FIERCE: Sixteen Authors of Fantasy
Page 249
‘Go!’ I yelled.
‘But I’m starving,’ Ketnal complained . Tasz joined the other Watchers.
‘Starve, or die right now? It’s your choice.’
Ketnal stepped out of the trees, hands spread, mouth turned down.
‘Are you mad?’ Jeykal shouted.
‘A shank. Just one. That’s all I want.’
At that moment, a spear flew through the air and imbedded itself in Ketnal’s chest with a thunk. Blood dribbled from the corners of his mouth, his eyes like plates. He glanced down at the shaft, and clutched it weakly. I spun and sunk to the ground, facing the source of the spear. From the corner of my eye I saw the Watchers stand. Emarkasa looked scared. I glanced back to kick snow over our fire. The embers hissed and glowed, and smoke drifted over me.
‘Murderer!’ I cried into the dark. ‘Show yourself.’
Jeykal crouched, bow aimed at the trees.
Skelkra appeared, shadowy and tall. My eyes snapped to the bag he lugged, and then to his clothes. Where did he keep getting these supplies? I guessed that he had an entire wolf’s body in the dirty, bloody sack he carried. I wondered if the kill was fresh.
He smiled at me. ‘I am following the rules. I can kill you now if I wish.’
‘Why not this morning?’ I barked.
‘Ah, but I didn’t have my prize then.’ Skelkra tipped his head in the direction of the Watchers. ‘Evening.’
Thixal and Emarkasa frowned. Sankat, the Wolf elder, widened his stance and smirked.
‘I should kill you,’ I said.
‘Oh, but you won’t. You gave yourself to me. Remember?’
Jeykal sniffed. I couldn’t see my friend’s eyes in the dark, but I felt his disapproval at my intimacy with Skelkra. I understood Skelkra wanting to kill me. If the people knew we’d bonded, they would expect us to share power and lead together, but why kill Ketnal?
Jeykal shook, his arrow drawn far back. If he let go, Skelkra would die, but Jeykal’s heart was pure. He would only kill in defence, and Skelkra hadn’t threatened us directly…yet.
‘Leave us alone. Go back to Vilseek and claim your prize, dog.’
‘Hmm, no. I think I’ll stay here for now.’
Once again, I couldn’t see Skelkra’s Watcher. ‘Where is Abel?’
‘Oh, he fell down a cliff after it collapsed beneath him. I was too late in saving him.’
Liar. My eyes darted to the bloodied bag on his back and tried to figure out what his next move would be.
Thixal and Emarkasa stepped forward. ‘We must question you on this, Skelkra of the Wolves.’
He made a sweeping motion with his hand. ‘Of course.’
‘Did you kill Abel, the Snake elder?’
He pointed at his chest. ‘I would never do that. I desire only to win this competition. I would never kill an elder.’
‘Can you prove that you did not kill him?’
Skelkra hardened his smile. ‘Is this how it’s going to work? Guilty until proven innocent?’
‘It looks bad, Skelkra,’ Thixal said.
‘I know, but I honestly didn’t.’ He took three steps towards the elders.
Two wooden stakes were lodged in the back of his pants. As the fire illuminated his long tunic, I realised who his clothes belonged to. Abel!
‘Watch out!’ I cried.
Skelkra pounced, embedding the two stakes into Thixal and Emarkasa. Faces in shock, they fell to their knees. Their crimson blood stained the snow before them.
I grabbed at Jeykal’s bow with the intention of putting an arrow through Skelkra’s heart, but the Wolf jumped on my wounded leg. I screamed at the pain. Jeykal took my knife and cut Skelkra’s arm. He groaned and drove his fist into Jeykal’s cheek. Jeykal dropped his knife to cradle his bloodied face. I stretched my fingertips towards the dagger. Then, Skelkra raised his leg, and stomped on my right arm.
Crack! I screamed as the bones broke. Skelkra sprinted away. I couldn’t move. Jeykal came to my side; his face hovered above mine and blood dripped from his chin onto me. I pushed him away with my unbroken arm.
‘Where did he go?’
‘I don’t know,’ Jeykal said. He fetched a straight stick and then ripped the side of Emarkasa’s tunic with the intention of making me a sling.
