‘We should rest for some time, make a hot drink, and keep warm until the sun rises. The sun will give you new strength,’ Sonny said.
Up ahead, he could see the boulder field, massive rocks that had fallen from the higher slopes.
‘We can rest there. The rocks will shield us from the wind and cover the light from a small fire,’ he said.
Sonny led the way through the boulders until he found two of the larger rocks leaning against each other, leaving a gap lower down where they could rest, hidden from the slopes around them. They settled down under the overhanging boulders.
‘You rest now, you’ve done well,’ Sam told Kerri, pulling his blanket around her.
The scent of Sam was strong on the blanket, mixed with the earthy smell of the plains and the fragrance of the pine forest. She quickly drifted off into a deep, peaceful sleep, filled with memories of her home that now seemed so far away.
Sam lit a small fire with some of the wood they carried in their supplies. It pushed away the worst of the chill before the sun rose over the peaks on the opposite side of the valley.
He made them a hot drink from dried berries that he’d brought, added pine needles and honey that Salli had put in his supplies. While he stirred his pot over the fire, he noticed Kerri watching him, wrapped in his blanket.
‘Hmm, smells like home,’ she said. ‘Do you and Casey only have one recipe?’
Sam smiled, passing her a wooden cup filled with the warm drink, watching the colour return to her cheeks. He took his turn with the one cup he’d brought, enjoying the warmth of the sweet juice bringing strength back to his aching legs.
‘We should leave soon,’ Sonny said, refusing the cup he was offered.
Sam covered the fire with rocks, wanting to leave no trace of their passing.
‘Doesn’t he ever eat or drink?’ Kerri asked Sam.
‘Maybe he doesn’t like my cooking,’ said Sam. ‘Come on, if we make good time, we may be in his town by evening.’
They trekked on for the rest of the morning, slowly picking their way higher up the rock face littered with boulders. By midday, they reached the edge of a plateau stretching off into the distance. The air shimmered in the heat.
‘My town is on the other side of that,’ Sonny said, pointing to the flat expanse before them.
Sam felt a sense of unease come over him. He turned his head quickly, looking around and behind them.
‘What is it, Sam?’ Kerri asked nervously.
‘Something strange, something I’ve not experienced before,’ he said.
Sonny looked back; he was learning to trust Sam’s instincts for danger.
‘There’s a time to run, and there’s a time to stand and fight. And this is a time to stand. We don’t want to be caught on the open plateau. There’s something very close, and we need to be ready,’ Sam said quietly.
He could sense Kerri move close to his left, with her back towards him. From the corner of his eye, he saw her raise her own staff into a defensive stand.
He saw Sonny move to his right, the hair on his mane standing high. They could all feel danger around them.
The bears had trekked for three days, circling around the upper peaks to position themselves at the plateau’s edge. This was the only way across from the lower slopes and it was their job to guard it. By the time they reached their position, they were coated in the fine sand and dust off the plateau.
Naz, the older and larger of the two, looked down at himself and his partner. ‘We’ve got a problem, Vin. Anyone coming will see us, well before we see them. We need to darken our fur, we need to blend in.’
They stood out in stark contrast to their surroundings.
‘Roll in the dust, it’s all we can do,’ said Naz.
After dirtying their white fur, they scrapped out holes to lay unseen at the edge of the plateau.
Sitting awake all night, hungry, tired, and bored, they had plenty of time to discuss the injustice of the theft by the cat people, of their most precious possesion.
‘Why d’you reckon they took it then, Naz?’ asked Vin.
‘Just greed, I reckon.’
‘Have you ever seen it?’
‘No, but my uncle told me he had once.’
‘Well, we’ll get a chance now. We won’t be going home without it,’ said Vin confidently.
‘Have you heard? They’ve brought mercenaries in to guard the passes. Mean and vicious as hell, they are. They did a lot of damage to the first guys who tried to get through.’
‘I heard that. But I don’t understand. How can they stay in the passes for so long without ageing?’
