Chapter 43
the snow leopards
The group departed early the next morning and traveled lightly over the traces of snow still left on the ground. Everyone except for Ohan, of course, who couldn’t have been in a better mood. His enthusiasm was contagious, as well as his confidence in which direction to travel. When it grew dark they set up their heavy tents around the fire, and Annika greatly missed the soft warmth of the hayloft. The ground was stiff and cold, but at least she was warm, with all the women plus Chivanni in one tent and all the men in another, and Ohan happily on his own.
Every day they rode, every night they set up the tents around the fire, and other than pristine landscapes of mountains and trees surrounding them, they didn’t run into a single soul. There was a sense of foreboding that they were all aware of. They knew they were getting closer to the Pazachi. Nikola and his brother could sense it, and now led the way most of the time, flanked by the two massive wolves, with Ohan and Talvi bringing up the rear.
Almost four days had passed, and Annika realized it was Christmas. She wondered what her family was doing, hoping they weren’t sitting around their decorated tree, crying. She could imagine her stocking hanging empty, and Charlie digging for his apple and orange and countless candies and chocolates. Or maybe it was full, and Charlie was digging in both of them.
“You kids are far too old for stockings. Maybe next year you won’t get one,” she could hear her mother threatening them every year.
“One of these years, you’ll find a lump of coal, just you wait!” She could picture her dad shaking his finger at them as he refilled his cup of spiked eggnog for the umpteenth time. She could remember it all so well, watching their traditional movies, playing board games, eating all day long and waiting for the phone call from Vince when he was too swamped with work to come spend the holidays with them. She sighed heavily, knowing the sooner they reached the Pazachi, the sooner she could have that spiked cup of eggnog with her dad. But what she wasn’t sure of was how exactly that was supposed to happen.
They hadn’t been traveling more than a few hours on this particular morning when the sentries stopped dead in their tracks. Konstantin motioned for everyone to come to a halt. The wolves looked at each other, sniffing the air. Even Nikola appeared concerned, which was an unusual change from his laid-back attitude.
Annika’s eyes darted up to the tree above them and her heart thumped loudly a few times. A long fluffy tail was curling above them.
Nikola, look up! She warned him with her mind. Just as he lifted his head, a huge ball of spotted white fur pounced on him, knocking him off his elk and onto the ground.
“Takeshi!” he called out, but he didn’t scream in fear. He wrestled with the animal, a beautiful snow leopard, but no claws were drawn. Fast as lightning, Talvi and Yuri drew their bows as another larger snow leopard jumped out of the trees, swishing its tail back and forth like a dog ready to play.
“Don’t shoot!” Annika cried. Although she didn’t know why, she had the feeling that if the big cats were going to kill anyone, they would have done it by now. The wolves hadn’t even bothered to attack, let alone growl at them. They only cocked their heads curiously to one side, and then the other. The leopards batted Nikola around with their large paws, knocking off his helmet, and bared their dagger-like fangs, but they weren’t biting. Nikola finally threw his arms around their necks in a big hug as a huge smile crept across his face. The leopards grunted happily as he hugged them close to his body. Finn and Zaven lowered their weapons.
“I guess they’re friendly, aren’t they?” Finn observed with caution.
“They better be friendly! They’re nearly my own flesh and blood,” Nikola laughed, and right at that moment, it was not two snow leopards that stood before them, but a young man and woman. Both of them wore helmets similar to his, except with sleek black antlers. Dark brown almond shaped eyes peered from their round doll-like faces, and their non-threatening smiles mirrored one another. They wore matching jackets made of deer skins with white rabbit fur trim. Leather pants were tucked into their white fur boots, which enabled them to walk with incredible stealth.
“This is Natari,” said Nikola, introducing the girl. “And her brother Takeshi.” The siblings smiled at the others, and Justinian was beaming with happiness.
“How long has it been? Have you been living here all this time?” he asked.
“No, the Pazachi drove us away, and we’ve been living on the edge of the forest all this time,” Takeshi explained. “It’s been about two years now.”
“Two years…” Nikola sighed.
“We’ve been keeping an eye on them ever since…ever since you left,” Natari said. She adjusted her helmet and looked curiously at the men in the group, particularly Ohan and the elves. “There has been a lot of activity in the woods,” she continued after sizing them up. “The animals tell us that the Pazachi have built something strange inside a nearby cave.”
“Have you seen it? What is it?” Justinian asked.
“We can’t get close enough to tell, but there was one swallow who described it like a wheel. The cave is guarded by four Pazachi at all times, and dozens more live inside. We’d never get past them, even with our abilities,” she said with a shrug.
“But you’re shape-shifters,” Hilda said. “Can’t you become a squirrel or a rabbit and see for yourselves?”
“No, I wish we could,” Takeshi sighed. “We can only become a mammal of similar size. The smallest creature I could ever manage was a fox, back when I was still a boy.”
“And a rabbit is still far too small, even for me,” his slender sister said. “Besides…there’s not much I could disguise myself as and get past them. They’d either kill me for being a threat, or kill me for food.”
“Do you have anything to eat?” Takeshi asked. “I’m so tired of hunting animals on all fours. What I wouldn’t give for a couple of buttermilk biscuits and berry compote like Dragana used to make.”
“Eww,” Runa squealed. “You eat raw meat?”
“Desperate times call for desperate measures.”
“I don’t know if I can make berry compote like Dragana used to make, but we could definitely stop and have lunch,” Chivanni said.