He touched my Watcher’s face. ‘Thixal’s alive,’ he shouted to me. ‘She won’t last long.’ Sankat rose from his seat, looked over at the two dead elders, stole one last glance at Jeykal and me, and started moving away.
‘Again, you do nothing!’ I screamed at him so loudly my throat went hoarse. If not for my inoperable arm, I would have lodged my dagger in his kidney, giving him a painful and slow death.
Barely visible in the light of the fire, he turned to me. ‘All is fair once the prize has been captured. I cannot intervene.’
Jeykal surprised me by coming to my side and then shoving the elder to the ground. Sankat glared at up at him with disdain. A cry echoed from the woods. Tasz! Skelkra had killed Ketnal’s Watcher. I closed my eyes and felt fear take hold. ‘Go for help or something,’ I told Sankat shakily. ‘Challengers aren’t meant to kill elders!’
Sankat got back onto his feet. ‘There are no specific rules that prohibit the killing of elders.’
With my left arm, I punched his weathered, wrinkled face.
Sankat’s lip split. He licked the blood away, bowed, and slunk away into the night.
‘He might come back,’ Jeykal said. He went to splinting my arm. As I replayed the recent events in my mind, I noticed one of our daggers was missing. ‘No he won’t. He only needed our knife to cut the head off the wolf’s body!’
‘And kill the elders? You’re not thinking clearly,’ Jeykal said, gripping his bow and pointing towards the forest.
‘Let him come.’ I grit my teeth together with determination. ‘We should make our way back anyway.’
Jeykal regarded me for a moment. ‘Are you sure?’
‘Imagine what he’ll say when he gets back to Vilseek?’
Jeykal nodded. ‘Let’s eat our food on the way.’
We set off home with sorrow in our hearts, and the feel of death snapping at our heels.
After several hours of walking, snow fell hard, blocking out the stars and making it almost impossible to see where we were going. My father had taught me to navigate our lands from a young age, but the storm prohibited me from knowing which direction we walked.
The fear that Skelkra lurked in the forest was unshakeable. Every noise had me spinning around and peering into the dark. I waited for a spear to fly through the air and kill me. The wind howled, yet we pressed on through the blistering breeze.
My leg ached with every step. Thanks to my broken arm, I struggled to carry the bear head and lagged behind Jeykal. He stopped and tried to take the sack from me, but I flinched away defiantly.
‘The Watchers are dead, Klawdia. There’s no one here to impress.’
‘You’re here,’ I said.
‘But I already think you’re strong.’ He snatched the bag from my hands anyway and the ache in my shoulder immediately ceased.
‘But you’re already carrying so much,’ I added.
‘I can handle it.’
The storm subsided and the clouds cleared. I sighed with relief; someone was on our side.
My eyes found the guiding stars. ‘We’re off course.’
Jeykal pointed diagonally. ‘That way.’
The moon moved across the sky, and a soft light turned the black sky grey. Sunrise neared.
‘Let’s camp for a while,’ Jeykal suggested.
‘No. We need to keep going. We have to get to Vilseek today. We have to keep—’ I stumbled and fell hard against a rock.
Jeykal dropped the bags and clutched my arm, but I pushed him away.
‘I’m fine, really.’
The side of his mouth pulled upwards. ‘Are you sure?’
‘Yes.’
His hand lingered just a little too long on my arm.
‘Stop. I have to relieve myself,’ I said, focusing on the fullness of my abdomen.
Jeykal simply nodded.
I found a log behind some thick brushes, removed my pants, and sat. When I looked down, I noticed blood on the crotch. I thought back to when my last womb bleeding had occurred. It had only been a week and a half ago. Odd, I thought. I wasn’t due for two weeks, although I knew that exertion could change the cycle. I returned to Jeykal, and we took a break to eat. While he left to hunt, I slurped at my water skin and noticed its emptiness. I took out a pot, collected snow, and started a fire with my knife and flint to boil water. About half an hour after refilling my water skin, Jeykal returned.
‘Only this,’ he said, showing me a single scrawny rabbit. ‘Last night’s snow covered all the tracks.’
‘We’ll be at the plains tonight. Should be better hunting there.’ Between the Death Peaks and Vilseek were large stretches of grass where deer fed. ‘Any sign of Skelkra?’
