The fox Fokla’s parting words echoed in Lilau’s head.
Follow the river.
Lilau pulled the antelope hide tighter around herself with one hand, tucking closer to Makotae as they raced across the grasslands.
The Fokla had appeared again the night after she’d carved the antelope. It had woken her, spoken its message, and vanished once more. It wasn’t until the morning she’d realized the fox had tanned the antelope hide with methods unknown to Lilau.
She’d left the Fokla an ample offering, hoping to not only appease it, but keep her debt low. She still didn’t understand why it helped her. Perhaps it had some connection with the golden snake. She’d followed the sky river on compulsion, but the Fokla knew something she didn’t, and it ate at her. With the last sighting of the Fox Fokla over a week behind them, it looked like she wouldn’t get another chance to ask.
A hawk’s screech tore through the air. Lilau jumped, her eyes darting skyward. She’d become accustomed to the deathly stillness of the grassland.
The hawk flew in front of them, barely more than a speck in the sky as it swooped back toward the snow-capped mountains in the distance.
Lilau smiled, then winced as her dry lips cracked. Look, Makotae. The mountain has a predator.
Makotae’s ears perked up. Where there’s a predator, there’s prey.
Exactly.
Lilau held on tighter as Makotae put more speed in his stride. Loss of muscle and lack of rest sent shivers of complaints up her legs as she tightened her hold on the saddle. She locked her eyes on the growing mountains and smothered the worried voice which wondered if the withering spread outside of the grasslands.
The mountains painted a clear demarcation between the lands, and if her journey from Wolf Tribe territory into Horse Tribe held true, they also marked a new tribe’s homeland. One with new Fokla, new animals, a new Guardian, and a new chance at survival.
*****
The sun hovered in the sky as Lilau and Makotae climbed. What warmth it provided in the growing cold faded further away with each step. Lilau had dismounted to lessen the weight on Makotae, an act she regretted as another icy gust shot through her hide cloak. She resisted the urge to step closer to him, instead keeping her eyes on the ground.
The mountainous terrain sprouted from the grasslands like jagged teeth, creating a sharp incline full of holes and jutting rocks lying in wait. In their weakened, starved state, Lilau wasn’t sure how they’d recover from such a stumble.
Despite the rocky soil and encroaching winter, lichen and moss dotted the landscape. Further up the mountainside, thin-branched trees bristled with needle-like leaves. The sparse forest was their destination.
Another hawk's screech echoed down to them, louder and closer. Neither she nor Makotae had seen another animal yet. But Lilau kept the hope that the hawk was feeding on something. Currently, it seemed enamored with its new visitors. Its calls drew closer until it circled overhead, staying over Lilau and Makotae as they finished their trek and broke into the edge of the mountain forest. With one more call, it swooped away.
Lilau hoped its interest meant they’d invaded its hunting territory. But before they could consider hunting, they needed a shelter. A proper one this time. She and Makotae had worn themselves out racing across Horse Tribe lands. Whoever controlled these lands would have to deal with the two of them long enough to get their strength back.
Caves and tunnels of various sizes dotted the forest. It didn’t take long to find a weather-worn stone cave large enough to fit both of them, and snug enough to hold in their body heat.
By this point, the falling mountain temperatures had sunk into Lilau’s bones, leeching what little strength she had left. She collapsed against Makotae, who eased them both to the ground with a whine. He was trying to tell her something, but exhaustion won over before she made sense of it.
A screech jerked Lilau out of sleep.
The curious hawk must have returned, and it sounded nearly on top of her and Makotae. Sluggish memories of their trek up the mountain seeped into Lilau’s mind. Despite her hope, the hawk was the only creature she’d seen.
She found her bow where it had fallen against Makotae’s haunches and notched an arrow from the quiver at her side. A hawk bore little food, but some was better than none.
Makotae whuffed and jerked in his sleep as Lilau crouched down, slipping out of the cave and behind a nearby tree. She aimed skyward in time to see a brown eagle, twice as large as Makotae with a wingspan big enough to blot out the sun, stoop toward her.
Lilau yelled and dived out of the way. The eagle rammed into the tree. It splintered, the resounding crack almost drowning out her assailant’s deafening screech. The giant bird was on her before she regained her feet. She rolled as sharp, black talons nearly as thick as she was, ripped at the ground she’d occupied a moment ago.
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A black blur shot towards the hawk’s legs and latched on. The eagle screamed. With one big flap of its wings, it rose, dislodging Makotae from its leg. He hit the ground with a yelp, but regained his feet before Lilau could ask if he was hurt.
Time to leave, Makotae said.
Lilau caught his neck as he rushed by, pushing off and using her momentum to carry herself into the saddle. The mountainside sloped down under Makotae’s paws.
Why are we going back down?
Desperation leeched into her mind. Back down led to nothing but starvation.
Because I don’t think they want guests!
They?
Lilau looked back. The giant eagle rose in the sky, sunlight glinting off of its golden-brown feathers and sharp beak. Its wings spread out impossibly huge as it gained the height needed to swoop in on its prey. If Makotae hadn’t clearly been able to see it, Lilau would have believed it to be the mountain’s Guardian. But if he could….
She squinted as the eagle angled toward them. A person’s silhouette came into view with its downstroke. Perched in-between the eagle’s wings and head, the figure raised a bow.
