In his wisdom, Artakhshathra did not wait for the Nadaren to learn the shame that had befallen their soldiers. By the time the army camp stirred, the fires of the Sut Resi were nothing more than cold ash. Ilati was awed by how quickly every tent was taken down and bundled, carried in many pieces across the herds so that nothing slowed them down. After a lifetime on the move, it was no problem to depart somewhere suddenly.

It was universally agreed that Ilati was too inexperienced to ride a horse alone. She had no argument or even wish to argue on that point: the horses of the Sut Resi, even if they were not the greatest of horses in size, were still large enough to frighten her. Their fiery temperaments and love of the gallop were hardly reassuring either. Menes and Eigou both had much more experience than she did, but they did not have their own horses: Eigou rode their patient, if slower, mule and they trusted Menes to ride Roshanak's horse with the girl in front of him as the true leader holding the reins.

Ilati clung fiercely to Shir Del, arms wrapped around the warrior's waist as she prayed to any god listening that she not be flung from Araxa's back. The stallion was larger and stronger than any of the other horses, save for Artakhshathra's monster of a mount. Ilati glanced over to see the chieftain towards the front, effortlessly commanding from his place on Babak, a red dun stallion with subtle stripes down each leg.

"Araxa and Babak are much bigger than the other stallions," Ilati murmured, trying not to show in her voice all the pain coursing through her with every thump. They had been riding for hours and her thighs and core burned from use. It was not at all like sitting in a chair that could walk.

"They have different parentage," Shir Del explained over her shoulder. "Only their mothers were steppe horses. They share a father, a heaven-touched stallion named Khshayarsha. When Artakhshathra was becoming a man, he followed his dreams to a hidden place on the steppe, a rare crag sacred to Skyfather. There he wrestled and tamed Khshayarsha, who in time added his blood to the herd."

"So why doesn't Artakhshathra ride Khshayarsha?" Ilati stumbled on the strange name. Truth be told, she was only just now confident in how to say the chieftain's.

"He thought no horse would be better than Khshayarsha to carry his son, Mithradatha. They died together at the hands of Nadar, may birds peck the eyes from those who killed them." Shir Del spat to the side, clear in her opinion of the Nadaren. "It was a blow that will not be forgotten."

"I didn't realize horses lived so long."

Shir Del shook her head slightly. "We are happy if they make it to seventeen summers. That is a long, good life. With battles and the dangers of the world, though, we know they may not live so long—just as we lose many children before they grow higher than our knees. Khshayarsha was thirty-six summers old when he died, and he had not shown an inch of his age. We are grateful his blood lives on in our herds."

Ilati nodded. It made sense to her. "How did you come to hold Araxa?"

The warrior woman laughed. "You have more questions than Babak has hairs."

"You should be used to that as a mother to a small girl."

"You are not wrong," Shir Del said, a smile in her voice even at the thought of her daughter, who rode comfortably with Menes up between Artakhshathra and Tahmasp. "When Araxa was a newborn, he caught a sickness and almost died. I volunteered to nurse him, as I had only one other horse to my name then, an old and sickly mare that gave me much practice at finding remedies for illness. Artakhshathra was so pleased when Araxa recovered under my careful tending that he gave the little foal to me. We have not parted ways since." She patted Araxa affectionately. "He has the heart of a lion, but a sweet soul."

Ilati nodded, stifling a yawn as exhaustion crept up on her. She was dead tired and brutally sore after almost a full day of riding. "Do you think Artakhshathra will call a halt soon?"

"Probably. We have made good time and the wind and rain will do much to obscure our tracks."

"Rain?" Ilat said, looking around. There were indeed clouds rolling in from the south, the hint of moisture in the breeze. Kullah seldom had rain. It was the rivers that brought water to the fields and marshes, their tributaries that men channeled for their uses. Rain could mean a flood. Ilati's stomach seized at the thought. "How much rain?"

Shir Del seemed to feel her tension and offered comfort in her own way. "Tahmasp said Skyfather would not drown us, and I trust Tahmasp."

Ilati nodded, letting out a puff of breath. "Does he know much about the weather?"

"Shamans see changes in Skyfather and Earthmother like an archer sees where their arrow will fly. They always know what is coming." Shir Del cleared her throat thoughtfully. "Speaking of archers, we should think about training you. Farhata makes fine bows, and would surely give one to you for the beer that Eigou is carrying."

"If there is some left," Ilati murmured. "He is very fond of his beer."

"For you, I am sure he would part with it."

Something in the certainty of Shir Del's statement opened up an older wonder. "I do not know. Eigou is as mysterious as the depths of the Abyss. I could not even say why he has come to my company. I do not think it was an accident."

Shir Del nodded, rubbing a hand down Araxa's neck. Her horse was tiring as well, bearing the weight of two riders. Neither of them were large, but it was still extra energy expended. "He does not seem like an accidental man."