Jeykal shook his head.
‘I’m slowing us down,’ I said, knowing Skelkra and Sankat would get back to Vilseek before us. Jeykal sat close, and I leaned my head on his shoulder. My eyes felt heavy, like a branch stacked with snow. Sleep pulled at me. I jerked awake when Jeykal moved.
‘Here.’ He passed me some meat.
After eating, we extinguished the fire and packed. It felt strange without the Watchers observing our every move.
Even with Jeykal, I felt less safe without Thixal. The forest felt larger, deeper, as if it would go on forever. I thought about the Watchers’ bodies just lying there on the ground—how we’d left Thixal alone while her life slipped away. Their passing deserved more respect, a ceremony with sacred words guiding them to the spirits of their ancestors. I hoped Father would believe our account of the events taken place.
Tiny white grubs moved around in my wound. I couldn’t feel them yet, but knew in two days’ time the wound would hurt and itch, indicating it was healing. The yellowing had deepened, and if not for the maggots, a fever would have set in, and I would have died.
Late afternoon, we came upon the grass plains, which, because of the heavy snows, had turned into an endless stretch of white. On the horizon were grey, moving blobs that swayed from side to side. I stopped walking and watched them; they seemed to be getting closer. They didn’t look like animals. Jeykal saw them too, and both of us stared. Eventually, we heard the thumping of hooves. Horses. Jeykal took out his bow and loaded an arrow. I took the bear head sack from Jeykal, clutched a knife, and waited. My people were coming, and it wouldn’t be a friendly reunion.
Chapter VI
‘MY DAUGHTER,’ FATHER SAID AS his horse sidestepped towards me.
Accompanying him were the leaders from every tribe and about half the tribal council. My eyes settled on my father and then Jeykal’s. The air grew tense.
‘Great leader,’ I replied, bowing my head low. I placed the bag containing the bear head at the feet of the chieftain’s horse. ‘Here is my prize.’
Father stared at where the blood from my wound had soaked through my pants; next, his gaze fixed on my damaged arm. I glanced between the leaders of the tribes. Some smirked, and others frowned. Skelkra’s father, the Wolf leader, glared at me.
‘Skelkra has already returned,’ the chieftain said, and I could see the brewing questions behind his steely gaze.
‘Cheaters often win the battle but lose the war,’ I replied, flickering my gaze to the Wolf leader.
Skelkra’s father spat at the ground. ‘She lies. My son is no cheater. She offered herself to him, and he rejected her. Unrequited love stings her Bear pride.’
‘Where is Abel, Skelkra’s Watcher?’ I said through gritted teeth. ‘Did Skelkra tell you he fell off a cliff? I wager you believed him as well.’
‘This is a conversation for the council hall!’ Father said. He threw me and the Wolf leader an intimidating scowl and kicked his horse to a gallop. The other leaders followed him, though the leader of the Snakes, Lild’s father, paused to give me a withering glare.
A warrior rode up, leading two horses. Jeykal helped me onto mine and fastened our supplies to the saddles. He swung his leg up and settled into the seat.
I smiled at him encouragingly; dark circles had formed like rain clouds around his blue eyes. He whipped his reins, sending his horse into a canter. I kicked my own mare with my left foot, and the animal jolted, causing pain to shoot through my weakened body.
We galloped across the plains and slowed when we reached the woods that would eventually break way to Vilseek farmlands. I was happy that I did not have to walk, or limp, the entire way. Sleet fell from the sky, the cool flakes catching in my horse’s mane. Field workers watched us approach the stockade. Sitting atop the wooden were the skulls of our enemies. Interspaced towers holding archers and scouts broke up the mountainous background. Looking at the skulls again, I wondered what Skelkra had told the elders.
As we entered the city, the warriors accompanying father disbanded and leaders of the various tribes went their separate ways. ‘We will wait for you in the council hall,’ said the Wolf leader to Father, and he stalked away. Ketnal’s father gave me a murderous stare before following the Snake leader.
Jeykal was claimed by his father.
‘See the trouble you’ve caused?’ Father growled as he took my wrist and dragged me to his hut. We stepped inside and he yelled, ‘Get out!’ at Delsa, his personal slave.
