Every time she so much as chirped, Shira would shush her from the bank. Still frequently checking the forest for … something … she sat down and used the edge of her own cloak to quickly wipe down her face and hands and anything she could get to without getting undressed. That took her all of two minutes.
Finally, the fourth time Shira asked her, “Aren’t you finished yet?” Mariah hopped up out of the stream and onto the bank.
She attempted to shake herself out, figuring that it would be easier to dry her feathers than it would be to dry her skin and hair without a proper towel. The movement was too much though, and her collarbone screamed in protest. Her mouth let out an accompanying shriek.
“Lady, please!” Shira said. “Please be quiet.” Her voice was desperate.
Mariah hung her head, eyes unable to focus on the dirt and twigs below her and little coughs escaping her mouth as she waited for the pain to ease.
“Oh, gods,” Shira said. “Are you all right?”
Mariah did not respond. Instead, she tried to stay as still as possible. If she changed now, she would surely collapse onto the ground and curl in on herself, undoing any good she had done in the stream.
“I’m so sorry, lady. I didn’t realize you were hurt.” Shira put her hand in front of Mariah. “I can carry you back to the camp if ya want.”
Slowly, Mariah stepped onto Shira’s hand. When she brought her up, Mariah tried not to shriek again, but a weird warbling sound came out anyway, and Shira’s movements slowed.
“Sorry, lady,” she said again. She took her time getting them back to camp.
Xae was waiting on a lower branch when they returned and let out a questioning sound. Mariah felt Shira inhale sharply. “She’s fine, boy, just shook her broken bone up a bit.”
Xae’s answering croak was low and satisfied.
Shira set Mariah down on her pack before she sat down. “Get some sleep. I’m gonna keep watch.”
Mariah wanted to question that. Did they keep watch now? But between the herbs starting to take effect and the pain, she decided it could wait.
* * *
“Are you sure this will work?” Mariah asked the next morning. The camp was broken, and they were almost ready to continue on, but she couldn’t shake the thought that something was about to go very wrong. She had been woken several times during the night by howling. The howls had always been far away, too far to panic about, but the uneasiness had stayed with her. Besides, she figured that wolves were normal in this part of Varidian. What better place for them than the forest? “Can’t we just walk?”
“Let’s just try. We can get through the forest quicker.” The worry lines on Shira’s face told Mariah that she was leaving something unsaid.
“Fine, fine. How did you want to work this again?”
Shira took her pack and fixed both it and Mariah’s securely to her back. Xae had already done the same and stood next to Shira, a coil of rope hanging from his long fingers. “Just make an X across my back and secure it with a good knot, kid,” Shira said. “Then, hawk girl here can find a place to hang on. You sure you’re shoulder’s alright?”
Mariah nodded. She had just needed sleep.
This, however, was ridiculous. The thought seemed to be becoming part of her normal repertoire.
With that, Shira changed. Her clothes and the backpacks disappeared, and in place of the woman and her belongings stood a great brown bear with cream-tipped fur. She gently came down onto all fours, and Mariah ran her fingers along her back without thinking. It was fascinating the way the fur was rough near the edges and softer underneath.
In the next few minutes, Mariah helped Xae secure the rope around Shira. With a grunt, the boy finally secured a knot right behind the muscled lump at Shira’s shoulders. With more grumbling, Shira moved around a bit before nodding to them.
“You ready?” Xae asked.
“Yes.” Sighing, she pictured herself as a hawk in her mind and let herself melt into her bird form. It was the only way she could describe the sensation of shifting from one form to another. It made it both easy and difficult to see why it had taken her so long to figure it out. It was so seamless that it barely seemed possible.
When Xae placed it in front of her, Mariah gingerly stepped onto his arm. He lifted her up to Shira’s shoulders, which were even with his own. Mariah stepped off and onto the rope on the bear’s back. The sharp ends of Mariah’s talons were definitely touching Shira’s fur and maybe even her skin, but if they hurt her, the bear gave no sign.
