The Hawk Lord by Amy Sumida

 

Chapter One

The war with the Farungal has been going on for as long as I can remember. Longer than that. They tell me it's been thirty-eight years now that we humans have been fighting beside the Fae, our lands burning and breaking while the Fae lands lay safe behind enchanted barriers. Not that I'm bitter. Because of those barriers, called wards, the Fae didn't have to help us. But they did. They fought and bled alongside us because they knew that if we fell, the Farungal wouldn't stop until they found a way through their ward, and they'd ravage the Fae lands worse than they had ours. Because Farungal hate Faeries. Something about their origins—something the Fae won't tell us. Again, I'm not bitter. I couldn't care less about what had happened between the monsters and the gods we call the Fae.

No, we don't worship them and they've never asked us to. They're not really gods—I've seen enough of them die, despite their immortality, to know that—but we revere them. It's hard not to when they're so powerful and so beautiful and so fucking fae. Of course, I'm talking about the Sidhe, the race of faeries who most resemble humans, though comparing them to us is an insult to the Sidhe. The other fae races can resemble humans as well, though not as closely as the Sidhe do. They can also resemble the Farungal—monsters with claws and wings and fangs. They fight against the Farungal too, but they have their own armies, separate from ours. Mixing humans and the other fae races—as a group they're called the Unsidhe—can go badly. So, human armies only fight with Sidhe warriors. For them, really.

We have generals and lieutenants and all that crap—human officers to lead us—but really, it's the Fae who run the armies. They know best how to fight the Farungal and they have magic so... yeah, they make most of the decisions. Our leaders have a say, of course, but usually, they bow to the will of the Warlords.

Fae warlords run the war, at least our side of it. They're Sidhe commanders, each with their own army and each with the power to crush anyone except maybe their kings. When a warlord gives an order, you follow it, no questions asked. Their armies are divided by the Sidhe races. Yes, I know, that's a lot of races, but what else do you call a race within a race? A sub-race? A second-race? Race-squared? Look, there are the Fae who are divided into the Sidhe and the Unsidhe, and then those two have many races beneath them. Unsidhe are more diverse, everything from Dwarves to Goblins. But the Sidhe are split by their animals, the animals they can transform into.

Yeah, the Sidhe are shapeshifters, but they're limited to one beast, and that animal is their race. Each Sidhe race has its own kingdom, with twelve in total. Those kingdoms are then grouped by their animal family. They are: the Canines—Wolves, Coyotes, Foxes, and Jackals; the Felines—Lions, Tigers, Leopards, and Lynx; and the Avians—Eagles, Hawks, Falcons, and Owls. Yes, the Fae live in animal kingdoms, and each kingdom has their own army run by a warlord—those badasses I mentioned earlier.

I'm a human, and I'm stationed with the Hawk Army—a joke the recruiting officer couldn't resist since my name is Ravyn. I'm used to it. My name has always been a bit of a joke since it sounds feminine, but I'm a guy. Mostly. At least, that's what my mother said when she tossed me out of the house after finding me making out with Travis Graverwault when I was sixteen. As I walked away with nothing but the clothes on my back, she called after me that she never should have named me for my raven hair. That it had cursed me and made me into a half-man/half-woman thing. An embarrassment to my father, the village governor.

I signed up with the army that very day. I did it out of desperation, as many men do, but I found a home here. A place where men like me are accepted and even welcomed. Soldiers—on the whole—don't care who you take to bed as long as you're willing to stand beside them the next day and swing a sword without screaming. I admit the not screaming bit took a while for me, but I was lucky; an older soldier took me under his wing and taught me some extra moves that my trainer hadn't. It gave me the confidence to face down the Farungal, and after my first battle, I had taught him some moves of my own to celebrate.

Yeah, living in an army camp can be tough, but it's a hell of a lot better than where I came from. For acceptance and the freedom to be publicly who I am, I'd live in a mud bog so I think of my tent as a bonus. Plus, there are a lot of very handsome faeries to look at and sometimes, those faeries even feel like slumming it with us humans. That was one perk I particularly enjoyed. I enjoyed it as often as possible.

Raeshal, one of the fae Hawks, bent over my back and bit my ear as he drove into me. I shivered and reached back to grab his hair, pulling him closer. His slim body was solid with muscle—no floppy belly slapping my back. I loved soldier bodies; half the time, it didn't matter what their face looked like. Rae chuckled and kissed his way down my throat, one hand skimming my chest, teasing me before going lower. He twirled a fingertip around my bellybutton, and I growled impatiently.

“Easy now, my dark bird,” Raeshal purred in my ear. “I'll be hard awhile more, and we both know how quickly you come.”

“I don't have to be hard for you to fuck me,” I shot back.

Another chuckle, then another bite. Raeshal rose onto his knees behind me, his hand finally moving to my aching shaft as he did. Those nimble fae fingers worked magic over me, and I mean that literally. Oily liquid gathered on my cock, likely the same liquid that had coated his cock earlier and even now eased his movements inside me. Raeshal drew his hand down my shaft, strong fingers tightening almost too much. He pumped his hand in time with his hips and, just as he predicted, I didn't last. How could I with that divinely beautiful creature inside me? I spilled across the blankets with a broken shout, and Raeshal laughed again, but this time it was a pleased laugh, full of masculine pride. He loved it when I came fast and especially loved bringing me back to life afterward.

But Rae had lied about his own climax. Either that or mine had aroused him more than he expected. He threw back his head and gave a groaning cry, pulling out at the last second to empty himself across my back. The flaccid tip of his cock trailed down the curve of my ass as Raeshal let out a deep, satisfied sigh, but before he could move to lie down beside me, a gruff voice interrupted.

“Captain Lethene,” the voice called for my lover. “A word... if you are finished?”

Raeshal heaved a sigh as he wiped off my back with a cloth. “I'll be out in a moment, Beryl.”

I flopped onto my back, avoiding the wet spot I'd left, and smirked at Raeshal as I adjusted myself. Beryl was a fae captain too, but he was a rule-follower. One of those soldiers who took everything very seriously. He'd been named after a precious stone, but his nickname was a play on the word. We called him Beryl of Laughs, in the way that you call a big man tiny. The guy never even cracked a smile.

Beryl cleared his throat. “You may want to bring Corporal Ravellar with you.”

“What's that?” Raeshal asked in surprise.

I perked up. Ravellar wasn't my real surname, it was one I'd chosen when I joined the Army. I'd seen it in a book once and liked the alliteration of it with my first name. Why take a fake name? Because I wanted no connection to my family. I'd only kept my given name because I'd gotten used to it.

“Bring your... aide,” Beryl said. “And hurry.”

“Well, shit.” Raeshal grinned at me and slapped my ass. “Get your pants on, Ravyn. It looks like you're coming with me.”

“Again,” I whispered, and we both laughed.

“You do know that only a piece of fabric separates us, right?” Beryl growled.

We laughed harder.