At the top of the first ridge, Reina looked back. “I’m going to miss this camp. I was just starting to get comfortable here.”
“One camp is very like another,” Tara told her. “You’ll feel the same way in any camp where you spend any amount of time. That’s the way it works.”
“You can’t tell me you don’t miss your village,” Reina countered. “You can’t tell me you don’t miss your home.”
Tara shrugged. “The Lycaon never stay in one place very long. We migrate from one part of our territory to another. That village you saw wasn’t my home any more than a couple of dozen other places around our territory. Actually, I like the high camp better. That’s where we lived when I was little.”
“What’s the high camp?” Reina asked.
“You never saw it,” Tara replied. “It’s a little house up in the mountains. Compared to your home in the Felsite city, you would probably think it’s more of a shack, but I like it. I was comfortable there, and I remember my parents there when Taig and I first started running together. It’s more my home than the village will ever be.”
Reina started to say something when Tara spun around. She scanned the path behind them with flashing eyes, but she didn’t see anything. Reina looked, too. “What is it?”
Tara shook her head. “I heard something, but there’s nothing there.”
They started walking again, but they didn’t talk. The farther they traveled from Lycaon territory, the less they talked. Each person dwelt in his or her own thoughts. The boys walked closer together as they grew more familiar with each other, but they talked less than ever. Not even Taman and Allen talked the way they used to.
All of a sudden, Aeifa stopped dead in her tracks and turned around. Tara stared at her. “What did you hear?”
“Did you hear it, too?” Aeifa asked.
“I heard something. I don’t know what it was,” Tara told her.
Aeifa frowned. Then she started walking again. “Maybe it’s nothing. Maybe there’s some kind of animal in this territory we don’t know about.”
“Let’s ask Allen and Taman,” Tara suggested.
Tara snorted. “Are you kidding? They don’t know what kind of animals live in their territory, and they sure wouldn’t be able to identify their sounds if they did.”
Aeifa chuckled, but she didn’t laugh out loud the way she used to. Tara never saw her more serious before they left their home territory. She made up her mind not to look too closely, but when she did, she couldn’t help noticing the anxious lines in Aeifa’s face. Nothing bothered her before. Now she jumped at every sound.
They hurried to catch up to the boys and walked with them for the rest of the morning until Taig jumped. He spun around on his heel. “What was that?”
“Did you hear that?” Tara asked. “We heard it before. What is it?”
Before anyone could answer, a cloud of dust rose over the hill behind them. The whole group stood still and stared as an untidy crowd of people and animals straggled over the prow of the hill and shuffled down the path toward them.
“Who are they?” Taig murmured.
No one answered. Tara had never seen people like this before. They had none of the features of any Angondran faction. They had no feathers like the Avitras or manes like the Felsite or fur like either the Ursidreans or the Lycaon. They had no recognizable features at all. If Tara hadn’t seen humans before, she would have thought they were from another planet. Then again, humans were from another planet. Maybe they were human. But they couldn’t be human. Tara couldn’t pinpoint exactly what made her sure of that, but she was sure of it. They were not human.
She couldn’t recognize their animals, either. They were nothing like the animals in Lycaon territory, or even the few new ones they’d seen in the mountains. The people herded before them small versions of rut ox, no bigger than the digrees of the Lycaon, and some larger, horned sort of creature with a flat face and large ears. Tara and her friends stared at the motley group until it came down the slope to where they stood.
These strange people swirled around the group. They urged their animals on waving sticks, and they smiled at Tara and her friends in a friendly way. Their clothing resembled dirty rags of leather and hand spun cloth. Their shuffling rag-wrapped feet raised clouds of dust from the ground.
When they approached the group, an old woman raised her stick and called out, “Come along!” She waved her hand toward the path leading into the valley between the mountain ranges.
Another, younger woman took up the call and beckoned the friends to follow. They swept the friends along with them to the north. Only Reina hung back. “We’re not going with them, are we?”
Ari called over his shoulder. “They might take us closer to Harbeiz. If we go with them, we might find someone who can help us. It’s better than going it alone.”
Reina watched the others getting farther away before she hurried after them, too. The whole crowd followed the same path northward, and every time one of them frowned and hesitated, the strangers smiled and beckoned them to keep up. So on they went, over hills and down valleys between the mountains. The trees closed over their heads, and the sunshine turned to shadow and shade.
The strangers halted to water their animals at a stream in the valley bottom. Taman cast an eye at the sky peeking through the canopy overhead. “I don’t like this. We won’t find any Ursidreans down here. The cities are all on the upper mountain sides. We should get away from these people and go back to the tops.”
Allen’s head whipped around. His eyes widened, but before he could say anything, the group moved off. Bells of wood and horn clanked on the animals’ collars, and the people rattled. Ari and Aeifa jumped the stream and joined the crowd moving up the other bank. Reina picked her way across a series of stepping stones and stopped on the other side to wait for the others.
Allen murmured under his breath to Tara. “He’s right. We should break away.”
Tara shifted from one foot to the other. “These are the first people we’ve seen since we left the village. We’re more likely to find someone who can help us if we go with them. We could be wandering out here alone for months, maybe even years.”
