by C Lee Tocci
Silently, they signaled to each other and, hoisting their weapons, they loosed a merciless barrage down onto their unsuspecting targets.
A most satisfying sequence of screams and chaos followed and the commandos watched with gratification as the survivors staggered about, stunned.
Then, a most unexpected event occurred. While the blonde girl stood, dripping and screaming, the tall dark boy shook off his shock, turned and glared up the hill.
“LILIBIT!” he roared.
Lilibit shrugged as she turned to her two accomplices. “How do you think he knew it was me?”
Wide-eyed, Nita shook her head but Devon bit his lip to keep from laughing. Down below, despite her shaking and screeching, Sylvie from the Timber Wolf clan still had the remains of two water balloons hanging from her once practically perfect flaxen hair. Looking up to where Todd was staring, she saw the three heads peeking out over the crag.
“You wretched little beast! You repulsive scrub! You… You….” Words failed her and she stamped her feet and squealed. “Ooooh!”
“What do you think we should do next?” Devon asked.
As Todd began scrambling towards them up the side of the hill, Lilibit made a swift, strategic decision.
“Run!” she yelled and putting action to words, she scuttled to her feet and bolted back towards the Crescent Courtyard.
For a change, the day had been going very well. Todd should have known it wouldn’t last.
It was hard not to notice Sylvie Silverstone. She was tall with long blonde hair and had a way of walking that would make you forget what you were talking about, or even who you were talking to. What was unusual was that Sylvie would notice Todd.
A lot of the boys lagged behind the pack in Jojoba’s Tracking class just so they could watch the girls walk in front of them. And while the girls knew it, they usually ignored them. But today, Sylvie had been shooting looks back over her shoulder and Todd was almost certain she’d been looking at him. So when she stumbled and bumped into him, Todd wasn’t entirely certain that it was the unfortunate accident that it appeared to be.
She’d twisted her ankle. She’d assured him that she would be fine, she just needed to sit for a minute or two. So, of course, Todd offered to stay with her until she was ready to walk again. One thing led to another and before he knew what he was about, he was in the middle of his first kiss.
As first kisses go, it wasn’t a complete disaster, but it was pretty close and Todd was worried that Sylvie was going to laugh at him. But she didn’t seem to notice and the next one went much better.
He was almost getting the hang of it when a half a dozen water balloons exploded, drenching the two of them and dousing the moment.
He didn’t need to hear the giggles from above to figure out who had attacked them. And while he recognized all three of them, he knew who the ringleader was.
Frustration gave an icy edge to his anger as he clamored up the slope. He wasn’t sure what he would do to her when he caught her, but he was determined to teach the brat a lesson. Once and for all.
Lilibit ran for her life. Apparently, Todd did not find the interruption as funny as she had.
The three of them had a decent head start and Todd had had to scramble up the hill first, but his legs were longer and he was quickly gaining on them. Since Nita and Devon couldn’t run as fast as she could, Lilibit called out “Split up!”
Devon and Nita quickly peeled off to the left and right, but Todd, unfortunately, didn’t miss a beat. He stayed right on Lilibit’s tail and the gap between them closed.
Behind her, she could hear Todd’s angry mutters. He was panting so hard, she couldn’t make out what he was saying, but she knew threats when she heard them.
“Kissy! Kissy! Kissy-face!” she taunted over her shoulder.
That was a mistake. With a roar of fury, Todd ran even faster.
Panic flooded through Lilibit and adrenalin made her legs pump faster than she had ever run before. She could feel Todd’s breath right behind her. Her arms pounded a rhythm twice as fast as her legs. Any moment, he would reach out, grab her shoulder and pull her down.
With a final burst of speed, Lilibit pulled away. She’d got her second wind and she raced off so fast, it felt like her feet weren’t even touching the ground.
Todd stumbled to a stop, looking up at her, dumbfounded. Lilibit would have laughed at him, but she was too breathless to speak. She zipped back down to taunt him and then away again.
