by Claudia King
"Den Mother! Listen to my voice, come back! What must I do to help you?!" Netya shook her again, but it did no good. How could this have happened? Did Adel make a mistake? She would never. "Wait for me," Netya said, squeezing her mentor's hand. "I will fetch the others, they will know what to do."
She hurried through the drapes, almost tripping in the dark passage on her way back to the main chamber, before rousing the two dozing elders.
"The den mother is unwell! I do not know what to do, but I fear she may die!"
After much reassurance from the other women to calm her down, Netya followed them back to the den mother's chamber, explaining what had happened. She wrung her hands impatiently as the pair examined Adel, exchanging grave glances as they muttered beneath their breath.
"What can be done for her?" Netya said at last, when she could endure no longer. "Do you have the medicine to bring her back?"
One of the elders rose to her feet and gave Netya a hard look. "It is as you thought. She has been poisoned with nightwood berries, and for those, there is no cure. We must speak with the other seers immediately. Our den mother is dying."
Netya felt the colour drain from her face, a sickly feeling rushing into her stomach as she looked to Adel's twitching form. "Shall I fetch them?" she said numbly.
The elders exchanged another strange look, then the closer one nodded. "Yes, tell them to gather in the central chamber. Do not stray far."
Netya stumbled out through the drapes, quivering as if she was suffering the effects of the poison herself. Had she not paused to brace herself against the wall as a wave of nausea swept over her, she would not have overheard what the elders whispered next.
"Do you really think she did it?"
"You have seen the way Adel treats her," the other hissed. "She was never one of us to begin with. Who else could it have been?"
"She was coming and going while the den mother was absent earlier. I even saw her bring food in."
"Did anyone else enter this chamber?"
"Not a soul."
The lurching of Netya's stomach threatened to overwhelm her as she realised what they were implying. How could they think she was responsible?
"Go, tell the alpha," the first elder said. "If you see any of the hunters on your way, tell them to find the girl and bring her back here."
Before she could overhear any more, Netya forced her legs to move. She hurried blindly into the darkness, pushing through the drapes until she was stumbling across the antechamber and out into the cool night air.
What could she do? How could she prove it had not been her? Tears ran down her cheeks as she struggled to control her panicked breathing. In the space of a few short moments, the comforting presence of the outcrop had become unsettling and alien to her once more. The shapes of the people gathered around the central fire below no longer reminded her of family.
Hurrying back to her tent, she ignored Fern's words of concern as she burst in on her friend, grabbing her spear and waterskin before hurrying back out. In her panic, there was only one thing she could think to do, and only one person she trusted to listen to her.
* * *
Vaya wiped the sweat from her brow, crouching in the darkness as she watched the entrance to the seers' cave. Had she gone too far? It had seemed like such a fine plan to her at the time, when she was fuelled with anger at the den mother for the way she had treated Rolan. If she had only thought longer on it, if she had not allowed recklessness to guide her, she might have considered the consequences of her actions.
For all the anger and frustration in her heart, Vaya was not a murderer. The last time she had been sent to collect berries for the seers it had sickened her to keep a handful for herself, indulging in fantasies of how she might slip a lethal dose into Netya's food. After pushing aside the darkest of her thoughts, she had then planned to make the girl seem weak and sickly with the berries, but that idea was foolish. The seers knew poison when they saw it, and their suspicion would only have fallen back on her eventually.
The berries had sat in their pouch buried beneath Vaya's bedroll for many weeks, until now. It had seemed like a flash of brilliance, so perfect she wondered how she had not thought of it before. Not everyone knew of the hidden entrances to some of the caves atop the outcrop, but Vaya had spent more time exploring her home than most. Once she saw the den mother leaving to bathe, it had been the work of moments to scale the rocks and climb down into her chamber. There had even been a steaming pot of stew waiting for her, as if fate had aligned perfectly to ensure the success of her plan.
A plan, of course, that had not accounted for how many berries she slipped into the den mother's food. She knew they were poisonous, but Vaya was no seer. What if Adel died, as the rumours spreading like wildfire through the camp seemed to suggest? What if the Sun girl persuaded the alpha of her innocence? No one seemed to know where she had gone, and already several of the hunters had been sent out looking for her.
Running will only convince them of her guilt , Vaya reassured herself, taking deep breaths as she plucked at her itching clothing. Foolish or not, it was done now. She could not take it back.
Before long the alpha arrived outside the seers' cave, joining the anxious crowd that had gathered around the antechamber. Vaya could not hear what was being said from her perch between the rocks, but his voice soon raised in anger.
I did this for you, Alpha. For all of our pack. None of you can see the trouble she brings.
Vaya desperately hoped the spirits were still on her side. If the den mother was destined to die so that their pack could finally be free of that girl...
A flicker of movement caught Vaya's notice, and, with the eyes of a hunter, her gaze immediately snapped to the source of the disturbance. A short way around the side of the outcrop, the drapes covering the entrance to Caspian's small earth lodge were swaying. There was no wind that night, and she had seen Caspian depart for one of his long nighttime walks several hours earlier.
