Tara couldn’t answer that, so she started walking again. The group turned a corner and found Aeifa standing in the path. She didn’t acknowledge them when they greeted her, but stared through the trees. Tara followed her gaze.
The same view of the village met her eyes, with the huts scattered through the clearing. Smoke rose out of the roof holes, and a few outdoor fires smoldered in the brightening sunshine, but no people sat or walked around the houses.
Tara frowned. “What’s going on?”
An eerie silence answered her. No voices or babies crying or tools chopping wood interrupted the stillness. Allen came to her side. “Where is everyone?”
Tara started forward, and the others followed. They clustered close around her in a tight bunch. No one wanted to stray too far into that empty space. Tara stopped in the center of the village and looked around again. Not a single person was anywhere in sight. Tools lay next to unfinished work. Pots simmered in the dying embers of fires with no people tending them.
Ari stuck his head into one of the huts. “Grandmother! I’m hungry. When’s breakfast?”
They listened to the deafening silence. He strolled back to the group, and Aeifa kicked him.
He bounced away. “What’s the matter?”
She glared at him, but dared not break the silence.
Taig looked into another hut. Then Aeifa check two more. “There’s no one here.”
Allen surveyed the village. “Wherever they are, they can’t be far away. Everything’s exactly the way we left it.”
“Everyone?” Taig asked. “Why would they all leave at once?”
“Maybe something threatened them,” Taman replied. “Maybe they had to move quickly.”
Ari and Aeifa walked down to the end of the village. “Here are all their tracks leading down to the river.”
Tara examined the tracks. “These tracks were made this morning, I’d say less than an hour ago. Wherever they went, they didn’t leave in the rain. The tracks are too crisp and fresh.”
“But look.” Ari pointed to the ground. “Look how many tracks there are. The whole village left at once, in one large crowd. What would make them do that?”
“Take a look at this.” Tara touched the ridges of a track farther along. “This is one of Faruk’s tracks.”
“How can you tell?” Allen asked.
“Do you see this?” Tara touched a sharp point on the edge of the track. “You can see how he rolls on the outside of his foot. All Ursidreans do.” She smiled at him. “You do it, too.”
“That doesn’t explain how you know it’s Father’s track,” he countered. “It could be anybody’s.”
“Faruk is the only full blooded Ursidrean here,” she pointed out. “Your mother Emily is human, and you two were with us last night. Faruk is the only person who could have made this track.”
“Here are Mother and Marissa’s tracks,” Taig told her. “They walk differently from other Lycaon, and you can see Father and Caleb’s tracks right next to them.”
“So why would they all leave the village at once?” Tara asked. “They walked, slowly and calmly. They weren’t in any hurry, or they would have run.”
“Maybe they walked to keep pace with the guests,” Ari suggested.
Taig shook his head. “If anything threatened the village, Caleb would have taken the majority of the people and run for the hills. He would have left Father and Mother to bring your parents and Renier and Carmen after them. He wouldn’t run the risk of anyone dallying behind.”
Tara scanned the village just one more time. She couldn’t force her mind to comprehend that everyone was gone—just like that. Her skin crawled. “Let’s get out of here.”
No one argued. They filed back down the path without a word the way they came. They didn’t stop until they passed beyond sight of the village.
By some unspoken agreement, they formed a circle and faced each other. They glanced from one to the other. Reina broke the silence. “What are we going to do?”
Ari shrugged. “We know enough to survive in the woods indefinitely. We should stay here and wait. They’re bound to come back sooner or later.”
Taman chopped at the air with his hand. “I’m not staying here. I’m going to find them. We can’t stay here.”
“We can stay here as long as we want,” Aeifa countered. “We have enough food and water and shelter here to last for years. What are you going to do? Are you going to walk back to Ursidrean territory by yourselves?”
Taman and Allen exchanged glances. Tara answered for them. “You know they couldn’t travel all that way. They haven’t got our survival skills. Whatever we do, we have to stick together.”