Makotae!
Their thoughts traveled instantly between them, but Makotae’s reaction did not. Lilau leaned right, following Makotae’s dodge as the telltale whistle of an arrow flew by.
It wasn’t enough.
Pain exploded in Lilau’s left shoulder. She cried out, the momentum of the arrow pulling her back to the left. Makotae stumbled, fell, and the rocky terrain rose to greet them both. All became a blur of pain and confusion as they careened down the mountain, the cries of the eagle mixing with their own until the land leveled out and ended their freefall.
Lilau tried to stand to see where the eagle and rider were. A fresh wave of pain washed over her. Her knees went weak and sent her back to the ground. Into grass. They’d must have fallen back across the border between the two lands. But would the possibility of border sentries be enough to stop the eagle and its rider? She forced her eyes up. Thin clouds laced empty sky. All she could hear was the light ringing in her ears.
Makotae, is it gone? Do you see it?
A deep whine came from behind. Her racing heart skipped a beat.
Makotae lay on his side, his head cradled by a large stone. Lilau tried to crawl, but when her injured arm proved even less dependable than her knees, she settled on scooting toward him as fast as her battered body would allow.
Please be okay, please be okay.
She ran her good hand across the back of his head. It came back slick with blood, but she’d felt no dents in the bone. Lilau took a steadying breath as tears welled up.
It’s okay, Makotae. I know it hurts, but it’s not fractured.
Her thoughts were just as much for her as for him, especially since every injury in his body echoed in her own, forcing her focus into separating their pain in her mind. It wasn’t working well. Gray encroached on the edge of her vision.
I just need some healing salve, numbing mixture, bandages.
Lilau stuck trembling hands into the beaten saddlebags attached to Makotae’s harness. They’d finished anything nutritious long ago, but their travel had been relatively free of injury. Until now.
She pulled out the leaf-wrapped package of healing salve. The fall had flattened it, smearing its contents all over the inside of the bag.
Lilau hissed through her teeth. It’s fine. I can scrape it out.
The gray at the edge of her vision turned dark. One, or both, of them was losing the battle to stay awake.
She rubbed the salve into the back of Makotae’s head, then went back for the numbing mixture. Makotae blacked out halfway through her ministrations, leaving her alone with her own untreated wounds and a rising sense of panic.
Even without a cracked skull, Makotae had bruised ribs, a twisted leg, and likely a concussion. The arrow lodged in the back of her shoulder had snapped off in the fall, making it impossible to remove on her own, to say nothing of the fact the shoulder refused to move or bear weight.
Without a way to dress the wound, infection would set in and bring a close to the life she’d fought so hard to keep.
Lilau squeezed her eyes shut and gritted her teeth as her mind ran in circles. No matter how bleak things looked, she wouldn’t give up. Not until her body gave out.
The murderous intentions of the Great Eagle and its rider said all she needed about the mountains. She and Makotae would have to return to the grasslands. Resources had become too scarce to aid their recovery, but if they followed the edge of the mountains, perhaps they’d find another territory. Maybe one with a more tolerant tribe. Or perhaps not.
Idiot. Why did you leave the Horse Tribe?
She thought of Feechi and Haji, their bright colors matching their incessantly bright attitudes. Feechi had accepted her when no one else had. A shiver ran down Lilau’s spine at the thought of his smile. No, he had used her as a tool. He’d sharpened her to take on the Horse Tribe’s Guardian in a bid to save his people. Once her usefulness had disappeared, he’d have pushed her away, or worse.
The world had been against her and Makotae since the day of their births. She wiped away tears. Crying would solve nothing.
Lilau forced her wobbly legs under her and stood. After one more scan of the sky, she resolved to drown her worries in the mundane tasks of survival.
The sudden appearance of the fox Fokla was enough to send her to her knees. Her hand flew to the space where her knife had once sat.
The Fokla chortled as it padded closer, something clutched in its jaws. It spit it out at her feet. I believe you dropped this, Rae-Lini.
Her knife, in far better shape than she, lay in the dirt. She snatched it up and brandished it toward the Fokla’s gleaming face. She’d had enough ambushes for one day.
Truly now, is that how you plan on repaying me? What are younglings being taught these days?
The Fokla cocked its head, its stone-like lips peeling back into something between a grin and a snarl.
Lilau wrestled with her instincts and her decorum. She lowered her weapon, shifted into a neutral position, and glared at the fox. If meddling Fokla were to be a recurring thing, she really needed to figure out how to fight them.
The Fokla cackled. A little better.
An eagle’s scream rebounded through the mountains, far enough away to make Lilau fairly certain it wasn’t about to eat them, yet close enough to make her blood run cold.
All expression dropped from the fox’s face as it looked toward the mountain peaks. You mustn’t tarry.
The absurdity of its statement made her head spin. Of course they shouldn’t. But that hardly helped her figure out what to do after leaving.
Follow the mountains’ base north.
The Fokla vanished, leaving her to wonder how safe its advice was. Fokla seemed to cause more problems than they solved them.
A sharp twinge in her shoulder brought her back to the crisis at hand. As long as her injuries stayed untreated, and Makotae stayed unconscious, they remained vulnerable to the whims of the Great Eagle and its rider.