‘Dunno. We’ll have a real problem if those mercenaries are there all winter. I blame that good-for-nothing Duma for all this. Life was peaceful before he came. I’d be at home with the family now if it wasn’t for him.’
‘He had no right to take it, no right at all.’
They drifted off into their own misery while they looked out over the plateau.
After some time Vin asked, ‘Has anyone told you how long it’s safe for us to stay here, Naz? You’ve heard the stories of how we get old really quickly, right?’
‘I dunno how long is safe, Vin, but we’ll be relieved in a week. It shouldn’t do us too much harm. Some of us could do with getting a bit older.’
‘Eh?’
‘Nothing, just thinking out loud.’
‘So where d’you reckon these mercenaries are from, Naz?’
‘They must be either from the south or the west. I reckon they’re from the south.’
‘Yeah, you could be right.’
‘D’you believe there are others to the west?’
‘Over the ocean? I dunno. Some people reckon so, but I’m not sure. Have you ever seen it, Naz?’
‘Yeah, once. It just goes on forever. I saw it when there was a storm going on. Those waves! They were the size of my house, honest.’
‘Really, that big?’
‘Really. I don’t believe anyone would cross that just to come here.’
‘Yeah, I believe that, Naz.’
‘Yeah, I reckon them mercenaries must be from the south, they’re real nasty.’
‘I s’pose we’re lucky to be here, really. I wouldn’t want to tackle one, not after listening to what the guys said.’
‘Yeah, you’re right there.’
‘They won’t post us to the passes after we’re relieved will they?’
‘I don’t think so, I hope not. It’ll be too much ageing on our body, doing two posting. But then I reckon it all depends on how it goes.’
‘So, is that the plan, then? Surround ‘um, starve ‘um out, batter ‘um into submission, Naz?’
‘I s’pose so. I don’t think anyone wants a full-scale war. Too many casualties. But we’re not going home without it.’
‘And now they ain’t going anywhere until they give it back.’
‘Just damn greedy.’
‘It’s dangerous, they had no right to take it.’
‘Yeah, that’s right, it’s all that thieving Duma’s fault, you know they should really... Shhh! I hear something,’ Naz said, suddenly alert.
‘It’s behind us,’ Vin whispered, ‘How’d they get behind us?’
‘Dunno, but this is serious, I can hear two of ‘um. Quick, you get over on the other side of the path. Wait for me to make a move, and then you come charging out and scare the hell out of ‘um. Quick, go now,’ said Naz Vin scrambled over the path to a hole he’d already prepared, crawling low, keeping one eye on Naz and one eye on the path. He held his breath... waiting.
They stood prepared, Sonny on his right, Kerri on his left. Without any warning, Sam heard the SWISH! of Kerri’s staff, swinging in a deadly arc. He naturally took a step back, holding his own staff high, and saw from the corner of his eye, Kerri step forward and duck below the swinging claws of a bear as it leapt at her.
Kerri’s staff connected with the shoulder of the bear, which let out a howl of rage. It rose
to its full height as if to crush Kerri beneath him. At that moment, she rushed forward swinging to the side, across the belly of the bear, which doubled up.
Behind her, she was aware that another bear had appeared from hiding, surprising Sonny, who took a blow across his side from its lethal claws. Sam spun around to face it, swinging his staff, landing a blow across its back. It stopped its attack on Sonny for a moment to confront Sam. Raising itself to its full height, it let out a roar to intimidate them. Sam stood his ground, this time swinging low, landing a blow to its knee. At the same time, Sonny leapt upon him, using his weight to push the bear on its buckling legs, bringing it to the ground.
To the left, Kerri brought her staff down with all her might, landing a blow on the bear’s head. It staggered, stunned for a moment. She swung again with a blow to just below its ear, knocking it out cold.
Sonny was still trying to get the better of the second bear, which was by now getting back up on its feet. Sam landed a blow to the crown of its head. There was a loud CRACK when the staff connected. He swung a second time and the bear collapsed to the ground.
