As she and Rigel raced northward, Mari made her decision. She wasn’t sure if it was fueled by anger or intuition gifted to her by the Great Goddess—Mari hoped it was a little of both—but she knew one thing with every ounce of her being. Mari was done hiding. She would not sneak into the Tribe like a frightened thief. She would demand Nik’s release, and woe to anyone who tried to stop her.
Earth Walkers were not warlike—they nurtured the earth and preferred to live lives filled with peace and tranquility. Even males sick with Night Fever were rarely dangerous to anyone but themselves.
But Mari was only half Earth Walker. The other half was Tribal. As she retraced the path she and Nik had taken less than a week ago, Mari’s resolve strengthened.
Thaddeus had taken her mother from her.
Thaddeus had taken Nik’s father from him.
Men like Thaddeus had taken Mari’s father from her and her mother.
Thaddeus was done taking.
So Mari ran with Rigel racing at her side. When she felt her energy wane, she began to panic—she didn’t have time to stop and rest or even to slow to a walk! Her breath was coming in heaving gasps and Mari was clutching her side that radiated pain when Rigel suddenly stopped in front of her, forcing her to halt, too.
“Rigel!” Mari shouted between gulping air. “Get out of the way! You know we have no time to play.”
But even though the young Shepherd was panting and clearly exhausted, he stood his ground, staring into Mari’s eyes, and suddenly the sunlight around them seemed to glitter with an otherworldly glow and she realized what her Companion was trying to tell her.
“Sorry, Rigel. I understand now!” Mari yanked off her tunic, so that she was dressed only in simple hemp-woven pants. She staggered to a spot where the late-afternoon sunshine had found a way through the boughs of the increasingly large pines. Mari threw out her arms and stared up at the fiery orb. “I welcome the power that my blood craves!” Heat rushed into her body. She glanced down at Rigel. Beside her the pup’s eyes were glowing sunlit amber and he’d already stopped panting.
The stitch in her side was gone. In another second her breathing had steadied. And in another the exhaustion that running for half of the day had caused evaporated completely.
Her body was filled with heat and strength.
Her mind was completely clear.
She shoved her tunic in her satchel. No way was she going to cover her skin as long as the Sun was still in the sky—still providing Rigel and her with life-saving energy.
“Now, Rigel, we really run!”
Moon Woman and Shepherd almost flew through the forest. As they sped forward, Mari’s mind was busy thinking of and then discarding plans.
Oh, Mama! I wish you were here. I wish you could tell me the smartest way to do this.
Then, whether it was actually Leda’s voice or just an echo from the past, Mari heard her words inside her head as clearly as if her beloved mama ran alongside her.
Often the simplest plan is the best. Just like when you’re confronted by a person with a terrible wound. Don’t overthink. Don’t panic. Act, sweet girl—act!
“Thank you, Mama. That’s exactly what I’m going to do.”
As Rigel and Mari drew closer and closer to the meditation platform and what remained of the proud Tribe of the Trees, they slowed to a walk. Mari glanced at the sky. There was little of the sun left, and she could feel the moon waiting expectantly for her turn to take charge of the sky. Mari tested the wind and then altered their course so that the breeze was against her face. She wasn’t going to sneak into camp, but she also didn’t want Thaddeus to be warned ahead of time that she was coming.
The stench of disease came to her before she heard the raucous shouts of men. It seemed as if they were at play, which caused Mari’s blood to pound through her veins as her anger built. They have Nik. And they’re enjoying hurting him.
Mari used her Earth Walker skills. Utterly silent, she and Rigel crept forward until they came within sight of the meditation platform. Mari’s stomach boiled with anger.
She needn’t have worried about Thaddeus and his men scenting her. They were too busy with their cruel game to take notice of anything except Nik.
As in the image Laru had sent her, they had Nik on the meditation platform. Only now his shirt had been ripped from him. He was bound with his arms tied behind him. The rope around his neck had been looped up over a branch above him. It was taut, and Mari could see that he had to stand almost on his tiptoes to keep from choking. Below them, in the midst of sick and wounded Tribesmen and women lying mutely on pallets around the tree, stood a small group of men—Mari quickly counted four of them, plus Thaddeus. They all had crossbows and full quivers of arrows.
They were taking turns shooting at Nik.
Horrified, Mari watched a man aim and fire. The arrow whizzed past Nik, brushing his right shoulder and ripping a bloody furrow in it before embedding itself in the bark of the pine. Nik made no sound. He didn’t even flinch. He just stood there, straining to remain on his tiptoes, his gaze focused on the forest.
Mari heard a whine, and her attention was pulled briefly from Nik to the Shepherd who lay by the feet of the Warrior who had just shot. While he laughed and hooted and was congratulated by Thaddeus, his Shepherd lay disconsolate, whining constantly, his amber eyes focused on his Companion’s face. The Shepherd shifted his body, as if he was in pain, and Mari sucked in a shocked breath.
