“Thank you, Forest,” Kala replied, but her heart was shattered in a million pieces, and she didn’t know what to believe or feel.
Forest looked up at her and brightened. “Let me take you to someone who will be thrilled to see you… your grandfather.”
Kala’s breath caught, and she simply nodded.
“We’ll be here when you need us,” Skye told her, gesturing to himself and Hawke.
Kala nodded her acknowledgment and let Forest lead her off. They arrived to find Kala’s grandfather washing dishes in a bucket. He stopped and stared in disbelief, dropping the plate he held.
“Please tell me I’m not dreaming this,” he said.
Kala rushed up and threw her arms around him. For a moment, she was a little girl – she wasn’t the Angel of Death. She wasn’t Soren’s Scourge. She was just a girl, wrapped in the comforting arms of her grandfather. She sobbed.
“You’re home,” he said, hugging her tightly.
“I’m home,” she replied.
At Kala’s request, Forest went to collect Skye and Hawke and bring them back to Kala and her grandfather. Her grandfather made dinner with Skye’s help, and they chatted about everything that had gone on since Skye and Kala had each left the village. Kala offered very little about what she’d done since leaving and what had happened to her. As was his way, her grandfather took this in his stride and gave her the space to tell him what she wanted when she was ready.
Kala’s grandfather laughed at Skye’s stories of his battle against the plains bandits armed with nothing but sacks and fistfuls of sand, and his fight against the pirates, armed with nothing but a bucket of potatoes. Kala laughed too, not having heard either story before.
Kala’s grandfather asked Hawke about how he had come to know his granddaughter. Kala sobered when Hawke told him that she had rescued him from a life of servitude, and more importantly, saved his girlfriend from Soren’s invasion. “I am forever in her debt,” he concluded. “My life is hers,” he added matter-of-factly, and Kala was stunned by his conviction and terrified by the responsibility.
“My granddaughter couldn’t ask for more upstanding companions,” Kala’s grandfather concluded, and they settled in around the fire, too energized to sleep once darkness fell. Sleep did claim each of them eventually.
The next morning, Kala woke and told Skye that there was something she had to do.
“I’ll rustle up some kai for you for when you return,” he replied, bleary-eyed.
“That’s why I love you,” she told him.
“The kai?”
“Mostly,” she replied and hugged him.
She decided to give Lily more time to process, but she felt that Calix had no excuse, so she tracked him down. She found him at the edge of camp and marched up to him.
“What’s your problem?” she asked.
“I have no problem,” he replied defensively.
“Well, you sure don’t seem happy to see me.”
“I am happy.”
“Bullshit. What’s going on?”
He hesitated, then made up his mind. “Okay. I’ll tell you,” he started. “I’ve always been there for you – I’ve always had your back. But then Skye breezes in, and you fall for him. He leaves you, and you were crushed. Do you know how hard that was for me to watch?”
Kala just looked at him, shocked, and opened her mouth to answer.
“Don’t,” he stopped her. “I’m not done. Then Skye waltzes back into your life, apparently, and you throw yourself at him like he didn’t break your heart. Me, I’ve never hurt you, and I never would, but that doesn’t seem to matter to you. I’m invisible.”
Kala reached out and took his hands. “I see you,” she said. “You’re not invisible – and you matter the world to me. You’ve always had my back, and I love you for that. But I don’t want to not be hurt. I want to love, and that means I’m going to get hurt.”
“Why can’t you love me the way I love you?” he asked her directly.
Kala sighed. “The girl you love is dead. She died a dozen times – throat ripped out by a wolf – torn apart, alone and cowering in a tree – dangling in a cage, spirit broken. Every time she died, the path forked, and I’m on the one that should not have been. Can you just join me in mourning that girl? I loved her too.”
Kala sat down on the ground and pulled Calix down with her. She grabbed his hand, laced her fingers through it, and leaned her head on his shoulder. They watched the sunrise together.
“I am happy to see you,” he whispered in her ear. “It just hurts.”
“I know,” she replied and held him tighter.
