Malek jumped, turning quickly towards the sound. As he saw her approaching, his eyes opened wide, and his jaw dropped. He began shouting at the warriors who had accompanied him. They all turned to face her and readied themselves for a fight.
Yara didn’t care how many there were. She felt rage. She felt hate. She wanted Malek dead. She wanted to kill him herself. She slashed out her daggers and let out a guttural battle cry. She heard not just her voice but also Toler’s. It was only then she realized that he had run out behind her. She felt strengthened by his presence.
They plunged into the line of Photak warriors in unison, each swinging into the air and flying back down in attack. One by one, they flattened warrior after warrior. With only two warriors left standing, they turned to launch their final attack.
“YARA! Are you sure you want to continue putting down my warriors?” Malek called out.
As Mila screamed again, Yara turned to see Malek holding a blade against her mother’s throat.
“NO! WAIT!” she shouted. “Please, don’t… PLEASE…”
Malek chuckled in response.
“If you want to save your mother, I’d advise you drop your weapons,” he sneered.
Yara’s body shook. She knew she had been defeated. As she gazed into her mother’s desperate eyes, she felt her daggers slide out from her hands and land with a thud on the ground. She glanced towards Toler. He looked visibly in pain now. His time was up.
“I see Sunstar is finally getting to you, Skotad,” Malek said with scorn. “Killing you by our blades will be a mercy you don’t deserve. Soon, the rays will melt your flesh, and I want everyone to witness it. Tie him to the stones!”
Yara watched helplessly as the two warriors dragged Toler up the structure and bound him with ropes.
“You Photaks have a thing for tying us up, I see,” Toler stammered, managing to give her a small wink.
Yara shook her head. Toler was about to experience the most painful death. She couldn’t believe he was still cheeky about it.
“MILA!”
Everyone swung around to see Mila’s mother hustling towards the stones. She was fuming. As she reached and saw Yara and Toler, she glared at Elder Malek.
“You said the blue-haired abomination would be dead by now. You promised us this. Yet, here she stands, and she is here with a Skotad! How are you protecting our Tribe? Why isn’t she dead?! Kill her!” May exclaimed.
Malek’s eyes narrowed. He didn’t like being criticized or ordered around.
“She will die once we have extracted the information we need from her,” he replied coldly.
May huffed in seething disapproval, shaking her head.
“Mila! Come here now!” May shouted. When Mila was close enough, May grabbed her by her ears.
“I told you to stay away from the abomination! And her mother! Why are you even here?!”
As she pulled her away, Mila swung around with tears, looking at Yara. Yara gave her a small smile and nodded gratefully. They could hear May screaming at Mila all the way out the training grounds. Yara shook her head and looked coldly at Malek.
“Let my mother go, Malek. Let her go, and I’ll tell you whatever you want to know.”
Malek lowered his blade and smiled in the evilest of ways. He looked out in the direction of Pekone’s dwelling. Yara turned to see all the warriors returning to the training grounds, heading in her direction. She glanced back at Toler. His skin was reddening, and he looked like he was about to scream out in pain.
Yara’s heartstar sank. There was so much pain and sorrow caused by her existence. As the alarm sounded and the Photak warriors rushed to the stones, her heartstar beat faster and faster. Her Tribe mother’s eyes pierced her with sadness. At this stage, Yara was ready to tell Malek anything he wanted to hear to save her. She would even claim she was a Skotad and that she had known all along.
As the warriors gathered around with hooting war cries, Yara looked pleadingly at Malek. Finally, he spoke.
“Yes, Yara, you are going to tell me everything you know. But first, let’s make sure you don’t get distracted trying to save anyone again.”
Then, Malek plunged his blade straight into Lana’s heartstar.
Chapter Fifteen
Yara’s screams could be heard as far away as the dwellings. They rippled with agony from her tormented soul. She rushed to her Tribe mother’s side, wailing and begging anyone to help. No one moved, and some of the warriors turned away. Behind her, Toler’s skin had begun to melt. He could no longer hold in his anguish. His cries intertwined with hers. It was the sound of a haunting hell.
There was no day in Photak history quite like this one. In many ways, there would be no other like it again. As her mother let out her final breath, dying in Yara’s arms, something in her finally broke.
Yara heard a whisper on the wind.
“Your power is in your surrender…”
She slowly got up and turned to face a calm Malek. As she eyed his blood-stained dagger, she looked him intensely in his eyes and said, “I surrender.”
***
Toler awoke to find himself on a vined stretcher in the Greens. He was certain he had died. He wondered if this was where Skotads went after death. As he tried to look around, searing pain blazed through his body with even the slightest shift.
Nope. Definitely not dead.
He closed his eyes and breathed gently until the blistering pain eased. He tried to remember what had happened and how he got there. He had strange flashes of memories. The Photak village. Little Mila. Rescuing Yara from the cell. Attacking the warriors with her. Sunstar’s rays beginning to penetrate his skin.
