by Jacinta Jade
Baindan’s brows narrowed briefly. ‘Five, if we continue at the same pace. Longer if we move more slowly or are delayed.’
Deson nodded slowly. ‘A few of us here have animal forms we can use to hunt. I suggest that two pairs go off to hunt and another pair goes out to gather water and anything else they can find.’
Most of them nodded in agreement, but without turning his head, Tamot asked, ‘How will we carry the food and water?’
There it was, Siray thought. Something so basic but necessary. When they had fled the training camp, there had been no question of stopping to collect any supplies. But what she wouldn’t now give for any kind of bag or water carrier.
Baindan had a solution. ‘Some of you are wearing more layers than others. If you pool some of your extra clothes, we’ll have something that we can carry food in.’
Kovi nodded. ‘And I think we could find some more of those balloon leaves to carry water in. It won’t be perfect, but it should do well enough for our purposes.’
‘Sounds like we have a plan,’ Deson said. ‘For hunting, Siray and I will—’
‘I’ll go with Siray,’ Baindan interrupted lightly.
Deson hesitated, his face showing surprise, then annoyance, in quick succession. But he promptly wiped all expression from his face, before carrying on. ‘Okay, so, Siray and Baindan will hunt together as the first pair, with Kovi and I as the second. Tamot, you’re still on watch, which means Loce and Jorgi will have to get the water.’
‘What signal should we give if we see any sign of pursuit?’ Siray asked no one in particular.
Kovi shrugged. ‘Alert your partner and make your way back here if you can without being discovered. If not …’ He trailed off, frowning.
‘If not,’ Baindan told them all, ‘then do your best to evade any pursuit for as long as possible. Find a hiding place if you can, but do not lead anyone to this location.’
‘Right,’ Deson said quickly. ‘Everyone return by sundown with whatever you find, and we’ll move on.’
They all nodded, and Siray began to turn away but then noticed that Baindan hadn’t moved.
He and Deson were staring at each other.
She paused, unsure what to do, but Kovi broke the silent contest when he tapped Deson on the shoulder, jerking his head towards the forest.
Siray waited as Baindan turned away and then breathed a silent sigh of relief as he joined her in walking across to the opposite side of their little hideaway.
As the three pairs prepared to leave, Tamot called quietly, ‘All clear.’
Siray and Baindan parted the hanging branches and ducked out from beneath the tree, Changing as they moved, Siray into her sevonix form and Baindan into his cripwof form. The sun was slowly nearing the horizon, and Siray saw they had just under a span to find whatever they could and return.
She ran with Baindan through the forest, using all her senses to try to locate prey while also keeping a watch for any patrols.
At one point Baindan gave a low growl, and Siray turned to look at him.
He had lifted a paw and was pointing his nose downhill.
Siray understood the signal and turned from her own path to quietly follow behind Baindan as he stealthily made his way between the trees. She sniffed the air as they ran and caught the scent that the wind had carried to Baindan a moment earlier.
Prey.
Suddenly, Baindan began sprinting ahead with long, leaping strides.
Siray, surprised for a moment, nonetheless sprinted after him, scanning the darkness for what he had obviously already seen.
And saw it.
A lone wefron, its mouth continuously chewing, stood by some bushes, extending its long neck down to pull more leaves into its mouth.
Siray flared her nostrils, checking the scent again to be sure that the animal was indeed just a wefron. Usually, the creatures moved in small groups for greater protection. But they were also known for having quite a limited intelligence, so this one had probably just strayed too far from the group.
Her instincts kicking in, Siray kept up with Baindan’s attack on the wefron, their fast-moving bodies closing the distance quickly. Yet, when she realised his intention, she slowed and watched as Baindan gave a powerful leap off the ground, his momentum carrying his body through the air and bringing his jaws perfectly down on the surprised wefron’s neck.
The wefron bleated in fear as Baindan’s weight dragged it to the ground, and the animal put up a struggle even as the jaws of the cripwof held on to choke the life out it.