Hackles rising, Vaya took the shape of her wolf and crept silently down the rocks, sticking to the shadows. She found a path lower down the slope where she could slip past Caspian's dwelling unseen, then climbed back up on the far side. Her nostrils twitched, picking up the unnaturally sweet scent of the Sun girl, tinged with the herbal smells of the seers' cave and the musky odour of the wolf pelt she wore. The drapes had not stirred again, but the scent was still fresh.
Vaya's paws pressed into the ground without the faintest footfall, body held low as she stalked to the side of the entrance. She sniffed again, picking up the scent stronger than ever. That was enough for Vaya. Without so much as a growl of warning, she batted the drapes aside with a paw and lunged. The look of terror on Netya's face drew a snarl of satisfaction from the huntress in the brief moment before her paws hit the girl's shoulders, and she drove her to the ground.
To her credit, she did not scream. She only pleaded like a coward, squirming feebly as the wolf's claws pressed through her clothing, drawing the scent of blood that flooded Vaya's muzzle and made her mouth water. She bared her teeth at Netya, letting her know just how easy it would be.
How weak and feeble her kind were, when it came down to the one thing that truly mattered. Seeing her quarry quaking and pleading beneath her almost drove all other concerns from Vaya's mind, so enraptured was her wolf in the victory of the moment.
"Please, Vaya, please, listen, it was not me!" the girl begged through her tears. "I can prove it! Please let me!"
Her words gave Vaya a moment of hesitation. The anxious thoughts of her two-legged self returned, and she lifted her paws from the girl's shoulders. Wrestling back control from her wolf, she reverted to her normal shape and stood blocking the exit, fists clenched at her sides as she stared down at Netya.
"How can you prove it?" she said. Her plan of dragging the girl back to the others in disgrace would be for nothing if she still had a way to squirm out of this.
"There is a medicine, my people have known of i
t for years, it may be able to save her!" Netya implored her, almost stumbling over her words in her hurry to get them out. "If I bring the seers the cure, they will know it was not me!"
Vaya looked around the dark chamber slowly, weighing her options. "You needed Caspian for this?"
"I know you have never cared for me, Vaya, but please, for the sake of the den mother, please believe me. The others will only think I am trying to flee from them. If you know where Caspian is, I promise I will do all I can to save Adel with his help."
Vaya glared at her, torn on what to do. She had no desire to see the den mother die, but her hatred for Netya burned stronger. "Caspian is gone," she said carefully. "Tell me what you intend to do. Where can you find this cure?"
"My people always kept some in their stores of herbs. They will still have the medicine Adel needs, I am sure of it, but I cannot make the journey back to my village alone. I need the legs of a wolf to take me there."
It occurred to Vaya that this was probably a lie. A cure that even the seers did not know of? One that conveniently required Netya to return to her village, the one place she would be safe from the retribution of the pack? It incensed Vaya so much that she was tempted to drag the girl before the alpha then and there, but she stayed her hand, forcing herself to think.
"It will take almost a day to run there and back," she said.
"It may be enough!" Netya pleaded. "But every moment that passes brings Adel closer to death. I will do whatever you ask, if only you believe me. I need your help."
Vaya took a moment to consider, her heartbeat quickening as realisation dawned. Fate was with her still. The impulsiveness of her decision had led to a more elegant solution than she could ever have hoped for.
"I ask nothing of you." Vaya fixed her with the most sincere look she could muster. "If it means saving the den mother, I will do everything I can to lend you my aid."
* * *
Netya remained a few paces behind Vaya, as the huntress had instructed, heart still pounding after the confrontation in Caspian's lodge. She did not know if what she was doing was wise, or reasonable, or desperate. All she knew was that Adel was dying, and that she could not afford to waste a moment convincing the others of her innocence. Even with a wolf to speed her home, it might still be too late for the den mother by the time she returned.
How strange it was that Vaya, of all people, had been the one to come to her aid. Perhaps, for all her flaws, there was goodness in the woman's heart after all. But Netya had little time to dwell on such things. She could hear the voices of the others as they searched for her, and it was only a matter of time before one of their wolves picked up her scent. On her own, she stood no chance of crossing the plains without being caught, but with Vaya's help, it might just be possible.
They crept down the side of the outcrop using a narrow and precarious path between the rocks that Netya had never seen before, sticking to the shadows as they made their way around the far side of the natural monument. When they reached the ground, Vaya made her wait, and the pair of them sat shivering in the bushes for several long moments until they were sure the coast was clear.
"Hold tight, and do not fall," Vaya muttered. "We will be at the edge of the Sun People's territory by dawn."
Netya nodded her understanding as the huntress took the shape of her wolf. She barely had time to climb on and tuck in her legs before Vaya broke into a run, streaking through the undergrowth with barely a sound as they disappeared into the darkness.
There was no moon that night, and without the eyes of a wolf Netya was forced to put her faith in Vaya's sense of direction. The dim glow of the fires atop the outcrop disappeared before long, and the bushes thinned out as they left the cover of the scrubland behind and set out across the open plains.
