by P. C. Cast
“The warning bell! Sunfire, where is my mind? I’d completely forgotten about it,” O’Bryan said.
“It’s perfect.” Sheena was nodding in agreement. “One of us can sound it as the rest of us are casting off on the river.”
“What is this warning you speak of?” Sora asked.
“There are ancient bells, foraged from Port City generations ago—we have them placed throughout the Tribe on lookout platforms, and the loudest of them is on the platform that overlooks the Channel. If we sound it, the Tribe will know danger is coming,” O’Bryan said.
“Yeah, but won’t they also know we’re stealing their boats?” Sora said.
“They might, but if Dove is telling the truth they’ll be busy battling Skin Stealers and their God of Death,” O’Bryan said.
Sora sighed, running her hand through her hair, staring at the sightless girl as the Companions watched her, waiting for her to lead them. For the first time, Sora truly understood the magnitude of her Moon Woman status. If she chose wisely, they would make it to the Channel and escape—and they would warn the Tribe of impending doom.
If she chose unwisely, they would all either be killed or be captured and enslaved.
Sora met Davis’s gaze. “I believe Mari’s dream. Dove is telling us the truth. When we get to the Channel take the lookout platform. Warn the Tribe and then get your butt into a boat. It is my command as your Moon Woman that you will not get trapped there. You will join us on the water.”
“Yes, Moon Woman,” Davis said, bowing formally to her.
“Sheena, I’m putting you in charge of Dove and Lily,” Sora said.
The young Companion’s brows rose, but she nodded her head in acquiescence. “Should I bind them?”
“No. They aren’t our captives, and I have chosen to trust Dove’s oath. But I’m also not a naïve fool.”
“Understood,” Sheena said, moving to stand beside Dove and Lily.
To the rest of them Sora said, “Now we move and move quickly and quietly. Pass the word down the column about what Dove has told us.” She shifted her gaze to the girls. “Dove, Lily, if you can’t keep up with us, Sheena will leave you behind.”
“Yes, Moon Woman,” Dove said as Lily nodded, eyes wide in her pale, pale face.
“What about Nik and Mari?” Antreas asked.
“Nothing’s changed.” Sora spoke calmly, though inside she felt sick with fear. “We have to trust that Mari will get Nik out. O’Bryan, tell the Companions to pray to the Sun to help Nik.” She met Davis’s eyes. “The rest of us will pray to the Earth Goddess to give Mari strength. Quickly, now! We’ve lost all the time we can spare. Get the Pack moving!”
CHAPTER 39
As she and Rigel raced northward, Mari made her decision. She wasn’t sure if it was fueled by anger or intuition gifted to her by the Great Goddess—Mari hoped it was a little of both—but she knew one thing with every ounce of her being. Mari was done hiding. She would not sneak into the Tribe like a frightened thief. She would demand Nik’s release, and woe to anyone who tried to stop her.
Earth Walkers were not warlike—they nurtured the earth and preferred to live lives filled with peace and tranquility. Even males sick with Night Fever were rarely dangerous to anyone but themselves.
But Mari was only half Earth Walker. The other half was Tribal. As she retraced the path she and Nik had taken less than a week ago, Mari’s resolve strengthened.
Thaddeus had taken her mother from her.
Thaddeus had taken Nik’s father from him.
Men like Thaddeus had taken Mari’s father from her and her mother.
Thaddeus was done taking.
So Mari ran with Rigel racing at her side. When she felt her energy wane, she began to panic—she didn’t have time to stop and rest or even to slow to a walk! Her breath was coming in heaving gasps and Mari was clutching her side that radiated pain when Rigel suddenly stopped in front of her, forcing her to halt, too.
“Rigel!” Mari shouted between gulping air. “Get out of the way! You know we have no time to play.”
But even though the young Shepherd was panting and clearly exhausted, he stood his ground, staring into Mari’s eyes, and suddenly the sunlight around them seemed to glitter with an otherworldly glow and she realized what her Companion was trying to tell her.