His belly had been wrapped in a bloody bandage!
Her gaze went quickly to the three Terriers lying beside Companions who were laughing and taking aim at Nik. They, too, were bandaged just like the Shepherd.
It has to be true. They’ve done with their canines what we saw the Skin Stealers doing with that wild boar!
Another whine caught her attention and Mari’s gaze shifted to a woman who was seated not far from Thaddeus. Unlike the rest of the people, she was paying close attention to what was going on, and for a moment Mari felt some relief as she thought there might be at least one member of the Tribe who still cared about Nik. Then she saw what had drawn her attention. A young Shepherd was pacing around the woman, whining pitifully. Mari could see no wound on the young canine. With a jolt of shock, she recognized the pup as Fortina, Rigel’s littermate! At that moment the woman, who Mari now realized must be Maeve, backhanded the pup.
“I told you to lie down and be quite!” Maeve shouted. Fortina’s tail went between her legs and her ears fell back as she took to her belly. Resting her nose on her front feet, the pup continued to stare pitifully from Maeve to Nik.
Bile lifted in Mari’s throat, almost gagging her. Oh, sweet Fortina! I’m so sorry!
Mari watched as the pup’s ears suddenly went up and her sharp eyes began searching the shadows within the forest around Mari’s hiding place. She swallowed hard and steadied herself. I have to keep my thoughts to myself. The pup could give me away, even if she doesn’t mean to. There would be time to feel sick for those poor canines later. Now Mari’s focus had to be on Nik.
Mari closed her eyes. Reaching out with her mind, she concentrated on Laru, sketching a picture of herself, with Rigel beside her, where they crouched in hiding near the meditation platform. She added Laru to the image. It took longer than she would have liked, but finally she felt the jolt of warmth that meant Laru was nearby, and within just a few breaths the Alpha Shepherd padded silently up to them.
Mari was so relieved to see him, beside her and unharmed, that she threw her arms around his wide neck, kissing him and holding him close—sharing her love with him. The big canine’s body had been trembling, but surrounded by Mari and Rigel he settled. Mari could feel him calming and regaining hope.
“It’s okay,” she whispered to him, flooding him with love and reassurance. “We’re going to save him. I promise.”
Mari glanced up at the sky. It was painted with orange and pink and turquoise. She couldn’t see the sun, but she could feel its power fading as the cool majesty of the moon was beginning to grow.
Resolutely, Mari reached into her satchel, pulling out her slingshot and the pouch of perfect stones she kept it filled with. She looked at her tunic and decided against putting it on. Mari shook back her hair, still dressed with jay feathers; she loved that it had gotten long enough that it framed her face in a riotous mess of curls and braids. Then, on impulse, she poured a little of the water from her travel bladder onto a patch of dirt at the base of the concealing pine they crouched behind, quickly working it into sticky mud. Using her fingers, she painted an image of the sun in the middle of her chest. Below it, on her smooth, flat stomach, Mari then painted the image of a moon.
Satisfied, she turned her focus to the two canines as she sketched in her mind a picture of herself striding into the Tribe’s camp. Rigel and Laru flanked her. Their heads, ears, and tails were up. Their massive teeth were bared. Waves of power radiated from the three of them.
“Understand?” she whispered.
Immediately Rigel moved to her right and Laru to her left. Mari stood. Her slingshot was in one of her hands. She tied the pouch of rocks around her bare waist.
With the two Shepherds beside her, Mari stepped from behind the pine tree and strode directly into what was left of the Tribe of the Trees.
* * *
“Hey, Nikolas! All you need to do is beg us to stop and we will!” Thaddeus taunted.
“Yeah, ask pretty please—you know, like you asked your Scratcher whore for a piece of her ass!” the young Hunter named Andrew shouted, causing the other men—those Thaddeus had already healed—to laugh sarcastically and add their own nasty jibes about Mari.
Nik gave no response at all. When Thaddeus had tied the rope around his neck and hung it from the branch above him, being sure that Nik had to stretch to keep from being choked, he’d chosen a spot in the distance—off in the forest that was still filled with green and life—and he focused on that spot, refusing to look away. Nik filled his mind with thoughts of everything he loved—of Laru and Mari and Rigel, O’Bryan and Davis and little Cammyman, of the Pack he longed to rejoin. He kept his thoughts on them—on the people and canines who were his family, his friends, his future. And Nik waited.
Thaddeus was impetuous and filled with anger. His men—especially the four who surrounded him and who had obviously gone through the same “cure” as had Thaddeus—were likewise so filled with rage that Nik barely recognized them. These were men he’d grown up with, men who had followed his father willingly, men who were now dangerous strangers.
But Nik knew anger did odd things to people. It clouded judgment, requiring actions that fed on chaos and fear—and chaos and fear opened the door to mistakes.
So Nik waited for Thaddeus’s mistake, keeping his mind clear and present as he meditated on his loved ones and refused to play the Hunter’s cruel game.
