A thrill of fear raced through her, but she forced herself to breathe through it, refusing to allow herself to react on panic alone. Once she’d overcome the initial urge to turn and run, she noticed that there was something about the wolf’s position beside the man that spoke of protection, not aggression.
It was certainly beautiful with its shiny silver coat. She knew how good the animal’s senses were, and though camo hid her and Jinjie from sight, it did not hide their scent since their vents were open, nor had it hid the noise they’d made while going from hut to hut. They’d made an effort to be quiet of course, but she had no doubt whatsoever that the wolf had heard them long before they’d even reached the small clearing. And yet the wolf’s eyes remained closed, his breathing was slow and even, and his ears were cocked forward and straight up.
Since Clan Jasani were shifters, and their alter forms were animals, reading animal body language was second nature to them. In addition Salene, along with her siblings, had learned to read canine body language before they’d learned to talk. Acting on the wolf’s silent signals of composure and curiosity along with her own instincts, she reached up to turn off her suit’s camo. She was surprised to find that she was holding a knife in one hand while her other hand was pointing the hand laser at the wolf. She returned the laser to her pocket, put the knife back in the sheath on her forearm, then turned off the camo.
The wolf didn’t so much as twitch and its breathing remained even, so she took another step and crouched down on the near side of the dead man. After removing one of her gloves, she reached over and gently closed the man’s eyes.
“May your journey be quick, and your destination filled with the peace and joy you have earned,” she said softly. When she looked back up, the wolf was staring at her, its pale green eyes filled with both intelligence and sadness.
“I’m not going to hurt him,” she said, surprised at how calm she felt. Some inner voice was telling her that she had nothing to fear from this particular beast, and she believed it.
The wolf raised his head very slowly, giving her the distinct impression that he was trying not to startle her. “He is beyond pain, but I thank you for closing his eyes, and for your kind words. I know these rituals are important for humans, and it troubled me greatly that I could not perform them for my friend.”
Salene stared at the wolf for a long moment, then she reached up, released the seal holding the hood of her suit in place and pushed it off, letting it hang down her back. “You just spoke into my mind. How did you do that?”
“It is normal for my kind to communicate in this manner.”
“What’s your name?”
“I am called Tonka. Might I ask yours?”
“Salene.” She turned to look at Jinjie who still had the camo turned on in his suit. When she started to look away, he turned the camo off and lowered his hood as well. “This is Jinjie,” she added belatedly. The wolf dipped his head in a slow nod, and Jinjie returned the gesture solemnly. “Tonka, what happened here?”
“The Nomen came with those things they call hybrids,” he replied. Though his voice was calm, his upper lip rose, revealing an impressive array of long, sharp, glistening white fangs. “They took everyone except Oberto, his daughter, and myself.”
“Daughter?” Salene asked, her stomach doing a strange little flip of fear that she didn’t understand.
“She’s dead,” Tonka said, and her breath caught in her throat. “In the first hut you entered across the clearing.”
Salene nodded, the fear leaving her as quickly as it had risen as a mental image of the remains flashed in her mind. Remains that could have been either male or female, but which were too big to belong to a child. She shook her head at her wayward thoughts. “Why did they leave you?”
“Because they wish for me to suffer, lying here beside my friend until I too am dead.”
“You’re injured?”
“Yes, but not serious enough to threaten my life immediately. They’ve rendered me unable to hunt. I will starve to death, as the Nomen intended, but it will take quite a long time. It is my punishment for aiding Oberto and his friends.”
“You will not starve to death,” Salene said forcefully, remembering what Rayne had been through. “Tell me about your injury, please.”
“My forelegs are broken. Your concern is generous, Salene, but there is no method of healing me before I starve, and I don’t believe it would be safe for you to remain here with me until I heal. The Nomen know this place now and will likely return at some point, if only to take pleasure in my suffering. My only regret is that I will not be able to take my revenge.”
“What is it with males and revenge?” she muttered under her breath. “I agree that it wouldn’t be wise to stay here, Tonka, but I can heal your bones.”
Tonka’s piercing green eyes stared into hers for a long moment. “I would be grateful to accept any help you may be able to render me, Salene. I am curious, though. Where have you and Jinjie come from?”
“Let’s save that discussion for a few minutes,” Salene said, stepping carefully around Oberto and slipping her pack off. She set it on the makeshift but surprisingly sturdy table, and opened a large compartment on the front. She withdrew a med kit, opened it, and took out a white pouch containing a portable bone annealer. She set it down and took off her other glove, then picked up a rough blanket lying on a bed pallet in the corner and used it to cover Oberto so that Tonka didn’t have to continue staring at him. “Jinjie?”
“Jinjie do be staying here, if Salene do be not mind.”
“Of course not,” she replied. She knelt in front of the wolf, on the side away from Oberto, noting that his head was level with her waist in his prone position while she was standing. Now that she knew he was an intelligent being rather than a wild creature like she’d first thought, his size didn’t disturb her. All Clan Jasani shifted into animals that were several times the size of Tonka. In that light, he actually seemed rather small to her.