“Sorry, Rigel. I understand now!” Mari yanked off her tunic, so that she was dressed only in simple hemp-woven pants. She staggered to a spot where the late-afternoon sunshine had found a way through the boughs of the increasingly large pines. Mari threw out her arms and stared up at the fiery orb. “I welcome the power that my blood craves!” Heat rushed into her body. She glanced down at Rigel. Beside her the pup’s eyes were glowing sunlit amber and he’d already stopped panting.
The stitch in her side was gone. In another second her breathing had steadied. And in another the exhaustion that running for half of the day had caused evaporated completely.
Her body was filled with heat and strength.
Her mind was completely clear.
She shoved her tunic in her satchel. No way was she going to cover her skin as long as the Sun was still in the sky—still providing Rigel and her with life-saving energy.
“Now, Rigel, we really run!”
Moon Woman and Shepherd almost flew through the forest. As they sped forward, Mari’s mind was busy thinking of and then discarding plans.
Oh, Mama! I wish you were here. I wish you could tell me the smartest way to do this.
Then, whether it was actually Leda’s voice or just an echo from the past, Mari heard her words inside her head as clearly as if her beloved mama ran alongside her.
Often the simplest plan is the best. Just like when you’re confronted by a person with a terrible wound. Don’t overthink. Don’t panic. Act, sweet girl—act!
“Thank you, Mama. That’s exactly what I’m going to do.”
As Rigel and Mari drew closer and closer to the meditation platform and what remained of the proud Tribe of the Trees, they slowed to a walk. Mari glanced at the sky. There was little of the sun left, and she could feel the moon waiting expectantly for her turn to take charge of the sky. Mari tested the wind and then altered their course so that the breeze was against her face. She wasn’t going to sneak into camp, but she also didn’t want Thaddeus to be warned ahead of time that she was coming.
The stench of disease came to her before she heard the raucous shouts of men. It seemed as if they were at play, which caused Mari’s blood to pound through her veins as her anger built. They have Nik. And they’re enjoying hurting him.
Mari used her Earth Walker skills. Utterly silent, she and Rigel crept forward until they came within sight of the meditation platform. Mari’s stomach boiled with anger.
She needn’t have worried about Thaddeus and his men scenting her. They were too busy with their cruel game to take notice of anything except Nik.
As in the image Laru had sent her, they had Nik on the meditation platform. Only now his shirt had been ripped from him. He was bound with his arms tied behind him. The rope around his neck had been looped up over a branch above him. It was taut, and Mari could see that he had to stand almost on his tiptoes to keep from choking. Below them, in the midst of sick and wounded Tribesmen and women lying mutely on pallets around the tree, stood a small group of men—Mari quickly counted four of them, plus Thaddeus. They all had crossbows and full quivers of arrows.
They were taking turns shooting at Nik.
Horrified, Mari watched a man aim and fire. The arrow whizzed past Nik, brushing his right shoulder and ripping a bloody furrow in it before embedding itself in the bark of the pine. Nik made no sound. He didn’t even flinch. He just stood there, straining to remain on his tiptoes, his gaze focused on the forest.
Mari heard a whine, and her attention was pulled briefly from Nik to the Shepherd who lay by the feet of the Warrior who had just shot. While he laughed and hooted and was congratulated by Thaddeus, his Shepherd lay
disconsolate, whining constantly, his amber eyes focused on his Companion’s face. The Shepherd shifted his body, as if he was in pain, and Mari sucked in a shocked breath.
His belly had been wrapped in a bloody bandage!
Her gaze went quickly to the three Terriers lying beside Companions who were laughing and taking aim at Nik. They, too, were bandaged just like the Shepherd.
It has to be true. They’ve done with their canines what we saw the Skin Stealers doing with that wild boar!
Another whine caught her attention and Mari’s gaze shifted to a woman who was seated not far from Thaddeus. Unlike the rest of the people, she was paying close attention to what was going on, and for a moment Mari felt some relief as she thought there might be at least one member of the Tribe who still cared about Nik. Then she saw what had drawn her attention. A young Shepherd was pacing around the woman, whining pitifully. Mari could see no wound on the young canine. With a jolt of shock, she recognized the pup as Fortina, Rigel’s littermate! At that moment the woman, who Mari now realized must be Maeve, backhanded the pup.
