There aren’t many Valley Beasts that sound human. Most of them will probe your mind and pick a voice close to the surface of your thoughts. They will call your name or scream for help. Sometimes, if they’re intelligent enough, they will string together a sentence or two.

All Valley Beast mimics are birds.

All Valley Beast mimics affect everyone who can hear them.

It takes a long time for the shuddering to stop. In that time, Elena is kneeling in front of the Valley Beast and the only sound to be heard is her pencil dragging across paper. She’s muttering under her breath that I can’t make out. The blood in my ears is rushing and I’m trying not to faint.

Peggy holds my hand as she waits for the spell to pass, but even after a few minutes I can’t stop swaying.

“Yvie,” Peggy says. It’s a struggle to focus on her voice. “I’m going to slap you.”

“Wha—” Her hand flies, a loud crack echoing through the Valley. Her other hand is still firmly on mine, and I don’t fall. My eyes focus again, and my blood is rushing for a different reason. “Thank you.”

She stares at me for a moment before saying, “It must have been bad. I don’t think I’ve managed to slap you in years.”

“Yeah,” I say, rubbing my face. It stings, but at least it’s something to focus on. “The sound keeps playing in my head. I…Even when I saved them, they never screamed. Even for surgery, Vidia was closer to cracking a tooth than screaming. But I know it was her voice. I know it.”

“Elena,” Peggy says. “Know anything about this?”

Her pencil still moves as she gets closer, squinting. I turn up my brightness and she smiles. “I’ve never heard of a mimic that can’t fly, but that may just be part of the Beasts’ natural evolution. If something works, then it gets passed on. Beast genetics are wildly different from the animals they used to be or even the Beasts the Valley spawns. It’s like clay. It takes time, but it can be molded into something different.”

“That’s horrifying,” Peggy grumbles. “Well, we’ll have to tell everyone about this when we get back. How much farther are we allowed?”

“About four miles,” Elena says. “We’ll need to turn back soon, but at least I managed to get this.” She all smiles as she stands, that unsettling look of hunger still on her face. “Llewella is going to be so happy about this. I hope we run into another one soon.”

Peggy’s face twists into a snarl, but I put a hand on her shoulder. If there’s an issue between them, it can wait until we resurface. “I’m glad you were able to get something out of this hunt. And thank you, Elena, for backing up Peggy when I wasn’t able.”

“Happy to,” she smiles. Any trace of anxiety I felt from her earlier is gone. All that’s left is an eagerness to explore and learn as much as she can. “I haven’t been in the Valley since my first test to make sure I was fit. I had thought I would panic and be useless, but I’m relieved to know that muscle memory kicks in.”

“Good,” Peggy says. She approaches Elena, using her half-foot advantage to look down on her. Her voice is low and aggressive. “If you hadn’t, I would have thrown you over my shoulder and taken you back to Thesgrea myself, Elders be damned.”

Elena’s smile wavers as fear sinks in. “R-Right. Glad I proved myself.”

“Let’s go,” I say. “We’ve stayed in one place for too long.”

The tracks are still there, despite the scuffle. When we see them again, I need to thank Mom for her bo staff.

The aura of the Valley is oppressive, bearing down on us as we move deeper. I dig into my robes and put on our filtering mask. While humans are the only ones that won’t be transmitted by Valley’s aura, it’s still a mild poison. If breathed in for too long, a creeping sickness will start to set in.

We don’t move much further before it starts again. It’s something small this time. Perhaps it used to be a rabbit or fox, but now it’s twisted and bleeding. Its bones crack with each movement and its voice is hollow as it cries out. This one is quicker to dispatch. One arrow pins it down and Peggy beheads it. This time we don’t linger long enough for Elena to take notes. She huffs but says nothing.

The deeper we go, the harder it is to keep track of which direction they went. After the first Hunters retook the island from the initial wave of Beasts, even the dumbest ones know better than to linger around the edges. Now, three miles in, it’s only skill that differentiates us from hunter and prey.

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It’s fully dark now and the chill has properly set in. Even Elena, who had been chatting mindlessly about whatever Beast came to mind, is quiet. Despite the danger, I keep the light as bright as I need.

It’s a struggle to get the five-mile mark. The Beasts get craftier as we go further in. Blood Hawks dive bomb us, making way for the Axe Beaks to catch us while we’re distracted.

Slithering Beasts that used to be snakes lunge at our legs. A timely swing from my bow keeps its rotting venom from sinking into Peggy’s leg.

“How are you so vigilant?” Elena asks. I glance back and she’s squinting around us, trying to see further than the five feet my light gives off. Her voice is quiet, muffled by the mask.

“Practice,” I say.

“Aren’t you a priest? Don’t you normally do blessings and stuff?”

