Lilau woke from what the Cat Tribe called ‘second sleep’ as the temperature started its rapid decline into night. This time, Makotae was awake, and staring at her from the recesses of the tent.

Apologies if I left you hungry while you waited for me to wake, Lilau told him, a small smile playing across her lips.

Makotae snorted. Food isn’t the only thought I have. Although, I am hungry….

Right.

Regardless, I also want to know what was so important that Inalia had to pull you away.

You went to sleep quick, didn’t you?

Hey, you would have too, if you didn’t have to talk to her.

He was right. Something about the land’s midday heat sapped energy as fast as the coldest winter. She simply couldn’t let him be without a little poking. Inalia said I’m done healing. She talked to Macien, who’s agreed to help me regain my fighting skills. Zayla had a lot to do with the decision, too. I think we’re tiring out our welcome as guests.

Hmm, perhaps so. Although their hospitality is certainly deeper than Wolf Tribe. I don’t think it’s terrible of them to want us to decide what to do from here.

It was Lilau’s turn to snort. What have they been putting in your food? Where’s your usual ‘let’s get out of here’ and ‘they only want to use us’?

These people helped us without anyone demanding it. They took in two almost dead interlopers, used a great deal of resources to heal us, and have never mentioned how we must repay them, or how deep our debt is. I spent so long waiting for them to do so as I waited for you to heal, but they never did. I’m as surprised as you.

Makotae walked over to where Lilau was sitting and snuffled at her hair. Of course, they might just be good at hiding their true intentions. Perhaps Macien will demand our bondage. If that’s true, I’ll take back all I’ve said and I’ll return to my usual self.

Lilau reached up, coming up on her knees to scratch behind Makotae’s ears. The smell of food wafted under the tent leathers. Strong and savory, somewhat musky, the scent of cooking meat mingled with the sweetness of desert herbs and the tang of cactus. The hunters had been successful. The promise of food would bring the entire camp to the cooking area. Macien included. Let’s go get some answers, shall we?

Makotae’s ears perked up, drool collecting around his lips. And food.

What was that about not only thinking about food?

It means I can think about multiple things at once. Come on. Makotae practically bounced out of the tent, Lilau laughing at his heels.

At the center of the spread-out camp, various metal pots shaped almost like boluses with stubby, metal feet stood on top of a low-burning fire. The pots’ sides glowed in reddish-brown.

“Bronze,” a Silent Hunter had said the first time she saw them. “The City has many bronze items, formed from metals nested in the earth. The equipment to forge it is far too heavy to carry on Great Cats, so all we take with us are some of the smaller things. Mostly weapons, but I and some others had the foresight to bring cooking utensils.”

Lilau had only continued to stare, confused by the need for such bulky, hard to make items for cooking. The Wolf and Horse Tribes required nothing of the sort.

After her initial encounter with the pots, she’d since decided that while the Cat Tribe’s method of cooking relied on them, it was hardly necessary, even if her attempt at cooking some meat directly on the fire had horrified the others. It had turned out fine as far as she was concerned.

Now, over a dozen Cat Tribe sat in a loose semi-circle around the smoldering fire, their long robes shifting in the back draft of heat. Each kept a respectable distance from the fire and from each other. A habit born of living in a hot environment, and yet another that Lilau enjoyed.

A handful of Great Cats lounged farther away. Unlike the constant closeness of Great Wolves and riders, these Great Beasts seemed to prefer distance most of the time. They even left by themselves, only to return well-fed with the remnants of a kill in their mouth.

Lilau picked a seat a bit farther away than the others. Makotae broke away to find the butchering site, his starlit fur a shining beacon of the coming night.

The fire crackled beneath the bronze pots. The scented steam coming from their tops made Lilau’s stomach growl. She focused on it, trying to distract herself from the many human-shaped streams of color around her. A few people were one thing, but so many made her want to run just as much as it used to.

Radai’s colors moved toward her. A second, less familiar set moved in from the left. Radai broke away.

“Lilau Noka, we have business to discuss.” Macien’s voice was high and soft. According to Radai, it was in contrast to her teaching style.

Lilau glanced at Macien, then back toward the fire. While the basic colors made their way through her body, crimson stood apart as dominant, pooling in her limbs, at her throat, and in her eyes. Like blood. “Has your hunt gone well, Weapons Master?”

“Quite. Antelope stew is fantastic bait. My quarry came to me.”

