by Claudia King
“If Vaya could control herself we would not have to.”
“Then why keep her here?! It is all for your den mother's sense of pride. She is no different from any other leader—using people for her own selfish ends! I will not defend what Vaya did, but how can you expect any better from her, treating her the way you are?”
Netya shook her head sadly. “Life is choosing our cruelties, Kiren.”
Kiren sniffed and walked away. The last thing Netya heard her mutter was: “Spirit-talkers are all the same.”
She had not the heart to follow after her.
“What would you have done?” Netya asked Caspian as she curled herself against him later that night. Her encounter with Vaya had left her tense and alert for the rest of the evening, the same way she'd felt back in the wandering days before the clan had a den to protect them. She had spent the rest of the evening fixing her heron skull meticulously back into place at the head of her staff.
“I told Adel it was dangerous keeping Vaya here,” Caspian said. Rarely did he express outright anger, but that evening Netya could hear the distant rumble of outrage in his voice. “I thought I had set her mind elsewhere with this hunt, but if she is coming here to meet with your apprentice in secret...”
“You think I should tell Adel, don't you?”
“Why would you not? Perhaps now she will see sense and send Vaya away.”
Netya shifted uncomfortably against his side. “Because of Kiren. I almost thought I was becoming her friend.”
“Is her friendship more important than your own safety?”
“I am not afraid of Vaya.”
“That isn't what worries me.” Caspian clasped her hand. “I worry that your apprentice won't be there to hold Vaya back the next time. I will speak to Orec about keeping a closer watch on her at first light tomorrow. I'll follow her around myself if I have to. Fool that I am, I put too much faith in that woman having changed.”
“I cannot tell Adel. I think she made me Kiren's mentor for a reason. Fear and punishments will not help that girl.”
Caspian sighed. “I suppose harshness is all our den mother knows. Useful in times of strife, but now our clan is at peace.” A troubled look crossed his face. “Sometimes I wonder whether one day the other packs will look at us the way they did Miral's clan. Then perhaps, rightly or wrongly, some young warrior will try to put an end to the dark sorceress we follow.”
“Adel has compassion in her heart, you know she does.”
“Does it matter, if she shows it so rarely? I hoped her shell would soften once our pack began to flourish, but it seems she forgets more and more of her old self each day.” Caspian shook his head. “I barely see any of the girl she once was any more.”
Netya opened her mouth to protest, but Kiren's words hung in the back of her mind, stifling her natural urge to defend her mentor.
The worst evil I know is to turn someone's heart against them.
Whether Adel's plan to use Kiren and Vaya's bond against them—to gain leverage and influence over Octavia's clan—was in the name of a greater good or not, Netya could not deny that its methods were cold. Cruel, even. Was this really the right way?
“You know your apprentice better than I,” Caspian said, leaning over to kiss the top of Netya's head. “I will keep an eye on Vaya, but do what you think is right. Mother Syr has always guided you well, it seems.”
Netya gazed out of the cave's entrance. “My guiding moonlight.” She would search for answers in her visions again, and she would speak with Adel once more. She had always tried to follow her heart, and Kiren, for all of her faults, seemed to follow hers too. If the girl saw good in Vaya and evil in Adel, then it was Netya's duty to try and understand why. Because if she did nothing, then perhaps her apprentice would become that very brash young warrior Caspian had spoken of.
—11—
The Rainfall Hunt
Vaya's encounter with her old rival had rekindled a dimming fury within her soul. Their fight was not over. Where once she had only seen an craven upstart, she now saw a worthy adversary. For Netya had bested her, after all. Once long ago, and now twice with Kiren's aid. Netya was a grown woman, a seer through and through, and she wielded that clumsy old spear with a confidence that belied her feeble bloodline.
When they fought—and fight they would—the challenge would be a glorious one. Perhaps not now. Perhaps not for many years. But when she and Kiren were free of these witches, Vaya would return to settle the score with the sun wolf once and for all.
