Makotae’s barks shot through Lilau’s pounding head. They had stopped. The smells and what little she could hear over the wolf’s racket told her they were back in the village.

She picked her head up out of his fur just enough to see that they were in front of a door. Even though her eyes still refused to focus, the familiarity of it told her they had returned to the long hut. Lilau slid from Makotae’s back, clenching her teeth against the pain from the gashes over her back.

She reached out and stumbled forward. The momentum carried her toward a door that pulled away from her grasp. Unable to stop, she continued her arc through the unbarred doorway onto the floor beyond.

“Lilau!”

Mara’s voice called out from nearby, followed by the touch of a hand on her head. A heavy sigh followed. “Let me get my things.”

As the sound of Mara’s footsteps moved away, Makotae’s came close, nudging her out of the entrance as he licked at her wounds. “Ow!”

She waved him off, shoving herself back to her feet despite the rolling of her stomach.

“After all of your injuries, you would think you would be used to the pain. Besides, you know what I’m about to do is way worse than a wolf’s tongue.”

Lilau felt her way to a nearby stool, sinking into it with resignation as Mara spread out medicine and tools. “Yes, but at least when you treat me I don’t have to deal with the pain ricocheting between our minds.”

Mara handed her a bolus the color of mud. Lilau popped it into her mouth, chewing and swallowing the gelatinous substance before the mouth-puckering taste of tannin could lock up her jaw.

“It’s always a pleasure to know that even if the entire village quit requiring my expertise, you would still have use of me.”

Mara’s sarcasm slid past as she set to work, the feeling of rough cloth and scrapers across her injuries drowning out Lilau’s ability to retort. Mara was right. This part was way worse than Makotae’s ministrations, especially with Makotae whimpering and pacing as their shared consciousness echoed the suffering. Before long, though, the pain dulled. The echoes disappeared as the bolus of Wolf’s Spit took hold. After years of sharing everything with another, being alone in her own mind always felt a little bizarre and cold. Yet it was far better than the alternative.

As Mara’s hands worked over the half-numb skin on Lilau’s back and sides, she could almost hear the usual questions turning in the Elder’s mind. Sure enough, within a moment, their ritual started.

“What happened this time, girl? Those marks on your neck don’t look like an animal attack.”

Lilau’s muddy thoughts oozed around the answer, and it took her a minute to reply. “Zan...it was Zan again. He made... a trap this time. Gutted a deer and left it to die.”

Mara stopped. “He’s been escalating his attacks, but insulting the Fokla? Are you sure?”

“Who else would it have been, Elder Mara? He waited until it distracted me and attacked me from behind. Started yelling about how it was all my fault and how he was going to kill me. If it wasn’t for Makotae, he would have.” Lilau winced as Mara’s hands went back to work, the pause breaking down some tolerance she had built up. “Can you and Elder Raval not do anything about him?”

Mara sighed, taking one shaky step back to regard her handiwork and Lilau in equal measure. “You know as well as I do that Raval and I are approaching our return to the land. Age carries with it respect. But, once our burden to the tribe climbs too high, their eyes shift to those who will succeed us and those individuals have very different views about you. However, if Zan insulted the Fokla, his punishment is assured.”

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Lilau looked over at Mara as she moved away. Her dark skin had grown grey in recent years, the wrinkles growing more pronounced as the surrounding skin dried. Her hair was stark white and wispy, while dark circles always surrounded her eyes. Melancholy descended over Lilau. She knew they were going to die soon, with all the signs and the rush to train their successors in recent years. How could she not? Still, her heart ached at the thought of losing them.

Mara interrupted her thoughts. “Tell me where he attacked you. I will send scouts out to gather the evidence. If we are lucky, Zan will not have cleaned it up yet. Although if any of that blood on Makotae’s mouth is his, he’s got quite the handicap.”