“I don’t like wandering alone, either,” he replied, “but I don’t like the look of these people. Who are they? What faction do they belong to?”
At that moment, Ari turned around to walk backward up the bank. He waved to them. “Come on, Tara. It’ll be dark soon.”
“He’s right,” Tara murmured. “We have to camp soon, and we might as well camp with them as alone. We’ll find out if they can help us, and we can break away in the morning if we need to.”
Allen sighed. “All right. Do you have some kind of weapon?”
Tara’s eyes widened. “Do you really think they’re dangerous? They look harmless enough to me.”
Allen shook his head. “Maybe I don’t like them because I don’t recognize them.”
“Would you recognize the other factions if you saw them?” she asked.
“Well, I’d recognize the Lycaon, the Ursidreans, and the Felsite,” he replied. “My mother has seen the Aqinas and the Avitras and she described them to me. The Avitras have big fans of feathers on the backs of their heads instead of hair, so these people aren’t them. And she said the Aqinas look like humans, but they wear their hair in long ropes down their backs.”
“These people look human,” Tara remarked.
“How could they be?” he countered. “Humans haven’t been on this planet long enough to breed this many people, and some of them are quite old.”
“Going with them is the only way to find out.” Tara leapt across the stream and started after her friends. “Come on.”
Taman and Allen exchanged glances. Then they shrugged and followed her. By the time they caught up, the first strangers mounted the bank to a large flat plateau covered in grass and flowering trees. The animals knew the place and scattered to graze. Th
e people spread out, too. Some sat on the grass to rest. Others began constructing a camp by pitching tents and building fires. The sun dropped the rest of the way behind the trees, and the air chilled.
Reina sat down, too, and Tara squatted down. “I guess we’ll spend the night here.”
“Will we make our own camp?” Reina asked. “Or should we join the others?”
Before she could answer, one of the strange people detached from the group and walked toward them. Tara got to her feet. Her muscles tensed, and she wished, like Allen, she had some other weapon besides her hunting knife.
The figure stopped in front of her. She couldn’t tell if the person was male or female. Whoever it was stood a full head taller than she was, and ragged cloths wrapped around the head hid the person’s features from view. Tara forced herself to relax and smile. “Thank you for bringing us with you.”
The figure raised its arms and unwound the cloths. They fell away in powdery coils, and Tara found herself face to face with a young woman. The threadbare cloak dropped away, and her angular shoulders stood out bare and muscular. A crude bra of rough leather hid her breasts, and a shaggy fur loincloth covered her hips. Long, supple legs stretched down to the rag boots on her feet.
Instead of hair, tiny gleaming black scales covered her head in a skin-tight cap. They flowed around her forehead, down around her ears and cascaded over bare shoulders. Tara stared at her with her mouth open. “What.....who are you?”
The woman’s striking face twisted into a wry grin. “I’m Lilith. Who are you?”
Tara almost laughed out loud. “I’m Tara. I’m Lycaon, and this is my friend Reina. She’s Felsite.”
Lilith frowned. “I’ve seen Lycaon, and I’ve seen Felsite. You’re not Lycaon, and our friend isn’t Felsite.”
“My mother is human,” Tara explained, “and so is Reina’s. As a matter of fact, all of us have human mothers. Those two are half Ursidrean, and those two are my cousins.” She examined Lilith again. “What are you? What are all these people?”
Lilith swept the camp with her eyes. “They’re Outliers.”
Tara frowned. “What does that mean? What faction do they belong to?”
“That’s exactly what it means,” Lilith replied. “They don’t belong to any faction.”
“How can they not belong to any faction?” Tara asked. “All Angondrans belong to one faction or the other.”
“Not us,” Lilith replied. “The Outliers have always been separate.”
Tara looked down at Reina. Her cousins and the Ursidrean boys inched closer and listened to their conversation. “That’s impossible. The factions have fought each other for generations. No one lives outside them.”
Lilith shook her head. “The Outliers have been here since before the factions arose. They never joined the factions, and certain people who got separated from their factions joined the Outliers. We’re a genetic mix of all the factions, along with some genetic material from the first Angondrans before they split into factions.”
“What about you?” Tara asked. “You don’t look like the others.”
“I’m not a genetic mix of all the factions,” Lilith replied. “I’m half human, too. My mother is human, and my father is Avitras.”
Tara’s eyes popped open. “How is that possible? Humans haven’t been on this planet that long. How could a human woman mate with an Avitras and have a child as old as you?”
Lilith surveyed her down to her feet and back up to her face. “I’m not much older than you are. It’s just as likely that a human woman would mate with an Avitras as a Lycaon or a Felsite or an Ursidrean.”
“That’s true, but....” Tara began.
“My mother mated with an Avitras,” Lilith went on. “Is that so hard to believe?”
Tara hesitated. “I know the first women who first mated with Angondrans, and the only woman who could have mated with an Avitras early enough to have you as a child is Aimee Sandoval. She mated with Piwaka, but she hasn’t had a child.”
