Lilau yelled back at the parasite and scrambled away. The parasite’s legs popped into view, scuttling towards her with legs bent at angles that only came naturally to insects. She didn’t wait for it to reach her. She ran from the animals and their parasites, away from the people oblivious to the monster next to them.

Makotae bounded up beside her. In one smooth motion, she grabbed his scruff and vaulted onto his back without either losing momentum.

“Lilau Noka!” the Chief’s voice called out from behind her, “please wait! Tell me what you saw!”

If we are to run, we should leave this land. Makotae’s tone held no preference for or against the idea, merely the decision that if they were to break the village’s trust, there was no assurance another would take them in.

Slow down. Lilau glanced over her shoulder. Anli came at them with long strides across the grass yet could not overcome Makotae and was falling behind. Chief Zulni balanced on her back, his eyes intent on them.

She saw no parasite, although at such a distance, she couldn’t be sure one wasn’t still hunting her down. Still, Makotae had a point.

Stop, she told Makotae, but stay alert. If the Chief reacts dangerously to what I’m about to tell him, get us out of here.

As you wish.

A part of her wanted to run and not look back. Another part demanded she tell the Chief what his people faced, even if that meant revealing her secret.

Anli caught up to them, a breeze blowing her hair to the other side of her neck where it stuck up in a lump over her shoulders. Lilau stared at the lump as the Chief narrowed his eyes at her.

“What did you see that scared you so? Do you know what this sickness is?”

Lilau swallowed, her mouth dry. “Not exactly, Chief Zulni, although I think I know what is causing it.”

His eyes grew wide, the muscles in his jaw tensing. “Then tell me, for not even the Medicine Chief knows such.”

“It is... a creature, a parasite,” Lilau told him, losing her nerve to tell the whole truth. “I think they are draining the ill animals until they die.”

He shook his head, a deep frown forming on his face. “No, we thought that at first too, but we have seen no signs. What do you see that makes you believe this?”

Lilau was about to tell Makotae to run when Anli craned her neck around to examine them. Lilau gasped at the beady black eyes staring out of the lump she had thought was a part of her hair.

Chief Zulni stiffened at her reaction, spinning to regard his horse. She knew he couldn’t see it, or its legs disappearing beneath Anli’s hide.

“I can see the parasites,” she blurted out as he turned back around, confusion clear on his face, “and I can see one on Anli now.”

Surprise flashed over his expression, followed by a low grunt. Makotae danced back a few steps, ears going flat.

“You’re lying.” The Chief’s tone went flat.

Lilau straightened at the accusation, anger covering her uncertainty and fear. “I am not, Chief Zulni. You may believe me or not, it makes no difference. I don’t know how to get rid of them, anyway. But perhaps your Medicine Chief might, if I tell you what they look like.”

“I don’t see how, since he has examined a good deal of ill livestock and never saw these parasites. Regardless, I think it is time you met him. Come with me and we shall prepare you for the journey.”

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

I don’t like this new attitude, Makotae told her, ears still pinned. Perhaps it is time to move on.

Lilau knew that would be wise, and she had no wish to remain near this new version of the Chief. Yet, the thought of leaving all the animals to die made her feel just as ill as looking at the parasite that now settled into Anli’s side. If she ran, she had no doubts that her supposed hand in the sickness would be solidified in the eyes of the Horse Tribe. If she wanted to help the animals, she had to go along with the Chief. She just hoped she didn’t regret it later.

“Very well, if you promise that Makotae and I will not be harmed.”

“I nor this village will harm you. I can make no promises beyond that.”

I do not like this, Makotae reminded her.

But I can’t just leave them to suffer.

How will visiting this new Chief help them?

I don’t know that either, but it feels right.

As you say. He let out a low whine as he trotted around to Anli’s side, opposite of the parasite, with Lilau’s guidance.

“Lead on.”

Chief Zulni refused to look at her the entire way back to the village, but the lack of armed guards eased her misgivings a little. In their place, the Chief kept her in his sights until the villagers trickled back in.

The absent guards soon reappeared in her tent. After a few curt commands from the Chief as he walked out, they resumed the vigil they had given up not long ago.

I’m liking this less and less, Makotae grumbled, grumbling that continued until the Chief returned with a downcast Kuhle in tow. She put two bowls of down in front of Lilau and Makotae and gave them a thin smile before retreating.

Chief Zulni watched her go, then turned to Lilau with his mouth set in a stern line that made Lilau’s hackles rise. “Their preparations for your trip to meet the Medicine Chief are complete. Four of the villagers will accompany you. I have ordered them to not harm you, although I hope you do not give them a reason to doubt my decision. Eat quick, you will leave soon.”

Lilau glared at him as he left. She had done nothing wrong, yet the man now treated her like she caused the illness because of his own unfounded suspicions. Hadn’t the illness been here far longer than she had? It seemed all alphas were the same after all, too willing to blame their problems on others.

*****

As promised, Lilau was traveling across the open grasslands on Makotae’s back with four horse-mounted guards soon after.

Makotae snorted. Leaving the same way we entered, so much for garnering trust.

Don’t worry. As soon as there’s a way to help the sick animals, we’re leaving Horse Tribe lands.

And what if there’s no way to help, or this new Chief thinks us better off dead?

She didn’t have an answer for him. The pull to help was as strong as the one that drove them from the forest. As foolish as it was, she couldn’t deny it.

A warm breeze blew across her from the left, bringing with it the smell of flowers and low moans of cattle. Behind the red horse helping to box her in, she could see distant white and yellow forms bobbing up and down across the flat land. A sort of cow-like Fokla, as far as she could discern, but she had never seen so many all together or moving so fast. In fact, now that she was focusing on them, not only were they rushing down the plains, it set them on a collision course.

Makotae perked up at her mental message, head swiveling in alarm. I see nothing, but I do feel something. Like I’m being watched. Should we try to run?

An odd thought crossed Lilau’s mind. What happens when we cross paths? No one else can see them, no one else seems to sense them.

An experiment, then. Very well, I will slow down, though.

Makotae dropped out of the trot they had maintained since leaving the village, tongue lolling out.

“Hey! Why are you slowing down?” the rider of the black horse behind them exclaimed.

“Sorry, he’s getting tired. Hasn’t been allowed to exercise much and all.”

The woman grumbled something, but Lilau’s focus was back on the spirit herd.

As the herd closed in on them, their round, four-horned heads towered over those of the Horse Tribe’s riders while their hooves beat like drums against the ground. The things were twice as tall as Makotae and the horses, with bulging muscles and thick hair that made them almost as wide as they were tall. Creatures that massive going that fast should crush anything in their way, and Lilau tensed despite Makotae’s slowed gait pushing them out of collision range. The lead horse, however, was directly in their path.

Lilau’s eyes grew wide as the herd bore down on the unsuspecting pair, then veered around them like water around rocks. It was impossible and unnatural for things that huge to show such agility, yet they did it without a single one of her escort so much as batting an eye.

Do you still sense them, Makotae? She asked him as she shared her mind-boggling view.

Yes, although I neither see nor hear anything with my own senses.

Speed up.

Makotae cocked his head but did as she asked. The spirit herd adapted to their presence in an instant and continued to flow around them, invisible and silent to all but her.