Eventually, the wefron ceased struggling and its body went slack, its eyes going dull.
Siray moved forwards cautiously. A kick from one of these animals, stupid as they might be, would still hurt, possibly even cause injury.
But it was definitely dead.
Baindan released his grip on the wefron’s neck and moved his body off the animal, coming to Siray’s side to look down at his kill.
Siray had just noted how their backs were relatively the same height, despite their difference in species, when another scent caught her attention, the difference in this odour making her snap her head up, and she growled low in her throat to make Baindan aware of the threat.
He whipped his head up to look at her, but Siray knew she wouldn’t have to communicate what she had scented, as she could feel the long ridge of heckles that ran down her spine rising up. Baindan had now lost all interest in the wefron and had instead spun away from the carcass to scan the forest.
Siray edged closer to him, keeping her head up and continuing to read the scent the wind was bringing her. The smell was so strong and unusual—a scent she wasn’t able to place with her limited experience. Something in her own mind was drawn to it, while part of her sevonix instincts cried out that it was a threat.
Then a shape stepped out from behind a tree, and Siray bared her teeth as she saw what it was. A bullide.
The creature snorted and pawed the ground, shaking its head angrily. Bullides were tough-skinned, heavy, bad-tempered creatures that lived in solitude for most of their lives. Although they were vegetarians, they would pick a fight with anything bigger than a quison if they thought that their territory was being encroached upon. And the bullide usually won.
Siray glanced at Baindan, whose ears were flat to his skull, his eyes narrowed, and his teeth bared in warning at the large animal.
The wind had died for the moment and, with it, any further scent, but they didn’t need it anymore.
Still, the bullide hadn’t yet moved from its position.
Then she saw another, much smaller shape peeking its head around the tree. As the dying light of the sun hit it, making the fur of its coat glow, Siray realised what it was.
An oxy.
That surprised her enough that her growling subsided and her teeth disappeared behind her lips once more. She tilted her head, looking at the odd pair for a moment while she considered the scent she had previously smelled carefully. She decided it was worth the risk.
Turning her head, she chuffed at Baindan and folded herself down onto the ground.
Baindan still growled a little in his throat, but another chuff from Siray had him following her lead, albeit reluctantly.
The bullide had stopped snorting and pawing the ground and was now watching them both intently. It turned and snorted at the oxy, still partially hidden behind its tree, before it began walking forwards.
Partway towards them, the bullide stopped and Changed, resuming its normal form.
Siray’s feline eyes widened, and she Changed too, leaping up from the ground onto her own two legs to quickly meet the male smiling grimly at her. ‘Wexner!’ she said, excited to see him.
‘Siray! It’s you. Thank the Mother!’ Wexner turned back to the oxy and gestured for it to come forth. It did so, its two tails bobbing through the air behind it as it bounded forwards. Then it too Changed—into a lovely blonde female.
‘Genlie?’ Siray said, amazed.
�
��Hi, Siray,’ she said with a faint smile. ‘You don’t know how relieved I am that it’s you and not … someone else.’ She shuddered. But then she spied Baindan, still in his cripwof form, and her expression become hopeful.
‘Is that …?’
Siray thought she understood, and she shook her head.
Baindan transformed then, and Genlie’s hopeful look vanished completely.
But Wexner surprised Siray by striding past her and wrapping Baindan in a hug.
‘Baindan—you bottom rock! What are you doing here?’
Siray looked at Genlie in surprise at Wexner’s familiarity with Baindan and saw Genlie was wearing an amused smile.
Baindan was also smiling, and he slapped Wexner enthusiastically on the back a couple of times before they broke apart. ‘I heard the training camp had been attacked, and I came to see what I could do.’
Wexner raised an eyebrow. ‘And Roalger let you do that?’
‘Well … let’s just say I didn’t exactly ask permission.’ Baindan grinned.
Siray’s eyebrows lifted. Baindan had defied orders to come find her?