Lilith grinned again. That grin sent a chill down Tara’s spine. “You’re right. Aimee Sandoval is my mother.”
Tara’s jaw dropped. “You’re kidding.”
“Is that so hard to believe?” Lilith asked.
“When did she have you?” Tara asked. “She’s been ambassador to the other factions ever since she went to live with the Avitras.”
Lilith shrugged. “I know the whole story. She mated with Piwaka when your people first came to negotiate peace with the Avitras. She got pregnant then, and she had me before she went running all over creation to bring the factions together.”
Tara blinked. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t doubt you.”
“You have no reason to doubt me,” Lilith replied. “It’s the truth.”
“I find it hard to believe Aimee would keep her pregnancy a secret from her friends,” Tara pointed out. “Those two boys are the sons of Emily Allen, who is Aimee’s cousin. Why would she keep you a secret?”
Lilith turned away so Tara couldn’t see her face. “I don’t know why she kept it secret, but if you don’t believe Aimee Sandoval is my mother, I can prove it to you.”
“How would you do that?” Tara asked.
“By taking you to her,” Lilith replied. “She’ll tell you herself.”
“Why aren’t you with the Avitras now?” Tara asked. “How did you wind up with these.....these Outliers?”
“That’s another story,” Lilith replied. “Why don’t you come over here by the fire? You must be tired.”
Tara didn’t feel tired, but Reina was. One look at her face showed that. Even after so many days traveling, running, and getting stronger, Reina and the Ursidreans still showed their fatigue at the end of the day. Tara nodded. “Thanks.”
Lilith lead them to one of the fires, and Reina and the boys sat down. Ari and Aeifa set down their packs and looked around. “Do you came here much?”
“We’re migratory,” Lilith replied. “We camp here once a year. Then we move on.”
Allen raised his head. “How do you stop the Ursidreans from finding out you’re here? I would be surprised if they let you wander through their territory like this.”
Lilith squatted down next to the fire. The movement struck Tara as so familiar that she squatted down next to her. Something she couldn’t define drew her to this young woman. In spite of Lilith’s scale-like feathers and slender limbs, Tara saw herself reflected in Lilith. Her eye scanned her surroundings with the quick assurance of a hunter. Taut muscle covered her bones. She understood hard travel, hunting, and living rough on unbroken land. Lilith had more in common with Tara and the other Lycaon than with Reina and the Ursidreans.
“The Ursidreans don’t know anything about us,” Lilith told them. “No one does. We travel though territory the other factions don’t use. We don’t go anywhere near their inhabited territory. That’s how we survived so long without them disturbing us.”
Allen sucked his breath through his teeth. “So we’re nowhere near the Ursidreans’ inhabited territory.”
Taman growled under his breath. “I knew it.”
Tara stiffened. “How far are we from the Ursidrean city?”
“Which one?” Lilith waved her hand. “It doesn’t matter, because the nearest one is days’ travel from here. You’re better off with us, anyway. Forget about the city. It’s a death trap.”
Tara took a deep breath. “We’re trying to reach Harbeiz. That’s the Ursidrean capital. It’s these boys’ home, and we’re hoping the Ursidreans can find their parents—our parents. Can you help us get there?”
“To the city?” Lilith shot back. “Not a chance. You won’t catch me or any Outlier anywhere near the Ursidrean city or any other faction.”
Ari spoke up. “What about your mother? Don’t you ever visit her?”
“I haven’t seen her since I was small,” Lilith replied. “That’s why I’m here, because I don’t want anything to
do with the Avitras.”
“But they’re your own faction,” Reina pointed out. “Why don’t you want anything to do with them?”
“I don’t have a faction,” Lilith replied. “The Outliers are my people.”
Chapter 3
The fire’s circle of light forced back the darkness. It glowed golden orange on the faces sitting around the circle, and it gleamed on Lilith’s black scales. Her eyes, too, reflected the light in green, purple and blue flashes.
Ari leaned back against a log. Reina sat at his side, though she kept a thin bubble of space between them. Taig sat on her other side, and every few minutes, he inched closer to her. Allen sat next to Tara with Taman on her other side. Aeifa sat next to Taman on the end.
The fire gave them all a comfortable glow after the meal the Outliers fed them. The yellow aurora flickered in the sky, and Ari leaned his head back on his folded arms to look at the stars. “This is all right. We could stay with these people for a while.”
“If they’ll have us,” Tara corrected him.
Allen faced him. “You were the one who wanted to wait alone in the forest for our parents to come back.”
Ari shrugged. “Everything changes. We’re here now. We might as well enjoy it while it lasts.”
“You heard what Lilith said,” Aeifa told him. “We’re a long way from Ursidrean territory. These Outliers stay far away from the factions. We might as well enjoy their company while it lasts. We could be on our own for a long time before we get back to inhabited territory.”
“I agree with Ari and Aeifa,” Tara added. “The Outliers have welcomed us. If they’ll have us, we should stay with them—for now, anyway. We can head back to search for our parents soon enough.” She turned to Lilith. “Will they take us? We won’t stay if they don’t want us to.”
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