She examined Tonka’s left foreleg with gentle fingers, finding some swelling though the skin was unbroken and there was no deformation, both good signs. She picked up the bone annealer and turned it on.
“What is that for?”
“It’ll let me see the bone so that I can make sure it’s aligned correctly, then it will heal the break.”
“How does it work?”
“Not a clue in the cosmos,” Salene replied. “But I know that it does work, and I know how to make it work. For our purposes, I believe that’s enough.”
“Yes, I suppose that it is,” Tonka replied with what sounded to her like a trace of humor. “What shall I do?”
“Just don’t move if you can help it,” she said, laying the scanner transducer gently on his leg where the swelling was. She pressed a button and waited for an image to appear on the device’s tiny display. “We’re in luck here, Tonka,” she said a few moments later. “This is a fracture rather than a break. It would’ve probably broken the first time you put stress on it, but what it means to us is that I don’t have to set the bone. It’s all nice and straight the way it’s supposed to be. So, are you up for this?”
“Up for this?”
“Will you agree to my doing this?”
“You are asking my consent?”
“Of course.”
“Yes, please do what you can. And I thank you for asking.”
“Why wouldn’t I?” she asked, picking the annealer up again. She adjusted the settings and placed it gently back in the same place. “You’re a sentient being, and therefore capable of deciding what you do and do not want done to you.”
“Not everyone would agree with you.”
“Perhaps not, but that doesn’t change the truth,” she said. “I’m going to start the healing now but don’t worry, it won’t hurt a bit.”
“I’m not afraid of pain, Salene. There are too many things far worse.”
“You won’t get an argument from me on that,” she said without taking
her eyes off the view screen.
“Will you tell me now where you’re from?” Tonka asked after a long silence.
“I’m from a world called Jasan,” she began. She explained that she was on her way to visit her sister, making no mention of the Gryphons. She told him about the imminent collision, the escape pod, and waking up crashed on the side of the mountain. She didn’t say anything about Jinjie, either. It was up to him whether or not he wanted his own story told. “After we saw the spaceplanes pass overhead, followed a few moments later by four hybrids, we decided to investigate the source of the smoke in case there were people here who needed help. And here we are.”
Tonka’s lip curled at the mention of hybrids, but he didn’t say anything about them. “It is very kind of you to want to help when you know nothing of this world or its people. Oberto was like that, but he was the only human I’d ever met with those qualities.”
“He was a good friend?”
“Yes,” Tonka said, his green eyes resting on the blanket for a moment. “He was a good man, and a good friend to me when I had no one else.”
“I’m sorry for your loss, Tonka,” Salene said in the way of most humans since it seemed that was what he was used to.
“I thank you,” Tonka replied. His head tilted slightly and his ears cocked forward, displaying curiosity and interest. “Jinjie is obviously not human by his scent and his appearance. And, though my eyes tell me that you are human, Salene, my nose tells me that you are not.”
“Your nose is correct,” Salene said. She lifted the device from Tonka’s leg, reset the scanner, and placed it back in the same spot before rescanning. “The bone in this leg is healed,” she said a couple of minutes later, sitting back on her heels.
“Amazing,” Tonka said, flexing the muscles in his leg experimentally. “It feels a little bruised, but there is no pain in moving it.”
“I wish I could do something about the bruising, Tonka, but I can’t,” she said. “If my sister were here she’d have you up and running around already, but I’m afraid this is the best I can do.”
“I’m not complaining, Salene,” Tonka said. “Bruises will fade. You healed the bone, which is a extraordinary to me, and I thank you for it. ”
“You’re welcome, Tonka. We’re not finished yet, though, and I’m afraid you’re going to have to move in order for me to reach your other leg. Or, I might be able to drag Oberto aside. He’s too big for me to lift I’m afraid.”
“Jinjie do be move,” he offered. Salene opened her mouth to accept his offer, but Tonka spoke first.
“I will move,” he said. “Please excuse me in advance if I yip or whine. I’m afraid that there are times when my base nature rises to the surface, refusing to be controlled.”
“Tonka, I don’t care if you scream the roof off.”
“Considering the rate at which that snow is falling, I’m not altogether certain that would be a good idea,” he said dryly. Salene saw the muscles in his chest and neck stiffen and bulge beneath his fur, then his entire body lurched sideways. It was obviously quite painful, but he emitted only one soft whine, then began panting heavily. “More?”
“No, that was enough,” she said scooting herself closer. If she needed more room she’d move Oberto despite Tonka’s objections. At least Oberto wouldn’t feel anything.
She saw immediately that his right leg was much worse than his left had been. The broken bone was pressing against the skin below the knee, though luckily it hadn’t broken the skin. Still, this was going to be much more difficult for her, and far more painful for Tonka.
She unfolded the tiny legs on the bottom of the annealer and set it as close to the break as she could without it actually touching his fur. Then she pressed the scanner button and waited for it to show her what she already knew. She explained the problem to Tonka, and what she’d have to do to realign the bone, warning him that it was going to take longer, and be quite painful.
“Is there anything I can do to help?”
“I just need you to stay as still as possible. Believe me, that’s going to be hard enough. You ready?”
“Yes, I’m ready.”
“Do be there something Jinjie can be doing?”
