The Elders

by Inbali Iserles

  Eventually, it came into view—a great, gray expanse dividing the land.

  Crossing the deathway would be harder than I’d imagined. It had swelled to a giant sprawl, with manglers zooming back and forth on either side. While they moved more quickly than in the Great Snarl, I noticed that the manglers were less frequent. It was a matter of choosing your moment and running across.

  The challenge was convincing the others.

  Haiki backed from the edge of the deathway, his fur on end. “There must be another way.”

  “We could edge around it,” agreed Simmi, her ears pinned back.

  But the graystone paving stretched out in both directions, as far as the eye could see. Even if we found the end, the detour was bound to add days to our journey.

  “What if it goes all the way to the Raging River?” I said.

  Reluctantly, the three young foxes lined up alongside me at the bank of the deathway. The roar of passing manglers was deafening. I had to bark to be heard. “Get ready to run with me as fast as you can. All right?”

  They yipped in agreement.

  “Not before I say,” I warned them. My ears pricked forward and I watched the deathway. Three sleek manglers raced by in one direction, another speeding further along the graystone the other way. They seemed oblivious to us, but I knew they wouldn’t pause if we crossed their path. We would have to be quick.

  After a while the graystone became almost quiet. I could hear the wind whistling between the pines. I caught the distant grumble of a mangler but I saw no sign of one on the deathway.

  “Now!” I barked. I started to run. Tao and Simmi were by my side, racing blindly over the deathway. When I reached the middle, I threw my head over my shoulder. Haiki was just behind us. “Hurry!”

  The growl of the mangler was quickly rising. The graystone trembled beneath the weight of its thick, round paws. Soon it would appear on the horizon. I broke over the deathway, pounding the graystone until I reached the other side. Simmi and Tao dropped alongside me on the grass, yipping and panting for breath.

  “We did it! We survived the deathway!”

  “It’s so big! I wish Ma and Fa could have seen it …”

  I stretched out my forepaws, relieved to have the deathway behind us. It was worse out here in the Wildlands. It wasn’t only that the manglers were faster, that the graystone was wider. Here, surrounded by trees, its aggression seemed more startling.

  My head snapped up. “Where’s Haiki?”

  The long-furred fox was frozen in the middle of the graystone. He cowered, tail wrapped around his flank, refusing to go any further. “Haiki, what are you doing?” I howled. “You need to run this way as fast as you can!”

  “I can’t!” he cried. “The manglers will get me!” Even from this distance I could see his body quaking. My eyes swept the deathway and my gut clenched with fear. A mangler was rushing into view. Its bright red shell was shiny like a beetle’s. It gave a deafening roar when it saw Haiki.

  Tao and Simmi had turned to the deathway, screaming at Haiki until their voices cracked. “Hurry, Haiki, run this way!”

  Haiki stared at them, his eyes wild with terror, his paws sticking firmly to the graystone.

  I couldn’t watch as the mangler screamed into Haiki’s path. I clenched my eyes shut, my head in my paws.

  “What’s he doing?” gasped Tao.

  I looked up to see Haiki bolting toward the forest. He had ducked away from the mangler just in time. A moment later another sped over the graystone. Haiki darted a few steps forward, a few steps back.

  “This way!” I howled. I wasn’t sure if he’d hear me above the roar of the mangler. Simmi and Tao were barking in unison, “This way! This way!”

  Haiki started running toward us. The mangler was speeding over the deathway, its beetle-shell exterior as gray as Haiki’s fur. Inside I saw two watchful furless. One raised her forepaws to her face. As Haiki broke before the mangler it swerved away, careening at a furious angle. It seemed set to spring over the far bank of the deathway but righted itself and leaped forward. One of the furless was focused ahead but the other spun around, eyes wide as the mangler rumbled away.

  Haiki sprinted, his ears flat, until he reached us on the far bank. He collapsed against the grass. Simmi and Tao assaulted him with friendly nips.

  “What were you thinking?” I snapped, licking his ears.

  “I was sure that was the end of you!” whimpered Tao.

  Haiki was shaking from nose to tail. “Those manglers … They were so much faster …”

  I licked my fur clean of the dust from the deathway. “Are there manglers in the lowlands?”