As soon as she bent her legs and let her body settle, Mariah’s talons closed into a tight circle around the rope. It required no effort on her part to hold on, just as if she were sleeping on a tree branch. Just then, she heard a croak and saw Xae alight in a tree above her head. She called back to him in acknowledgment. Shira let out a low rumble of warning. She had asked them to stay quiet.
Then, Shira started moving. They had agreed to let her lead. This meant at times, Xae would have to stop and wait or circle them. When there was more open ground, Shira would go as quickly as she could. Xae would call to her or get her attention somehow if there was a problem.
* * *
Midday had come and gone, and the afternoon was more than halfway done. They had run all day with only a few stops for water. Even then, they paused only for a matter of minutes before they were off at a good clip again.
As Shira picked up speed, Mariah found herself leaning slightly forward, trying to keep from being pushed over by the wind that constantly threatened to tear her from the bear’s back. Fortunately, the hump of Shira’s shoulders in front of her also helped to naturally direct the wind over her head instead of into her chest.
Early in the day, all of the trees had started to look the same as they rushed by on either side of Mariah. There just wasn’t that much for her to do besides hold on and ride. Even her attempts to think of the best way to carry through their impossible rescue seemed to slip away with the wind.
Toward the end of the day, as she wondered just how much farther they had to go before they reached the edge of the forest, Mariah drifted off into a light sleep.
* * *
She was awoken a short time later by a low growl. No, several growls. She blinked her eyes open and felt Shira walking slowly beneath her. They were moving backward in a small grassy clearing, but they were not alone. Half a dozen gray wolves were spread out before them in a half-circle, hackles raised and ears back. Behind the center two was an old tall tree with exposed roots. As Shira stopped and swung her head slowly from side to side, watching the wolves, Mariah saw that a hole had been dug under the tree. Inside the hole were the shadows of several tiny heads.
Xae cawed from above in warning, and as several more wolves filled in the circle behind them, two of the wolves on their flanks raised their heads to the trees and yipped, as if they were trying to talk to the raven.
Shira’s back rose underneath Mariah as the bear took a deep breath. Mariah’s wings fluttered involuntarily, triggering a quick shot of pain through her chest. She worried that Shira was going to attack, but instead, the great brown bear let out the breath in a great sigh and sank to the ground, her head coming down on her paws.
Mariah looked around at the wolves in a panic. Their teeth were bared, and their bodies vibrated with menace. She wanted desperately to fly away. Suddenly, she remembered her father once telling her to make herself bigger if she ever came upon a predator on the way to the creek. Make herself bigger and scare off whatever was trying to attack. Frantic, she willed herself to change. Maybe the surprise of it alone would give them a chance to run.
Shira grunted as Mariah’s full weight settled onto her back.
“Get away!” Mariah yelled. She slipped off Shira’s back and waved her left arm in the air, circling around the bear. “Leave us alone! We won’t touch your pups.”
She caught a glimpse of the bear’s brown eyes, which were open and huge. Xae
called again from the trees, and suddenly, Mariah heard the hoarse voice of a man behind her.
“You’d be dead before you got within ten feet of them.”
Mariah, at Shira’s flank, spun around back to the two lead wolves, but they were gone. In their place stood a man and a woman. They were both dressed only in leather and little of it at that. They were somewhat older than Mariah, with skin many shades darker and streaks of gray in their long, thick brown hair. Their coloring was familiar, and Mariah placed it as belonging to the people of Lishorani, the kingdom that Rothgar had consumed in her youth.
Mariah’s mouth hung open, and only one thought formed in her mind. Are Ceo San really around every corner, or do I attract them like a bee to honey?
The man had turned his gaze back to Shira, who still lay submissively on the forest floor, now looking over her shoulder as if avoiding the people standing before her.
“We asked of you only one thing, bear, one thing, and you have broken our pact.”
“What?” Mariah said. “What pact?”