“We could set up camp now and get some extra rest,” advised Justinian. “We have a lot of catching up to do, but I’m also very interested to hear what else you’ve learned from watching the Pazachi.” The group dismounted and began building a fire underneath a group of thickly trunked trees, sheltering them from the cold wind.
“How is Dragana?” Takeshi asked. Nikola looked at his brother with sorrowful eyes.
“I think she has passed already. I can feel her spirit in the air now.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. I would have liked to tell her goodbye.”
“You knew her as well?” Yuri asked.
“Yes, she raised us all together when our parents were killed by the Pazachi,” Natari informed her. She took off her helmet and ran her fingers through her hair. It was short, and it stuck out in every direction, similar to Talvi’s, though his hair was much thicker than hers.
“I’m sorry to hear your parents died,” Talvi said to her. She shook her head.
“We were so young, I don’t remember much at all. I remember crying a lot, but I didn’t know why. Justinian was around fourteen when it happened. I think because he remembers his anger and pain, this is why he swore his vengeance to return when he was powerful enough and kill Draganos and Zagora. He would rather strike with the sword than his mind.”
“Who are they?” Hilda asked.
“The leaders of the Pazachi.”
“Justinian’s been training his whole life just to kill one bloke and one woman? That ought to be easy enough,” Talvi said, sounding a little arrogant. He had his quiver beside him and was marking the ends of his arrows with blue paint leftover from the fairy house to keep track of how many Pazachi he could hit. Natari frowned and stuck her fingertips
into the ground. There was a mild vibration coming from below them, and suddenly Talvi found his legs and hands bound to the forest floor by roots.
“Not bloodwoods!” he yelped, and the others glanced around in fear. They had not planned on more of the flesh-eating trees to contend with. But Natari was laughing. They weren’t bloodwoods at all, just the roots of one of the nearby oak trees. She drew a small white knife from her belt similar to the one Nikola had used to gouge out Vaj’s eyes, and held it against his neck with a limp wrist, clearly not intending to use it.
“Don’t underestimate what one woman can do to you,” she grinned. “Take it back, and I’ll free you.”
“I think I’d take her advice, Talvi,” Hilda said with a laugh. He gave one last jerk of his arms, but he finally surrendered.
“Fine, I take it back, just let me go,” he insisted. She returned her knife to its sheath and waved her hand slowly above his knees. The roots loosened their grip and disappeared back into the ground. She gave him a very smug look as she turned towards Hilda and the others as though nothing had happened.
“Anyway, as I was saying earlier, the Pazachi have built a strange wheel in the cave,” Natari continued. “Takeshi and I would have been recognized very quickly, and killed just as swiftly as our parents were if we came too close to it.”
“So there’s no chance of negotiating with them?” Finn asked. No sooner had the words come out of his mouth than Takeshi shook his head with a grim expression.
“Our friends already tried that, and they lost their heads over it,” Takeshi replied as he took an empty spot near the fire. He watched with interest as the fairies busied themselves with lunch.
“We don’t have time to go back for reinforcements,” Konstantin declared. “If they realize they’ve been discovered, they will be gone before we know which direction they went. If they have entrenched themselves underground for the winter, we will sustain fewer casualties with a surprise attack. I say we eradicate them now and be done with it.”
“I don’t disagree with you,” said Natari. “We’ve been collecting information by using the animals as spies. We know that there’s only one entrance. We guessed that there are about fifty of them living in there, but I’m uncertain how many children there are.”
“Fifty?” Zaven said, looking sick.
“That’s not so bad. We can take fifty, if each of us takes down three of them,” Justinian said, trying to sound optimistic.
“You’ll have to recalculate your math,” Finn reasoned. “Even if the fairies and Annika were able to commit such a heinous act, I think expecting them to slay nine Pazachi between them is asking a bit much.”
“Oh, right,” Justinian said, noticing Annika’s wide eyes. “Well, if Ohan and Sariel are the warriors I think they are, we can certainly do it.”
“I’m not killing children,” Sariel said coldly. “I refuse.”
“Sariel, dear, anyone old enough to use a weapon for ill intent must be treated as an adult,” Justinian said, putting his arm around her. “And if their parents have any sense at all, they’ll keep the young ones somewhere safe.” She nodded silently, but didn’t seem any more comforted by his logic.
“Can’t we just tie them up?” Hilda asked. “Do we really have to kill or be killed? This sounds like you’re expecting a bloodbath if we confront them! There must be some other way.” Takeshi and his sister shared a sober glance.
“We’ve been strategizing about this ever since we located them and started monitoring their activities from this distance,” Takeshi explained. “I’m not looking forward to bloodshed any more than you are. What we’ve learned is that the Pazachi have been training for years to fight to the death for their beliefs. There will be no simple taking of prisoners…on their side or on ours. Those that are capable of fighting would rather kill themselves than be captured. That we know for certain.”
“Are we close?” Annika asked. “I feel like we are.” She felt more nervous and scared than ever, between the prospect of using her sword for killing and Pesha’s prophecy that someone close to her would die on their journey.
“As a matter of fact, we are,” Takeshi said. “The Pazachi are a day’s ride northeast.” The others tensed up at learning how close they were.
“Well then, let’s rest up,” Justinian said with authority, but his cheerful demeanor was gone. “Every one of us will need to be as sharp as the edge of Sariel’s sword tomorrow.”
The Flame and the Arrow Page 43