An arrow whizzed past, slicing through the meaty part of Nik’s shoulder. He didn’t so much as flinch, but it did draw his mind out of the dream it had been reliving where Mari’s head rested on his shoulder while Laru and Rigel curled at their feet, sleeping contentedly.
Damn, that stings! Nik struggled to remain expressionless. He could feel the heat of the arrow slices and was surprised to realize that while his mind had been daydreaming with Mari his body had been nicked by so many arrows that his blood covered his chest like a liquid tunic.
“Ah, come on, Nik! If you won’t beg for us to stop, how ’bout you do a little dance?” Another arrow twanged loose from its crossbow, and Nik sucked in a breath as it grazed his side, tunneling another bloody furrow across his naked skin.
A small whimper had his gaze focusing on the canines below him. Mostly, they were quiet. Except for the canines who were Companions to Thaddeus’s group, and Maeve’s pup, Fortina, they lay beside their sick and wounded Companions, trying to absorb the suffering of their humans as they lent love and strength and hope to them.
Thaddeus’s group was different. Their canines were wounded—sick even. They were lethargic and in obvious pain—a pain their Companions completely ignored. It was difficult for Nik to comprehend it. He could no more allow Laru to suffer than he could allow Mari to feel pain. But the Companions who were closest to Thaddeus, the only Tribesmen who seemed to be getting stronger with each moment, paid no attention to their suffering canines. And Thaddeus—the Hunter who had lost his beloved Terrier just the day before—showed no sign of mourning. No sign of grief. Nik had even heard him speaking to Odysseus, as if the canine was still by his side.
The whimper sounded again. Nik’s gaze swept the crowded clearing. It wasn’t coming from any of the adult canines. It was coming from Fortina, the pup who had chosen Maeve not so long ago. That poor little girl Shepherd was unwounded in body, but Nik suspected she was utterly broken in spirit.
Maeve backhanded the pup and Nik had to use every bit of his self-control not to strain against his bonds and demand she leave the young Shepherd alone. He did let his gaze focus briefly on Fortina, wishing he had Mari’s ability to communicate with other Companions. He’d tell the pup, Run for the Channel! Find the Pack! They’ll help you!
Then a truly odd thing happened. As he watched Fortina, the defeated pup raised her head. Her eyes brightened as her ears went up and she searched the forest behind them.
Oh, sunfire, no! Don’t let it be Laru! Nik closed his eyes, concentrating on his connection with the Alpha Shepherd. Laru! Run! Meet Mari at the Channel! he repeated.
In return Nik felt a delicious wash of reassurance and hope so strong that he wished he could collapse with relief. Laru’s response left no doubt in his mind. His Shepherd had found Mari. Now all Nik had to do was find a way to escape.
Thawp! Nik’s eyes shot open as another arrow ripped across the outside of his left thigh, not far from the wound that was already aching. Warmth washed his thigh as scarlet spread down his leg.
“Isn’t that about enough, Thaddeus?”
Nik blinked to clear his vision. He looked down to see Ralina, the Tribe’s talented Storyteller, struggling to lift herself to a sitting position as her big Shepherd licked her face encouragingly.
“Enough?” Thaddeus turned on her. “Enough?” Spittle flew from his lips as he yelled his rage. “All of this is because of him and his Scratcher whore!”
“Yes, so you keep insisting,” Ralina said. She had to pause as she coughed. Then she wiped her mouth and continued. “But if you want to use Nik to lure his Scratcher here, you’re going to need to keep him alive. Keep shooting arrows at him and, sooner rather than later, one of you is going to hit something critical. He’ll do you no good as bait if he bleeds to death.”
“Why the hell do I care if he bleeds to death?” Thaddeus smirked. “As soon as he doesn’t meet his Scratcher with the stolen Mother Plants, she’ll come looking for him—whether he’s dead or alive.”
“I told you,” Nik rasped, baring his teeth at Thaddeus. “Mari and her Clan have gone west, to Clan Fisher. I was supposed to join them on the coast. She won’t expect me for days.”
“And I told you—I don’t believe you!” Thaddeus shouted. “I don’t think that bitch would go anywhere too far without you. I believe she’s a lot closer than you let on.”
“For once, Thaddeus, you speak the truth!” Mari’s voice was a clarion call, blasting throughout the clearing.
Every Tribesman and woman turned as one. But Nik didn’t need to turn. Nik had a perfect view, and he would never forget the sight.
Mari strode into the Tribe with Laru and Rigel pressed against her sides. The big Shepherds had their teeth bared and were growling a warning to every canine in the Tribe: Stay back—stay clear—she is Alpha protected!
Her feather-dressed hair flew wild around her shoulders. She was bare breasted, covered only by a sun and a moon that were painted on her skin and by the glowing filigreed pattern of fern fronds that glistened as they captured the last rays of the setting sun.