Lilau frowned, her body tensing on instinct. The Cat Tribe referred to many things as predator and prey. She didn’t appreciate playing the vulnerable part.

Macien laughed and sat beside Lilau. “Don’t look so petulant, Wolf Rider. I’d figured you’d jump at the chance to get a weapon in your hand again. A person doesn’t get scars like yours from a life of peace.”

“Nor from being willing prey.”

“Good! Willing prey makes a poor student and an even worse warrior. I’ve seen the fire in your eyes. I’m eager to put it to the test now that Inalia relinquished her hold on you.”

“Inalia also told me, once again, that the choice to stay is mine. Relayed from Leader Zayla’s mouth, it seemed.”

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“Is that so?”

Macien’s tone dropped, gaining a growl. Lilau couldn’t tell if it was from Zayla’s butting in, or her own indecisiveness on staying. Probably the latter, if the feeling of Macien’s crimson eyes boring into the side of her head was any sign.

“And what are your thoughts about staying?”

Definitely because of her indecision, then. “I….” Lilau turned to face Macien, ignoring the sting in her eyes. “I don’t know. I’ve come this far following the river in the sky. It’s stayed quiet, but if it calls to me, I will follow it. I must.”

Not to mention her past taught her one thing clearly—the longer she stayed in one spot, the worse others treated her. Even if Macien proved to be another Feechi, if Radai never betrayed her, others of the tribe were bound to blame her, hate her, for something. But those fears revealed vulnerability. Lilau didn’t dare voice them.

“The river in the sky. Where does it lead?” Macien asked.

Lilau pointed without looking. Ever since she recovered, she could feel its currents pulling into the distance.

“That way lies the City, where most of their people, and slaves, live.”

Of course it did. Where else would the river lead her except into the mouth of danger? If Macien was giving her a reason to stay, it was working.

“But I don’t want to coerce you into staying.”

Lilau raised an eyebrow. That seemed to be exactly what the Weapons Master was doing. “Would that be your desire, or Leader Zayla’s?”

“Both. Radai spoke to you about the twin Guardians, did he not?”

“Yes, although the details are fuzzy. Animis and Narasten, yes?”

“Correct. Animis retreated into the Spirit World with her children, never to be seen again. Narasten vanished shortly after.”

Lilau frowned. “Which one rules the land now?”

“Neither, as far as we know.”

A land with no Guardian. Perhaps that was why the land was so barren. How had it sustained life at all? Lilau’s frown deepened. She hadn’t seen a Fokla since arriving in the desert, either. With all her injuries, and her attention torn between her new Sight and healing, she hadn’t thought about it. Now, it crept up on her like a predator in the dark. Goosebumps ran up her arms despite the residual heat.

“I’ll not ask what troubles you. Doubt I’d understand it, anyway. I only mentioned it because Inalia claims you have Spirit Sight.” The muscles in Macien’s jaw stood out as she studied Lilau’s face. “Over the past couple of moons, my hunters keep coming back with crazy tales. Plants they’ve never seen sprouting in patches of dark soil. Whispers in the wind when they’re alone. Shapes on the horizon. Illusions, or so I thought at first. It happens a lot in the desert. Too much activity, too much heat, not enough water, and suddenly you’re seeing a forest filled with animals on top of a dune. But now, I can’t be sure.”

The look on Macien’s face soured. Lilau could tell the unknown was not one of her favorite things.

“One, or even a group of hunters, seeing an illusion on the same day at the same time is hardly noteworthy. Yet I have almost every hunter coming back with a new tale. Neither’s like the other, yet they all seem to happen around the same place. It shouldn’t be far enough to be heat sickness, although maybe there’s a heat vent there.”

Lilau sighed as her stomach growled. She really hoped Macien got to the point before food was handed out.

Macien caught her movement and shook her head. “My hunters’ illusions aren’t your problem, but what if they aren’t illusions? What if a Fokla has returned?”

“Most people can’t see what the Fokla do.” The words left Lilau’s mouth before she could think about it. Despite living side-by-side, the separation of the two worlds meant it normally took a great deal of effort for either to notice the other, let alone interact.

Macien’s face scrunched up more as the flow of conversation went further outside her area of expertise. “Is that so? Then what kind of Fokla could cause these illusions or whatever they are?”