“I told you to lie down and be quite!” Maeve shouted. Fortina’s tail went between her legs and her ears fell back as she took to her belly. Resting her nose on her front feet, the pup continued to stare pitifully from Maeve to Nik.
Bile lifted in Mari’s throat, almost gagging her. Oh, sweet Fortina! I’m so sorry!
Mari watched as the pup’s ears suddenly went up and her sharp eyes began searching the shadows within the forest around Mari’s hiding place. She swallowed hard and steadied herself. I have to keep my thoughts to myself. The pup could give me away, even if she doesn’t mean to. There would be time to feel sick for those poor canines later. Now Mari’s focus had to be on Nik.
Mari closed her eyes. Reaching out with her mind, she concentrated on Laru, sketching a picture of herself, with Rigel beside her, where they crouched in hiding near the meditation platform. She added Laru to the image. It took longer than she would have liked, but finally she felt the jolt of warmth that meant Laru was nearby, and within just a few breaths the Alpha Shepherd padded silently up to them.
Mari was so relieved to see him, beside her and unharmed, that she threw her arms around his wide neck, kissing him and holding him close—sharing her love with him. The big canine’s body had been trembling, but surrounded by Mari and Rigel he settled. Mari could feel him calming and regaining hope.
“It’s okay,” she whispered to him, flooding him with love and reassurance. “We’re going to save him. I promise.”
Mari glanced up at the sky. It was painted with orange and pink and turquoise. She couldn’t see the sun, but she could feel its power fading as the cool majesty of the moon was beginning to grow.
Resolutely, Mari reached into her satchel, pulling out her slingshot and the pouch of perfect stones she kept it filled with. She looked at her tunic and decided against putting it on. Mari shook back her hair, still dressed with jay feathers; she loved that it had gotten long enough that it framed her face in a riotous mess of curls and braids. Then, on impulse, she poured a little of the water from her travel bladder onto a patch of dirt at the base of the concealing pine they crouched behind, quickly working it into sticky mud. Using her fingers, she painted an image of the sun in the middle of her chest. Below it, on her smooth, flat stomach, Mari then painted the image of a moon.
Satisfied, she turned her focus to the two canines as she sketched in her mind a picture of herself striding into the Tribe’s camp. Rigel and Laru flanked her. Their heads, ears, and tails were up. Their massive teeth were bared. Waves of power radiated from the three of them.
“Understand?” she whispered.
Immediately Rigel moved to her right and Laru to her left. Mari stood. Her slingshot was in one of her hands. She tied the pouch of rocks around her bare waist.
With the two Shepherds beside her, Mari stepped from behind the pine tree and strode directly into what was left of the Tribe of the Trees.
* * *
“Hey, Nikolas! All you need to do is beg us to stop and we will!” Thaddeus taunted.
“Yeah, ask pretty please—you know, like you asked your Scratcher whore for a piece of her ass!” the young Hunter named Andrew shouted, causing the other men—those Thaddeus had already healed—to laugh sarcastically and add their own nasty jibes about Mari.
Nik gave no response at all. When Thaddeus had tied the rope around his neck and hung it from the branch above him, being sure that Nik had to stretch to keep from being choked, he’d chosen a spot in the distance—off in the forest that was still filled with green and life—and he focused on that spot, refusing to look away. Nik filled his mind with thoughts of everything he loved—of Laru and Mari and Rigel, O’Bryan and Davis and little Cammyman, of the Pack he longed to rejoin. He kept his thoughts on them—on the people and canines who were his family, his friends, his future. And Nik waited.
Thaddeus was impetuous and filled with anger. His men—especially the four who surrounded him and who had obviously gone through the same “cure” as had Thaddeus—were likewise so filled with rage that Nik barely recognized them. These were men he’d grown up with, men who had followed his father willingly, men who were now dangerous strangers.
But Nik knew anger did odd things to people. It clouded judgment, requiring actions that fed on chaos and fear—and chaos and fear opened the door to mistakes.
So Nik waited for Thaddeus’s mistake, keeping his mind clear and present as he meditated on his loved ones and refused to play the Hunter’s cruel game.