“Why should we?” Ari asked. “We can stay here, and they can do what they want.”
Tara rounded on him. “The boys and Reina will die without us. You know that. We stick together, and that’s my last word.”
“Then we stay here,” Ari repeated. “We have no reason to leave. Going on some wild goose chase to find them would be idiotic. They could be back in an hour, and then where would we be?”
A long pause answered him until Allen murmured, “They aren’t coming back—not any time soon.”
“What makes you so certain?” Ari asked.
Allen shook his head, but said nothing. “Allen is right,” Tara told him. “Something pretty serious made them abandon the village in a hurry. It must have been some kind of disaster. They knew we were out there in the woods, and they didn’t tell us they were going or where. We have to act as if they aren’t coming back. They could be gone for years, or they might never come back. Even if they come back soon, we have to plan for the worst.”
Reina’s eyes darted from one face to the next. “Which is what?”
“We can’t stay here,” Taman repeated. “We have to find them.”
“And how do you plan to do that?” Taig asked. “Those tracks disappear at the river. There’s no sign of where they went or why. Where are you going to start looking for them?”
Taman looked around with wild eyes. “There must be a way.”
“There is.” Allen held up his arm and pinched the skin. A round dimple puckered in his flesh. “Every Ursidrean wears a tracking device implanted under the skin. Back in Harbeiz, we have the technology to locate the tracking devices for every Ursidrean. The device is intended to safeguard anyone who goes outside the city, in case they get lost or injured. My father was a member of the border patrol, and now he’s on a diplomatic mission to negotiate with your father and Renier. He and my mother both have these devices, and they had the devices implanted in me and my brother before we left Harbeiz in case we got lost.”
“That doesn’t do us any good,” Ari countered. “We have no way of tracking them.”
“At Harbeiz they do,” Allen told him. “Wherever our parents are, they’re together. The whole village is together. If we can track down my parents, we can find the whole village. Carmen and Renier will be with them, too.”
The Lycaon exchanged glances. Tara shrugged. “I guess it’s worth a try.”
Aeifa spun away. “No way! I’m not traveling halfway across the world to Ursidrean territory on a wing and a prayer. If you want to go back to Harbeiz and work your hocus-pocus, you go right ahead. I’m staying here with Ari.”
Ari stroked his chin. “Well, maybe there’s something to it. We really don’t have any other way of finding them.”
Reina’s voice made Tara turn around “What’s going to happen to us?” She clenched her hands together until her knuckles turned white, but she couldn’t hide them shaking. Shudders racked her whole body.
Tara touched her shoulder. “It’s going to be okay, Reina. We’re going to find your parents.”
Reina stared up into her face. Then she looked around the circle at the others, but she couldn’t see them through her fear. They were strangers to her. “I don’t think....” She didn’t finish.
Ari
nodded. “All right. We’ll go see if your technology can find them. If it doesn’t work out, we can always come back here.”
Aeifa flew at him with both hands flying. Tara barely recognized her cousin. “You can’t leave, Ari. We have to stay here.”
Tara put out her hand to Aeifa, but she hesitated to leave Reina. “We’ll be okay, Aeifa. We can come back afterwards.”
Aeifa didn’t hear her. “We can’t leave. This is our home.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m not leaving. I’ve lived here all my life, and I’m not leaving now. If you want to go track the people down, go ahead. I’ll stay here by myself. I can survive on my own.”
“Of course you can,” Tara replied, “but....”
Aeifa waved her hand and started to walk away. “Forget it. I’m not leaving.”
Ari followed her a few steps. “Come on, Aeifa. It’s the only way. We have to stick together.”
She shrugged his hand away and crossed her arms again. Tara thought she heard a sniff.
Ari turned away. “All right. If that’s the way you want to do it....”
He rejoined the circle.
Taig frowned at him. “We can’t leave her here alone.”