“Get her! But don’t kill her—yet!” Thaddeus shrieked.
The Hunter named Andrew was the first to move. He lunged toward Mari. With blinding speed Mari took a rock from the bag strapped around her waist, fitted it in her slingshot, and with a flick of her wrist the rock flew at Andrew, smashing into his nose and sending him staggering backward to fall in a heap to the ground.
With a feral snarl, Thaddeus raised his crossbow, sighting at Mari. Nik shouted, “No!,” but before Thaddeus could fire he was shoved to the side so that he lost his aim and the arrow twanged harmlessly into the forest well over Mari’s head.
As the Tribe exploded into shouts and cries, Thaddeus rounded on the Storyteller, who had managed to climb to her feet and tackle the Hunter, foiling his shot.
“You bitch! What’s wrong with you?”
“What’s wrong with you, Thaddeus? You’d kill the one person we know can heal us? Really? Even though your sick and dying Tribe is strewn about you, weak and hopeless?”
“You don’t know she can heal you!”
“Of course I can.” Mari spoke with a calm authority that silenced the Tribe. “Let Nik go, and I give you my word that I will heal anyone who wishes to be cured.”
“Your word? What good is the word of a Scratcher whore?” Thaddeus taunted.
Mari cocked her head to the side, as if considering his question. “Well, Thaddeus, I’d say my word is better than some of your Tribe’s.” She looked from him to his Hunters and the one Warrior who stood with them and then directly at Maeve before she continued. “Don’t you swear to your canines when they choose you that you will honor and love and care for them for their entire lives?” Mari didn’t pause but kept speaking, her voice rich with disdain. “And yet I see canines here, suffering at the hands of their Companions.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about!” Thaddeus snapped.
“See, that’s the problem, Thaddeus. I know exactly what I’m talking about. I know more than these poor, sick men and women you have duped. I know about the Skin Stealer disease that has infested you—and how you have been flaying the flesh from your Companions as a cure.”
“What is she talking about?” Ralina said, looking wide-eyed from Mari to Thaddeus.
“She lies,” Thaddeus said.
Mari turned to Ralina. “If you weren’t so sick you’d have already realized it, but look at his men—those men who seem to be healing. Then look at their canines—their poor, wounded canines—and tell me what you see.”
“You don’t need to kill her to shut her up,” said the Warrior who moved to Thaddeus’s side.
“But if she is lying, why shut her up?” Ralina asked, and Mari noticed that several Tribesmen and women had managed to shake themselves out of painful stupors and were struggling to sit.
“If she can heal us let her!” said a young Warrior whose Shepherd was whining by his side as he pulled himself to his feet.
“Shut up, Renard!” Thaddeus shouted.
“I will not.” The Warrior moved slowly, stiffly, to confront Thaddeus. He pointed back at an older man who lay unconscious on a pallet nearby. “Father is dying. I’ve already lost Mother. I’ll do anything to save the rest of my family—even follow you, Thaddeus!”
Thaddeus’s mean eyes narrowed at the Warrior, but before he could respond several people began clamoring to be heard.
“If there is even a small chance she can heal us do not harm her!” called another Tribesman.
“Let the Scratcher heal us!”
“Give her a chance!”
“Fine!” Thaddeus shouted over the noise of the crowd, so that they began to quiet. He turned his malicious gaze on Mari. “Then do it. Heal them.”
“Not until you let Nik go.”
Thaddeus laughed. “And once I let him go, what then? What if you can’t heal anyone? No, that’s not happening.”
“I should have been more specific. Untie Nik. Let him join me. Then I will heal any of the Tribe who wish to be Washed free of disease. If I do as I promise I can, only then will I leave with Nik.”
Thaddeus’s eyes glittered with victory. “Why not? I don’t think you can do it anyway—and then we’ll truss you up beside your lover and get back to target practice. Emma!” he shouted up at the platform where Nik was bound. “Cut Nik free—for now.”
A young woman who was obviously ill moved slowly, painfully, to Nik. She sawed through the ropes at his wrists first so that Nik was able to loosen and then slide the noose over his head. Then, with a litheness that had Mari feeling much better about his wounds, Nik bent to grab his travel satchel, but Maeve’s spiteful voice cut across the clearing.
“No! That satchel has stolen Mother Plant pups in it! Don’t let him take them!”
Mari rounded on the older woman. “If Nik doesn’t take the plants. I don’t heal you. Ever. It’s as simple as that.”
“Let him take the plants. The Scratcher bitch can’t possible heal everyone, so they won’t be going anywhere.”
Maeve started to say something, but Thaddeus turned his back to her, ignoring her completely.
Nik slung his satchel across his bleeding shoulder and hurried to her.
She wanted to run into his arms and sob her relief. But not yet. They weren’t safe yet.
He stopped in front of her, bending to greet Laru. When Nik straightened, their eyes met.
“How badly did they hurt you?” she asked.
“Scratches,” he said.