Everything else felt unclear. He knew the Elder had mercilessly killed Lana. And Yara was broken by it… she told Malek she surrendered. Then, the Photak warriors were… motionless. They were all standing and jeering, and then, in the blink of an eye, they all fell to the ground. Everyone, everywhere around them. And Yara… Yara was standing over them all. Malek’s body lay in front of her. She stooped down staring at him with pure hate, and he at her, dagger in her hand. She looked like she was about to kill him when Toler screamed out in pain. Yara had rushed to his side.
Toler didn’t remember anything that happened after that. He had lost consciousness from the pain. Now, he had no idea where in the Greens he was, and from what he could hear, there was no sign of Yara or anyone else around. He thought about the look of pure hatred on her face when she stood over Malek. He wondered if his burning agony hadn’t interrupted her…
Would she have killed him? For revenge?
A part of Toler couldn’t blame Yara if she had killed Malek, especially after what Malek had done to her Tribe mother. Still, it would have been an act of hate. That form of justice simply wasn’t the Skotad way. They held fair trials if there were perpetrators, and judgments were always made with compassion.
Toler worried for Yara. She had been through more than anyone else he had ever known. She had experienced more pain than anyone ever should.
“Well, thank Sunstar, you’re finally awake…” a soft voice called out as quiet footsteps pattered towards him.
Yara walked up with sapjuice in a makeshift cup. She knelt by his side and observed the exposed areas of his skin and the wound in his chest, frowning.
“It is a little better with the crushed medicine I made from the roots of a few of the plants here, but it still looks so inflamed. And your chest is beginning to look infected. I need to find you help. I’ve searched for quite some time, but I can’t seem to find the way to your people.”
Toler observed Yara. She looked utterly worn out. She also looked like she had been crying for hours. He couldn’t imagine her state of devastation. He didn’t know how he would manage if both his parents had been killed.
As Yara continued to attend to his wound, pasting on the medicine she had made, Toler wondered how it was even possible for them to be there. He was confident they had lost. He was sure they would die. Yet, som
ehow…
“Yara, how did you defeat so many warriors? And how did I get here? How far are we from your village?”
“I carried you… and don’t worry, we’re very far from the village. I headed north towards the mountains, in the general direction they told us that Skotads came from to enter the Greens… but the Greens stretch out for so very far.”
“How many hours have I been unconscious? How long have you been carrying me?”
“Hours? Toler, it’s been two days. I was so worried you wouldn’t make it.”
Toler felt horrified.
“Yara… you must be exhausted… thank you, thank you for saving my life…”
“I was only returning the favor,” she responded with a small, sad smile.
“But how… how did they all fall… all of them, they were surrounding us, and then… I… I don’t understand what happened…”
Yara looked away with deep sadness and fear.
“I don’t know, Toler…”
***
In some ways, Yara wished that what she was telling Toler was a lie. At the same time, she wasn’t sure she wanted to know the truth about what had happened back at the training grounds. She was scared of what she felt inside of her… of what she was and her origins. The irony was not lost on her—for the first time in her life, she was feeling what the Photak Tribe had felt about her all along.
Perhaps, they were right to be afraid of me…
She sighed. She felt exhausted physically and mentally. Whatever had powered through her, defeating the Photaks with a massive pulse of energy, had also drained her.
To make matters worse, emotionally, Yara was completely unhinged. The only thing that had kept her going was knowing that Toler’s life was on the line. She refused to let him die, especially after all he had sacrificed to save her.
Yara couldn’t believe the pain her life had caused to those around her. More than anything, she couldn’t believe her parents were dead. It had crushed her until she couldn’t breathe. Yara had tried to stay focused on getting Toler to safety. She had attempted to distract herself from her agony, but there were so many times that it seemed he wouldn’t make it. The very thought that he could die only brought back the tidal waves of grief she felt for her mother and father. It hadn’t been long before she lost all control, and her attempts to remain focused were obliterated.
Yara had spent the past two days broken, screaming to a silent Sunstar over and over again for an explanation. There had not been a moment she had not cried, and there had not been a minute that she didn’t question why it had to happen to her loving parents.
What is it all for? Why do people have to suffer because of me? Why does Sunstar allow this all to happen?! WHY DO YOU ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN?!!!
In her darkest moments, coincidentally, Toler would suddenly groan. His groans were the only signs she had that he could regain consciousness. They also made her feel like her deep distress was hurting him even more. In those times, she did all she could to concentrate on finding him the herbs he needed, all through tear-filled eyes.
Grateful that he was finally awake, Yara gently raised Toler’s head to help him drink. As he winced in pain, she considered the extent of his kindness. She couldn’t understand why he would put himself through all of this for her. He didn’t even know her. He had only just met her a few days ago. If she was honest, most of that time he had spent unconscious.
Yara had tried searching for the Skotads in all areas surrounding the north, but to no avail. She knew that if the Skotads were as similar to him as he had claimed, they would do anything they could to save his life. One time, she wondered what her life would have been like if she had been found by the Skotads instead…
At least, my mother and father would still be alive… I would never have known them, but at least they wouldn’t have suffered and died because of me…
She felt guilty for thinking it, but she also knew she was right. Nothing about this was worth it to her. She wondered how the purpose of her Tribe parents’ lives could have been to experience such painful deaths for choosing to love her. She continued to angrily question a still-silent Sunstar as to why her Tribe mother had been the one to find her.