Makotae wagged his tail at Mara’s acknowledgment of him, scrabbling up from his position at the door when he realized Lilau’s treatment was over. The Wolf’s Spit was still in full effect, but she didn’t need access to his mind to know how happy he was.

Although she was ever grateful for Mara’s healing skill, her current attitude was far more morose than her companion. “Let me give Elder Raval his medicine for you.”

Mara passed a bundle to her without complaint before shuffling out of the hut.

Once she left, Lilau made the trek to Raval’s bedroom with Makotae at her side. It was a short walk, maybe ten steps, yet the journey felt tedious. Not that she didn’t want to be around him, it was just that she hated seeing him so weak. It had become clear that Raval, despite being the younger of the two, would not outlive Mara and in the last year had suffered from recurrent illnesses.

“His body has grown too weak and will soon give out,” Mara had told her after his latest affliction. Lilau knew she was right. As she entered the small bedroom, Mara’s words drove home yet again.

His frail form sank into the nest of furs piled up to his neck, a struggling attempt to hold in what little heat he still shed. His paper-thin skin was pallid, with a hint of blue painted on his lips. Lilau took a deep breath before moving to his side and laying a hand on his cheek.

His eyes pulled open sluggishly, regarding her with a gaze that had lost its shine, but none of its warmth. “Lilau,” he croaked out, “how are you, my girl?”

She gave him her best grin, doing her best to ignore the lump in her throat that added discomfort to her injured neck. “I’m fine, Elder Raval. Here with more medicine to get your strength back up.”

A wane smile played across his face. “Is that so? Help me up, then. If Mara says it will help, it must be so, huh?”

The constriction in her throat squeezed away any response, but she did as he asked. She looped an arm behind his back and eased him up, half afraid that any quick movements would cause him to crumble.

By the time Lilau had finished giving and applying all the medicines in the bundle, Raval’s eyelids were dropping back down. She eased him back under the mountain of furs and retreated. She took a vigil in Raval’s now unused chair to await Mara’s return, with Makotae at her feet and tears stinging her eyes.

*****

The slamming of a door startled Lilau out of the uneasy doze she had slipped into.

Mara made her way to the other chair before regarding Lilau with a piercing gaze. “You said Zan attacked you and I believe you, but tell me, was he attacked back?”

“No, Elder Mara, I....”

A memory appeared of her teeth cutting across Zan’s neck as he fell away, eyes wild. No, not her teeth, but Makotae’s. It seemed the Wolf’s Spit had worn off.

“Makotae attacked him to protect me.”

“Did you know Zan was injured?”

Lilau shook her head. “I couldn’t focus and still can’t see clearly. I only know Makotae attacked him because he just told me.”

“Well, the scouts found the deer right where you said it would be and put an end to its suffering.”

“And Zan?”

“Dead, nearby the deer. His neck had been torn open. I never spoke of your involvement, and the scouts seemed to accept his fate as the Fokla taking their due.”

A sort of grim satisfaction rose inside of Lilau. Her tormentor was dead. No more insults as she walked by, no more looking over her shoulder, no more ‘stray’ arrows or rocks at her back.

Makotae rose to his feet, his height allowing him to lick her face without stretching. I did it for you.

She reached up to scratch his white-tipped ears. I know. Thank you.

“Perhaps it was retribution,” Mara continued over the wolf, “he had grown quite irreverent in recent years on top of his usual instabilities.”

Zan’s last words to Lilau came to her mind, lowering her mood further. “When he was trying to kill me, he said it was my fault. That I was a curse to him and the village.”

Mara snorted. “Deflection at its best, girl. Same tactic he’d used his entire life to justify his actions. He was to be cast out for his lack of a wolf, and he knew it. While I will mourn the loss of a young life, I will not mourn the taint in that boy’s essence, and you should not let his taint infect you. He chose his path and paid the price. Understood?”

“Yes, Elder Mara.”

“Good. Now, as for your vision, rest will fix most of that. In the meantime, I have just the thing to help.”