“I’ll make them pay for every one of them.”
“I love it when you read my mind,” Nik said.
“That’s enough!” Mari and Nik turned to see that Thaddeus and his men had crossbows trained on them. “Get to healing, or I don’t care what the rest of the Tribe says—I’m more than ready to put you out of my misery.”
Mari saw Nik’s gaze flick to the sky that still blushed with the colors of sunset.
“Remember.” She spoke her mama’s words softly to Nik. “Whether you can see it or not, the moon is always present.” Mari raised her voice, saying, “All who wish to be Washed of the sickness that has infested this Tribe, bow your heads and place your hands over your hearts.”
“Wait! What of people like my father, who aren’t conscious?” asked the young Warrior Renard.
Mari met his eyes, finding compassion as her answer. “I’ve lost both of my parents,” she told the Warrior, being sure her words carried throughout the clearing. “I will not ignore those who are so gravely ill that they cannot accept the Washing willingly, though I do believe that some of this Tribe are pleased with their sicknesses. It is to those people I speak.”
“Some of us aren’t sick—we’re better, stronger, faster!” Thaddeus shouted at her defensively.
“Really?” Mari took a turn at laughing humorlessly. “You seem very sick to me, Thaddeus. But as you and your men don’t want to be free of what you have done to yourselves, I will not heal you. Those of you loyal to Thaddeus, move to stand with him and my moon magick will not touch you.”
The four men whose canines bore flaying wounds moved quickly to stand behind Thaddeus. Then, more slowly, several Hunters who were still sick—still coughing and weak—shuffled to him as well. Several Warriors, with Shepherds moving slowly, hesitantly, at their sides, joined Thaddeus’s group until by Nik’s count about fifty people and almost as many canines stood with the Hunter.
Mari nodded. “So be it. Let what happens to you and your people as a result of choosing anger and hatred be on your conscience, Thaddeus, not mine.”
Mari took one step away from Nik. She drew a deep breath, grounding herself. Then she reached from within the center of herself and found the moon. Turning to face northeast—the darkest part of the gloaming sky—Mari lifted her arms.
There was no time for nerves. No time for regret that she didn’t know more—was perhaps not as strong as she could or should be—she focused her entire being on the moon and began the drawing-down invocation.
“Moon Woman I forever will be
Greatly gifted, your power fills me!
Earth Mother, aid me this somber night
So that those who wish it may feel your healing might!”
Mari didn’t need to glance at her arms to know her body had begun to glow with the cold, silver power of the moon. The shocked expression of the Tribe and the gasps that surrounded her told her what she already knew—the moon, although still invisible in the dusk sky, had found her.
“By right of blood and birth channel through me
The Goddess gift I embrace as my destiny!”
Within her mind, Mari sketched a simple picture. She drew the clearing, with the meditation platform and the sick, dying Tribe in it and surrounding it. In the sketch, she created an enormous bubble, like the frothy ones formed at the base of a waterfall, around Thaddeus and his loyal followers, including Maeve, who had stood and joined his hateful group. Then Mari painted the sky with a moon, fat and full. From it poured a silver wave of liquid power. The wave cascaded into Mari, and from her open palms it rained all around her, covering the meditation platform and all of the sick and wounded who were not enclosed in Thaddeus’s bubble.
On and on the silver light flowed into Mari to be dispersed out to the Tribe. Mari gritted her teeth to keep them from chattering. Her knees felt weak, but still she kept the connection open. I am the conduit for the healing—the magick washes through me and into the Tribe. I am the conduit for the healing—the magick washes through me and into the Tribe.…
The litany played over and over through Mari’s mind until she became aware of Nik’s strong hand on her shoulder and his voice in her ear.
“Stop now, Mari. You’ve done it. The Tribe is healed!”
Mari drew a long, shaky breath and then released the image to which she’d held so tightly, and the silver light snuffed like a doused torch. She blinked and gazed around her.
Members of the Tribe were stirring. Some of them were laughing in relief. Some of them wept. The young Warrior Renard had rushed to his father’s side, and the two men were embracing.
“It worked.” Mari smiled her relief to Nik.
“Did you doubt that it would?” Nik asked.
She moved her shoulders. “Well, Rigel and Laru never doubted it.”
“Thank you. Thank you so much.”
Mari looked over Nik’s shoulder to see the woman named Ralina approaching them, an adult Shepherd bouncing around like a puppy at her side. The woman grasped Mari’s hands, saying, “You saved us!”
“No,” Mari told her softly. “As long as you follow Thaddeus, your Tribe is still infested with disease.”
“That’s not a very nice thing to say, Scratcher bitch.”
Thaddeus and the men surrounding him raised their crossbows and took aim—not at Mari but at Nik.
“What are you doing, Thaddeus?” Ralina asked, moving so that her body shielded Mari’s. “She did exactly what she said she would. Now you need to let Mari and Nik go as you agreed.”