More than any other feeling, she felt angry at herself. She hated all that she was, or perhaps all that she wasn’t. She also hated Malek for what he had done. She had so badly wanted to kill Malek …
But Toler’s life is worth far more than Malek’s ever will be… I need to save him…
She looked at Toler now with brows furrowed sorrowfully.
“We need to find your people, Toler,” Yara said softly as she brushed a few strands of his silvery-white hair away from his eyes.
Toler stared intensely at her, seeming to consider what she said while weighing it against everything else. Eventually, he sighed.
“While all are welcome to the mountains, it is dangerous for a new person to arrive unannounced. The entrance is well-hidden and kept a secret. Anyone unexpected who approaches can be shot from a distance if word isn’t sent ahead… because it can be perceived as an attack,” he said weakly. “However, it is pretty clear with my condition that I can’t go ahead to announce you. Even worse, the way you are dressed closely resembles Photak warrior garb, and you don’t look like anyone they would have ever seen… and you will have a very injured Skotad hostage with you… or so it will seem. I am worried that I won’t get a chance to explain… that you won’t get a chance…”
“I don’t care, Toler… and surely once they recognize you, they will want to save your life. You’re a warrior, and you’re the son of a warrior, right?”
“Uhh… something like that…”
“Well, regardless, we’re doing this, Toler. We are going to get you help. I will do my best to explain to you where we are now, and you will tell me where to go from here, okay?”
“Has anyone ever mentioned how stubborn you are?”
“I’d hurt you if you weren’t already in so much pain,” Yara shot back. “Listen up, now. This is the path I took.”
As Yara explained to Toler how they got to where they were, she was relieved to find out that they weren’t very far away from the Skotad territory. She had seen a couple of the landmarks that Toler spoke about along the way. She had chosen a route that she had felt guided to take, although she couldn’t explain why she had.
Yara got them both more sapjuice and fed Toler mushrooms in preparation for the journey. As she packed up, she heard him whisper words of gratitude to Sunstar for her, asking for her protection. She pretended not to hear, feeling self-conscious and undeserving. She walked over to him when she was certain he was done with his prayerful murmurs. She observed the vines that she had wrapped to make his stretcher. She looked at him with concern.
“The entire time I was dragging you along, you were unconscious. Now that you’re awake, every second of this is going to be torture for you. Are you sure you don’t want me to leave you here and go get help?”
“No,” Toler said firmly, “you stand a better chance with me there. I can take it, Yara. What I can’t take is anything else happening to you…”
Yara sighed, looking away and shaking her head. While she knew he was right, he had already been through so much. The torture he would have to endure was unfathomable. She knew she would need to get him help quickly, and not just because of the difficult journey. The wound to his chest had not been treated properly, and he was starting to get a high fever. Time was of the essence.
As she raised the ends of the stretcher, she empathetically winced when she heard his gruff, pained breaths. She looked back, and he nodded. Then, she looked forward and willed herself not to react to what she knew was to come.
As she took off, Toler’s guttural cries penetrated the Green’s thick foliage. She could tell he was trying to muffle it with his hands. As they neared the third landmark, she knew the Skotads on guard would be faintly hearing his cries. She tried to stay alert, training her ears beyond Tole
r’s cries of pain.
Soon, she heard them. They were sprinting towards her from all around. She braced herself, still running. The first arrow whizzed past her, scraping her arm. She turned in the direction from which it came. A shower of arrows was heading towards her and Toler.
Chapter Sixteen
“Toler!” Yara cried out.
Without even thinking, she threw her body over his as the arrows came flying down. He screamed out upon her impact, and immediately fell unconscious from the pain. Something within her burst upon hearing his cries. A wave of reflexive power roared out of her.
Then, everything was quiet. Yara could feel Toler breathing beneath her. She slowly raised her head up, still lying on him. His eyes were closed.
“Toler…?”
Skotad warriors gathered around her. She heard them gasping, and then shouting to each other.
“Help him! HELPPP HIM!” she screamed at them.
Two of them pulled her off of him, and another two grabbed the stretcher on each end and began to run. As they dragged her along with them, Yara saw something she couldn’t understand.
There, on the patch of ground where she had lain upon Toler, was an outline of their bodies. The outline had been made with Skotad arrows. Somehow, none of the arrows could touch Toler and her. The Skotad warriors were gathered around it, pointing and looking towards her in shock. They said a word to each other, a word which they called her as if in recognition of what she was.
“What… what did they say… what are they saying?!” she asked the Skotads pulling her.
They didn’t even look at her. Before she could ask them again, she heard the Skotads carrying Toler shout towards a strange, thick shrubbery.
“Open the doors! Find Grandam! The Chief’s son has been injured! Find her now!”
“What… what did you say…?” Yara stammered.
The Chief’s son?!
***
Skotads rushed past her with medicine, bandages, and potions she did not recognize. They glanced towards her at times, but they were mostly focused on their critical task—saving Toler, the son of the Chief of the Skotads.
The Unmarked Girl (The YaraStar Trilogy Book 1) Page 11