18
Kala
With the weapons she’d ‘procured’ from the town’s armory, Forest enlisted Kala in helping her teach the refugees archery. If they were to defend themselves against Soren, they had to learn quickly. Calix helped by setting up bales of hay to use as targets. Kala lined up her makeshift army, and she and Forest moved among them, correcting their form, and urging them to keep practicing. Kala picked up a bow to show a young girl how to pull it back and release it without its string hitting her forearm, and she wondered how many of the bows they held had been built by her and carried here by the winds.
The townsfolk watched from a distance. Forest told Kala all about her raid on the armory, and how the guards had been too afraid to admit their failure that they hadn’t informed the town council that there had been a theft, so there had been no repercussions.
Kala watched Hawke teaching people how to defend themselves with a dagger, including children as young as eight years old. Something about it broke her heart and infuriated her. These children should be playing, not learning to kill or be killed.
Skye walked over to Kala with a skin of cold water, some cheese, and apples. She took a break from her instruction and joined him while he laid a blanket on the ground.
“You spoil me,” she told him.
“Only the best for Soren’s Scourge,” he joked.
Kala winced. “You heard that, too, did you?”
“I did – but to be honest, I prefer ‘unkillable killing machine.’”
“Stop it,” she said. “It’s not funny. These people are pinning their hopes on me, but I’m just a girl.”
“You’ve never been ‘just a girl,’” Skye corrected her. She frowned at him, and he relented. “I know. It’s a lot of pressure. But just do what you can. No one can ask any more of you than that.”
“But they do,” she sighed.
Skye decided to lighten the mood by changing topics. “You’ll never guess who I saw here.”
“I’ll bite… who?” Kala replied, curious.
“Kira.”
“Your one-time girlfriend?” she asked incredulously.
“Don’t be too hard on her,” he replied. “She’s scarred from your village’s being torched and the difficult journey here. She’s not tough like you.”
Kala softened. “You’re right. She didn’t deserve any of that. No one did.” She thought about it in silence, then smiled a mischievous smile. “Ashlyn, Kira, Eden… we should start a club for your ex’s.”
Skye raised an eyebrow and Kala laughed at him. “Where did you see Kira?” she asked.
“Near the firewood pile. She was with her grandfather.”
“That weasel Sayer made it out? There is no justice,” she said bitterly.
“I heard Calix’s dad found him in the woods south of your village. He said he was hiding the village archives in the woods to protect them, but that sounds fishy to me.”
“That’s Sayer, alright. He must be at a loss here with no paperwork to fill out.”
“I’m sure he’ll find some,” Skye chuckled.
They continued their lunch in comfortable silence until Kala saw Cera marching Lily over to her. She rose to her feet to greet them and Skye withdrew to give them privacy.
Lily looked down at her feet. “I’m sorry about yesterday,” she began. “Cera has been reminding
me constantly since then what an asshole my father was. She’s right, of course, but I can’t bring myself to hate him.”
“That’s messed up,” Cera muttered.
“I’m messed up,” Lily replied. “But, I wouldn’t even be here to be messed up if you hadn’t rescued me from the airship.”
The image of the airship landing and Lily’s being hauled out to face Baron flashed before Kala, and she found herself crying.
“I’m sorry,” Lily repeated and stepped forward to embrace a limp Kala in a hug. “Don’t cry,” she soothed and began to bawl herself. “I’m sorry I slapped you,” she wailed. “Cera tells me that slapping the Angel of Death isn’t so smart.”
Kala laughed through her tears.
“I don’t know what possessed me. It’s been so stressful, and it all came barreling back to me when I saw you. I just snapped.”
“It’s okay,” Kala replied. “I know how that feels. I sort of lost it when I thought you were dead. Forest’s ghost haunted me.”
Lily pulled back and said soberly, “About that… I was so out-of-line for what I said to you about Forest. You’ve been nothing but great with her, and you have a special connection – I guess I’m just jealous, to be honest.” She paused. “I do miss Meadow, though. I miss scones. I miss the way it was before.”