Thaddeus scoffed, “I didn’t agree to let them go. I agreed to let Nik join her. And now he has.”
“What do you mean to do, Thaddeus?” Nik asked.
“I mean to keep your Scratcher whore prisoner and kill you. I was going to kill her, too, but after her little exhibition tonight I realize she could actually be of use to the Tribe.”
Thaddeus raised his crossbow, aiming at Nik.
As easily as breathing, Mari released the anger the soothing moon magick had been keeping at bay. She stepped around Ralina, drawing the dying sun’s rays to her, and lifted her hands, opening them so the Tribe could see the sunfire that flared with her righteous indignation dancing in golden flames on her palms.
“If you hurt Nik, I will kill you with sunfire.”
Thaddeus paused, his gaze flicking from her palms to her face. Then a slow, sly smile lifted his thin lips. “You won’t do it. You’re a Healer. I know your type. You’re sworn to help and not harm. You won’t kill me, or any of us, because of your Healer oath.”
Mari let loose of more of her anger, and the flames in her palms grew, leaping hot and hungry, so that Nik and Ralina were forced to step behind her, shielding their eyes with their hands. When Mari spoke she hardly recognized her own voice, as it was filled with the hot might of the Sun.
“Thaddeus, you’re partially right. The only thing that stops me from killing you and your twisted group of followers is the fact that I am a Moon Woman, gifted to heal, and not to kill. I do not wish to poison my soul with your blood.”
“You just proved my point, you stupid bitch!”
“You didn’t let me finish. Right now I don’t want to poison my soul with killing, but if you harm Nik or Laru or Rigel I won’t respond as a Moon Woman. I’ll be an enraged mate, Leader of my Pack, and I’ll respond with my father’s blood—the fiery blood that allows me to call down sunfire—but I won’t be your tame Sun Priestess. I will be a Sun Warrior, and I will fry your ass dead. On that you have my eternal oath. Now, back off or die. The choice is yours!”
Thaddeus’s eyes narrowed with a spiteful intelligence, and his evil smile spread across his face. “Really? What if I told you I know who killed your father, Galen?”
Mari felt Nik’s body jerk with shock beside her.
“I know who killed my father. My mother told me. She saw the whole thing. It was someone from your Tribe—filled with hate like you.”
“You’re partially right. He was from our Tribe, but he was a lot weaker than me, which is why he’s dead. But ask his son. He’s standing beside you.”
Mari’s gaze flew to Nik, who was looking sad and pale. “I’m so sorry, Mari,” he said.
“Sol killed my father?”
Nik nodded wearily. “And it ate at him for the rest of his life. He would have done anything to make it right—including giving his life for you.”
“Oh, Goddess! And that’s exactly what he did,” Mari said.
“Forgive him, if you can,” Nik said. “And forgive me for wishing you’d never found out.”
Mari didn’t answer Nik. Instead, she faced Thaddeus again. “You actually thought I’d hold Nik to blame for something his father did.” She shook her head, lifting her lip in her own version of a canine’s snarl. “But that doesn’t make any sense at all—at least not to anyone who isn’t lost to rage and hatred it doesn’t. What Sol did all those years ago has nothing to do with Nik, you pathetic, evil little man.”
“Die, bitch!” With a growl that was more animal than man, Thaddeus shifted his aim to Mari and loosed an arrow.
Mari heard Nik’s panicked shout. She even felt Ralina begin to move forward, as if she meant to shield Mari from the arrow, but they both would be too late. Neither was near enough to save Mari—so Mari saved herself.
Instead of lunging away, Mari strode forward to meet the arrow, and with a flick of her fingers the sunfire at her command engulfed it, burning it to ash.
“Nik, Laru, Rigel! Get behind me!” Mari shouted. She turned her head and met Ralina’s wide-eyed look. “Unless you want to leave with us, and we would gladly accept you, you must get back,” she told the kind woman.
“I can’t leave my people. They need me,” said the Storyteller.
“Then move out of my way! Now!”
Ralina grabbed her Shepherd around the neck and lunged back, away from Mari and Nik and their two canines.
Using the same vivid imagination and the concentration her mama had made her practice since she’d been old enough to speak, Mari painted a picture all in gold around the four of them. Sunfire flared hot and high, encircling them with heat as the flames licked hungrily, searching to be fed.
Mari’s concentration slipped. This was nothing at all like Moon Magick! How had she thought she could control such an alien power? Mari smelled her hair beginning to singe as her control began to slide from her. It was going to burn her! Burn all of them!
Then from behind her Nik’s strong hands were on her shoulders and his calm voice spoke into her ear.
“It’s okay. You’ve got this. We’ve got this. Don’t imagine it burning. Imagine it shielding.”
“But it’s so hot! It’s so angry!” Mari panted, struggling not to scream that they needed to run! They all needed to run from the sunfire!
“It’s not, Mari. You’re angry. And if it’s you then you can control it, right?”
