HORSEBIRDS
“There is no avoiding war; it can only be postponed to the advantage of others.”
– Niccolo Machiavelli
Two young soldiers snapped to attention, spears clacking as Carter Sorenson stepped out into the crisp willow smell of morning. He doubled his cape, cinnamon-colored fur that had once belonged to a bear, over his shoulders. He could see his breath.
Carter was immensely tall, head and shoulders bigger than the soldiers even in their helmets. His tunics and trousers, lustrous in muted fall colors, draped off slabs of muscle beneath his cape. His hair and goatee were shorn to finger length and speckled with silver, and his teeth were white and even with one gold incisor that flashed in the sun.
He watched from the top of the great stairs as two enormous black pegasi landed i