Ari smiled and murmured into Taig’s ear. “You and the others go on ahead. Leave us here alone. I’ll talk to Aeifa and convince her we’re better off with the group. We’ll catch up with you later.”
Taig nodded and rounded on Allen. “So, how do we get there?”
Allen scanned the surrounding forest. “Well, I don’t exactly know. I thought....”
Taig eyes popped open. “You don’t know the way?”
“Ursidrean territory is to the north,” Tara broke in. “It’s that way.”
“All we have to do is find the border,” Allen told them. “When we explain who we are and what we’re doing, the border patrol will take us to the city. Our Alpha Donen and my uncle Menlo will know what to do to find my father.”
Taig threw up his hands. “This is a disaster in the making.”
Tara took hold of Reina’s elbow and turned her toward the north. “It’s the only way. Come on. We don’t have time to waste arguing.”
She set off through the trees, at a right angle to the path leading back to the village. Nothing remained there for her anymore. Reina followed her lead, and the boys came behind her.
She walked all day. Traveling took a lot longer walking than running. She wasn’t used to traveling so slowly. Toward noon, she stopped under a rocky overhang. A trickle of water dripped over the edge, and she cupped her hand to lift the water to her lips.
Allen and Taman collapsed on the ground in the shade and closed their eyes. Taig rolled his eyes and joined Tara at the spring. She collected a handful of water and helped Reina drink before she sat the girl down to rest.
She waited more than an hour for the Ursidrean boys to revive. They couldn’t waste any more time. She took Reina’s hand and led her to the path when Ari and Aeifa emerged from the trees. Ari smiled, but Aeifa wouldn’t look at any of them.
Tara breathed a sigh of relief. She would never ask Ari what he said to convince Aeifa to come with them, but she wouldn’t make it difficult. She might not want to leave her home village, but she had no one else left. Separating from her twin and her cousins and staying alone in the deserted village would be so much worse.
Tara led the party into the trees, with Reina at her side, the Ursidrean boys behind her, and Ari and Aeifa bringing up the rear. They trekked into the unknown northward, always northward, into the Ursidreans mountains.
End of Book 1
Book 2: Outliers
Chapter 1
Taig ran a strip of leather through his fingers. “We’re going hunting.”
Allen stood up from his seat on a rock. “I’m coming with you.”
Taig and Tara exchanged glances. She waved her hand. “That might not be such a good idea.”
“As you’re so fond of pointing out,” Allen replied, “Taman and I can’t survive out here alone, so it’s time we started to learn. If we got separated from the rest of you, we’d be helpless. Besides, none of us has any idea how long we’ll be stuck out here in the wilderness. We need everyone contributing. I’m coming with you.”
Tara sighed and Taig shrugged. “Fine. You can come. Just try not to get in the way.”
“Speaking of being stuck out here in the wilderness,” Reina added, “does anybody know where we are? How much farther do we have to go to get to Ursidrean territory?”
The others looked at each other, but no one answered.
“We’ve been traveling for two weeks,” Reina went on. “We should have been there by now.”
Allen surveyed the mountains to the east. “If I had to guess, I’d say we crossed into Ursidrean territory already.”
“But you said we only had to go as far as the border,” Tara pointed out. “You said the border patrol would pick us up as soon as we got there. We haven’t seen another person since we left the village.”
Taman spoke up. “I overheard my father talking to Donen. He convinced the Ursidrean Supreme Council to cut the border patrols. He said we didn’t need them anymore with the peace agreement coming into effect, especially along the Lycaon border where we haven’t had a conflict in years.”
Allen rounded on his brother. “The patrols were already close to nothing years ago. If they reduced them anymore, there would be no one left on the border. Anyone could cross back and forth between the two factions any time they wanted.”
Taman nodded. “That’s right.”
“Isn’t that the whole point of the peace agreement?” Tara asked. “Our parents have been working toward this for years.”
“And no one has worked harder or sacrificed more than Donen,” Taman replied. “He would be the first one to reduce the border patrol where he perceived the least threat, and that would be on the Lycaon border.”
