---
Kai roared then. Not long. Not loud enough to waste breath. Just enough to tell the part of the world that listens to a king that it was time to move. He drove forward and broke the line in the middle with his body. Men fell sideways. Men went to their knees. Men grabbed at him and found chitin and heat.
Azhara's arrow flew at that exact beat and passed through the seam of a man's shoulder guard and lodged deep. He screamed and went down into a friend's legs. The friend fell too. The gap widened.
"Now!" Azhara hissed through the road.
Kai took the gift. He broke through the last tight place and came out the other side of the crescent like a knife coming out of cloth. He did not stop to gloat. He pivoted to face them again so they could not pull him from behind. He kept his spear in motion, a circle around him, a wall that moved with him.