Wexner turned from Baindan then to gesture to Siray. ‘Well, I’m glad to see you both. Genlie and I have been on the run since the camp was attacked.’
Genlie nodded. ‘We thought the best thing was to get out of there and keep moving.’
Siray nodded. ‘You were smarter than us, then. We hung around the area for a day, hoping to find others or learn who had been captured. Thankfully’—and she jerked her head at Baindan—‘he showed up and spoke some sense.’
Baindan shrugged, but his face grew grave. ‘They got prisoners, Wex. We don’t know how many, as they moved them out that night. Then they had a ruse going to try to draw in any Resistance members still in the area. That’s when I got Siray and her group out of there.’
‘Her group?’ Wexner’s eyes widened. ‘More of you escaped?’
Siray nodded.
‘How many?’ Genlie asked breathlessly.
‘Six,’ Siray said, smiling a little. Then her smile dropped away, and she added quietly, ‘Rowp got caught just as we were escaping.’
Baindan stepped forwards and rested a warm hand on her shoulder. Then he looked to Wexner and Genlie. ‘I know you’re keen to hear any news, but there’s a better place to do this.’
Wexner nodded. ‘Show us the way,’ he said.
‘Just a moment,’ Siray said and pointed to the dead wefron. ‘Little help carrying this back?’
‘That’s right,’ Baindan said. ‘Give us a hand, Wex.’
Baindan made a twirling motion with his fingers that Wexner apparently understood, as he Changed into his bullide form once more and obligingly positioned himself next to the dead wefron.
Together, Siray, Baindan, and Genlie lifted the carcass of the wefron onto the bullide’s back.
Once the dead wefron was positioned so that there was little chance of it falling from Wexner’s back, Siray turned to Baindan. ‘I think I should go on ahead to let the others know to expect company. Especially given your welcome.’
Baindan grimaced. ‘Right—good idea.’
Siray turned to Wexner the bullide, who was waiting patiently with the wefron balanced across his back, and Genlie, who had been listening with interest.
‘The others have been a little tense, so I’ll go ahead and make sure they know you’re both friends.’
Before she left, she nodded to Baindan. ‘Sun’s almost down. Be quick.’
Then she Changed and left them as she ran back towards their hiding place.
***
Siray came to the tree still running and was relieved to hear the sound of chatter within. Tamot wasn’t alone, which meant that at least one of the other pairs had already returned. As she neared the tree, she Changed, so that Tamot could see who it was.
She heard him call, ‘Siray’s back,’ and as she entered into their hideaway through the space between the branches that Tamot had pulled to one side, Deson came up to her.
‘Where’s Baindan?’ he asked.
Siray waved a hand, brushing aside his question. ‘He’s fine. But I need to tell everyone something before he gets here.’
Deson frowned at that but called softly to the others, and they quickly grouped around Siray.
‘We have others returning with Baindan,’ she said.
They all broke into murmurs at this, but Deson said, ‘What—he took hostages?’
Siray shook her head and held up her hands to calm them all into silence. When they were quiet, she continued. ‘Not hostages. Others who escaped from the attack on our camp.’
A stunned moment of silence. Then all of them, bar Tamot, started asking questions at once.
Tamot promptly turned towards their huddle and shushed the males from where he still sat on watch.
Loce was the first to break the silence once more, his voice soft. ‘How do we know they’re friends? How do we know that they’re on our side?’ he asked.
Siray looked at him, then at the others, carefully watching them. ‘Because you know and trust these people,’ she answered.
Kovi snorted, then asked impatiently, ‘So, who is it?’
Siray opened her mouth to reply, but Tamot interrupted her.
‘There’s Baindan!’
Loce, Kovi, and Jorgi swiftly moved to Tamot’s side to peer through the branches.
Deson, having stayed by her side, turned to her and said in a low voice, ‘Is this wise, joining up with others?’
Siray shrugged. ‘I figured that, since we knew them, it would be okay. Besides’—she nodded in the direction Tamot was pointing to for the benefit of the others—‘we could also use their help.’