Netya's shoulders were sore and aching from the marks left by Vaya's claws, but she ignored the pain and held on tight. The shaft of her spear bounced against her spine where it hung from the leather strap looped across her chest. Cold air whipped at her eyes. Vaya was fast, faster than any wolf she had ridden before, but the urgency of her speed left little room for the comfort of her rider.
Netya did not care. She endured until her body throbbed and her muscles were stiff, searching the horizon hour after hour for the dark patch of trees that marked the edge of the forest. It was not until the focus of her adrenaline ebbed and exhaustion began to take hold that she realised she was returning home. Back to a place she had not seen in over a year. This was not the manner in which she had hoped to return, but it was happening now regardless. What would she do? How would she explain her situation?
She tried to calm herself and think. For Adel's sake, she had to be wise, as her mentor had taught her. She could not tell the truth. No one from her village would ever lend their aid to one of the Moon People willingly. But even if she could sneak her way in without anyone noticing, she did not know where the medicine she required would be kept, or even how to identify it. For all the plants she had spent the past months studying, she was still as clueless as ever about those native to her homeland.
It brought an agonising weight to her chest to think that she might be forced to return home without so much as laying eyes on her mother and sisters. It had been easy to put them out of mind while she was caught up in the excitement of everything that had happened to her since leaving, but now that she was on her way home, the memories of her previous life began flooding back all at once.
How could she explain where she had been? Would she have time? For Adel to have any chance at living, Netya would need to be there and gone as quickly as possible. As much as it hurt her, she crushed her feelings of sentiment aside and tried to focus on what mattered. She needed to embody her mentor's stoic courage. This was not a reunion, it was a task. Just as Adel had not hesitated in her conviction to remove Erech's leg to save his life, Netya could not allow the things that tugged at her heart to compromise her goal.
She had never before seen the death of a loved one with her own eyes, but she felt she could almost glimpse it that night, and it terrified her. If only she could be more like Adel.
The stars rolled across the sky as they ran, the land changing shape around them from one mass of black to the next. Hour after hour dragged by, each feeling more desperate than the last. Tense focus kept Netya awake, and by the time the shape of the forest appeared in the distance, she knew what she intended to do.
Vaya slowed her pace, panting with exertion as they slipped beneath the dark canopy of the trees. The familiar musty smell of the forest enveloped them. A short while later, Netya made out the shape of a dry stone wall through the undergrowth.
She was home.
—36—
The Sun People
The village nestled within a small natural dip in the land, a high bank on the western side separating it from the stretch of forest that eventually gave way to the plains. It was to this western bank that Netya guided Vaya. The narrow river that provided the village's water bordered the southern side, and to the north and east the ground was open, the trees much thinner, providing little cover for anyone who wished to approach unseen.
"Wait for me here," Netya said as she slipped from Vaya's back, putting a hand against the wolf's flank for a moment as she swayed with dizziness. The night was still dark, but dawn had been tugging at the horizon when they left the plains. The hard ride and lack of sleep had taken more of a toll on Netya than she'd thought.
Vaya growled and lay down in the grass, catching her own breath while she had the opportunity. Even with the incredible stamina of her wolf, it seemed miraculous that she had been able to maintain her pace the entire way.
Reminding herself of how little time could afford to be wasted, Netya unslung her spear from its strap, using the shaft for balance as she edged her way carefully down the steep slope. Even under the cover of night, the village that had once been her whole world seemed different and strange to her. There was a new house of logs close to the river that had
not been there a year ago, and several tents had been set up nearby. The soft glow of firelight cast shadows between the collection of mismatched dwellings, painting their walls with inviting tones of orange that made Netya's throat tighten with longing.
She avoided the new house, waiting until she was parallel to the centre of the village before moving closer. All was silent save for the low crackle of flames. The smell of woodsmoke was sweet in her nostrils, so much more familiar than the scent of the fires back at the outcrop. Her fingers brushed against the rough logs of the house to her right, tracing a path across the back wall that they had traced many times before. Somewhere, on the other side of that wall, her mother and sisters slept.
Sniffing away the tears that threatened to come to her eyes, she moved her hand away and hurried on past. As much as she longed to go inside, she could not. If only she had more time.
A long earth lodge separated her mother's house from the next wooden building, and it was to this final dwelling at the edge of the village that Netya hurried. With no way to enter save for the doorway on the opposite side, she straightened up and strode at a brisk pace into the central area between the houses. Fires, blankets, and the remnants of the last day's meal were strewn all around, and Netya counted the shapes of three slumbering bodies outside the tents nearby. If she caught anyone's eye, she could only hope her white wolf pelt would not draw too much attention to her.
Taking a deep breath, she turned her back on the open area and faced the doorway, resisting the impulse to duck past the blanket that covered it. She rapped her knuckles quietly against the wall three times, in the same tap tap-tap rhythm she had always used to call her friend. She thought she heard a small noise coming from inside, but only silence thereafter.
With the back of her neck prickling, she repeated the knock twice more. After the third try, the sounds of movement returned. When Layon drew back the blanket covering the doorway, the hopeful expression on his face was too much for Netya to bear. He had remembered her knock.