.”
“Please, don’t hurt them. I promised them that they will be safe.”
“They are safe.”
“You won’t hurt them?”
“I will protect them safe for you.” He kissed her carefully. “Rest.”
True Flame and the Stone Clan were arriving, so he reluctantly, he gave Tinker over to the healers and the protection of her beholden.
True Flame stopped on the edge of the roadway where he could see the dead dragon, the crashed dreadnaught, and in the distance, like an exclamation mark in the weak morning sky, the towering spaceship.
“You were right, Wolf.”
“I was?”
“She’s surprisingly destructive for one so small. I am starting to see why you love her so — she is the right size for you.”
“Yes, she is.”
A shout caught his attention. Little Horse and Wraith Arrow were holding the Stone Clan sekasha back from the tengu.
“What’s going on here?” True Flame stalked down to the river’s edge.
“These tengu are still alive.” Earth Son stood behind his First, Thorne Scratch. He pointed at the battered and soaked tengu who had given Little Egret CPR.
“Yes,” Wolf noticed that the Wyverns were watching. A whispered discussion was being passed through their ranks. “And they are staying that way. My domi has taken the tengu as beholden.”
“They are oni,” Earth Son snapped. “We must eliminate the monsters before they can breed to dangerous numbers.”
“The tengu and the half-oni are no different than the elves,” Wolf pitched his argument to True Flame and the silent sekasha. “We were created by the skin clan, as they were created by the oni. They are turning on the oni as we turned on the skin clan. Yes the oni are as evil as the skin clan — but we merely need to look at ourselves to know that good can come from evil.”
“Tengu flock together.” Forest Moss drifted into the conversation, his tone light, as if he was discussing clouds. Wolf could not tell how the mad one felt on the issue. “Their loyalty to one another will supersede any claim that they make to you. If you act against one of their brethrens, they will turn on you.”
“Tinker ze domi holds all the tengu.” The astronaut tengu named Jin said.
True Flame looked at Jin. “All? How many are all?”
The war-painted male stepped forward, apparently speaking for the Elfhome-based tengu. “We don’t have a full count. It has too dangerous to count, least the oni ever found out what we were doing.”
“Which was?” Wolf asked.
“We hoped to be free here on Elfhome,” Riki said. “So in the last twenty-eight years, all of the tengu of Earth and Onihida have come to Elfhome.”
“All?” True Flame glanced over the ten living tengu. “Are we speaking hundreds? Thousands? Millions?”
“Several thousand.” Riki glanced to Jin to see if he should be more specific and got a nod. “We believe around twenty thousand.”
Which meant they greatly outnumbered the oni now trapped on Elfhome.
True Flame turned to Wolf. “How does your domi possibly think she could hold all of them?”
“Through me. I am Jin Wong. I am the heart and soul and voice of the tengu. I speak, and all will listen.”
“I doubt this greatly.” True Flame said.
Jin raised his hands and gave out a call. It resonated with magic, as if his voice alone triggered some spell. He turned to North and called. He faced the West and called. Even as he faced the South and called, a rustle of wings announced the arrival of a great flock of tengu. The sky went dark with the crow black feathers. Warriors all, faces painted, and feet sheathed in sharpened steel. They carried guns holstered to their hips. They settled silently on the bridge trusses, the tops of buildings, and street lights.
When the last tengu went still, Jin called again, magic pulsing out from him. It echoed off the buildings and the hillside across the river. He turned, gazing at them, as if he too was stunned by the massive numbers of them. “I am Jin Wong! I have returned to our people!”
And the tengu flock shouted back, “Jin! Jin! Jin!”
Jin raised his hands and the flock fell silent. “We are entering into an alliance with the elves. We are taking Tinker ze domi as our protector. Under her, I hope that first time our people will live in peace, security, and prosperity.”
The flock roared in approval, a deafening sound that washed over them. Jin raised his hand, commanding silence, and receiving instant obedience.
“Jin offered his people,” Wolf said in the silence. “Domi offered her protection. Such an agreement, once made, no other person could break that oath.”
“This is true.” True Flame said.
Earth Son had cast his shield, encompassing only him and his sekasha. “She can’t hold them. This is preposterous.”
“They fit the model of a household with Jin as the head,” Wolf said.
“Only clan heads can hold that many people,” Earth Son said. “And she is nothing but a —”
“She is my domi and we are the clan heads of the Westernlands,” Wolf growled. “Forest Moss is right. You are a blind. Tinker has closed the Ghostlands.” Wolf pointed to Malice’s massive body. “She killed the dragon that four of us could not harm. She has made a peace with a force that we didn’t even know existed. Do not assign her your limitations. We can hold the tengu.”
“They are monsters!” Earth Son shouted.
Wolf shook his head. “They were once human, forced into their shape by cruel masters. They have fought beside my domi to kill the dragon. They have protected my youngest sekasha from harm.”
“You are a traitor to your people,” Earth Son spat the accusation and then looked to True Flame, as if challenging the prince to refute it.
True Flame said nothing, waiting to see the outcome of the debate.
Wolf directed his argument to the Wyvern and the Stone Clan sekasha as he knew that his Hands had already decided on the issue — or they wouldn’t have defended the tengu. But their decision was based on their trust of him. The others would need convincing. “My people are those that offer me their loyalty, be they elfin, human, tengu, or half-blooded oni. It is my duty as domana to extend protection to those weaker than I am.”