A huntress needed prey, and Vaya had hers.
Even the reproach of Orec's pack faded to the back of her mind, driven as she was by the passion and anger of the encounter. She barely realised that over a day had passed without any punishment befalling her for what had transpired. No one had even made mention of it. Perhaps the sun wolf had been respectful enough to keep their conflict private?
Many times over she practised running the route between Orec's den and the edge of the valley, taking Claw with her whenever he could keep up. He was a determined little wolf, and his strength of will was gradually overtaking the clumsiness of his growing paws. It would be many moons until he could join her on a real hunt, however, and when the sound of rain pattering upon the hut roof woke Vaya in the early hours of the morning she left her feral companion sleeping in the nest of chewed-up leather he had made at her side.
She sat, listening for the roar of thunder spirits. A scattering of violent storms always came and went throughout the summer, but when the lightning stopped and the rains lingered, that was the signal for the beginning of the wet season. Excitement chewed at her belly. This would be it. The day of the hunt. As soon as dawn broke the pack would set out in search of their prey.
Despite Netya's interference she still trusted Kiren to enact her part of the plan. They were pack-sisters, and the possibility of failure was not something that could enter Vaya's mind. Today was the day she slew a bear. First she would win the respect of these warriors, then she would turn her attention to the witches.
The clan started to gather outside the alpha's cave as an ochre-coloured dawn thickened the clouds overhead. Rain battered down all around them, soaking the assembled warriors to the bone. It seemed custom for them not to don oiled or waxed clothing to keep the water off, not that it would have made a difference to Vaya either way.
The huntress approached from the back of the group, binding her braids together with a grass tie and tossing them over her shoulder. A few of the others eyed her cautiously. It did not escape her notice that Caspian was there also, arms folded a few paces to her left. He stepped back from the crowd when she arrived, keeping a clear line of sight between the two of them.
“Why always on this day, of all times,” one of the men in front grumbled. “No one wants to hunt in the rain. Can't smell a thing.”
“Too challenging for you?” Kin smirked, glancing over his shoulder at his two hunting companions. One of them had a long, bow-shaped bundle under his arm. “We know how to find our prey without following our noses.”
“Good for you. I don't want to drag my paws through the mud all day.”
Kin shrugged. “You don't have to chase the hunter's prize if you don't want it.”
“Have some prey in mind?” Caspian murmured sideways at Vaya. She could taste the prying curiosity behind his calm words.
“I do not know, is your mate out wandering the woods today?” She snickered as her comment provoked a twitch from the male. “Fear not. I am true to my word. The two of us will fight only when she agrees to it.”
He turned slowly to look at her. “Stay out of the valley, Vaya.”
With a grunt of dismissal she shuffled around the group until he was out of sight, perching with one leg up on a rock outside the alpha's den. She didn't need Caspian or anyone else hounding her footsteps that day. At least the rain would make it difficult for them to follow her.
Almost the entire clan had assembled by the time Orec stepped out
of his cave. Hands upon his hips, the grizzled alpha surveyed his people with a grin.
“Who is ready to have songs sung of them this winter?”
A roar of enthusiasm erupted from the crowd, overwhelming any dampness the rain had put upon their spirits. Orec threw his right hand toward the sky, a single finger pointed upward.
“The hunt ends with the last light of day. Return by then with proof of your victories. Hunt with honour, and with pride!”
Vaya had to press herself up against the rocks to avoid the rush of people dashing past her. The group burst and spilt down the side of the ridge like a flood, feet giving way to paws as men and women changed shape and howled their aggression to the sky.
Taking advantage of the confusion, Vaya called up her own wolf and slipped into the midst of the pack before anyone could start following her. A few hunters peeled off to the north and south, but most remained together in one clump as they headed west toward the clan's most frequented hunting grounds. As soon as the forest thickened Vaya slipped away into the undergrowth, doubling back until she reached the trail she had practised running. It was just a short dash around the end of the ridge to reach Great Rook's forest, but every moment was important. She had an entire day to plan the perfect moment to strike, and she intended not to waste any of it.