The logic of Nik’s words penetrated through her panic and Mari blinked in surprise. It is my anger! I let it loose on purpose. I knew that was how I call sunfire.
Mari forced her shoulders to relax under Nik’s hands. She focused on her breathing—in and out smoothly, deeply. She didn’t need to be blinded by anger. She didn’t need to destroy these people. She simply needed to be free of them.
And suddenly the dome of flame that had been threatening to devour them calmed. Mari could actually see through it to the Tribe. The people were milling around, crying out in fear and panic. Even Thaddeus and his group had backed away from her, though their weapons were still aimed her way.
“That’s it!” Nik said, squeezing her shoulders reassuringly. “That’s perfect. Now walk forward. Head into the ruins of the Tribe.”
Slowly, at first, Mari began walking. The shield of flame stayed with her, surrounding the four of them and making the Tribe cringe away from her as she passed them. And as she walked, Mari’s control grew. Her anger simmered low—easily controlled—and the sunfire, made malleable by the gift that was her father’s blood, protected them.
She didn’t turn and look, but she could feel Thaddeus following. She could also feel the Sun setting.
“Nik, the Sun’s going. I don’t know how much longer I can keep the shield around us.”
“That’s okay. We don’t need it much longer. Move faster, Mari. Keep some of the sunfire for yourself, like you’d keep Moon Magick to heal yourself. Once we’re through the ruins of the City, we’ll be within sight of the Channel and we’re going to have to run for it.”
Mari gritted her teeth and nodded. She tapped into a shaft of sunfire, and like a true weaver she imagined threading that warm power into her veins. Hot strength blasted through her and Mari sprinted forward, with Nik close behind, Rigel and Laru on either side of them. They leaped over blackened logs and the debris of the once beautiful City until Nik’s hand closed around her shoulder again.
“That’s it. We’re here.”
Mari staggered to a stop. They were on the edge of the ridge. Before them it sloped down to the Channel, which looked like a shining ribbon of green in the last of the daylight. To their right, the ridge grew to become a wide ravine that separated Tribal territory from the edge of Port City. Mari reached out with a questioning mind and was instantly rewarded by images of the Pack silently entering many small boats that rushed to fill her mind from Cammy and Captain, Fala, and even the precocious flash of an image of Sora, slipping and almost falling headfirst into the water, which she was certain came from little Chloe.
“The Pack made it!” Mari told Nik. “They’re down there right now!”
“Then let’s join them and get the hell out of here!”
Mari heard a sound behind them and she turned—and was shocked to see that instead of Thaddeus and his goons, just outside the shield of flame stood a Shepherd pup. She was panting with panic, so close to the fire that Mari could see her fur beginning to singe.
“It’s Fortina!” Mari cried. “What is she doing?”
Nik shook his head. “I’ve never seen any canine do this, but I think she’s left her Companion.”
“There they are! Shoot them! The fire’s banking! The Sun’s setting!”
From farther behind them, Thaddeus’s voice drifted through the crackling of the hungry flames. Mari had one choice. She didn’t like it, but she also didn’t see any other way to be free. Mari imagined a half-grown-Shepherd-sized hole in the dome of flames, and the shield parted.
“Come on, Fortina!” she called to the pup. The young canine didn’t hesitate. She sprinted through the opening in the flames, running straight to Rigel.
“Shoot! Now! They’re stealing my Fortina!” It was Maeve’s shrill voice, filled with anger and hate that acted like a goad on Mari.
Mari gathered the sunfire to her so that it sizzled in a flame-shaped pillar in front of her, and then she allowed herself to really think about Thaddeus—about all he’d taken from her and from Nik, about all he still wished to take from them.
“IT WILL NEVER HAPPEN!” Mari shrieked as she tossed her anger, and the column of flame, into the heart of the ruined City, cutting off Thaddeus and his group and forcing them to retreat.
“Hurry!” Nik said, grabbing her hand. “There’s not much left for it to burn. It’ll be out soon.”
They half ran, half slid down the ridge. The broken road was in sight when the first of the arrows began to rain around them.
“Run, Mari! Run!” Nik shouted.
They sprinted forward, but the arrows were too fast. They were getting closer and closer—and then from the darkened lookout tower that stood as silent sentinel beside the Channel the tolling of a bell split the night, crying danger to the Tribe.
Mari struggled not to collapse in defeat. They were so close that they could see their Pack in small boats, spreading out across the Channel. Mari looked up at the tower. She saw a man, with a small canine beside him, rushing down the wooden stairs. Mari steeled herself, expecting the man to sight with his crossbow and rain deadly arrows down on them, pinning them between the Tribe and the safety of the water.
Instead, the man paused long enough to drape over the railing of the stairs a large, familiar tapestry of the Great Goddess, circled by her Clan. Then he cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, “Nik, Mari! What are you waiting for? Get to the boats!”
“Davis!” Nik laughed, shouting his relief. “It’s Davis!”