Sonny looked at Sam and Kerri, amazed with the coolness with which they’d undertaken the battle. He was panting hard, while the others seemed hardly to have exerted themselves.
‘There’s no point in getting up close with a big fella like that,’ said Kerri. ‘You have to stand off. Didn’t your Mom teach you anything?’
This time Sonny laughed, as much from relief as from Kerri’s low opinion of his fighting skills.
‘We need to run now, to give ourselves a start before they recover,’ said Sonny.
‘We need to talk to them, to find out why they’re here’ said Kerri.
‘You can’t talk to a bear,’ said Sonny
‘Who’d have thought you could talk to a cat?’
‘I’m not a cat.’
‘Kerri’s right, we need to find out why they’re here,’ said Sam. ‘We’ve got rope, we can tie them up.’
Kerri quickly set to work, grabbing the rope from Sam’s sack and tying an expert knot that would not slip, no matter how much force the bears put on it. Then they sat, waiting and watching.
It was a while before the second bear began to stir. Kerri rose and slowly poured some water over its lips. The bear came awake quickly and tried to lunge at her, but Kerri stood her ground, confident the bear could not move. When it realised they’d tied its hands to its feet, the bear thrashed wildly with its head.
Sam approached with his staff held loosely at his side, and without giving any warning, landed a blow on its leg. There was a look of shock in the bear’s eye when it realised it couldn’t move to protect itself.
Sam spoke, ‘I don’t want to hurt you any more than I already have.’ The bear relaxed for a moment and looked at Sam.
‘Can you understand what I say?’
‘I understand.’ The voice that replied was a deep, booming growl that seemed to emanate from the pit of its stomach. Sam and Kerri exchanged glances, pleased with the reply.
‘What’s your name?’
‘My name will mean nothing to you,’ the bear replied.
‘I like to know who I’m talking with,’ said Sam
It seemed to think about it for a long time, eventually replying, ‘Naz, my name is Naz.’
‘Why are you in my land?’ interrupted Sonny.
‘To take back what belongs to us,’ Naz replied.
‘What belongs to you?’ Sonny almost spat the words at him.
‘To recover what you’ve taken. You do not need to ask that,’ he said, looking at Sonny.
‘Did they take your children as well?’ asked Sam
‘No, not our children.’
Kerri asked, ‘Are you also people, like us?’
Naz’s eyes seemed to smile at Kerri, and then he said, ‘You see much for one so young. Yes, we are also ‘people’ when we choose.’
‘Will you choose to be a person now?’
‘Now is not the time.’
‘Do you choose to be bears?’ she asked.
‘Nobody chooses, we are what’s inside of us.’
‘Will you tell us what was taken from you?’ she asked.
‘A thing of great power and danger, and of great importance to us. Ask him,’ he said, again nodding at Sonny.
‘Why was it taken?’ asked Sam
‘Why does anyone take that which belongs to someone else? Because he needs it? No! Because he wants the power of possession. For greed. I’ve said enough, you may do with us as you wish,’ said Naz.
‘We should kill them, now,’ blurted out Sonny.
‘What?’ said Kerri, shocked.
‘What?’ said Sam in disbelief.
‘What?’ said Naz getting worried.
Sonny shouted, ‘They’ve invaded my land.’
‘Should we have killed you when you invaded our land?’ said Kerri.
The three all looked at Naz; they all realised what had been said. Sam saw deep embarrassment in Kerri’s eyes.
‘I’m sorry, Sam,’ she said.
Naz watched the exchange of looks between the three.
‘You’ll have to kill them now that they know where you are from,’ said Sonny.
‘No, that’s not our way. We must trust in the goodness within each other.’
‘While you look for goodness, we lose our land, and next will be yours,’ said Sonny.
Sam turned to Naz. ‘Here’s what I propose. We release you, you stay here, don’t try to follow us. You sleep the night away, and in the morning, no one will know of our passing. Or, we can drag you to a cave and leave you tied, to die of thirst.’