Ahead came a sharp whistle and the herds of horses came to a stop. Ilati almost fell off Araxa, sagging in relief. Shir Del swung her leg over Araxa's head and slid off his back, waving for Ilati to follow her. Ilati tried the movement and fell, her aching legs now cramped into the shape they had held for hours on Araxa's back.

The warrior woman laughed. "What are you doing in the dirt, little sister?"

Ilati issued forth a string of profanity and then glared balefully up at the all-too-amused Shir Del. "Cursing the ground for striking so hard."

"Perhaps you should not have fallen so quickly."

The priestess grumbled as she got to her unsteady feet. "Where are the others?"

Another horse came to a stop beside them, bearing two riders as well. Menes waved cheerfully from the mare's back, then dismounted and helped Roshanak down. "Eigou was just behind us with the mule," the charioteer said. He moved stiffly, but obviously with far less pain than Ilati. "He will be here soon. Do we pitch a tent here?"

Shir Del shook her head and beckoned, catching Araxa's lead. "Closer to the center. Follow."

It took the Sut Resi little time to put up their hide tents on poles of wood taken from some forest they had traveled through. Soon a small town popped up on the empty plains, crowded around by horses. They kept the young foals and their mothers to the center, while the others found their way around their master's tent. Ilati was constantly watching as she worked, always trying to learn how to help without being left behind.

It was when they had finished Shir Del's tent that the poet saw a lone horse standing far from camp, beyond Tahmasp's tent. "Should that horse be out there alone? Won't a lion get it?"

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Shir Del shrugged. "That is Youtab. She does not come close to people, and only permits the spirits of the wind to ride her. Tahmasp has been out of his mind trying to forge a bond, but she is too proud."

"Is she a child of Khshayarsha?"

"Indeed she is, and she has all of his fleetness and wildness. Artakhshathra refused to wrestle her as he had her father, however. Mares are not usually the horses of war, and this way she will be safe to keep the line of sacred blood flowing."

Ilati worried at her lower lip with her teeth for a thoughtful moment. "But isn't she in danger away from the rest of the herd?"

"Perhaps. Tahmasp said to leave her be, and let her decide when she is ready to become part of the herd. I am most surprised that she has not left us."

"Could I go see her?"

Shir Del spread out the bundle of furs she used as a bed. "I suppose. Just be careful. She will bite."

Ilati laid down a thick stag's hide, a gift from Artakhshathra, and then her bedroll on top to help with the moisture that the rain would bring seeping into the soft earth. The others did the same, though Menes still was relying on his leopard skin to keep him warm. Eigou motioned for her to join him for a moment while the charioteer went about cooking with Roshanak practically attached to his leg. The girl was alive with delight, even when tired, blurting out question after question as Menes added a little bit of spice to the stew.

"I think our leopard has been missing his nieces. They get along well," Eigou said casually, motioning to the pair making dinner.

Ilati smiled. "Famously so. Did you have something you wanted to discuss, Eigou?" There wasn't really any privacy in the tent, so it came as no surprise when the old man's remaining eye darted towards the flap of the door. She wrinkled her nose, not interested in being rained on.

Eigou chuckled. "Follow." He rose to his feet and stepped out of the tent.

Ilati sighed and pulled her scarf up to cover her hair before following him out into the rain. It was little more than a sprinkle at the moment, but the lack of stars above at dusk meant the clouds had covered the sky. "What is it?"

"I heard you need a bow." Eigou patted the skin of beer slung over his shoulder. "I would make such a trade. You need some way to defend yourself."

Ilati touched the curved knife she'd taken from the Nadaren soldier, fitted to a leather sheath by Shir Del. It was a strange contradiction: a finely made bronze blade clad in a scrap of hide.

Eigou saw her movement. "You will need more than a toy if you aim to defeat Nysra."

"I know," the priestess said softly. She looked down at her hands, blistered from helping the Sut Resi pack and unpack. Her hands weren't used to manual labor. "I am not very good as a fighter."

"They will teach you. Menes can help as well." Eigou put a hand on her shoulder. "Trust me."

Ilati's jaw worked for a moment as she chewed through that answer in her mind. She couldn't shake the oddity of it, the sudden appearance of a magical stranger in her life. "Eigou, why are you helping me?"

The old man cleared his throat. "Perhaps that is a better question for the River Esharra."

"But you were searching the waters. You were in Kullah as the last days of my people ran out. You must have seen Shadi burn. To be so close was to risk so much." Ilati shook her head. "Do not tell me it was an accident, Eigou. Not when you know so much of my family and yet I know nothing of you. Tell me the truth."

"I tell you what you will understand." Eigou's mouth formed a grim line, that hardness surfacing in his expression. He strode past her, back into the tent.

