“Look for a green flash before the sun sets. The shock of the thought takes my breath. “They will kill me if they catch me,” she says.
Are her lips purple today? They were violet yesterday. I pull at one of the feathers on my head, hoping to pluck the idea from it.Ī tiny shimmer of light glistens from her scrumptious bottom lip. “I rendezvous with you at…” I say, but I’ve already lost the thread. The sunset’s last rays reflect in her eyes. I focus back on her face, on her crooked smile. Through Xayah, he had found purpose, and Rakan had fallen in love. Inspired by his partner’s singular drive, he joined her crusade to reclaim the power of the vastaya, and take back all that their people had lost. Soon enough, the pair became inseparable.Īfter months of courtship, Rakan began to see the world through Xayah’s eyes. She seemed always prepared, aloof, and focused where he was uninformed, affable, and frivolous-but in any dangerous situation, they fought together with uncanny harmony. He became fascinated by how she interacted with the world. Intrigued, the battle-dancer decided he would accompany Xayah on her travels. How could she see him and yet choose not to follow him? It was a puzzle with no easy answer. Though countless human and vastayan women had fallen for him in the past, this violet raven seemed immune to his charms, though not uninterested. Seeing her in the crowd, Rakan performed one of his old songs, entrancing the entire town with his gleaming plumage. He journeys along the edges of the world’s magical streams, as an explorer, emissary, and song catcher for his tribe.Īn entertaining rogue, a welcome performer for any tavern or village carnival, Rakan was content with the simple adventures of this life on the road… until he had a chance encounter with Xayah at the harvest festival in Vlonqo. Few willingly travel far from their shrinking lands, but Rakan has long walked a riskier path. To these chimeric creatures, the mortal realms have become like an unforgiving desert, virtually devoid of magic. It is a place where magic is breathed like air and time has little meaning. On the ancient, mystical borders of Ionia’s deep forests live the last of the Lhotlan vastaya. Few would suspect this energetic, traveling showman is also partner to the rebel Xayah, and is dedicated to her cause.
To the humans of the Ionian highlands, his name has long been synonymous with wild festivals, uncontrollable parties, and anarchic music. As mercurial as he is charming, Rakan is an infamous vastayan troublemaker and the greatest battle-dancer in Lhotlan tribal history.