  Haiki stretched his back legs. “I mean they’re faster than I expected. Even a coyote can’t run like that!” He cringed away from the bank and I rolled onto my paws to follow him. There was a hedgerow, and beyond it a field. We padded closer, snouts low. Every time a mangler passed, the ground quivered beneath our paws. Their foul breath licked the surrounding grass. I longed to get back to the cover of trees.

  Simmi padded next to us. “The sun is moving over the deathway. We need to go in that direction.” She tipped her nose toward the field.

  We shuffled beneath the hedgerow and along the tangling grass at the edge of the field. Slim plants grew in neat grooves. Rigid, trapped … evidence of the furless. I picked up pace. The sooner we reentered woodland, the safer we would be. At least the light was on our side. I didn’t want to be out in the Wildlands after the sun set. Would the Mage’s skulk venture this far? I couldn’t be sure. The deathway wouldn’t stop them—if the Mage ordered them to cross it, I knew they would.

  Would the Taken dare approach the Elders?

  I remembered what Siffrin had told me about the shana.

  It’s a ring of maa that the Elders weave around the Elder Rock in a secret ritual called “shana-sharm.” Without it, the Mage might attack any time.

  We’d be safe once we reached the Elder Rock.

  Unless …

  Unless we can’t cross the shana either. What if the Elders wouldn’t let us pass without Siffrin? I glanced at my companions. Haiki had recovered, his gray tail wagging as he padded between Simmi and Tao. The two young foxes walked with somber purpose.

  I wondered if I should mention the shana. Was it only there to keep out the Mage’s forces, the so-called pleached foxes? Or could it block entry to everyone?

  My ears pricked up. A rabbit bounced across the field and stopped to rest along the rows of green plants, its small nose twitching. Another paused to groom its long ears.

  Tao had paused by my side.

  Simmi ran her tongue over her muzzle. “Maybe we should try to catch one.”

  Haiki stared across the field with longing. “They’re too far away.”

  We’d eaten not long before leaving the den to practice foxcraft. Still, my belly growled. I’d never caught a rabbit. “We could slimmer to get closer.”

  The young foxes turned to me.

  “Slimmering is hard,” said Simmi. “Will you show us how to use it to catch a rabbit?”

  “Oh yes, show us,” agreed Tao.

  I scanned the field. The rabbit was grooming its ears. It was further away than I would have liked—I’d have to hold the slimmer for a while. “There might be furless nearby.”

  Tao cocked his head. “I don’t see any. We’ll keep a lookout.”

  I didn’t like to admit that I’d never caught a rabbit before. “It’s all the way across the field …”

  “If anyone can do it, you can, Isla.” Haiki’s tail was thumping the earth.

  My whiskers flexed. I couldn’t back out now. I started stalking along the neat green plants. The rabbit blinked in my direction. I slowed down, started chanting. “What was seen is unseen; what was sensed becomes senseless. What was bone is bending; what was fur is air.”

  My breathing eased; my heartbeat slowed. Through the glaze of my slimmer I saw the rabbit resume grooming. As I wove between the plants, I
realized that I’d gotten it wrong. I wouldn’t be able to hold the slimmer long enough to catch the rabbit. Simmi, Tao, and Haiki were watching from the edge of the field. I would disappoint them, embarrass myself …

  My focus waned and my heartbeat quickened. To still my mind, I silently repeated the chant.

  What was bone is bending; what was fur is air …

  I started forward again, my paws moving silkily over the ground. The rabbit was no more than a glow in the distance. I stopped worrying that it was too far away. I didn’t fret about anything. Within the melting ease of the slimmer, I relaxed.

  As I shifted toward the center of the field, I sensed a shiver of movement. A small ball of light drifted to my side and lingered there. Through the faintest quiverings of the soil, I felt a rapid heartbeat. The creature had stumbled into my path. Perhaps it guessed I was close, but it couldn’t know where. It squeaked and skipped a few paces. It didn’t sound like a rabbit.

