Lilau woke to growling. She willed her stomach to shut up and dozed back off. A growl, louder this time, and distinctly not her stomach, sounded right next to her ear. She shot up, eyes wide, and scrambled away a second before Makotae did the same.

What, what is it? A snarl punctuated each thought as Makotae bristled.

Lilau’s breath caught in her throat.

A creature stood a couple of feet away. Its fur shone in fiery shades, alight with an inner glow which lit up the night. The crimson darkened into soot at its feet and lightened at the tip of its bushy tail. If its fur didn’t give it away, its face did. Blue swirls danced across a bone-white base, smooth and solid. Sharp eyes of grass green peered out at her from almond-shaped holes. It reminded Lilau of the ceremonial masks used by the Wolf Tribe during rituals for the dead.

It’s a Fokla. Looks like a fox, she told Makotae.

The Fokla sat back on its haunches, studying them both as Makotae continued to bristle in confusion.

Where?

Here.

Makotae’s ears popped up as Lilau shared her sight with him, then pinned back again. Why is it staring at us?

Instead of answering, Lilau took a small step toward the Fokla, and kneeled. It had neither spoken nor attacked. That meant it might be willing to listen. “Great Fokla, to what do we owe your visit?” The formalities slipped out without thought. Feechi’s intense training had paid off.

Its reply echoed in Lilau’s mind. The better question is, what do you require of me?

Her stomach rumbled in response. She frowned. Forgive me, but what should I require of you?

While Feechi had taught, and spoke, of many rituals to ask things of the Fokla, she’d not done any of them. She’d done nothing at all to gain the attention of a Fokla, let alone one capable of clear communication.

Not all of us are oblivious to the physical world and the needs of its occupants, Rae-Lini.

Rae-Lini?

The Fokla’s eyes bore into Lilau.

Food. We need food, Makotae said for her. He bumped her lightly with his nose. You need food.

The fox Fokla raised its nose to the sky and yipped, as if laughing at the moon. The Great Wolf has it right, I think.

Lilau gritted her teeth. She saw where the conversation was going. She didn’t enjoy the idea of being in debt to the spirit.

Who says your survival doesn’t benefit me?

The question caught her off-guard.

Ask me, child.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Lilau broke eye contact, her eyes finding an interesting pattern in the dying grass as she fought to ignore her growing uneasiness. She didn’t like this, but she didn’t see an alternative. Her fingernails dug into her palms as she clenched her fists. Great Fokla, do you know where I might find food?

Ah, there it is. That wasn’t so hard, was it? Another yipping laugh filled the night. It so happens, there’s a wounded antelope near here.

Lilau’s head snapped up, her hunger overriding her caution.

A trail of blue light ran from the spot the Fokla had been a second ago, to its new position twenty feet away. It paused, looking over its shoulder at her and Makotae. Don’t keep me waiting. It’s rude. It took off, tail painting light in its wake.

Lilau mounted Makotae and raced after it.

The fox spirit’s glowing trail destroyed both Lilau and Makotae’s night vision, but they didn’t need to see in order to know a wounded creature was near.

Metallic tang hung sharp in the air, fresh and heavy. Blood. Makotae’s tongue lolled out. His pace quickened in anticipation.

The Fokla leaped, twisted, and landed facing Lilau and Makotae. The arc it cut through the air lit up a still form on the ground.

Makotae skid to a stop. Lilau was free of the saddle with knife drawn before he finished.

Frothy blood stained the antelope’s light brown hide. Bubbles covered a jagged gash in its chest, stretching from under the left shoulder to between its front legs.

The wound doesn’t look hunter-made, Makotae said, echoing Lilau’s thoughts.

No, this animal wasn’t hunted by a person. Lilau locked eyes with the Fokla. So what did?

Besides the fish she and Makotae had eaten, they’d seen no living thing in the grasslands other than them.

The fox Fokla laughed at the moon. Does it matter? It suffers, Wolf hunter. End its life so you may continue yours.

The Fokla vanished in a burst of fire, leaving Lilau with stars in her eyes. She blinked them away and focused back on the antelope. The continued bubbles, and the sucking sound as it tried in vain to fill its lungs with air, were the only signs it still lived.

Lilau slid her knife across the antelope’s jugular, bowing her head as its essence returned to the land. Only once she knew it was dead did she begin her work.

She had no bucket to collect the blood, nor the strength to hang it from a tree. Still, she needed the animal’s hide as much as the meat. Horse Tribe summer robes would only get her so far, and without something denser, the rapidly cooling weather would take its toll. A single antelope skin wasn’t nearly as good as a bear, but at least she could manage an overcoat.

Her knife cut the antelope’s belly. Organs slipped out, releasing with them a musk which sent Makotae into a frenzy. Lilau scrambled back as he rushed in to feast.

Easy, Makotae! I need that hide in as big a piece as I can get.

Makotae gulped down a chunk of viscera, his thoughts a whirling storm of clashing needs. He stopped, braced himself, and whuffed. I’ll be careful. He went back to eating with no less desire, but far more care in his movements.

As he fed, Lilau started the arduous process of freeing the skin from the rest of the carcass. By the time the sun peeked over the horizon once again, Lilau had an intact antelope hide and a pile of meat. She ran her hand across the tight fuzz of the hide and frowned.

The meat would provide them with a decent meal for a few days. Long enough to get them closer to the edge of Horse Tribe territory, but not near enough time to properly tan the hide, assuming she could even find the materials to do it. Without tanning, it wouldn’t last long before rotting away. It did nothing to solve the problem of how she was going to survive the winter.

We will survive. Makotae lay with his front paws crossed, waiting to be loaded up with antelope. We always have.

Lilau nodded, her worries shrinking under Makotae’s thoughts. Of course they’d survive. She’d survived on her own as a child and had raised Makotae from an abandoned runt. They’d since matured into small, yet tough adults. Together, they were an unstoppable force in need of no one’s help.

She shook her head. Perhaps my time with Feechi has made me reliant.

Makotae snorted. Just a bit confused. You hardly relied on him to talk to his tribe’s Guardian.

Right.

Lilau turned back to her work and sighed. Despite all she’d accomplished, something still ate at the back of her mind. Something was wrong, and it made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.