Shira, unusually reticent, remained on the ground, still not looking at the wolf man or the woman standing silently next to him, her arms folded over her ample chest and her jaw tight.
“Your friend here has trespassed onto our territory before. She swore on her life never to tell anyone about us or to enter these woods without our permission, which we have not granted.”
The chorus of growls grew at his words.
“What? These lands are wild. If they belong to anyone”—Mariah swallowed hard over the lump that had formed in her throat—”they belong to the king.”
She had thought their growls were loud before, but now she couldn’t hear over the buzzing in her ears as the wolves each took three steps forward, all of their eyes on her.
“Do you really believe that, hawk?” It was a woman who spoke this time, her voice low and velvety. With that voice, Mariah was sure that this woman could convince anyone to do anything for her, and she stilled herself against it.
“I didn’t say he should own it, just that he did. In any case, you shouldn’t be threatening us for simply walking through. We’ve done nothing to harm you or yours. Why are you here, anyway?”
The woman looked surprised. “You are brave for one so outnumbered.” She turned to the man. “Husband, she is ignorant. Perhaps the bear did not reveal our secrets to her after all. Perhaps we have revealed ourselves.”
“Even if that’s true,” he said, scratching at the gray-streaked stubble on the side of his jaw, “the bear still did not have our permission to travel in our woods. We do not need this distraction right now. We should kill them and be done with it.”
The wolves had quieted as soon as the couple started talking, and at a passing look from the woman, they all sat down on their haunches but kept their gazes on Mariah and Shira.
“Perhaps not. Perhaps they have come at the perfect time.”
The man furrowed his brow at the woman, and after a glance back at the prisoners—Mariah had no doubt they were at the whim of these people—the two of them walked several yards off, and the circle of wolves closed in on the spot where they had been.
Mariah took the opportunity to look to the trees. She saw Xae nearby, staring at her from a branch, shifting from foot to foot as if he was ready to take off or fly to them at any second. She shook her head at him and hoped he got the point. The wolves were probably already suspicious of him. After all, they had yipped at him before. But there was no need for him to make himself obvious, and if he stayed in the tree, he might have the chance to escape if things went really wrong.
The wolf couple was still huddled beyond the circle when Mariah looked down. She settled on the ground next to Shira. “So,” she said quietly, “I take it you’ve had dealings with these … people before.”
Shira growled a low answer, and Mariah took it to be a yes.
“Are they as dangerous as they look?”
Shira sneezed again and then let out a sound that was entirely too human, a sound that held desperation and longing, longing to escape. It was at that moment that Mariah realized that even Shira held no chance against a pack of wolves this size. There were at least ten in the circle, and that didn’t include the pups. And another one she hadn’t noticed before, a smaller wolf, who was lying near the tree roots as if she were watching over the pups. Her eyes were pale blue and stood out in the smooth gray and white fur of her face as she met Mariah’s gaze briefly from across the clearing.
The sound of the man clearing his throat pulled Mariah’s gaze back and away from the girl.
“Bear, we will speak with you. Now.” His voice held a natural tone of command, and Shira groaned.
She stood up on all fours, and Mariah scrambled to her own feet. Before she had risen completely, Shira had changed and stood next to her. Mariah took the other woman’s hand in her left, ignoring Shira’s cold, clammy skin, and squeezed gently, trying to show her support without words.
“I will speak with you, Loleon.” Mariah had never heard Shira sound so formal, and she realized that there must be some ritual here that the other woman already knew.
“Ember and I have spoken, and we believe that you may be forgiven … Under certain circumstances.”
Shira shifted and looked at Mariah before she met the wolf’s gray eyes again. “What do you want, Alpha?”
It was the woman who spoke. “One of ours has recently gone missing. He went to Kannuk to gather supplies. The humans among us have needs.” Human? Mariah didn’t see anyone here who could qualify as human, at least not wholly so. Was someone hiding?