  A sweet, delicious flavor filled my nostrils. In an instant, I broke from the slimmer, pouncing on the creature and throwing it down. As my eyes refocused, I saw something that looked like a large squirrel, with small ears and a bushy tail. It squeaked frantically as Simmi, Tao, and Haiki burst over the field. The rabbit spooked and ran. I didn’t care: I’d caught a creature that was almost as large as a rabbit … and as tasty by the smell that rose from its golden fur.

  “A ground squirrel!” yipped Tao.

  As Simmi gave it a quick death, Haiki looked on with awe. “That was incredible!” he breathed. “Almost as though it jumped into your path. You make skill seem effortless! No one would guess it was foxcraft.”

  “Now us!” said Simmi.

  “Yes, please,” whined Tao. “We want to try slimmering again.”

  “All right,” I said. “We’ll give it a go. But first, let’s eat.”

  They bounced around me, licking my muzzle. After the shame of stealing the skulk’s cache, the delight at sharing my kill was dizzying. Even more so now, when it lightened the mood.

  I took a quick look over the field. The truth was that the unfortunate creature really had jumped into my path—that I’d lacked the breath to stalk as far as the rabbit. But it would have run if it had seen me. So the slimmer did count for something, I assured myself. Even if it had been more luck than skill.

  * * *

  Bright days in the Wildlands didn’t last long. We practiced slimmering until the orange sun hung low in the sky. The others weren’t ready to hunt yet, but they were getting better. Simmi could disappear from view for several beats at a time, moving quite quickly while invisible. Tao had also improved now that he could control his breathing.

  Haiki had given up on foxcraft, but he’d bark every time the others slimmered, knowing exactly where they were.

  “That’s useful too,” I assured him.

  “Useful how?” he asked dejectedly.

  I thought a moment. “If one of the Narral crosses your path, you’ll be able to spot their foxcraft. That gives you a kind of power.”

  “You mean those foxes loyal to the Tailless Seer?” Haiki shuddered. “I hope I never cross paths with them.”

  “I hope I do,” snarled Simmi. “I’m going to make the Elders teach me the higher arts. I’ll practice and practice until I’m a master of foxcraft. Then I’ll track down the Narral, and the Seer himself, and I’ll rip them to strips so they can’t pleach anyone else.”

  “Me too,” hissed Tao. “The Narral are worse than the Taken—they choose to do the Seer’s killing. I’m going to hunt them, every last one. I don’t care if I die trying.”

  I dipped my head. I couldn’t blame them.

  I felt the same.

  We continued across the field, then along the edges of another. I was glad when I spotted the tops of green pines crowding around a pasture. As we slid beneath their shade, the light that glanced between the branches glowed deep orange.

  Dusk settled, with its distinctive sounds and smells. Tiny insects buzzed in clouds, flickers of transparent wings. The ground smelled fresh and damp, though no rain fell from the sky.

  The hum of evening was closing in.

  “Can you feel that?” asked Simmi, her voice a whisper over the whirr of insects.

  My ears rotated. “Feel what?”

  “A tingle against your paw pads?”

  I paused, looking down at the ground. Now that she mentioned it, there was a faint sensation rising from the soil. I had felt something similar back in the meadow, though only for a moment.

  Simmi cocked her head. “I thought you would, though you’re from the Graylands. You know, because of your sensitive maa.”

  “Malinta’s close,” explained Tao. “You’ll feel it fading and growing stronger with the next moon. But that’s nothing—wait till we reach the gloaming.”

  “I don’t feel anything,” said Haiki in a small voice. “I remember the gloaming, but nothing much about malinta. My head’s a bit of a muddle sometimes …”

  Simmi gave him a reassuring nudge. “You’ll feel it sooner or later.”

  I thought about maa, and the mysterious power of the earth that had once reached out like a beating heart and woven me close to my brother. Blinking up into shards of orange light, I sensed his presence. “I’ll catch up,” I told the others.

  They looked at me curiously.

  “I need to be alone for a while. Don’t worry, I’ll find you.”

  Haiki peered into the shadows. “Before it gets dark?”

  “Before it gets dark,” I agreed. I watched him pad after Simmi and Tao. He glanced back, once, and I blinked at him. I waited until the three foxes had disappeared beneath the pines. Then I trod a wide circle, trying to find a suitable spot. I settled on a slim beam of light. Between the pines, the orange sky had deepened to red.