It was then that she realized that she was looking down at him and that she was up in the air. A quick glance at her body and she realized that it was no longer the body of a young girl, but of a bird. She fluttered in astonishment. She was a hummingbird! And then, suddenly, she wasn’t anymore. She fell towards the earth like a stone. Or like a girl without wings.
Sprinting forward, Todd caught her in his arms, but the impact sent them both tumbling down.
The lesser issue of the ambush forgotten, Lilibit met Todd’s eyes and saw her own shock echoed there.
“I don’t know.” Lilibit answered Todd’s unasked question.
One hand firmly on her wrist, Todd rolled to his feet and began dragging her back towards the Crescent Courtyard.
“Where are we going?” Lilibit struggled and pulled.
“To see Gil-Salla,” was all Todd would say.
Lilibit put up a fight all the way down to the Courtyard, but Todd held tight to her wrist. He ignored both her promises to behave and her arguments against bothering Gil-Salla with this. Todd wasn’t sure what Lilibit’s transformation meant, but he knew that keeping any more secrets from Gil-Salla was not a good idea.
All three totems were awake and staring as Todd marched Lilibit onto the cobblestones. Wakinyan the Thunderbird harrumped, but the other two stayed silent. As Todd rapped on the doorframe, Lilibit suddenly fell silent as well, her eyes wide with guilt and worry.
“Enter.” Gil-Salla’s voice seemed to whisper right in his ear, but when he entered the hall, she was sitting by her hearth near the east wall.
Gil-Salla raised an eyebrow in curiosity as Todd and Lilibit approached her, but it was silent except for the crackle of the flames. Having dragged Lilibit this far, he was uncertain how to start.
Lilibit however, dived right in.
“It’s not my fault.” Her arms crossed over her chest and her lower lip jutted out defiantly.
“Perhaps we should start at the beginning?” offered Gil-Salla.
Todd straightened in panic. That was the last place he wanted to start.
“Todd was being attacked,” Lilibit said with relish, “by a face-sucking monster!”
This was not what Todd wanted to discuss.
“Sylvie Silverstone and I were having a private discussion after Tracking Class. Then we, I mean, I…”
“I see.” A smile hid in Gil-Salla’s eyes.
“I risked life and limb to rescue him,” Lilibit stated, her hands on her hips, “and rather than thank me, he tried to beat me!”
Gil-Salla looked puzzled. She questioned Todd with a tilt of her head.
“Water balloons,” he answered, looking down at his still damp tunic.
“I see,” she replied, “but I don’t understand…”
“It’s what happened after that we need to tell you about,” said Todd.
“It’s no big deal,” Lilibit said in a small voice, looking down at her bare feet.
“While I was chasing her,” Todd said in a rush, “she turned into a bird.”
It was silent for a long moment.
“It was only a little bird,” Lilibit offered, as if that made it any better.
Gil-Salla steepled her fingers and thought deeply before answering.
“Faunamorph is a skill that some Stone Warriors can acquire,” Gil-Salla said at last, “eventually.”
“You mean like when Keotak-se turns into a condor or a horse?” Lilibit’s eyes brightened eagerly.
“Yes,” answered Gil-Salla, �
��but there can be accidents if it is attempted without proper supervision. Todd, despite the provocation, perhaps it might be better if you could find a less stimulating way to work out your differences with Lilibit.”
Todd looked down at Lilibit who stuck out her tongue.
“Lilibit,” Gil-Salla continued. “I supposed it would be pointless to request that you restrain from aggravating Todd.”
“I wasn’t---” Lilibit started but was cut off by Gil-Salla’s raised hand. She dropped her eyes to the ground but glowered angrily.
Gil-Salla stood and struck her staff twice on the dirt floor. Todd and Lilibit straightened in alarm, but Gil-Salla merely gestured them to the door.
“This will be discussed by the Elders. We will decide whether Faunamorph training should be moved up earlier in the curriculum. Until we have made a determination, you are not to make any further attempts at morphing.”
“Yes ma’am,” Todd answered quickly as he dragged Lilibit towards the exit. He was about to push back the door tapestry when it pulled away by itself and he almost collided with Keotak-se who strode in, Cohanna behind him. The old Stone Warrior glared as they quickly slipped past.