‘No!’ shouted Sonny. ‘They must die.’
Kerri stood between Sonny and Sam, and very quietly spoke to Sonny. ‘What you’re saying is not right,’ she said.
‘You’d do that?’ said Naz.
‘I’ll do whatever is necessary.’
Naz held up his arms to be released.
Kerri took up her staff and stood over him prepared, while Sam untied his bonds and then those of the second bear, still lying unconscious.
Sam replaced the rope in his sack, swinging it back over his shoulder.
‘Don’t try to follow us,’ said Sam.
‘We know where you’re going, but only I know where you’ve come from. That secret will stay with me,’ said Naz.
Sam nodded to the bear, which now stood head and shoulders above him.
‘Now we run,’ said Sam, and they headed off over the plateau.
It was late in the evening before they finally saw the lights of Sonny’s town, sitting on the lower slopes above the plateau. They’d passed over fertile grounds that had been left uncultivated. The ground, once a deep red, had been left unturned and dried out under the sun. On the outskirts, Sonny called them to a stop.
‘We must move cautiously, there’ll be guards around the town. They may not recognise me and may attack without warning,’ he said.
Sonny led the way, the pads of his paws silently moving over the field, his senses alert for the slightest movement ahead.
He turned to them and said, ‘It may be better if I go in alone. I’ll come back and lead you, once I’ve alerted the guards we’re here.’
Sam and Kerri settled down to await his return, watching the lights of the town give a peaceful and welcome relief from the darkness around them. Sam sensed the disappointment Kerri was feeling with herself.
‘What you said earlier will not be discussed again. Try to put it behind you. Now that the bears know where we are from, it may help us. I feel that the trust and honesty given to the bears today may one day be repaid,’ he said.
Kerri smiled at him in the darkness. It seemed Sam always knew the right thing to say, at the right time.
‘I should’ve left the talking to you, I’ve put our people in danger,’ she said.
‘Sometimes there are reasons why things happen that we aren’t always aware of. If you hadn’t followed me to
bring me my staff, I may have been captured by the bears today. You handled yourself well.’
‘Now you’re just trying to be nice. You could have handled them both on your own without me, and a whole lot more,’ she laughed.
‘If I can’t have Casey to cover my back, I wouldn’t want anyone else but you,’ Sam said.
They sat in comfortable silence for a while, then Kerri said, ‘You know, Sam, I don’t even recognise the stars here. Why is that?’
‘I don’t really know. I think we’re much further north than we imagined and our stars lie so far to the south. That’s what I’d like to think.’
It was a long time before Sam heard footsteps approaching through the field.
‘Sam, Kerri,’ they heard.
Sonny stepped forward. He’d changed back into the young man they recognised. He was covered in a cape made of thick wool to hold back the cold. Four others moved to surround them, without saying a word. Sam and Kerri could feel the tension and distrust among them.
‘Please come with me, I’ll take you to my town,’ Sonny said.
They rose, following him through the outskirts, making their way towards the centre where a large building stood. Made of heavy oak beams supporting a roof of wooden tiles, the enclosed hall held the entire town, who’d gathered for the arrival of Sam and Kerri. When they entered, a silence fell over everyone in the room. Sonny led them to the centre of the hall, where a woman of grand stature, dressed in a flowing robe, stood waiting for them. Sam and Kerri consciously held their heads high, striding forward to meet her.
‘I am Ella, the mother of Sonny, and I wish to welcome you to our land. I’m sorry my husband is not here to greet you. He’s in the High Passes at the moment. I wish to thank you for the safe return of my son. We thought we’d lost him, but with your help and favour, he has returned.’
Sam stepped forward to introduce them both.
‘This is Kerri, adopted daughter of Casey Carpenter, and I’m Samuel Southerland, father of Lucinda Southerland.’
Shifters Alliance Page 9