  “Pirie?” I murmured. “Pirie, are you there?”

  Insects buzzed around my ears. I shook my head, my tail thumping in agitation. I closed my eyes and tried to ignore them.

  “Pirie, can you hear me?”

  The faint tingle in my paw pads grew stronger. It tickled against my claws, as though the earth was responding to my call. The buzz of insects faded and the forest grew still. Only the softest sound touched my ears, a voice that might have been a breath of wind.

  Isla, is that you?

  My tail gave an excited wag. “Pirie, I thought I’d lost you! You’ve been so quiet.”

  It’s harder now.

  “Why, what’s changed? What’s happened to you?”

  I don’t know … my mind is tangled. To reach you like this takes concentration, but I am rarely myself.

  My tail stiffened. “Has someone hurt you?”

  There was a pause. I’m not in pain.

  His response didn’t soothe me. “Where are you?”

  In darkness … deep … I cannot escape.

  A chill ran through me. “I’ll help you. But first, I need to know where you are. Can you describe it? Or how you get there?”

  I don’t know, Isla. I can’t say more. I’m scared for you.

  “Scared for me? But I’m safe.”

  Stay safe, Isla. That is all that matters. Stay free.

  Pirie’s voice sank with the breeze and the tingle dulled against my paw pads. I reached out to him but he had retreated where I could not follow.

  A shot of anger cut through me, sharp and unexpected. “Why are you running from me?” I growled. “What sort of game are you playing? I’ve come so far in search of you, Pirie. I won’t give up on you, no matter what you say!”

  He was acting like he didn’t want to be found. His words echoed in my mind.

  I’m scared for you.

  “Don’t try to protect me, Pirie. I don’t need your help! I don’t need anyone’s help.”

  My eyes flicked open. The red light had gone and the world around me had lapsed into night. Darkness swelled beneath the pines. I shook my head, confused. Which direction had the others gone? I’d promised Haiki I
would join them before dark, but it had come so suddenly.

  I padded toward a large trunk, sniffing its base. Had the foxes passed this way? “Haiki? Simmi?” I threw back my head and barked.

  Instead of a fox’s voice, I heard the Kaah! Kaah! of ravens.

  Flesh-eating birds.

  The fur stiffened at the back of my neck.

  My ears pricked up. I thought I’d caught the distant hum of the deathway. I started to trot in the other direction, into the deepening forest. My paws stepped lightly over the loam as my eyes scanned the world ahead. Between the branches the gray of cloud cover banished the stars.

  “Tao?”

  With a tremor of relief, I picked up the young male’s scent. I let out a deep breath. They had passed this way not long ago. I tracked the odor, my muzzle low. As I turned beyond the trunk of a pine, my whiskers bristled. My nostrils stung and I recoiled, a rank taste catching the back of my tongue.

  The stench of decay.

  A ripple of fear ran along my back. A strange groan rose from the soil. Not the faint, pleasing tingle of malinta’s approach, but the croak of a garbled curse.

  In the crumbs of light beneath the branches, a yellow mushroom with purple speckles shunted its head through the soil. Another appeared alongside it, less than a brush-length from my paw.

  It was then that I heard the thump of pawsteps, loping through the wood. Foxes, but not Haiki, Simmi, or Tao. Six or seven adults, perhaps a whole skulk. When I turned I saw their silhouettes against the stiff-backed pines.

  The Taken have found me.

  Their red-rimmed eyes were glowing.

  It was too late to slimmer—the Taken had seen me. I recognized the bony vixen from the Ghost Valley. At the head of the pack, she gave a shrill gekker. The other foxes echoed her call. Up in the branches, birds flapped frantically. Down on the forest floor, small creatures scurried.

  But the Taken weren’t after them.

  I shot between two pines, racing into the night. My pulse drummed in my ears. I could feel the thud of their paws on the soil. I cut between trees at a frantic zigzag, doing my best to throw them off course. It didn’t work: a glance over my shoulder revealed a mass of dark bodies. They were gaining on me with each step.