“But why was he alerting the Tribe about us?” Mari could hardly believe that Davis would do such a thing, but there he was, climbing down from the tower after ringing the clarion bell.
“Oh, sunfire! He wasn’t alerting them about us. Look!”
Mari’s gaze followed Nik’s pointing finger, and there, swarming down the far side of the ravine, came an army of bare-chested painted men, wielding triple-tipped spears as they closed on the Tribe of the Trees.
There was a shout from behind Nik and Mari, and suddenly the arrows changed direction and began falling on the invading army.
“Go! Now!” Davis shouted as he sprinted past them.
Mari and Nik didn’t hesitate. They ran with Davis to the two boats that had been left for them. Mari blinked in surprise as she recognized the single person who had remained and was still smashing holes in the last of the other boats.
“Jaxom! That’s enough! Get in the boat with me!” Davis told him.
Jaxom sprinted to Davis as Nik almost tossed Mari into another boat. Rigel leaped onto one of the ballasts made for holding canines, and in a single bound Laru landed on the other one.
“Come on, girl!” Mari shouted to the pup, who paused, shivering at the edge of the water.
Nik gave their boat a huge push and jumped in. Grabbing the oars, he began fighting against the current while Sora and the rest of the Pack called encouragement.
“Wait, Nik! The pup’s still on the bank,” Mari said.
“Too late. She might have changed her mind anyway. I’ve never known a canine to leave a living Companion.”
“But she did leave Maeve!” Mari cried.
“It’s okay; I’ll get her!” Jaxom said. He jumped out of the boat, sloughing through the shallow water to the bank as Davis shouted at him to get his ass back there.
Jaxom stopped a yard or so before the young Shepherd. His voice carried easily over the water: “If you want to be free, come with me. I’ll make sure you’re safe. I promise.”
The pup started at him, unmoving.
“Jaxom! I can’t wait for you if you don’t move and move now!” Davis shouted.
And then Jaxom’s body language changed. He suddenly stood straighter, and in a voice amplified by joy he called, “Fortina! Your name is Fortina! Come to me, little girl!”
The pup barked happily before launching herself into the young Earth Walker’s arms, and Jaxom used all the power in his muscular legs to fight the current. He reached the boat and tossed the pup in; then he grasped Davis’s outstretched hand and toppled face-first into the boat, causing Cammy to yip in concern.
The instant Jaxom was safely in the boat, he crawled to the pup, picking her up and cuddling her close to him as he felt all over her for wounds.
Mari watched him, incredulous, feeling everything the young sister to Rigel was feeling. Great Goddess! That pup just Chose Jaxom!
“Go! Go! Go!” Sora’s voice shouted from far up the Channel. “Hurry! The Skin Stealers are attacking!”
Each of them grabbed oars and paddles and fought the current that threatened to push them back to the bank. Then Mari felt a catch in the little boat, and it suddenly shot forward.
“That’s it!” Nik said between heaving breaths. “The center current has us. We’re free!”
Mari’s hands began shaking so badly that she dropped her paddle. She wrapped her arms around her chest as if she was trying to hold herself together.
Through the fog of exhaustion that followed calling down sunfire, Mari heard her Pack cheering in celebration, but she couldn’t take her eyes off the ridge. There, silhouetted by the wall of fire that was already beginning to smoke and dissipate, Mari’s eyes were drawn to an enormous figure. She thought she might have been hallucinating, but she was quite sure the figure had huge horns growing from his head.
And then slowly, purposefully, the figure turned to face her. He lifted a hand that was fisted around an impossibly large triple-pointed spear in what was obviously a bizarre salute to Mari, before he roared a terrible battle cry and turned to join his army against the Tribe.
A shiver of dread skittered down Mari’s spine, and she leaned over the side of the boat, vomiting fear into the dark water.
“What is it, Mari?” Nik asked, still pulling on the oars to catch them up to the Pack. “Are you okay?”
Mari wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and said the words that lifted, unbidden, from the recesses of her mind.
“I’m okay for now, but whatever that was—whatever is back there—he is not okay. And he saw me, Nik. He looked right at me. I felt it—like someone had just walked over my grave.”
“Whoever he is, we’re leaving him behind,” Nik assured her.
“No.” The words flowed unbidden: “He’s going to follow us.”
“Then we’ll face him. Together. You’re not alone. You’ll never be alone again. Show her, Laru and Rigel!”
First, from their two Companions, Mari was flooded with warmth and strength—and then she felt Cammy’s touch, and Fortina’s; then Fala, Captain, Mariah, Odin, Bast, and even little Chloe reached out to her in solidarity until she was bathed in such intense love and strength and hope that it drowned her fear.
She met Nik’s gaze as her lover and mate smiled and said softly, “Hey, don’t ever forget—we’ve got your back.”
Mari knew Nik was right. Whatever was before them, they would face it—and defeat it. Together.
THE END … for now.