“Yes, there is,” she replied. “When I get the bones realigned, can you press that green button on the side? That way I won’t have to let go and risk them slipping out of position.”
“Jinjie do be can,” he said, leaping lightly to the floor. He looked at the annealer screen, pointed at the button and looked at Salene questioningly.
“That’s the one,” she confirmed. “Just wait till I give the word.” Jinjie nodded. “Okay, here goes.” Salene shifted her position, then grasped Tonka’s leg firmly with one hand above the break, and the other below it. Then she took a deep breath and began the difficult process of working the bone back into place.
Ten minutes later, her entire body shaking from the effort, Tonka’s leg was perfectly straight and fully healed. There’d been a few moments when she’d doubted she’d be able to line both ends of the bone together properly, but she’d done it. “Do you have any further injuries?”
“No, I do not,” Tonka said, flexing the muscles in his legs. “The Nomen threatened to kill Oberto unless I stood still and let them break my forelegs. I did as they asked, but they killed him anyway.”
“How cruel,” Salene said, nauseated by the image his simple words painted in her mind.
“Yes, but that is the way of the Nomen.”
“You should be able to stand up now,” Salene said as she put the annealer back in its small pouch, then got up to repack the med kit and return it to her pack. When she was finished she turned around, frowning when she saw that Tonka was still lying in the same place. “Are you still in pain?”
“No, I’m not,” Tonka said. “I have a secret that I’ve decided to reveal to you and Jinjie. By revealing this secret to you, I risk much, but I believe that not revealing it risks far more. I may be making an extreme error in judgement of course, but I’ve decided to trust you.”
“Whatever secret you reveal I swear to keep unless it risks my life, Jinjie’s life, or the lives of innocents.”
“I thank you,” Tonka said before rising cautiously to his feet.
“You certainly are a big wolf,” she said, surprised to find that his back was several inches higher than her waist, and his head as high as hers. He wasn’t as big as a horse, but he came close.
“What is a wolf?”
“It’s a common name for animals that look like you, but are much smaller.”
“I see,” Tonka said. “We call ourselves Brun.”
“I hope I didn’t offend you by referring to you as a wolf,” she said, watching as he backed up a few steps until he was clear of a straw mat that had been hidden beneath him.
“Not at all,” he replied while grasping one corner of the mat in his mouth. He dragged it aside, revealing a trap door made of woven branches lashed with twine.
“What’s down there, Tonka?” Salene asked, suddenly tense.
“Children,” he replied. “They are Oberto’s grandchildren. One is the son of his son, the other the daughter of his daughter.”
Salene’s eyes widened in shock. “Are they all right?” she demanded as she slipped trembling fingers into the crack between the dirt and the trap door, then pulled it up to reveal a deep hole that was both pitch dark and silent.
“Physically, yes, though they are quite frightened.”
“How old are they?” she asked as she hurried to her pack for a flashlight.
“Eight and four,” Tonka said. “We were lucky that they were here when we heard the transport landing in the clearing. Oberto put them in the pit which was dug specifically for such an occasion, but there was no time for anyone else to get here.”
She turned on the flashlight and shone it into the hole as the yearning sensation increased twofold, far stronger than it had ever been. The pit was perhaps eight feet deep, and just as wid
e and long. In one corner she saw what appeared to be a bundle of cloth. She jumped down, humming softly beneath her breath as she approached the shivering bundle. She forced herself to move slowly, resisting the powerful urge to hurry for fear she’d frighten the children more than they already were.
She made no move to uncover the bundle, or even touch it. Instead she went to her knees a couple of feet away and set the flashlight in the dirt so that it cast enough light for them to see her. Then she began singing the words to the old song she’d learned from her Grandma Anne when she was a little girl, and that she, in turn, had sung to her baby brothers and other children she’d occasionally watched over. After a few minutes the blanket covering the side of the bundle closest to her began to rise. She caught a glimpse of a shadowed face as one of the children studied her.
“Take your time, honey,” she said softly. “There’s no hurry.” Then she went back to singing. It took a few more minutes, but eventually the blanket was pushed back far enough for her to see a little girl with enormous light gray eyes and wisps of dark hair surrounding a dirty, tear-streaked face.
In that moment, when Salene’s eyes met the steady gaze of the child using her small body to shield her younger cousin who remained hidden behind her, she felt an instantaneous and undeniable connection with her. When the little girl’s eyes widened, Salene knew she felt the connection between them as well, though she doubted the child understood it any better than she did.
Salene hid her surprise when the girl, inexplicably deciding that she was to be trusted, pulled the blanket off of her cousin and whispered to him. The little boy sat up, looked at Salene with eyes a shade or two darker than the girl’s, and once again Salene felt that same instant connection. She’d never even heard of such a thing, but she accepted it without question. She gasped when, at the moment of her acceptance, the yearning that had haunted her for weeks suddenly vanished, turned off as though a switch had been flipped. In its place was a feeling of rightness that infused her entire being.
The children stilled as they watched her warily, her gasp confusing them. She smiled gently, for the first time completely ignoring the uncomfortable pulling sensation caused by the scar on her cheek.
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