Lilau thought back. The creatures which had injured Makotae as they fled Wolf Tribe lands, the wave caused by the lake Sentinel, the earthquakes and snowstorms caused by the fury of Guardians. She had to admit, most of her tangible encounters with Fokla involved a lot of rage. Not so different from people, really. “Angry ones, usually.”

Macien’s hands dropped to her sides, drawing Lilau’s attention to two bulges along her hips. Dagger shaped bulges. “Can our weapons hurt Fokla?”

“I don’t know. But it is a question I’d love an answer to.”

“I see. Then perhaps I have a favor to ask of you, regardless of Leader Zayla’s wishes.” Macien paused before continuing. “Will you scout this place and tell me what these illusions are from? I need to know if this really is an angry Fokla. The place is dangerously close to camp. It hasn’t moved yet, but I’d rather not wait and see how long that continues.”

“You said the hunters had seen illusions. Why are you suddenly worried about it?”

“Because it’s my job, Lilau Noka. Heat sickness, I understand. Fokla, I do not. If you can tell me what my hunters face, what this camp faces, I can’t let the opportunity pass me by.”

Tension flowed across Lilau’s shoulders, quickly spreading to the rest of her body. The world brightened as the ember in her core gained strength. “What would you do if I refused? If I decided to simply leave?”

Macien’s eyes narrowed as her voice dropped. “Nothing. But I would hope the hospitality we have shared these moons would count for something. Tell me if you decide to seek these illusions. I’ll send a team to help you. If you decide to leave….”

She let the last word hang between them, devoid of the Cat Tribe’s parting blessing, as she stood up and returned to the other side of the cooking fire.

Lilau scolded herself as she watched the Weapons Master walk away. Part of her was mortified she’d just pushed Macien away, not only for the lost chance at getting her weapons back, but because the Cat Tribe had given her everything, including her very life in the past moons. Who was she to deny them a little help? On the other hand, if it was an angry Fokla, was it worth risking further injury or death for them?

The cooks doled out food as she wrestled with the question. No one else approached her, not even Radai. Perhaps Macien had warned him away. No sense being friendly to someone ready to run. Lilau was still picking at bits of antelope in her bowl when Makotae returned.

Are you going to finish that?

Lilau sighed and set the bowl in front of Makotae. He licked it clean in seconds, then curled around her. It was a position that would have been unbearably hot had the sun still been up. Now that it had retreated, the temperature fled with it, leaving the remnants of sweat to chill on her skin. Everyone else had scooted closer to the cooking fire. It was not yet truly cold, but Makotae’s closeness brought more than physical warmth.

What troubles you? Makotae asked.

Macien talked with me while you were eating.

Ah. Wasn’t simply about weapons training, I assume?

No. I’ve clearly overstayed my welcome as a guest. The hunters keep seeing illusions at a certain place in the desert. She wants me to go see if it’s a Fokla.

A Fokla affecting the physical world, and the hunters? I assume that’s not normal for the Cat Tribe.

Not according to Macien. But, if it’s not normal, and the Cat Tribe is blind to the Spirit World, what does that say about the Fokla?

It’s powerful and probably angry?

Exactly. The Cat Tribe wants to throw me at a likely dangerous Fokla in order to repay them.

Makotae stayed silent. An aura of sadness drifted from him. They’ve done so much for us for so long. Was it all just to use us? Has another besides Macien asked something of you? What of Radai, or Inalia?

Radai has avoided me since Macien came over. I don’t see Inalia, although she seemed done with me after our talk this morning.

Then perhaps this is simply a flaw of Macien’s.

Perhaps.

No other Cat Tribe had asked anything of her, a feat considering how long they’d tolerated her. But what if that was because of Inalia? What if the healer had been protecting them from other’s desires? Then again, what if Inalia hadn’t? She’d be abandoning the one tribe which didn’t openly avoid or despise her.

Her head pounded. Lilau glanced up at the sky-river. Its colors shone as steady as ever, pulsing toward what Macien had claimed was the home of the camp’s enemy. She’d felt no pull from the sky-river since she’d found the glowing lake. Was it waiting for her to get stronger with these people, or had her injuries severed whatever connection the golden serpent had forged?

Lilau growled and stood up. Makotae scrambled up behind her. Questions. Always questions. Fine. If Macien wants to know if there’s a Fokla messing with her hunters, she’ll get her answer. If it is a Fokla, it has some questions of mine to answer, and if it’s Tirijuki, I hope I can borrow a dagger.