She dropped the cup she’d been cleaning and fled the room in panic.
Father rounded on me with a stern expression. ‘There’ll be a meeting. Tell me what happened, now.’
‘Betrayal,’ I said, testing the explosiveness of Father’s rage.
‘Did you throw yourself at the Wolf boy?’
Fatigue had taken my will to lie, to deceive; only truth was left. ‘No. It was different than he says. He followed me. Pursued me. I told him to go away, but he seemed genuinely worried that the bear would kill me. I faced it alone and I killed it, Father.’ I smiled at him, showing my pride.
The chieftain glanced down at my leg. ‘Your wound is from a bear claw. Did the bear break your arm as well?’
I shook my head. ‘Skelkra broke it. After my fight with the bear, I passed out. He took care of my wounds, made a fire, and then later I awoke and we lay together.’
Father clenched his fists and I took a step back. In the past, he had beaten me many times. The memories of those times surfaced, making me wary of our proximity.
‘I’ve always liked him. We’ve been destined for each other since we were born.’
‘He took advantage of you. You were injured.’
I shook my head. ‘I wanted it.’
Father cringed and turned his head. ‘So you did throw yourself at him.’
‘It was sweet and gentle. No anger or rejection. But the next day, when I woke up, he was gone. He’d taken my belongings. He’d taken everything except my knife. I tracked him back to his real camp, knocked him out and tied him to a tree. I took most of his supplies and left.’
‘What then?’
‘I started the journey home, back through Death Valley. I went via the river and witnessed Lild’s death. He fell through the ice, becoming trapped. Sankat, the Wolf elder, was his Watcher. Skelkra killed all the other Watchers, and he left Sankat alive. I saw it.’
‘Skelkra said that you killed the other Watchers and Ketnal. Sankat supports his claim.’
I wiped my face with my hands. ‘It’s not true.’
Father grabbed my neck and pushed me up against the wall, squashing my windpipe. ‘Do not lie to me, daughter.’
‘I promise you on Mother’s grave, I am not lying. Skelkra put a spear through Ketnal, and then he killed Thixal and Emarkasa.’
Father lo
osened his grip at the mention of the Bear elder’s name.
‘And Tasz, the Bird elder,’ I continued. ‘Skelkra cheated. I bet he found a dead wolf and chopped off its head. He knew I had the bear head, so he had to find a way to beat me.’
Father punched the wall beside my head. ‘If he killed the elders, then why not kill you if he wants to rule alone?’
‘Because he’s putting the deaths on me so I cannot rule. He wants everything for himself.’
‘It’s your word against his.’
‘Wrong. It’s Jeykal’s word and mine against his.’
Father stepped towards the middle of the room, his movement aimless and lost. ‘Jeykal is popular. Many believe him to be honest and true. At least we have that on our side, for the elders will believe his words over Skelkra’s.’
Several warriors burst into Father’s hut, interrupting our heated exchange. ‘We’ve been assigned to guard your daughter,’ the first man said.
‘You mean make me a prisoner,’ I spat.
‘In case you are found guilty.’
Father nodded at the men. ‘Very well.’
‘And is Skelkra under watch too?’ I raised my eyebrows at Father.
He growled in frustration. ‘I will tell the other leaders of your story and insist he also be placed under watch.’
‘Give him to the Lion tribe. When they hear how Skelkra speared their next leader, they’ll make sure he behaves.’
‘Take her back to her hut,’ the chieftain ordered his warriors. With one last look of disgust, Father left.
Later that day, my own servant, Corilksa, washed the blood from my body and dressed me in new clothes. The medicine woman, Gevilka, came to treat my wounds. She brought a large case of remedies.
‘Not broken. But very bad. Rest for six weeks.’ She presented me with a proper sling. ‘I will visit in several days to remove the maggots.’
I watched the tiny grubs crawling about my flesh. She made me remove my shirt. Then she wiped my back where the bear had scratched me. She also cleaned the wound where the hawgrald had clawed my shoulder.
‘You need food. Water. Now.’ She ordered Corilksa to bring me a meal. Before Gevilka left, she turned to me. ‘See? You can never trust a Wolf.’