Out on the cobblestones, another problem waited. Flaming mad and dripping wet, Sylvie stood, her hands on her hips and murder in her eyes.
“Well?” Sylvie asked.
The aroma of dinner was drawing Lilibit towards their hogan, but she paused to pat Todd on the arm. “You’ll thank me one day.”
Todd swung his arm to swat at her, but she skipped away with a gurgling laugh, leaving Todd to deal with the fuming Sylvie.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Cabal
The stone pillars at the base of Skywatcher’s Mesa cast long shadows in the afternoon sun. In a crevice between two of these tall stones, Nov’m hid, waiting.
There had always been something eerie about this glen. The tall stone monoliths that rose from the gravel desert floor were aligned in patterns that baffled even the elders. The ground was barren; no plants grew around the stones. Even in the bright chill light of a winter afternoon, there was something creepy about them.
Nov’m glanced over at the pit where, four months ago, Ulex had erupted to the surface, nearly killing Gwil, the chieftain of the Timber Wolves. Gwil had avoided the glen ever since.
A movement caught Nov’m’s attention and he watched Gwil stride up the hill. Even from this distance, Nov’m could read the tension in his body. He smiled. He purposely chose this spot for the Cabal to unsettle Gwil and he could tell it was working.
At sixteen, Gwil was only a year older than Nov’m, but he was more than four inches taller. It bothered Nov’m that the girls, even the ones in his own clan, would whisper and look sideways at Gwil as he walked past. Tall, dark and lean, he had the broad brow and chiseled jaw that people noticed. And it wasn’t just the girls that admired Gwil. The boys, and even some of the Elders, treated him with a deference that rankled Nov’m.
Gwil was another of the obstacles to Nov’m’s scheme to be the top ranking Stone Warrior when the Stone Voice rose, but Nov’m wasn’t that worried. Gwil lacked the cunning and artfulness needed to achieve dominance. When the time came, Nov’m would handle Gwil.
Gwil slowed his pace as he passed between the pillars and stopped to stare at Ulex’s crater.
“What he lacks in conversation, he makes up for in dramatic entrances. Don’t you think?” Nov’m said, stepping out from between the stones.
Gwil jumped at the voice, just as Nov’m intended.
“Who?” Gwil quickly regained his composure and chose to play dumb.
“The Netherrockian, Ulex.” Nov’m leaned against a tilted pillar. “But he’s not the strangest thing happening in the Raven’s hogan.”
“Is that what you’ve called this meeting for?” Gwil asked. “To talk about the Ravens?”
“It’s a Cabal.” Nov’m said. “A meeting of the chieftains is a called a Cabal.”
“Says you.” Gwil replied. “You keep on about how you’re the only one who knows how things are supposed to run here at Kiva, but I don’t see the Elders lining up to ask your opinion.”
Nov’m bit back his annoyance. “They will,” he said with a nod. Standing just uphill of Gwil, he looked down on him smugly.
Gwil fumed.
“And, yes,” Nov’m continued. “We are here to discuss the Ravens. We’ll wait for Mitchell to get here before we get started.”
“And what about Todd?” Mitchell’s voice came from somewhere above them. On top of one the pillars, perched so still that she’d blended into the shadows, Mitchell crouched.
Startled, Nov’m jumped and turned with a yelp. He had arrived at the glen early, intending to be the first, but evidently, Mitchell had been there all along. Nov’m glared up at her, annoyed at her one-upmanship.
Mitchell dropped down between them, landing like a cat on all fours. “So, if youse saying this is a meetin’ of the chieftains, then we gotta wait for the Raven, right?”
At sixteen, Mitchell was bone thin and sinewy. And though she was not nearly as tall as either Gwil or Nov’m, when she pulled herself up to her full height, she somehow managed to look down on both of them. Her hair, which might have been reddish brown, was shaved to a buzz cut and her ears stuck out like side view mirrors. Her face was so freckled that the spots merged together, giving her skin a mottled look like an auburn leopard.