“I miss that too,” Kala replied and pulled Lily back into a hug. She reached out her hand to Cera and pulled her in too. Thank you, she mouthed silently to her.
Cera wiped away a tear and nodded.
“Remind me to tell Forest that she was a terrible ghost,” Kala said. “She was so pushy.”
“Sounds about right,” Lily laughed, and things began to feel right between them again.
Forest approached Kala just before dinner time. “There’s someone I’d like you to meet,” she said.
Kala reached out tentatively and pinched her.
“Oww! What was that for?” Forest asked.
“Nothing. Just checking,” Kala replied. “Who would you like me to meet?”
“My uncle,” she replied.
“I didn’t know you had an uncle.”
“Neither did I, until recently.”
“Show me the way, then.”
Forest led Kala to where Jarom and his family were camped. Nara spotted Forest approaching and greeted her with a shriek and a hug. Forest looked at Kala, silently voicing her apologies for the spectacle, and pulled back the flap of Jarom’s tent so they could enter. Kala, Forest, and Nara ducked inside.
Jarom noticed them and rose. “Niece,” he called to Forest. “Come join us. Your sister and her girlfriend are here.”
Kala looked past Jarom to see Lily and Cera sitting by the fireside. She walked over to join them and held out her hand to greet Jarom. “Pleased to meet you, sir,” she said.
“Sir? Now that’s a first.” He chuckled and shook his head. “Call me Jarom.” He gestured for her to sit beside him.
Kala sat down, and Forest and Nara took up spots across from her.
“Forest tells me that you met my brother,” Jarom said to Kala.
Kala glanced nervously at Lily.
“It’s okay,” Lily assured her. “I understand why you didn’t tell me.”
Kala relaxed and turned back to Jarom. “We shared very few words, but from what little I gleaned, he was a man of honor.”
“That he was,” Jarom agreed, and his eyes momentarily fogged.
“I met him when he was trying to get to Lily and Forest. He was beset by dire wolves, and while he fought them off admirably, he succumbed to his injuries. “He made me swear to look out for Lily and Forest.”
A look of understanding registered in Lily’s eyes and she reddened with guilt.
“We miss him, and Bria too,” Jarom said.
“Mercy,” Forest clarified for Kala. “My mother changed her name from Mercy to Bria when she met Jarom’s people.”
“Speaking of ‘my people,’” Jarom added, pointing to Cera’s auburn hair, then twirling his own bright red locks around a finger. “We must share a distant cousin.”
“A really distant cousin,” Nara piped in. “You don’t share Cera’s good looks,” she added, laughing.
“Hey – I’d watch what you say – you’re my daughter,” Jarom reminded her, chuckling.
“Thorvyn appreciates my inner beauty,” Nara replied, with mock indignation.
Forest turned to her. “I’ve been dying to ask you about him. You say that he’s here.”
“I rescued him, so to speak,” Nara replied proudly.
“How’s that?” Forest asked.
“Well, the horses in Thorvyn’s care got out, and Soren got so angry that he had him tied to a post for days.”
Forest’s eyes widened with guilt, but Nara didn’t notice, and she carried on, “When my father declared that we were leaving to follow you, I couldn’t leave him like that, so I cut him down in the night and brought him with us. He’s around here somewhere.”
“I’m glad he’s okay,” Forest said sheepishly.
“More than okay,” Nara replied. “The horses’ escaping was the best thing that ever happened to me.”
“Thank the gods for small mercies then,” Forest replied.
Jarom waited for them to finish and turned back to Kala. “Thank you for fulfilling your promise to my brother. I’m in your debt.”
“You really aren’t,” Kala replied.
“Good luck telling an old fool what he is or isn’t,” he chuckled. “Now, let’s see about dinner.”
Jarom, Nara, Forest, Kala, Dhara, and her sisters assembled the next day at dawn to go hunting. Ravi and Oriel wanted to join them, but Kala had them take over the refugees’ archery training. Their students were improving, but they were still woefully far from being able to defend themselves. Kala put Hawke in charge of the training overall, but admonished him, “No whacking anyone with sticks.” He laughed and had things running smoothly in no time. A few of the town’s off-duty guards came to help out with the instruction. Hawke thanked them and put them to good use.