Before she reached the bear's den she smelt the tang of fresh blood on the air. Rain beat down upon the forest canopy overhead, filling her ears with a rumble of thick, stifling sound. Thankfully the scents beneath the trees were still strong where it was dry, and the sky had brightened enough to shed a little light into the gloom.
Vaya's muzzle twitched, drawing in the bloody scent. Fresh, but not hot. It was dead blood from previously killed meat, and it was close to the northern side of the valley. An obvious place for Rook to make his den. She doubted a fully grown bear could sneak up on her, but she slowed to a cautious pace nonetheless, aligning her sight with the gaps in the trees and avoiding the thickest patches of foliage. The musk of bear soon joined the smell of blood, prickling Vaya's fur instinctively. The animal within her knew to run from this smell, but the huntress was able to turn that fear into strength. Fear made a person quicker, keener, impervious to the pain of wounds and sturdy enough to shrug off exhaustion. She welcomed it, letting the quickening of her pulse spread throughout her body and instil her with the power of every life she had ever claimed.
Glancing between two columns of trees, she saw it. At first the sight of Great Rook's furred flank almost made her bolt backwards in surprise. How had she blundered so close to him?! Then she realised that the bear was still several strides distant, gorging himself upon a thick haunch of meat. His immense size had simply deluded her.
Vaya had not crossed paths with many bears in her time, but during her wanderings following her exile she had learned to be wary of them. Most had only been half the size of this one. For a moment she hesitated, wondering whether her plan was foolish after all.
Great Rook growled, pawing at the meat agitatedly. He made a few loud snorting sounds and licked at the trunk of the nearest tree until the source of his discomfort became unstuck from his tongue, leaving a smear of chewed meat and plant leaves upon the bark.
Vaya's resolve hardened. Kiren had managed to bring the meat here and lace it with the sleeping herbs just as she had promised. The girl had always been a cunning one, just like her mother. If she believed it possible to slay this beast, then that was good enough for Vaya.
For the time being she backed off, secreting herself away within a clutch of ferns. Rook seemed oblivious to her approach, but she doubted the element of surprise would be enough to secure a clean kill. She needed to wait until the sleeping herbs took effect.
After a while a few trickles of rain began to dribble down from the waterlogged leaves, dampening Rook's fur until he grew irritable and turned back toward the northern ridge, dragging off the well-chewed haunch in his teeth. Vaya waited until he was almost out of earshot, then followed his thudding footfalls silently. In comparison to the lumbering bear she almost felt like a forest spirit dancing upon the wind.
The rattling of one of the witches' bone totems distracted her, and she looked up with a start to see a string of rodent skulls tinkling against their wooden chimes. With a growl Vaya yanked them down, crunching up the flimsy things between her jaws and spitting them back out. Why did these seers invite dark spirits into their forest by displaying the remnants of the dead? Slain prey deserved to move on to the spirit world, or else strengthen the power of a tool or weapon with its repurposed bones. The way seers ritualistically displayed the faces of animals in their charms and headdresses had never sat well with Vaya. It was a wicked trick to convince the spirits of the dead they were still alive.
Great Rook's den was at the very edge of the forest where the trees thinned at the edge of the valley, exposed to the elements with nowhere for Vaya to hide. She saw the bear clamber up a short rock shelf and disappear into the darkness of a cave, leaving her to watch from the trees as cold rain blew in against her muzzle. The cave was probably deep to accommodate a beast his size. Twisting and chambered, perhaps, otherwise it would have been a poor place to shelter from the weather on days like these. Vaya knew from experience that even her night eyes would be blind once she ventured inside. Deep caves had a way of shunning all light. She would have to tread carefully and lure the bear back out. But how long would it be before the sleeping herbs took effect? No matter how hard she strained her ears she could hear nothing over the patter of rain upon rock. If it had been quieter perhaps she would have been able to listen for the sound of the bear's breath slowing or its growls becoming weary.