She might be the chieftain of the Rabbits, but she was no fluffy bunny. Toughness glowered from every part of her. She looked like she’d rip your arm off for a lark.
Mitchell was the only name she had and she’d given it to herself. She’d been born and raised on the streets of a concrete city far to the northeast. She’d once said that she had no memory of any family and had run off from the state home when she was six, surviving on her wits and on her own until she’d been called by the Stone.
She walked up to Nov’m and didn’t stop until her face was inches from his. “Well?” She smirked when Nov’m pulled back. “If this is a, what you call it, a Cabal, then we gots to wait for Todd, don’t we?”
“The Ravens aren’t a proper clan,” Nov’m snapped. “We all know that. They’re a joke. In fact, that’s what we need to discuss.”
“Youse got a plan for making the Ravens toe the line?” Mitchell turned her back on Nov’m, and loped over to a small rise a few yards away. She dropped onto the mound, folding her long legs under her, and chuckled. “This should be good.”
Nov’m pulled in his temper. Mitchell was trying to to unsettle him, but he wasn’t going to let her get the upper hand.
“No,” Nov’m said with a smile. “I have a plan to get rid of them.”
Gwil and Mitchell stared at each other, speechless with amazement. Finally, Mitchell spoke. “Nov’m. We don’t gets to pick and choose who gets to stay in Kiva. Even Gil-Salla don’t do that. She says, once we’ve been called, it’s up to the Stone Voice who says who gets to stay and go. Youse can’t get rid of pledges just ‘cause you don’t like them.”
“I’m not talking about getting rid of the pledges,” Nov’m replied impatiently. “Just disbanding the Ravens. They shouldn’t have been allowed to form their own clan, and now look what we’ve got! It’s a joke! They break every rule and the elders just ignore it. We’ve got to do something about it before the Stone Voice rises.”
Mitchell shot a look at Gwil, one eyebrow raised, before turning back to Nov’m. “So what do youse plan to do about it?” Mitchell punched the word “youse” as if to say that she wasn’t going to have anything to do with whatever plan Nov’m had in mind.
“Don’t worry about that. I’ve got it all worked out,” said Nov’m. “The Ravens are on warning now. Gil-Salla said that if they screw up one more time, they’re going to be disbanded. All we have to do is wait.”
“How do you know that?” asked Gwil.
Nov’m just smiled. They didn’t need to know about Rodent and his eavesdropping. Just let them t
hink that he knew everything.
Gwil snorted and rolled his eyes.
“What we need to talk about,” Nov’m continued, “is what are we going to do with the pledges when the clan is finally dissolved. We need to be unified on this so the Ravens can’t weasel their way out of it.”
“You want for us to divvy up the Ravens?” asked Mitchell.
“We’ll take Marla.” Gwil offered quickly.
“The Tigers claim Nita,” said Nov’m.
Secretly, Nov’m was relieved. Gwil had taken the bait. Now there was only Mitchell to reel in. But Mitchell just looked from one boy to the other, eying them carefully. Nov’m held his breath and waited.
“Devon,” she finally said, softly.
Nov’m was surprised at that choice, but was pleased that Mitchell wasn’t going to balk.
“Donny.” Gwil chose. Good choice, thought Nov’m. Despite being mentally slow, Donny’s size would make him a good addition to the Timber Wolves.
“Todd,” said Nov’m. He’d enjoy breaking his impudence.
Mitchell shook her head slightly and gave a small snort of a laugh. “The Rabbits will take Jeff.”
“And Ulex will stay with Marla,” said Nov’m, “so he’ll have to go to the Timber Wolves.”
There was only one Raven left. Nov’m looked at Gwil and Mitchell expectantly. There was a long moment of silence.
“Well, she’s not coming into my clan,” Nov’m said at last.
“She’s certainly not a Timber Wolf,” said Gwil.
“She gots to go with Todd,” Mitchell decided. “He’s the only one that can handle her.”
“Not a chance!” said Nov’m. “Let the Wolves take her! Marla can keep an eye on her.”
“I am not taking that terror into my hogan.” Gwil folded his arms and stared at Mitchell.