“There have been many more Trappers through Kannuk these days, although they still do not dare enter Laikos. We believe that Faylan was discovered and taken by one of these … soldiers.” She sneered the last word. “You will find him. If he can be returned, you will bring him back. If he yet lives but cannot be returned, you will kill him.”
Shira’s hand tightened around Mariah’s, but her gaze did not waver. Mariah herself bit her lip to keep her jaw from hanging open. Had these people just asked them to kill someone, someone they knew?
Ember went on. “We will send Ruby with you. She is omega. She is no good on her own, nor will she fight, but she has information that will help you find Faylan. And through her presence, Faylan will know you come from us.”
“No! Why would we agree to kill someone? Tell them, Shira!”
Shira released her hand and took two steps forward. She got down to one knee before the alpha pair. “We agree to your demands.” Mariah couldn’t believe what was happening. “We thank you for your forgiveness, and we will do all we can to retrieve your wolf. We will send your omega back if we cannot, either with his body or with news if he cannot be found.”
“Shira!” Mariah yelled, but the other woman silenced her with a glare before turning back to the wolves.
The alpha pair ignored Mariah and instead kept her eyes on the innkeepers’ daughter as she knelt before them.
“In honor of my promise, I offer you blood pact.” With her head down, she held one arm up toward the pair, her sleeve pulled back.
Mariah’s eyes widened in horror as the man came forward, shifting into wolf form as he did. The whole situation was off, and Xae croaked a warning. As Mariah rushed toward the pair, the wolf bared his teeth and took a bite out of Shira’s arm. By the time Mariah reached her friend’s side, it was over, and the wolf had swallowed a piece of Shira’s flesh.
Mariah knelt down next to Shira to check the wound, which was shallow but bled profusely. Ember stepped forward, offering her a strip of cloth to bind it with. Shira held one end with her free arm as Mariah tied it off with her good hand.
“What is wrong with you people?” she said, unable to keep the derision out of her voice.
The wolf woman’s eyes held no scorn. She simply said, “This is our way. Your friend knows that.” She looked at Shira. “There is one more t
hing. You have brought another Ceo San into our territory. You know that she must swear never to tell anyone about us, never to enter our territory again without our permission, which is granted until you have returned Faylan to us. As you did when you made this vow, she must make blood pact to seal it.”
CHAPTER 22
TO KANNUK
Mariah’s stomach woke her the next morning with a fierce growl. The smell that assailed her nostrils made her want to heave up the little liquid it contained. Her shoulder ached, and her arm burned. The jagged bark of the tree she had fallen asleep against dug into her back. Slowly, she straightened up and opened her eyes. The face of a great, furry brown bear was just inches from hers. In its jaws, it held a fish, a long silver fish that was still flopping a bit. The bear growled and bit down harder. The smell was coming from that fish.
Mariah covered a yawn with her left hand. Xae stood nearby, standing on top of another fish, taking it apart and eating it piece by piece with his dark beak.
“Okay, okay, I get it,” she told Shira. Her hunger was battling with her human sense of disgust at the thought of eating a raw, still living fish. That all changed quickly once she shifted and let the hawk take over.
As she began to eat, Shira lumbered off, but the bear was back soon enough with more fish. This she offered to Ruby, who was curled up among the trees almost out of Mariah’s sightline. The lean wolf—too lean, Mariah thought—hadn’t spoken, or changed for that matter, since her alpha had ordered her to travel with them. She had simply licked and yipped at each of the pups in the den and then followed.
In her hawk form, Mariah barely felt the wound Loleon had left on her right forearm. It had all happened so fast. Mariah had made the promise and was about to argue that no pact was necessary when he had stepped forward and Shira had moved around Mariah, pushing back the sling and holding it stable for his bite. Mariah had expected the pain, but along with it, there had been a tingling, an odd sensation that ran from her arm up to the top of her head and down her backbone and each leg to her toes, causing Mariah to gasp and arch her back against Shira.
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