Kala rejoined the hunting party at the northern treeline. They discussed strategy quickly, then fanned out to advance abreast of each other into the trees. Kala was in the middle of the line, with Forest to her right, then Jarom, and Nara. Dhara was on her left, then Kaia, and Zara.
Kala felt good to be in the forest again. She breathed in the smell of wet, cool earth and an array of mosses. She kept a keen eye out for sizable game and caught glimpses of Forest and Dhara through the trees from time to time.
The sounds of the forest altered slightly as she advanced, and it put her on sudden alert. She surveyed around her and crept forward. Motion caught her eye high up in a tree, and she notched an arrow to her bow. She shifted slowly around the trunk, pulling back the string. She closed one eye and sighted down the arrow. She found herself looking at a gangly youth, sitting on a crudely-constructed seat, looking wholly unthreatening. She sighed and returned her arrow to her quiver. Stepping from around the tree, she called up, “What are you doing?”
The youth almost fell out of the tree, he was so startled. Once he regained his wits, he called down, “I almost crapped my pants – thanks.” Then he answered her question, “Emrys told me to watch the ridgeline for movement, and that’s what I’m doing.”
“You’re wasting your time,” Kala told him. “No self-respecting marauder would cross over a ridge in plain view. They’ll stick to low places or move under cover of darkness.”
“I’m just doing as I’m told,” he replied.
“Fair enough. Stay vigilant,” she called and shook her head. I’ll have to explain a few things to Emrys, apparently, Kala thought and returned to her slow advance. She was beginning to grow frustrated by the lack of game and took a break to lean up against a tree and drink from her waterskin. Maybe we need to venture farther away from town. Have they already emptied the woods of game nearer to it? The distant sound of metal striking metal stopped her cold.
She strained her ears. The unmistakable sound occurred again to her left from the direction in which she’d last seen Dhara. Kala turned and whistled shrilly to her right, where she’d last seen Forest. Forest returned the whistle, and Kala picked up her bow in one hand, grabbed a handful of arrows from her quiver with her other, and tore through the trees toward Dhara.
She ran past where she judged Dhara should have been but found no trace of her. The sound of fighting grew louder ahead, and she raced toward it, scanning the trees for any movement. She crested a rise to see Dhara and her sisters surrounded by a party of four lightly-armored warriors. Kaia lay on the ground, with an arrow in her side, wincing at the pain, but holding her bow up, looking for a shot. Zara stood over top of her, spear in front of her, holding off two burly men that slashed at her with swords. Dhara was off to their right, nearer to Kala, fighting fiercely with the other pair of men, two more lying on the ground behind her. She fought low to the ground and arrows sailed over her from archers positioned farther back.
Kala dropped to her knees and jammed her fistful of arrows into the earth in front of her. She notched one and lined up a shot. Dhara and her assailants moved so rapidly that Kala couldn’t get a clear shot. Damn it, Kala, she told herself. Breathe. She centered herself and stared farther down the path of the melee. She aimed her arrow squarely at Dhara’s back, closed her eyes, and let fly.
Dhara wheeled to parry a thrust from the man on her right and pulled herself back to narrowly avoid a sweep by the man on her left just as Kala’s arrow sailed over her shoulder and embedded itself in his chest. He clutched it and collapsed, and Dhara seized her chance to throw herself at the remaining man. She dodged two blows and buried her knife in the underside of his chin. He crumpled, and she yanked her blade free and spun toward her sisters. Arrows flew around her, but she disregarded them and rushed to their aid.
Kala couldn’t see the archers through the trees and dropped her bow in frustration. She shrugged off her quiver and pack, pulled out a pair of daggers, and raced around in a wide arc to where she assumed they were hiding. She could hear the sounds of Zara and Dhara fighting staunchly against the elite fighters of Soren’s vanguard. Her boots bit harder into the soft earth as she ran.
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