An arrow whizzed past, slicing through the meaty part of Nik’s shoulder. He didn’t so much as flinch, but it did draw his mind out of the dream it had been reliving where Mari’s head rested on his shoulder while Laru and Rigel curled at their feet, sleeping contentedly.
Damn, that stings! Nik struggled to remain expressionless. He could feel the heat of the arrow slices and was surprised to realize that while his mind had been daydreaming with Mari his body had been nicked by so many arrows that his blood covered his chest like a liquid tunic.
“Ah, come on, Nik! If you won’t beg for us to stop, how ’bout you do a little dance?” Another arrow twanged loose from its crossbow, and Nik sucked in a breath as it grazed his side, tunneling another bloody furrow across his naked skin.
A small whimper had his gaze focusing on the canines below him. Mostly, they were quiet. Except for the canines who were Companions to Thaddeus’s group, and Maeve’s pup, Fortina, they lay beside their sick and wounded Companions, trying to absorb the suffering of their humans as they lent love and strength and hope to them.
Thaddeus’s group was different. Their canines were wounded—sick even. They were lethargic and in obvious pain—a pain their Companions completely ignored. It was difficult for Nik to comprehend it. He could no more allow Laru to suffer than he could allow Mari to feel pain. But the Companions who were closest to Thaddeus, the only Tribesmen who seemed to be getting stronger with each moment, paid no attention to their suffering canines. And Thaddeus—the Hunter who had lost his beloved Terrier just the day before—showed no sign of mourning. No sign of grief. Nik had even heard him speaking to Odysseus, as if the canine was still by his side.
The whimper sounded again. Nik’s gaze swept the crowded clearing. It wasn’t coming from any of the adult canines. It was coming from Fortina, the pup who had chosen Maeve not so long ago. That poor little girl Shepherd was unwounded in body, but Nik suspected she was utterly broken in spirit.
Maeve backhanded the pup and Nik had to use every bit of his self-control not to strain against his bonds and demand she leave the young Shepherd alone. He did let his gaze focus briefly on Fortina, wishing he had Mari’s ability to communicate with other Companions. He’d tell the pup, Run for the Channel! Find the Pack! They’ll help you!
Then a truly odd thing happened. As he watched Fortina, the defeated pup raised her head. Her eyes brightened as her ears went up and she searched the forest
behind them.
Oh, sunfire, no! Don’t let it be Laru! Nik closed his eyes, concentrating on his connection with the Alpha Shepherd. Laru! Run! Meet Mari at the Channel! he repeated.
In return Nik felt a delicious wash of reassurance and hope so strong that he wished he could collapse with relief. Laru’s response left no doubt in his mind. His Shepherd had found Mari. Now all Nik had to do was find a way to escape.
Thawp! Nik’s eyes shot open as another arrow ripped across the outside of his left thigh, not far from the wound that was already aching. Warmth washed his thigh as scarlet spread down his leg.
“Isn’t that about enough, Thaddeus?”
Nik blinked to clear his vision. He looked down to see Ralina, the Tribe’s talented Storyteller, struggling to lift herself to a sitting position as her big Shepherd licked her face encouragingly.
“Enough?” Thaddeus turned on her. “Enough?” Spittle flew from his lips as he yelled his rage. “All of this is because of him and his Scratcher whore!”
“Yes, so you keep insisting,” Ralina said. She had to pause as she coughed. Then she wiped her mouth and continued. “But if you want to use Nik to lure his Scratcher here, you’re going to need to keep him alive. Keep shooting arrows at him and, sooner rather than later, one of you is going to hit something critical. He’ll do you no good as bait if he bleeds to death.”
“Why the hell do I care if he bleeds to death?” Thaddeus smirked. “As soon as he doesn’t meet his Scratcher with the stolen Mother Plants, she’ll come looking for him—whether he’s dead or alive.”
“I told you,” Nik rasped, baring his teeth at Thaddeus. “Mari and her Clan have gone west, to Clan Fisher. I was supposed to join them on the coast. She won’t expect me for days.”
“And I told you—I don’t believe you!” Thaddeus shouted. “I don’t think that bitch would go anywhere too far without you. I believe she’s a lot closer than you let on.”
“For once, Thaddeus, you speak the truth!” Mari’s voice was a clarion call, blasting throughout the clearing.