“Yes, but it’s the job of everyone in Valley Cities to be well trained. I haven’t been here in well over a year, but I train regularly.”

“Even if you didn’t want to,” Peggy adds. “Priya would make sure that you practice. She likes to make sure she can still kick your ass.”

Given Priya’s general dislike for everyone, it was always startling when she asked me to come and hang out with her. Her version of hanging out is sparring without intent to harm, though it took me a while to realize that. “I like your attitude,” she said when I asked why she wanted to spar with me. “It’s balanced. Not many people can get that without years of training.”

“Maybe it’s because my parents are Hunters.”

She smiled. Priya’s grin is huge and threatening, all teeth on display like a lion. When I first met her at seventeen, I thought she wanted to kill me. I’m still not sure she doesn’t. “No,” she said. “I don’t think so.”

She didn’t elaborate and though I’ve asked her many times since, she just grins and doesn’t answer.

“I practice too,” Elena says. “But I’m still a step behind.”

“It’s experience,” Peggy says. “With experience comes muscle memory and trained senses. I can—” She stops, a knife flinging past me and hitting something. We walk past another Beast, this time I can’t tell what it used to be. Only twisted limbs and popping pustules leaking black acid that burns the ground.

“Woah,” Elena says. “I didn’t even hear it.”

“It was quiet,” I said. “But even Valley Beasts breathe.”

Peggy pulls her knife out and flicks the blood off. The specks hit a tree, and they burrow into the already rotted wood. With a sigh, Peggy flings the knife into the tree and leaves it. “You’re young. With time, you’ll be better.”

“I don’t know that I’ll want to come back here. Maybe with more Hunters that can help me with my research,” Elena says. “We’re reaching the point of no return. A few more yards and we’ll have to turn back.”

I sigh. The tracks are still clear, though mildly trampled. If we keep going, it’ll help mitigate the amount of tampering the tracks will have later, but I made a promise I intend to keep.

When we reach the point of no return, I feel on edge. I feel like we’re being watched, but there’s nothing close enough for us to see. Peggy is gripping the knife on her thigh and Elena is holding both whips. Something is making my stomach churn and my heart race. If I glow any brighter, I run the risk of putting us in immediate danger. My hands shake as I pull out my smoker.

I look at Peggy and Elena. “We leave as soon as I break this.” They nod, their eyes looking around, trying to see what’s watching us. I raise my arm and smash it down. It breaks easily, a plume of red rising weaving through the branches and fanned leaves.

“It’s been a while.” My bow is up and pointed before I fully realize whose voice it is. For a moment my stance wobbles, but I stay firmly locked on. Fein is smiling, a cocky grin I know better than my own. “You’ve gotten a lot bigger.” His hands are on his hips as he sways on his feet. He’s looking me up and down with a fondness I haven’t seen in a long time.

“So have you,” I say when I find my voice. It’s been five years since he died. Five years since he was torn in half by a Valley Beast. Sometimes I can still feel the warmth of his blood on my face. I was barely in my twenties. “More handsome, too.” He looks exactly the way I thought he would if he’d lived.

His head tilts, accentuating his smile. “You’ve always known how to flatter me, Yvie. I miss you. You never come to see me anymore.”

“I’ve been busy,” I say. “I’ve got some kids to look after.”

He snorts in laughter, and I want to fall to my knees. I could live off the sound. “How? You don’t even like kids.”

“I would love to say I fell into it, but I sort of strong-armed my way into looking after them. They needed someone stable, and I wasn’t going to let them fall when I could do something about it.”

“I see that hasn’t changed.” He stuffs his hands into his pockets. He’s wearing the same outfit he wore the day he died: Nkam’s pakaja priests’ robes of orange, yellow, and white. The same as the ones I wear right now. He leans against a tree, crossing his ankles. He looks up, watching the last of the smoke find its way through the leaves. “How much longer do I have to stall before you find your nerve?”

I want to flinch. That hasn’t changed either. Fein could always see right through me. “Thirty seconds,” I say. I take a breath. “Can I…Can I ask you something selfish?”

He pushes off of the tree and bows with a flourish. “For you, my sun priest, anything.”

“Say you love me. Just one more time.”

His eyes widen before he doubles over in laughter. “Even in death, you manage to surprise me.” He doesn’t move closer, just reaches out his hand as if asking for mine. “I love you, Yvanna. More than the sun loves the sky, and the stars love the moon.” His face darkens, eyes steady on mine, as he says, “Now, take the shot, Yvie.”

My arrow flies before he finishes his sentence. It pierces his chest, right between his ribs and another quickly follows to his throat. I know if I hear his voice one more time my resolve will fold.

Fein smiles as he coughs, and blood runs down his chin. And I watch my best friend die for a second time.