She watched as Deson decided to indulge his own curiosity, moving to peer through the branches with the others, before she ambled over to a spot a little way from the group, so she could observe both the approach of Baindan and the reaction of the others. As she peered through the low-hanging branches, she acknowledged that Tamot must have good eyesight to have been able to spot Baindan when he had, for he was only now drawing close.
Still, the sun was setting, and long shadows from the surrounding trees cast shadows across the face of the person who walked by his side, leaving their identity unknown to the others.
But none of the males had any trouble identifying the animal that shadowed Baindan and his companion, its large bulk showing even from behind the two bodies.
‘That’s a bullide!’ Tamot exclaimed excitedly.
Deson and Jorgi shushed him quickly.
Kovi, who Siray was a couple of body lengths away from, pivoted in her direction and asked quietly, ‘Was there any kind of tussle when you came across them?’
Siray smiled. ‘Almost, but we got it sorted before it came to that.’
Kovi chuckled. ‘Good thing that.’
Still smiling, she gestured for Kovi to turn back and keep watching. And as he turned to look out through the branches once more, Siray kept watching him.
So she saw when he first frowned, and then when his face went slack.
‘Is that …? No … no, it is! Genlie!’
This time all the other males shushed Kovi, but Kovi’s face was flushed with excitement, and, his eyes bright, he parted the branches where he stood and stumbled out from their cover, his ears deaf to the efforts of the other males to call him back.
Baindan was only paces from the tree, and the face of the female beside him could be clearly seen.
Genlie had obviously heard her name called, as she had paused while Baindan and Wexner had continued forwards, the bullide almost bumping into her at her sudden stop.
Now, she looked towards the emerging, awkward figure that had addressed her. Her eyes widened as she realised who it was.
‘Kovi?’ she said breathlessly, disbelief colouring her tone.
The sound of his name seemed to spur Kovi to action. His steps grew surer, his stride lengthened, and, as he advanced determinedly t
owards Genlie, he blurted out, ‘Stuff tradition,’ before he pulled her into a fierce embrace and kissed her passionately.
Siray smiled to herself, moved by the sight, and looked away in order to give the couple some privacy. She was about to tell the others to do the same, but they were forced to move away from the branches anyway when Baindan entered, Wexner following as the bullide.
The males all backed up rapidly to give the bullide room to manoeuvre its large form under the tree, its snort of impatience further motivating them to speedily clear a path.
Once Wexner was under the canopy, Baindan approached his side and grabbed hold of the wefron’s front legs.
‘Little assistance here?’ he called to the group.
Siray hurried forwards and grabbed one of the animal’s rear legs, Jorgi doing the same. Together, the three of them lifted the wefron from Wexner’s back and placed it by the tree.
Deson came over to look at it. ‘Good job,’ he remarked to Siray and Baindan.
Siray smiled at him, then turned to face Wexner, who had Changed in that instant. ‘Thanks, Wexner.’
‘Wexner!’ Kovi entered the tent, a smiling Genlie by his side. ‘Good to see you!’
Wexner gave him a small smile. ‘Thanks, Kovi. Glad to see you’re okay.’
Looking out through the branches of the tree, Siray said, ‘I hate to break this up, but we’re going to need to leave soon.’
Kovi tore his eyes away from Genlie to frown at her. ‘Leave? But this place is perfect.’
Siray almost felt like rolling her eyes, knowing just why Kovi was now happy with their location.
‘We can’t stay, Kovi,’ Baindan said. ‘There are patrols out looking for any survivors. We need to keep moving so they don’t catch up with us.’
‘You don’t need to tell us that,’ Wex responded, gesturing to himself and Genlie. ‘We’ve been avoiding patrols each day since we escaped.’
Deson asked, ‘Do you know if anyone else made it out?’
Genlie stared at the ground, her face going still, but Wexner shook his head. ‘When they attacked the training camp, half of our division was in the meal tent with you guys, and half of us—Genlie and myself included—were doing patrols.’