Reina’s hand flew to her forehead. “This is terrible. We could be miles away from the city.”
“Actually,” Tara countered, “I think it’s a good thing. It means our factions have finally reached a lasting peace. It means no one will bat an eye when we get to the city. They won’t see us as an invading force. I was worried about that.”
“That doesn’t get us any closer to the city,” Reina pointed out.
“We aren’t exactly suffering out here,” Tara argued. “We have enough to eat. We’ve slept comfortably every night. We’ve been traveling at a snail’s pace, but we’re still making progress. We crossed out of Lycaon territory a long time ago. I don’t recognize this country, so we must be getting pretty close.”
“Admit it. We’re lost,” Reina told her. “We could have passed the city by miles, and we could be wandering around in these mountains for months before anybody finds us.”
Aeifa spoke up for the first time. “Would that be so bad?”
Reina crossed her arms over her chest and turned away. Tara shifted her leather pouch on the strap binding it around her waist. “There’s no use arguing about it now. Me and Taig are going hunting. We can talk about our plans for the future when we get back and have full stomachs.”
“I’m coming with you,” Allen repeated.
Taman stood up. “I’m coming, too.”
Taig waved his hand. “No, no, no. One novice is enough. We can’t take two.”
Taman set his jaw. “I’m coming. I have just as much reason to learn to hunt as Allen does. If you’re taking him, you have to take me, too.”
“I don’t have to do anything,” Taig shot back.
“Aw, let him come,” Tara urged.
Taig rounded on her. “Are you kidding? You’ve heard how they walk through the forest. The game run away from their noise long before we get near them. We never see any game with those two around. If they both come, we might as well not go at all.”
Tara strode to the edge of their camp. “You don’t have to go.
I’ll take them out, and we’ll bring back some meat for everyone to eat.”
“Now just hang on a minute....” Taig began.
Tara didn’t listen. She walked out of the camp with the long leather thongs of her sling dangling from her hand. The Ursidrean boys hurried after her, and they plunged into the trees. Taig scowled. Then he threw up his hands with a muttered curse and ran after them.
Tara stopped some distance out of the camp and faced the boys. “Now listen to me. If you want to come hunting with us, here’s the first thing you have to learn. You have to run. You can’t walk. Taig is right. You make too much noise, and you move too slowly to be any good. You scare all the game away, and the animals run from you before you get anywhere near them. The only thing you can do is learn to run like the Lycaon.”
Allen and Taman stared at her. “But we can’t run like the Lycaon. We’re Ursidreans.”
Tara shook her head. “You’re part human, and I’ve seen you side by side with your father, who is Ursidrean. You’re much thinner and lighter than he is, so you should be able to run as well as a human.”
Allen opened his mouth. Taman stammered a reply. “But we’ve never run before.”
Tara’s jaw dropped. “Never?”
Taman shrugged. “We go through conditioning training, but we don’t run.” He glanced sideways at his brother. “I don’t think any Ursidreans ever run. We aren’t built for it.”
Tara straightened up. “Well, you’re going to run now. My mother learned to run with the Lycaon when she was a lot older than you, and more than one human woman joined the Lycaon warriors. Now I don’t want to hear anymore excuses. Allen, you go first. Start running. Follow that trail. I’ll come behind you to make sure you don’t get separated or lost.”
Allen looked down the trail. Then he looked at his brother. Taig snickered from somewhere behind them. Allen started to say something, but Tara cut him off. She shoved him down the trail. “Go!”
He shook off his doubts and set off running. They didn’t run very well at first. Tara barely had to trot to keep up with them. But the longer they ran, the faster and easier they went. Before long, she found herself jogging along at a decent pace behind them.
Optorio Civil War Complete Series Box Set (Books 1 - 6): A Sci-fi Alien Warrior Invasion Abduction Romance (Optorio Chronicles Book 2) Page 88