Something jabbed Lilau in the ribs, forcing her out of a deep slumber. She opened her eyes in time to see the butt end of a spear thrusting towards her chest. She caught the hilt, scrambling into a crouch as she twisted the pole to the ground. It hit the dirt with a dull thud. Strange voices erupted around her, the murky remains of sleep making it difficult to comprehend what was going on.

There was someone in front of her, no, several someones, all with skin the darkest shades of brown-black she had ever seen, with eyes and hair to match. Their clothes stood in contrast. Bright weaves of something thick and soft draped across their shoulders and wrapped around their waists.

The owner of the spear she had deflected shot words in her direction, snapping his spear back to his side as he glared at her. She grimaced, the words crashing into her ears. There wasn’t any meaning to them. Had she hit her head again? Or was this another punishment from the Fokla?

More speech came from behind her. She stood and whirled to face the speaker. She was surrounded. Whirling caused her to kick the still sleeping form of Makotae, his exhaustion from their earlier trial leaving him oblivious to the waking world. Her strike, combined with a mental exclamation, however, was enough to shake him back to reality.

He was up in an instant, hackles raised, teeth bared and muscles tensed. The confusion in his mind told her he was no better off than she was, but he was ready to confront whatever may come.

The pointed ends of spears appeared around them in a circle of death as more harsh words hurtled towards them. She did not understand what they were saying, but she knew they were outnumbered. There were too many for Makotae to take without lethal consequences.

Wrapping her arms around his neck, she dropped to her knees, forcing his head down as she flooded his mind with all the reasons he shouldn’t attack. If they were going to kill us, they would have done it while we slept.

He snarled. They are about to kill us now.

Only because you threaten them. Please, Makotae. If you attack, you will die. Don’t leave me alone!

Fear and despair welled up at the thought, stealing his rage and turning it into sorrow. He whimpered, wrapping his body around her with his eyes still trained on the nearest threat.

His sudden shift in demeanor rippled into the others as they too relaxed, pulling their weapons in. The one Lilau had turned to meet spoke again, his words colliding in an unknown cadence. Despite this, Lilau realized there was something that was still familiar — his body language. She focused in on his mannerisms, gleaning that while the two of them unsettled the group, they did not wish them harm. There was also the distinct impression that they would not let her and Makotae wander off, either. They had ended up in these people’s land, and now she and Makotae were at their mercy.

“I don’t understand your words, but I will go with you,” she said after the man had finished, attempting to keep her own body language non-threatening.

The circle erupted in chatter. The man she faced, the leader, she surmised, quieted the group before speaking and gesturing to Lilau. He pointed to some ambiguous place, motioning for her to follow. She nodded, mounting up on Makotae, who remained tense under his long fur. The circle remained closed as the leader mimed taking off his weapons and pointed at hers. A quiet growl escaped Makotae. She agreed with him, but saw no other way out of their situation with their hides intact.

Lilau gritted her teeth at the idea of being left unarmed, but she did as the man asked. He nodded and walked off. Those left shuffled in and moved forward until she and Makotae had no choice but to move with them.

The leader stopped, launching himself onto yet another creature she had never seen before. The thing stood no taller than Makotae at the shoulder, having four long, delicate legs that ended in hooves. In contrast, the rest of the beast was bulky. It had a muscular gray and black-striped body, a thick, long neck and a rectangular, long-nosed face. It regarded her with large, brown eyes that spoke to its separation from the common animal. Although it was no wolf, this was a Great Beast.

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Before she could comprehend what this meant, more appeared beside the rest of her escort, snuffling and undulating. One by one they all mounted up, the leader calling out as his beast turned with a toss of the flowing silver hair that adorned its front and back, and rode off. The group followed suit towards an unknown destination.

Lilau’s head hurt again. She had never entertained the idea of there being anything outside of Wolf Tribe territory. While its existence struck her as inevitable now, it was never spoken of. Wolves were of the forest. No sooner would they think of anything else than a fish would consider the forest. Yet here she was, feeling like a fish shooting through the clouds.

Her thoughts spun the entire way back to the riders’ destination. Makotae was too vigilant and uneasy to comfort her as strange smells and sounds accosted them.

As a small reprieve, the press of large Beasts meant she didn’t have to deal with seeing everything making those sound and smells. Not yet, anyway. But Lilau soon found that she could hear their destination well before they reached it. Different language and creatures or no, the sounds of humans gathered together remained the same. The terror that had been tickling the back of her mind catapulted to the fore. Makotae, sensing the sudden shift, planted all four feet and growled, forcing those around them to stop.

A sharp command issued from behind, followed by a jab between her shoulders. Makotae spun to face their attacker, snarling his displeasure. She trembled as their situation deteriorated, the possibility of losing Makotae whipping her mind into a frenzy. When the pinpricks came, it barely registered in her mind before darkness descended.

*****

Lilau pushed up into a sitting position, her aching head beating out a rhythm echoed in her ears. Two men sat in front of her, their bright clothing seeming to branch out of the equally bright rugs that lined the floor. The guards tensed at her movement, but she was more interested in figuring out her surroundings than attacking armed guards with her bare hands.

The building she was in was a single room, rounded at the bottom and tapering to a point at the top where a circular hole let in sunlight. Leather stretched up as walls, held up by a few smoothed branches that just escaped being twigs. What she didn’t see was Makotae.

Makotae!

She tucked into a ball as her mind turned towards the worst.

A sluggish response trickled back, full of confusion and blurry images. Her mind stopped its freefall, although her heart beat harder. He was alive, but he wasn’t okay. What had they done to him?

A command from a guard sliced through the air, bringing her focus back to him. He rattled his spear as he continued to speak, gesturing with the other hand. He wanted her to go with him somewhere. She stood, her shaking fading as an idea came to her.

“Where is Makotae?” She gestured too, hoping that her pantomime of Makotae’s shape and size was decent enough to get her point across.

He frowned, a familiar expression forming. He didn’t trust her or like her. The familiarity in his look emboldened her, and she used that strength to quiet her fear.

His partner shot out two quick words, words she should not have understood, yet the idea of a Great Beast attached itself to the sounds, fusing until they were inseparable. She blurted the words back at him, their passage across her tongue feeling odd, yet natural.

He stiffened, speaking again with query in his tone, but this time nothing came to her.

She shook her head. “I don’t understand.”

The first guard rattled his spear again, demanding she follow. This time, those two words were there. Were they going to take her to Makotae? She had no way of knowing, but she let hope comfort her as she move towards the guards.

The second guard opened up a leather flap she hadn’t realized was there and stepped outside, flap still in hand. The other guard eyed her as she passed, his reaction further steeling her nerves as she moved out into the village.

Blinding sunlight stung her eyes, unfiltered by the usual clusters of trees. She shielded her eyes from the light. She could do nothing to dull the assault of everything else.

Low moans, high vibrations, the chattering of unfamiliar tongues. Shadow-skinned people moved about, their clothing echoing the colors and patterns that adorned their shelters. It reminded her of a field of wildflowers, except for the smell. An overpowering scent of animal pervaded the entire place, stronger than any she remembered and lacking in the sharp musk of predators. Its likely source, varied sizes of hoofed creatures, clipped the grass around them as they wandered free.

A thump against her back brought her back to the fact that she had gone stock still, the guard in the lead staring as he waited for her to move.

Lilau cast her eyes to the grass. She found a dull-looking patch and concentrated on it, using her periphery to follow the guard as the sounds coalesced into a buzzing in her ears.