Ilati sighed, defeated for the moment. She didn't feel quite like entering the tent again, not until things had cooled off. Instead, she walked, letting her feet take her where they willed. She wanted to find Tahmasp, since he was supposed to teach her as well. As cantankerous as the old shaman was, he seemed to think in straighter lines than Eigou.

She ended up on the outskirts of camp towards Tahmasp's tent, rain pattering gently down on her head and shoulders. As in many moments left alone, her thoughts swirled around the devouring fires. She missed her family, her friends. Everyone she knew was dead except for these few companions and now the Sut Resi. How well could she trust them?

At the last moment, her nerves stopped her from going any closer to Tahmasp's tent. After all, he recognized her nature and her pact with K'adau so immediately, and that troubled her. No one had given her an explanation ‌how, except to say, "Well, he is a shaman, and shamans know things." She wasn't quite ready to deal with one more strange magic in her life.

She turned and approached the lone horse, able to see Youtab well in the light of the setting sun. The horse had the same dappled gray coat as Araxa, giving her the impression that the gods crafted Youtab's sculpted head and muscular body of stone, with a dark mane. Black, intelligent eyes watched her approach and ears swiveled to face Ilati as the horse pulled in a deep breath through her nose. A sudden feeling of familiarity swept over the priestess as she neared the wild horse, struck by Youtab's beauty.

She permits only the spirits of the wind to ride her.

The mare flared her nostrils and bared teeth as she started the war dance of Sut Resi horses, stomping and then rearing up in front of Ilati, lashing out with hooves in a dangerous display. It was an awe-inspiring sight, beautiful and undeniably frightening.

The priestess didn't move a muscle. She knew without any awareness of where the knowledge originated that this was a test, a display. Youtab wanted to know if she was any different than the Sut Resi warriors who had approached her.

Youtab landed back on all four hooves, studying Ilati with her sculpted head held high, neck arched. She pawed at the earth, but the priestess suspected it was more of a warning than a promise of a charge.

"I know you." Ilati's tone was smooth as silk as she spoke. She tried to focus her mind as Eigou had taught her.

It wasn't hearing words, not exactly, but Ilati's awareness expanded to include Youtab. The priestess felt the restless energy coursing through the horse, the keen intelligence, and that wild ferocity. Artakhshathra may have thought that mares were not best for battle, but Ilati was certain he was wrong in this case.

Youtab pulled in a deep breath and let out a soft whinny. Ilati understood: you are not like others...

Ilati's thoughts flashed back to her meeting with K'adau. She was a daughter of the night winds now, though she had no idea how much of their power she had. K'adau had been content to leave her gifts a mystery.

The horse responded as if she could see that memory too. Youtab snorted, ears flicking. She lowered her head to look Ilati directly in the eye. The fierce intelligence in the mare seemed so alive and so much more than the men of Kullah attributed to their own horses. Ilati's connection with her burned brightly in the priestess's thoughts, like a thread of gleaming gold between them. She felt Youtab's fire as her own, a kinship she had never before felt with an animal.

Then Youtab retreated abruptly, and the thread snapped, leaving Ilati standing stunned and alone. It took her several minutes to gather her thoughts and then return to Shir Del's tent. As she walked back, she pondered over the interaction. She resolved to learn more about Youtab and her own power.

Menes met her at the flap of the tent with a blanket from her bedroll. "You are soaking, Ilati. What did Eigou say to you, to drive you off so?"

"You assume it was me?" Eigou looked affronted.

Ilati realized she was shivering, wet, and cold. Reading her own body's cues had been much less important than the mystery of Youtab. "I just needed to think."

Shir Del swatted at Menes. "Do not coddle her. She is a priestess of the Mother of Demons. She can take care of herself and indulgence weakens the body."

"She may be Ki-sikil-lil's priestess, but she is our friend," Menes retorted, handing Ilati the woolen blanket.

The priestess smiled faintly at that, taking the blanket. Its warmth seemed two-fold, something more than just the physical comfort alone. "Thank you, Menes." She wrapped the blanket around her body and moved to sit by the fire, beside Roshanak.

"Where did you run off to?" Eigou asked. He seemed back to his normal self, no hint of the hardness in his face.

"To look at the horses," Ilati said, purposely keeping it vague. She doubted that the Sut Resi would like the idea of her around one of their precious heaven-touched horses. "They differ greatly from what I imagined, living in the temple."

"I would wager many things to be very different for you now than what you knew," Menes said, words infused with a kind comfort as he laid down, pulling his leopard skin over his body for its warmth. They had not yet reached summer with all its heat and the combination of wind with rain could make things quite unpleasant.

Ilati nodded and let her gaze rest on the fire until it was only coals and the others were all shifting to their bedrolls to sleep. She laid down reluctantly in hers, praying for something other than a nightmare.

It was a prayer that went unanswered.