The sky continued to lighten until the yellowish orange of dawn receded from the clouds, leaving only a hard layer of grey atop the world. Still Vaya waited, her eyes never leaving the cave for a moment.
Incessant rain and rustling leaves. Dark-feathered birds cawing in their nests overhead. A vole scuttled in front of Vaya, froze for an instant as the wolf's breath tickled its fur, then scrambled away beneath the fallen twigs.
I'm hunting bigger prey than you today.
Despite the absence of the sun Vaya's internal sense of time told her it was half way to noon when she finally decided to approach the cave. Long enough for the herbs to have taken effect, but hopefully no so long that they would have worn off.
Circling around from the side, she endured the cold rain until she was sure Great Rook was not lurking near the entrance to his den. The smell of bear rolled out of the cave so thickly it was cloying, but she detected neither sound nor scent of fresh breath. Poking her head around the entrance, she peered into the gloom. A few paces ahead of her the passage narrowed where one side had fallen in. Beyond that the cave twisted sideways, leading into pitch darkness.
Vaya crept forward, unnerved by the sudden quiet as the thick stone walls cut off the sound of the rain. She paused near the collapse to smell and listen again. Still nothing. The cave must have been deep indeed. Relinquishing the use of her eyesight, she slunk around the rocks and ventured further in. Fortunately the passageway broadened on the other size, curving around and sloping slightly upward. A shift in the quality of the air told her that the path split in two. Edging to her left, she risked tapping a claw against the rocks. The faint echo told her that a chamber opened up here, perhaps leading deeper into the valleyside, but the scent of bear seemed less strong in that direction. Great Rook's nest was closer to the entrance.
Ignoring the second path, Vaya padded up the incline until she heard the huff of hot breath somewhere up ahead. A quick sniff confirmed what her ears were telling her. The bear was here. If he was not asleep, he would smell her soon.
Sooner than Vaya had expected. Twigs cracked under heavy paws as Rook lurched upright somewhere in the darkness ahead. His confused roar bounced off the cave walls with deafening volume, seeming like it was coming from all directions at once. Vaya backed off instinctively, giving herself more space to react u
ntil she could pinpoint where the bear was standing. His paws beat against the rock, stirring up a jumbled rattling sound as he kicked the refuse of his den in all directions. He was charging straight toward her.
With no time to turn around in the darkness, Vaya threw herself to one side. Thankfully the passage was wide enough that she avoided crashing into a wall, and when her paw scraped up against vertical stone she darted forward and ran into the chamber Rook had been occupying. With a thud of flesh against rock the bear lumbered into the wall behind her, roaring in pain. The sound of his long claws rasping against the cave floor reminded Vaya of their killing potential. She needed to stay out of his reach, but now he was between her and the exit. There was no way she could fight him in the dark.
Before Rook could charge again Vaya scampered toward the back of the chamber, feeling the crack of twigs and old animal bones beneath her paws. A quick sniff of the air told her that the remnants of the meat haunch were right next to her. Aiming for the well-chewed animal bone, she managed to snatch it up in her jaws on her first blind attempt, tossing it sideways so that it clacked sharply against the cave wall.
The sound of the bear's paws surged toward her, but the sudden noise seemed to have surprised him. In the back of Vaya's mind she realised that his movements were blundering and sloppy, more confused by her intrusion than anything. It seemed that Kiren's sleeping herbs had done their work.
Rook's second charge was off target, but Vaya still felt the rush of the bear's breath as she leaped aside. His flank brushed her tail as he skidded to a halt in the wreckage of his nest, then reared around again to growl at her. This time Vaya did not waste any time attempting to trick her opponent. Running as fast as she dared in the blackness, she bolted back the way she had come, trying to remember where the jutting rocks had been that threatened to trip her. Rook closed the distance fast, a wall of roaring sound and scraping claws filling the passage behind her. She was certain she felt his teeth brush her tail just moments before the first sliver of light hove into view.